Dcnblues

yeah, again I'm the outlier. Because I can't stand dark text on a glaring white screen beaming photons into my brain. Fortunately, there are plug-ins for browsers that take most ugly websites and make them look good instead. High end photo and video software has also gotten better looking. But black on white? Yech. Pass.

I guess what I'd like is some feedback on the interface. The user interface is incredibly important to me. The webpage really only has the one screenshot, which looks a lot like iTunes. Are there other screenshots out there somewhere? Is there a dark theme option? Or an option to use the previous 'component' look (which I quite liked)? For sure I'd like to know before I spend $40 to upgrade. Many thanks.

Thank you, mwheelerk. I have another question about 2.0: From what I can see on the website, I'm under the impression that a) we've lost the separate player graphic / window from the previous version, which I quite liked, and b) sitting on top of iTunes doesn't give you a dark theme option. I can't stand looking at the default itunes window, so am not motivated to try 2.0. Am I missing anything? Many thanks.

Any advice? Most appreciated, thank you.

Quick question: in ripping CD's, I've been finding and cleaning up album art, to add to the album just ripped (in ALAC). I HAD been under the impression that iTunes (to save space) put the art in a separate location, and that one needed to run Doug's 're-embed artwork' script to get the image added to each individual song file. But lately I'm noticing that when I add the art to a whole album, as iTunes runs through the songs, their size increases. So do I still need to run Doug's script? (The purpose of this is to have album art if I use an iTunes remote controller on a pad). Many thanks.

Well, so far I've found a pair of AV preamps for around $600 that might do the job. Outlaw 975 Outlaw AudioModel 975 Emotiva UMC-200 UMC-200 7.1 Home Theater Preamp/Surround Processor | Emotiva Audio | High-end audio components for audiophiles and videophiles, spanning 2-channel music systems, as well as 5.1 and 7.1 home theaters. Products include multichannel amplifiers, ster But I've asked the moderator to delete the thread as it's a waste of time. Thanks for bringing me up to date.

Aha! Now we're getting somewhere. It never occurred to me that typical AV receivers would let you balance sound channels without making that capacity the centerpiece of their advertisements. Lesson learned. So I need an AV receiver that has preamp level outputs. The Pioneer I was looking at doesn't. Any recommendations around the $300 level? Or is this capability going to cost me? Other probelm: my preamp is excellent but old and doesn't have HT bypass. Thoughts, options? I'm very grateful for the help, and think others might find this useful as well.

If that's true, they REALLY suck at advertising it. I'll download some user manuals and check as that would be a partial solution. It would, however, leave me with an audiophile amp, and an AV amp. Others must have had this problem. How do you switch your main speakers between them, short of manually moving banana plugs every time? I've never seen or heard of a speaker wire switcher...

I have spent hours searching but don't even know if what I want exists, let alone what term to search for. While there's some overlap, this may not even be the appropriate forum. I basically can't stand not being able to control the multichannel mix coming from my cable box and (worse) blu-ray player. I have a simple, great-sounding audiophile two channel two speaker setup. I'll be adding a mac mini server, but also want the speakers to do double duty for television watching. I've done everything I can researching and optimizing all available settings on the cable and bluray, (I have truly done my homework and don't want further advice on this separate topic) but still the center channel dialogue gets badly / insufficiently mixed in to the left and right channels, is lost there, and I spend my time constantly upping and lowering the volume. I would love a solution that had a multichannel input, let me kill / mute the subwoofer channel, send the center channel to a small speaker behind the couch, and combine and sent the remaining 4, 6, or whatever number of channels remains as line level rca output to my 2 channel system. With the ability to balance center channel vs the others, I'd be able to watch tv late at night at low volume, understand dialogue, let my girlfriend sleep, and not have to drain remote batteries with constant volume adjustments. Very frustrated at these limitations, and being forced into putting multiple speakers into my living room. I actually do like the idea of a 3 channel system with dialogue on separate balance, but can't find ANY AV receivers which give balance / mixing control over the multiple channels they decode. Is there a technical reason this doesn't exist? How hard could it be? Any help or pointers most appreciated.

Hmm, that sounds nice. When I buy my mini, I'll be in touch for advice.

No need. These threads have been great. When all my hardware is set up I'll get a dedicated mac mini server and keep it upgraded to latest versions. Thanks for the help. I think there are others who will find all this useful as well.

I'm assuming that's the bump up to 64 bit, which does motivate me to go to ML. Thanks for all the responses. Lots of complaints about loss of OS speed and pervasive spinning beachballs from dissatisfied ML users. I also wouldn't want to loose ease of navigation and use in the finder the way I did in iTunes 11. iTunes 11 basically has caused me to loose trust in Apple. I also HATE not being able to download and keep hardcopies of upgrades to software I've paid for. What happens when I need to reinstall anything without net access? Yes, I'm pretty much on board, and thanks. It's not sound quality I'm interested in there, it's functionality with iTunes integrated mode of Audirvana Plus, and being able to control my music remotely from the couch. As there are big differences between the two, I kind of assumed there'd be more functionality / stability remote controlling iTunes 10 than 11. That may not be a valid assumption. I suspected as much, but I know video editors and sound editors who get a particular version of their favorite pro software working with a particular OS version, and they simply lock it down and don't upgrade because they value and require stability so much. It's not a stretch to extend that thinking to an audiophile dedicated music server. I need to read a little more and play with the software before I'd contact him directly. A guy like that, I respect his time enormously, and am very grateful for when he's interactive and helpful.

As well, I can't help but wonder why Damien runs Snow Leopard and Lion but not Mountain Lion on his own system(s). I guess I was really looking for a consensus / summary of whatever wisdom was collectively gathered in the 'Audirvana Plus: Direct Mode' 64-page thread.

I have a Music Hall DAC25.3 on order. Looking forward to hearing tube sound in my system. I'm under the impression that to have a remote control capacity for my music server (especially for an android phone), I'll need Audirvana Plus: Direct Mode which will let me control iTunes and hear the audio through Audirvana.

I could use a little help. I'm getting back into high fidelity thanks to a positive roll of the dice in female prerogative by my girlfriend (*) and would like some quick advice on software version relationships between mac and Audirvana. I'm going to stay digital (**) and have been researching and trying to catch up with the best options. Like most of you, I've decided a music server is the way to go. After quite a bit of research, the Audirvana Plus: Direct Mode / iTunes / Mac (mini) combination is looking very good to me. Sound quality is highly recommended, and I'm a sucker for software whose interface is as good looking as Audirvana's (dark themes / elegance suit me). I already have a Mac Pro and MacBook Pro, hate Microsoft enough to rule it out as server software, but also haven't been too fond of the direction Mac software has taken. I really dislike iTunes 11, am strongly considering going back to iTunes 10 (which is a hassle but doable) and am disinclined to upgrade from Lion to Mountain Lion. Compared to Android, I find iOS counter-intuitive, frustrating, and limited. I'm going to do further research on a mac mini as a server. Ideally, I'd like to build a hackintosh mini with as many audiophile-centric quiet mods as I can afford. Hopefully I can get something better sonically at close to stock price. What I'd like is advice for the software versions of the OS, iTunes, and Audirvana. Specifically: 1) Is Audirvana committed to developing in tandem with the most current version of iTunes, and consequently I should do the same? 2) Are there locked down and stable versions / combinations of Audirvana/iTunes/OS X which will continue to be supported? Like a version of Audirvana Plus: Direct Mode that works with iTunes 10 on Lion? I need something stable I can control remotely. 3) I'm under the impression that 64 bit gives Mountain Lion an audiophile advantage over Lion. Anyone experienced noticeably improved sound? 4) Are most Audirvana users happy with latest OS and iTunes versions, and I should just get over it and upgrade and keep upgrading? I'm hoping for answers more short and sweet as there are good / appropriate threads for in-depth, specific debates on individual topics, but some of them are 60+ pages long and I haven't gone through them yet. This thread will ideally be limited to be about software combinations. Many thanks. ------------- * She got to wanting a big new flatscreen tv as part of re-decorating, and got excited about the image quality after I tuned the display settings (which is a switch from her reaction to the 34" CRT high def I previously got right when we met and she had that maddening female reaction of claiming not to see or care about the 5x better picture). Consequently, her mind opened to the possibility that she might like me to provide her with great sound as well. So I'm getting to take my audiophile gear out of storage, re-finish and re-build my 3' floorstanding speakers, PUT THEM IN OUR LIVING ROOM (!!!!) and build a rack for the audio and video gear. I am SO stoked right now... **She got me to sell my beautiful wood AR turntable (w/ MC cartridge) when we moved in together (six years ago - a drought with only headphones to get me through) and after balancing pros cons and cost, I've decided to stay off of vinyl and stay digital.