xld

I don't normally play audio files form my Mac Mini or MAcBook Pro, but on the occasion I want to play FLAC files (unsupported by iTunes) I use VLC.

You asked, "but what do i play tunes with if not itunes"

And I replied, "I use VLC"

What more do you want?

What are you wanting to play the files through. The Minis audio out, An external DAC ?. Just out of interest why flac ?

thro a rega dac into 202/200 

not sure which really is best flac or aiff and could spend a year trawling forums!

i may get a cute or naim streamer in due course and flac seems to be lossless and lossless 

not all things work with apple lossless

i'm trying to get best quality with system as it stands that will mean i don't have to redo it all if I get a streamer

thankls

There aren't a lot of options on Mac for playing FLAC. Songbird works pretty well though.

AIFF works for me but then i use iTunes for music management. Still it worked for me when i used a DAC connected to the mini and then (with the addition of a UPnP server on the mini) with Linn and Naim network streaming. Just make sure you rip into a lossless format - you can always convert files later rather than re-rip if you need them in a different format. 

Another vote for Songbird.  Since most of what I download is in flac format, iTunes is useless.  Cog.app and Decibel.app are also very good, with Decibel having superb sound quality, but Songbird has great playlist capabilities, and unlike iTunes, it doesn't make a copy of the files added to the library — the library is merely a shortcut that points to the original files.  

For everyday listening at my desk, Songbird works wonderfully,

After reading about JRiver Media Center for Mac on another thread, I decided to download and try out their "alpha" version.  While it's true that this application is very "un-Mac-like" and has a lot of work needed to make it a true "Mac application," I also have to admit that its audio quality is quite superb — perhaps even better than Songbird.  Importing files into the library is somewhat of a pain, though.  In Songbird, you can simply drag and drop to playlists and the files are added to the library automatically.  With JRiver, you have to navigate to the right folder, import the files to the library, then add them to the playlist.  There's also no way you can use typical Mac keyboard shortcuts, like command-Q, command-H, or command-M, so the app is somewhat tedious to use.

It does show a lot of promise, though . . . and the sound quality is very fine.

I've had good luck with Pure Music by Channel D for Mac.   http://www.channld.com/puremusic/

Audiofool- I'm downloading Channel D now and will give it a try.  Thanks for the tip!

I have a little program called Vox that plays flac on OS X.  I have no idea how good it is, as I just use it to play the files through the Macbook's speakers.  But it's got a small footprint and seems to do what it's supposed to do -- play flac's.