'Bit Perfect' playback on a Mac
AsSiMiLaTeD
Posts: 11,726
I posted this in another thread, but thought it deserved it's own post as it may help somebody or maybe somebody has even another alternative to share or can educate me further.
Note this only applies to music playback directly from a computer, it would not apply to a situation where a computer is only serving up the music files to another piece of hardware like a Squeezebox or Sonos player, so if that's your primary use you can stop here.
So for those of us who are into using our computers as a source for serious music listening, we probably all know about bit perfect playback and its importance.
Windows is worse, but Mac users have the same problem when it comes to audio playback using your typical program like iTunes. Your audio gets played back through the system sound mixer and (for reasons I won't go into here because I don't fully understand myself) the sound quality takes a hit. Add to that the fact that iTunes throws another wrench into things - it doesn't handle sample rate switching automatically.
Music in your library will typically fall into one of three categories: Compressed, Lossless 'Redbook' CD, and Hi Rez. I'm ignoring compressed music since it's pointless in this discussion, but lossless and hi rez files are where the issue lies. Lossless CD files have a standard bit rate of 16 bit / 44 khz. Hi Rez files can have any of a number of rates, most of my files are in 24 bit / 96 khz though, that seems to be the standard right now.
The problem with iTunes is that it doesn't automatically change the sample rate when switching between the file types. So if I have both CD rips and hi rez files in the same playlist iTunes won't change between the bit rates, it'll end up downsampling the Hi Rez files or upsampling the CD files using the lower fidelity CoreAudio driver or whatever Apple calls it. This results in a degradation in sound quality.
To get playback in the correct rate you'll have to quit iTunes, change the bitrate settings in the Audio Midi Setup utility in OSX and then re-launch iTunes, and do that every time you want to play a track with a different bitrate.
So, if you're on a Mac and want the best fidelity out of your music, you have 3 options:
1 - Use the 'close iTunes, change audio setup, reopen iTunes' method explained above.
2 - There are a couple of highly regarded programs (Amara and Pure Music) that tie into your iTunes library but then use their own interface and 'engine' for audio playback. These programs have better sound quality than iTunes and will handle changing the sample rate automatically and have good upsampling, and they have lots of other features as well. The problem with these, especially Amara, is that they're prohibitively expensive.
3 - Find an alternative that's like solution #2, but cheaper. I've had my iMac for over a week now, and have been using Audio Nirvana with excellent results, the sound quality through it is much better than what I get through iTunes. Audio Nirvana doesn't have upsampling that I'm aware of, but it does manage the sample rate for you and automatically changes the output to your DAC to match the track being played.
The problem with Audio Nirvana is that it's not very convenient to use, there's no library to speak of. You have to open the program and create a playlist by adding files, then play it in the player. It's not terrible, but not as convenient. It does sound great though.
Well, today I found a new program, called BitPerfect, available in the App Store for $5. It gives you the best of both worlds, great sound and the convenience of using a library, more specifically, iTunes itself. It's still not quite as featured as something as Amara or Pure Music, but if at the end of the day if all you're after is the best sound fidelity possible I think it's just as good, and it's hundreds of dollars cheaper.
BitPerfect runs in the background and integrates with your iTunes library. So you use your library and start up songs or playlists just like you would normally, except that BitPerfect 'intercepts' the signal and handles the actual audio playback, but handles things like automatic sample rate switching for you. The sample rate switching alone is worth the $5 several times over, but there are other features like upsampling and 'hog mode' (where it doesn't allow other system sounds to use the audio device it's using). It also has a couple other things that I haven't played with yet like 'integer mode'.
Anyway, that's everything I know on the subject and my input on BitPerfect, can't go wrong for $5. I'm fairly new to the whole thing, but after a couple days of research this is where I'm at.
Thoughts?
Note this only applies to music playback directly from a computer, it would not apply to a situation where a computer is only serving up the music files to another piece of hardware like a Squeezebox or Sonos player, so if that's your primary use you can stop here.
So for those of us who are into using our computers as a source for serious music listening, we probably all know about bit perfect playback and its importance.
Windows is worse, but Mac users have the same problem when it comes to audio playback using your typical program like iTunes. Your audio gets played back through the system sound mixer and (for reasons I won't go into here because I don't fully understand myself) the sound quality takes a hit. Add to that the fact that iTunes throws another wrench into things - it doesn't handle sample rate switching automatically.
Music in your library will typically fall into one of three categories: Compressed, Lossless 'Redbook' CD, and Hi Rez. I'm ignoring compressed music since it's pointless in this discussion, but lossless and hi rez files are where the issue lies. Lossless CD files have a standard bit rate of 16 bit / 44 khz. Hi Rez files can have any of a number of rates, most of my files are in 24 bit / 96 khz though, that seems to be the standard right now.
The problem with iTunes is that it doesn't automatically change the sample rate when switching between the file types. So if I have both CD rips and hi rez files in the same playlist iTunes won't change between the bit rates, it'll end up downsampling the Hi Rez files or upsampling the CD files using the lower fidelity CoreAudio driver or whatever Apple calls it. This results in a degradation in sound quality.
To get playback in the correct rate you'll have to quit iTunes, change the bitrate settings in the Audio Midi Setup utility in OSX and then re-launch iTunes, and do that every time you want to play a track with a different bitrate.
So, if you're on a Mac and want the best fidelity out of your music, you have 3 options:
1 - Use the 'close iTunes, change audio setup, reopen iTunes' method explained above.
2 - There are a couple of highly regarded programs (Amara and Pure Music) that tie into your iTunes library but then use their own interface and 'engine' for audio playback. These programs have better sound quality than iTunes and will handle changing the sample rate automatically and have good upsampling, and they have lots of other features as well. The problem with these, especially Amara, is that they're prohibitively expensive.
3 - Find an alternative that's like solution #2, but cheaper. I've had my iMac for over a week now, and have been using Audio Nirvana with excellent results, the sound quality through it is much better than what I get through iTunes. Audio Nirvana doesn't have upsampling that I'm aware of, but it does manage the sample rate for you and automatically changes the output to your DAC to match the track being played.
The problem with Audio Nirvana is that it's not very convenient to use, there's no library to speak of. You have to open the program and create a playlist by adding files, then play it in the player. It's not terrible, but not as convenient. It does sound great though.
Well, today I found a new program, called BitPerfect, available in the App Store for $5. It gives you the best of both worlds, great sound and the convenience of using a library, more specifically, iTunes itself. It's still not quite as featured as something as Amara or Pure Music, but if at the end of the day if all you're after is the best sound fidelity possible I think it's just as good, and it's hundreds of dollars cheaper.
BitPerfect runs in the background and integrates with your iTunes library. So you use your library and start up songs or playlists just like you would normally, except that BitPerfect 'intercepts' the signal and handles the actual audio playback, but handles things like automatic sample rate switching for you. The sample rate switching alone is worth the $5 several times over, but there are other features like upsampling and 'hog mode' (where it doesn't allow other system sounds to use the audio device it's using). It also has a couple other things that I haven't played with yet like 'integer mode'.
Anyway, that's everything I know on the subject and my input on BitPerfect, can't go wrong for $5. I'm fairly new to the whole thing, but after a couple days of research this is where I'm at.
Thoughts?
Post edited by AsSiMiLaTeD on
Comments
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Oh, **** SIGH, another Mac thread****
first -
I'm gonna check that out , very Interesting. Pm me your email I can send you some links to software that you might be interested in if you plan on Hi Rez files.Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
Thank you for the information. I appreciate it
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I am mostly streaming to my squeezebox but it's not out of the question that I may be parking a computer close enough to my big system for a direct connection. Initially, I will probably use a program called Audirvana and experiment with others as well. I like Audirvana as it plays true to the source. So far A/B ing Audirvana through monitors and a 15 watt cheap amp sounds better than Itunes on my iMac. Thanks for the great info.Pioneer Elite SC-35, Polk RTA (Real Time Array) 12's,
Polk Monitor 40 surrounds, Polk CSiA4 Center,
Polk PSW125, Sharp LC-46D62U,
Panasonic DMP-BD85, Harmony One,
iMac streaming an Apple TVII, or Squeezebox Touch
Bedroom Rig~Sony STRDG-920, Polk Monitor 60 fronts, Polk RM6750 Satellites and Sub, Panasonic DMP-BD85
Rabbit Hole Rig~Yamaha CA1010, Yamaha CT1010, Polk SDA 2A's, Teac A1500 R2R -
I used Audio Nirvana and it did sound great. If you're ok with the interface and building and using playlists then it's fine, I just didn't find it very convenient.
Using BitPerfect in iTunes sounds just as good as Audio Nirvana and basically works the same way, it just adds the convenience of using a library approach back into the mix. -
Hey thanks for the tip. I'm a big advocate of Pure Vinyl but I could definitely use bit perfect in my office system.
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Thanks for the tip. I'm now running iTunes and BitPerfect. I've setup the sound output on my iMac to point to my Musical Fidelity vLink. It sounds really good but the iMac's volume control is still working as is my integrated amp volume control. Is there something else I need to configure?Rig1 - Totem Hawks, Benchmark HDR, Parasound A21, Sonus, Samsung 52 LCD, Audioquest Type4
Rig2 - LFD LE IV Integrated, Harbeth P3ESR, Rega Dac, MF V-Link, IMAC, Audioquest Type4 -
Don't know how I missed this thread. Mac mini and the pk100 is what I am researching.
With bit perfect can you control the mm with an iPad?Speakers: SDA-1C (most all the goodies)
Preamp: Joule Electra LA-150 MKII SE
Amp: Wright WPA 50-50 EAT KT88s
Analog: Marantz TT-15S1 MBS Glider SL| Wright WPP100C Amperex BB 6er5 and 7316 & WPM-100 SUT
Digital: Mac mini 2.3GHz dual-core i5 8g RAM 1.5 TB HDD Music Server Amarra (memory play) - USB - W4S DAC 2
Cables: Mits S3 IC and Spk cables| PS Audio PCs -
The Bit Perfect web page indicates that this works for Mac OS X 10.6 or later. My Macbook Pro is a OS X 10.5.8 and when I checked for updates, none were found
Am I S.O.L. ? -
The Bit Perfect web page indicates that this works for Mac OS X 10.6 or later. My Macbook Pro is a OS X 10.5.8 and when I checked for updates, none were found
Am I S.O.L. ?
Please post the link for the Bit Perfect download. I too have Leopard 10.5.8. Are we out in the cold? -
The MAC OS is a different animal. In the WinTel world, it's foobar and either asio4all or WASAPI.
There are other players out there, but unlike others foobar is a easy to use no stupid frills player.
You can add options, or go vanilla."The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." --Thomas Jefferson -
sucks2beme wrote: »...In the WinTel world, it's foobar and either asio4all or WASAPI.
There are other players out there, but unlike others foobar is a easy to use no stupid frills player.
You can add options, or go vanilla.
That's how I roll!
2-Channel: PC > Schiit Eitr > Audio Research DAC-8 > Audio Research LS-26 > Pass Labs X-250.5 > Magnepan 3.7's
Living Room: PC > Marantz AV-7703 > Emotiva XPA-5 > Sonus Faber Liuto Towers, Sonus Faber Liuto Center, Sonus Faber Liuto Bookshelves > Dual SVS PC12-Pluses
Office: Phone/Tablet > AudioEngine B1 > McIntosh D100 > Bryston 4B-ST > Polk Audio LSiM-703's -
10.5.8 is not Snow Leopard, it's Leopard. To get Snow Leopard you'll need to buy the install disc, you can likely purchase from any Apple store for $30, I bet most stores still have copies because you need it to install Lion.
As for installing Lion without Snow Leopard installed, have a look at this article. I've not read the entire article or tried that approach as I've only recently bought a Mac and it came with SL, but you may want to take a look:
http://www.macworld.com/article/161087/2011/07/install_lion_over_leopard.html
