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OS X audio players

V

vrazji

pfm Member
I was just wondering what is the current state in audio players for OS X...

I know that Amarra was once regarded as the best sounding with Audirvana+ closely behind and even surpassing it in it's latest iterations.

Nevertheless new players have emerged and other ones upgraded (I see BitPerfect is up to version 3 now).

Anyone compared various options lately? Are some players still "better" than the other?

The reason I'm asking is that I've got a new mac mini and was just wondering what program to use. In all honesty I would prefer something with itunes integration (hence the interest in BitPerfect) as I'm used to it and like it's interface. I've demoed the new Audirvana and just don't like the standalone UI...

If anyone did some comparisons lately I'd very much appreciate hearing about them...
 
As I understand it (i.e. fuzzily recalling what I read somewhere or other ages ago) iTunes is bit perfect as long as the volume slider is all the way up. It only becomes a hassle if you need to regularly switch between resolutions, if you are just playing back ripped CDs it is fine.
 
Bitperfect won't play Flac anymore
A+ is very good SQ wise but the UI is a bit flakey, works better with the IOS remote.
Amarra 3.0 decent SQ but no remote.
JR21 good with decent remote apps for Android and IOS.
I have 'em all but tend to use either JR21 or A+
 
Another option is to turn your mac mini into a super-duper, small-form factor Windows machine. If you've got a spare Windows 7 disc lying around, partition the mac mini and install Windows 7. I did this just over a year ago so I could have a dedicated media PC and as JRiver was more stable on Windows at the time, made my mac fit into a Windows PC, with the aid of Apple's handy app, Bootcamp.
 
I've tried them all, and for me the latest Audirvana + with the remote app is excellent, the sound quality is really really good and now works stand alone without any input from iTunes, if anyone is in the Midlands and wants to see it running drop me a PM
 
JRiver is excellent and Roon is even better but pricey. Only worth going for Roon though if you subscribe to Tidal IMO but if you do you get access to a huge streaming library which integrates seamlessly into your existing library. All at CD quality resolution too. Both of these options have excellent IOS remotes.

iTunes is pretty good too and if you add bit perfect, for a tenner it will change streaming resolutions on the fly, without having to fanny around with Midi settings.

Lots of good options.

Rich
 
This is a timely discussion for me. Having acquired a used Mac Mini I too have been looking at the media player options for OSX. I don't mind paying for something good, and Audivarna+ is currently at the top of the list. I have been using JRiver on PCs, but I'm intrigued by the Quobuz thing too.
 
BrendanD said:
Audirvana+ now incorporates Qobuz
Click to expand...

Yes, and it works well. The only odd thing is that the iPad app hasn't yet been updated to allow direct access to Qobuz.

It would also be nice if you could access Qobuz when using Audirvana with iTunes, but it's only possible if you use Audirvana in stand alone mode.
 
Yes, It would help if the A+ iOS app could navigate Qobuz. Is it going to be updated to do this soon?
 
Alex S said:
Yes, It would help if the A+ iOS app could navigate Qobuz. Is it going to be updated to do this soon?
Click to expand...

I don't know, I would assume so, I've no idea of timescales. Once something is playing in Qobuz you can see the "what's playing" playlist in the app and skip tracks etc, but that's all there is at the moment.
 
It seems A+ is still the way to go...

In all honesty I was hoping Bitperfect advanced in the latest versions SQ wise as I really don't intend to use any other interface than Itunes and I could thus save a few pounds... Nevertheless - anyone care to comment on how the latest versions sound?

Still, buying Audirvana+ won't brake the bank either I guess...

Thanks for the replies!

(Roon would be lovely, but just too pricey I'm afraid :( )
 
I doubt you'll hear any real differences between (properly set up) software. The days of software sound variance have been dying fast...
 
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