For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a Windows user. However, I’ve now bought a MacBook Pro. All of my audio files are in flac format and, in Windows, I used Foobar as my default media player. What is the best equivalent media player, ideally freeware, for Mac? A lot of the online reviews seem to point to Vox or VLC but I’d really appreciate a recommendation from experienced users.
Best MacBook Audio Player
- Thread starter nyron59
- Start date
Strictly Stereo
Trade: Strictly Stereo
There is a macOS version of Foobar, but I think I would go with Audirvana.
Strictly Stereo
Trade: Strictly Stereo
eastone
pfm Member
Quite possibly. I don’t use that feature myself. Personally I don’t mind the Audirvana interface. Give it a whirl!
mjw
pfm Member
I trialled Audirvana+ and Ammara 3.0 (no longer made but newer flavours are available) and went for Ammara (for my music and my equipment). There wasn’t a lot in it but they’re similarly priced so you owe it to yourself to try both if you’re in the market at that price level.
I also get marketing emails from Ammara and they’re newer product behaves a bit like Roon, apparently. I asked if it sounded the same as 3.0 and was told, “different but just as good”. That put me off so I stuck with 3.0.
I also get marketing emails from Ammara and they’re newer product behaves a bit like Roon, apparently. I asked if it sounded the same as 3.0 and was told, “different but just as good”. That put me off so I stuck with 3.0.
Darth Vader
From the Dark Side
There are other approaches. You could boot into Windows and install your existing software. If you have room on the internal drive you could shrink the macOS partition and free space for a Windows installation then boot into either or if that scares you install Windows on an external USB disc/SSD drive and boot from that. Another approach is to boot from a Volumio (free) USB stick. Neither approach will cost you anything to try if you have a USB drive and/or thumb drive.
Yes I have performed all the above on a 2010 Mac Mini so I know that they work and also transferred a complete Windows 10 system with all applications intact from a PC to Mac Mini.
Cheers,
DV
Yes I have performed all the above on a 2010 Mac Mini so I know that they work and also transferred a complete Windows 10 system with all applications intact from a PC to Mac Mini.
Cheers,
DV
Colin L
High-tech low-life
As interfaces go....
ITunes is rubbish
JRiver is worse. Overloaded nonsense and always looking for paid upgrades.
Audirvana is much better
Roon is best (by far, and is agnostic to the OS)
Your choice depends on the size of your music collection and how much you care about ease of use. Lets presume you are going to be listening to music for decades to come. Easy choice isn’t it.
ITunes is rubbish
JRiver is worse. Overloaded nonsense and always looking for paid upgrades.
Audirvana is much better
Roon is best (by far, and is agnostic to the OS)
Your choice depends on the size of your music collection and how much you care about ease of use. Lets presume you are going to be listening to music for decades to come. Easy choice isn’t it.
camverton
pfm Member
No, the choice isn’t necessarily easy!
First off a decision may be affected by whether your library is biased towards classical.
JRiver does have an appearance of a complex layout but with that comes versatility for managing, viewing and editing the data associated with your files. I haven’t found any nonsense, overloaded or not and because it is very tweakable you can hide elements that you don’t want to see. Managing one’s collection is one thing, playing music from it another. For this JRemote on an a tablet or phone works very well and allows you to search and browse your collection in whatever way you choose.
The downside is that there is a learning curve involved and anyone who wants an instant solution should, perhaps, look elsewhere. The other disadvantage is that JRiver is being very slow at adding streaming services. For this, I gather Roon provides an excellent solution although I found it a bit limited for ways of browsing compared to my highly customised JRiver.
JRiver is updated every year but there is no obligation to buy a new version every year unless a new feature interests you or you want to support the developers.
Darth Vader
From the Dark Side
Volumio is NOT Windows based is it? Its on a Unix-like O/S just as is macOS. Its also standalone running from a thumb drive or external disk so you just boot it up when you want to listen to music. Its also turnkey and without the so called foibles of other music players.
I have used Amarra over the last 9 years and its a PITA. It does sound good though when its working. Like others I have stopped at version 3 as I don't see any benefits in paying any more to upgrade and upgrade. The down side is that I have to stay on High Sierra as Mojave sticks two fingers up as I discovered the hard way. Thats np as my mini is only used as a music server.
The suggestions above are free to try as so are the trial versions of other music servers.
Cheers,
DV
Wobblybob
pfm Member
The latest version of Audirvana doesn’t work in the same way with iTunes. It does have a classic view which if I remember correctly does interface with iTunes but I think the sound quality isn’t as good compared to using Audirvana without the iTunes interface. Audirvana sounds brilliant in my opinion. The Audirvana remote app works well to control it from a tablet or phone.
eastone
pfm Member
Indeed, I mostly use it via my iPhone which saves having a big glowing screen present in the room.
@camverton Is Roon really that much better than A+ sound quality wise? Intrigued now...