Mac, DAC and FLAC!

Quick way to play FLAC is to download Play off the same sbooth.org website where you obtained MAX. MAX will however allow you to convert the FLAC files into AIFF which are compatible with iTunes (but I don't have any tutorial to give you links to on how).

Eloise

A silly question - if you convert 24/96 FLAC to AIFF, will it still be 24/96, & can you play it via Tunes?

PS, Audacity will do the conversion too.

quote:

Originally posted by tonym:
A silly question - if you convert 24/96 FLAC to AIFF, will it still be 24/96, & can you play it via Tunes?

PS, Audacity will do the conversion too.

Yes, iTunes will play 24/96 AIFF files - however you do have to manually change the bit depth/sample rate in the Audio midi control panel (before starting iTunes) to get the Mac to change what sample rate is output. With Play (and other software) this happens automagically.

Eloise

Changing the Midi settings is only really a solution if your whole iTunes library is 24/96 material though, no ?

Steve.

SC,

You dont change it permanently. Just as needed for hires.

One of the reasons iTunes sucks as a player.

Wow thank you, Eloise, play seems to work a treat with Linns freebie. Time to start buying some! Will try audacity as well, thanks Tony.
I followed Linns instruction for max all goes well until I get to the point where I go onto itunes and the converted files aren't there! Still no matter now. Thanks again.

Hi SAT

I am also Mac based. Yesterday, I downloaded a Studio Master FLAC, The Fernando Sor Early Works, Linn.

I converted them to AIFF using XLD on the Mac and can now listen to the tracks through iTunes.

The quality is quite superb.

Kind regards

Ian

SAT

Not used MAX for a while (use XLD) - but try going to MAX > Preferences - > iTunes and select

"Add output Files to iTunes library".

quote:

Originally posted by pcstockton:
You dont change it permanently. Just as needed for hires.

That was something of my point Patrick - seems a bit of a phaf to change the global Midi settings, listen to one album say, then have to change it back......I dare say with the limited amount of Hi-Res material out there, most folk's libraries are going to be predominantly 16bit....

Steve.

quote:

Originally posted by SC:

quote:

Originally posted by pcstockton:
You dont change it permanently. Just as needed for hires.

That was something of my point Patrick - seems a bit of a phaf to change the global Midi settings, listen to one album say, then have to change it back......I dare say with the limited amount of Hi-Res material out there, most folk's libraries are going to be predominantly 16bit....

Steve.

Is it an iTunes or Mac OSX issue? I don't have any HiRes stuff so don't currently care, but it may be a factor in the future.

quote:

Originally posted by SAT:
Wow thank you, Eloise, play seems to work a treat with Linns freebie. Time to start buying some! Will try audacity as well, thanks Tony.
I followed Linns instruction for max all goes well until I get to the point where I go onto itunes and the converted files aren't there! Still no matter now. Thanks again.

The easiest way is to convert the FLAC to WAV using Max, then copy the WAV files to an USB stick and play it with the USB connection of the DAC. Be prepared for a real big surprise

quote:

Originally posted by winkyincanada:

quote:

Originally posted by SC:

quote:

Originally posted by pcstockton:
You dont change it permanently. Just as needed for hires.

That was something of my point Patrick - seems a bit of a phaf to change the global Midi settings, listen to one album say, then have to change it back......I dare say with the limited amount of Hi-Res material out there, most folk's libraries are going to be predominantly 16bit....

Steve.

Is it an iTunes or Mac OSX issue? I don't have any HiRes stuff so don't currently care, but it may be a factor in the future.

If you use Pure Vinyl, it will change the Midi settinsg on the fly while using iTunes for media management only, and using its 64 bit engine to play the tracks cataloged by iTunes.orks, sounds very good and do not cost a lot.

Heard VG things about pure vinyl from a rather reliable souse recently.

I do not understand why I should change the mac's audio settings all the time?!

I have an iTunes library full of every bit depth / sampling rate combination one can imagine, have my audio settings @ 24/96 and everything's fine. Core Audio resamples the bit streams to 24/96 and puts them either to the internal DAC or to the optical out or wherever I want them to go.

Or does resampling harm audio quality?!


Cheers
Scaramucce

i dont like it, ymmv

quote:

Originally posted by Scaramucce:
I do not understand why I should change the mac's audio settings all the time?!

I have an iTunes library full of every bit depth / sampling rate combination one can imagine, have my audio settings @ 24/96 and everything's fine. Core Audio resamples the bit streams to 24/96 and puts them either to the internal DAC or to the optical out or wherever I want them to go.

Or does resampling harm audio quality?!


Cheers
Scaramucce

Yes, usually (asymmetrical) resampling causes a kind "slowing", bluring, which can be nice for a while what sucks the life out of music. Only help systems where there is a tonal balance problem.

The upsampling algorithm of Pure Vinyl and Amarra works much better than the iTunes or Core Audio algorithm in case of a Mac, they do not have the same problem as the ordinary upsampling.

PureVinyl also possesses the ability to turn upsampling off altogether, changing the system sample rate on the fly.

Crikey, lots to try! I followed paremus' instruction and downloaded the album to itunes but each track had a permission denied error as it went into Max.However the album still shows on list and is playable.I am concerned that the hd light does not light on the DAC so I altered the midi settingsas suggested. They were already 2ch 24 bit but I increased from 44.1khz to 96khz, the hd light remains out.
Next step will be to try XLD but don't know how to get it as the web site I found is not clear.
Thank you all very much for your help.

On the web sit - there is a download section on the main page. Click on xld-gui-20100123.tar.bz2 (GUI version)

This will trigger the download. Once downloaded click on the archive file in the download directory - will unpack the archive. Drag the XLD to your Applications directory.

Thanks again, XLD is now in apps and I have now got the files in Play, itunes, Max, Songbird and shortly, I hope XLD. This'll be a bit like the demo-plain cd, cd plus dac, ripped cd via dac and FLAC via dac. Good excuse to sit on the sofa listening to music!

Still no hd light on the DAC. Midi settings 96khz 24 bit, am I missing something or is it a waste trying to play FLAC with a macbook?

yes. convert them to WAV.

Have opened the Linn FLAC in XLD, to convert it to WAV, well the pop up showed it being loaded track by track. But I can't find it in XLD!
So I cheated and downloaded a Naim freebie in HD thought great these are in WAV so its bound to work. At first it went to itunes no, hd light so I opened it with Audacity at appropriate settings. Still no hd light. My macbook is connected to the dac by optical cable.

You are assuming your macbook can output 24/96. perhaps it is downsampling it.

Sat, are you certain the Midi output is definitely set to 24/96 and hasn't reverted back to 16/44.1? This can happen...