BitPerfect App redeems itself

+1 and its cheap as chips, as we say. Great value

Hi Winky,

I am considering to buy the BiTPerfect app too. Is there any user manual available (can't find it on the web) or does the app come with a Help-function ?

Iver

I've got Bit-Perfect on my iMac & it certainly works extremely well with iTunes. However, to my ears Pure Music sounds a little better. The latter's very cranky though and does weird things; I also dislike the way it pushes the iTunes window to the front of the desktop every time a new song starts (OK, I know you're not supposed to be using other functions on the computer whilst playing music but these days I mostly listen whilst doing computer-type stuff)

BitPerfect is the only add-in I have found for iTunes that I like - except for Doug's Scripts, of course. I like BP because it doesn't aim to do anything by magic, but simply optimise iTunes, which is exactly what I want. 

Yep, Tim is welcome to my 5 bucks. Cheap as chips.

BitPerfect is currently only a beta - the v1.0 is due soon and will hopefully iron out most of the issues seen so far.

For the price, it is a bargain.  It is at least honest about what it does - auto setting of bit-depth, etc.

For anyone thinking that Amarra/PureMusic etc. are better, try using each with a DAC that supports a bit perfect (lower case!) test such as the Audiolab MDAC.  The test passes whether you use BitPerfect, Pure Music or even just iTunes set at the right bit depth manually.  Precisely and exactly the same bit perfect data arrives at the DAC in all cases, irrespective of player.  The sound of all is identical.

Spend money on an alternative player by all means, but please don't do it because you believe it will somehow magically make music sound better.

Interesting.

I am sure you are correct, providing all you were intending to do was make a copy of the bit stream.  When you copy a file, it matters not a jot if the stream arrives in a haphazard way, provided the file copy is exact.  But what about jitter?  When sending a bit stream to a DAC, things become a lot more critical.  Time domain error (jitter) will cause the SQ to change.  It may be subtle, but in extreme cases it can be very serious. So being bit perfect is not enough in itself.  There are many ways to try and iron out this jitter, buffering or using asynchronous USB connections for example.  But I would argue, a bit perfect measurement does not tell the whole story.  Witness the number of people in this Forum who can hear differences between different brands of DACs and software programs such as BitPerfect, Amarra, etc. 

This reminds me of the amplifier sound quality differences that were argued over interminably in the 1980's.  Just because an amp measured perfectly did not mean it sounded perfect.  Far from it. 

No offence.  Just offering my opinion.

Richard

+1 Brilliant post, Mr 0rangutan

I have captured the bit streams and you are 100% right. If these other players didn't match iTunes bit perfect output then they would be wrong (they could sound better, but they would be wrong in the bp sense). However, there is no difference between correctly set-up players. I like BP for exactly the reasons you say.  

Same goes for USB to S/PDIF convertors - with a new Mac Mini, you don't need them. 

No magic rippers, no magic players and no magic convertors, but magical sounds from a Naim DAC. 

Dear Richard, I think it is different in the analogue domain - I don't think any amp measures perfectly though some measure exceptionally well. In the digital domain I think the pre-DAC components that affect sound are jitter/noise (RFI/EMI) and if you use a Mac Mini then it governs this rather than the high level application software. I can understand the NBDX/ND5 may sound different/better. 

That said, it was your good self that led me to Bit Perfect and it is an excellent app. The crucial thing is to set-up the software correctly and a utility that does it for me is very welcome ... 

However, is bit perfect (small letters) important .... the NDX now up-samples (see another thread) and this can have measurable and audible benefits (I think). 

All the best, Guy

Muhahahah... See: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...ent/1566878605881522

Everyone should own an nDAC at least once

Another happy BitPerfect user here.

John.

I commented on another thread that BP seems only to affect the native iTunes library, not those shared from other boxes on the network.  Do others confirm?

This was evidenced to me by the HD light on the DAC behaving differently when I set the BP preferences to prevent up sampling while at the same time setting the output from the Mac Mini to 96 KHz.  The native library complied; the shared ones did not.  

All said, I like the way the native BP-impacted tracks sound better than those from the shared libraries.

Nick

Everyone should own an nDAC at least once

Hah, I wish.  But to own an nDAC infers you must own a preamp. I am presently using the Qute purely as an analog volume control.  I suspect many, including Naim, would regard outputting the nDAC into the Qute as a control unit would be regarded as a backward step.

If Naim introduce an nDAC which includes an onboard volume control which has a display of the same quality as the Qute, I would be first in line to buy.  Sadly there seems little prospect of that, but I would love to be proven wrong.

I hate multi box complexities.  One day, ah glorious day, one day I will attain the Weiss 202.

Richard

Richard

To be heretical if you want the ultimate 1 box solution you need one of these.

<discretionary removal of fire risk!> 

Does the whole job straight off a network connection at a level beyond the nDAC even with a 555PS bolted onto it

regards
Geoff

I have never strayed from the true path, but who knows, if Naim resolutely refuse to bow to customers wishes, then those same customers might be tempted to look elsewhere.  I have a close friend who is resolutely against streaming.  So he is intending feeding his new (yet to be delivered) DAC via USB. He is a very long term Naim customer, but has had to look elsewhere as nothing that Naim supply is suitable for his needs.

Richard