Feedback on my Streaming Setup w/Mac and V-Link on iTunes Library

[thxtheater]

Greetings all,

 

I need some configuration feedback on my server setup to make sure that I'm getting the best sound; I also need feedback on some odd problems. Here is my current setup:

 

1. I have a Mac running OSX 10.7 and the latest iTunes. I'm not running anything else; I'm not using any plugins
   
2. I'm going from the Mac to my Anthem 50v Preamp via a Musical Fidelity V-Link USB to S/PDIF.
   
3. I have CDs, High Res Apple Lossless and FLAC files on my server
   
4. If I want to play FLAC files, I use VLC
   
5. I have the MIDI setup for the Musical Fidelity set to 96k 2ch-24bit integer for output.
   

 

My general questions are:

1. Is there anything that I should be doing specifically to optimize my audio?
   
2. What plugins or other software would one recommend to work with iTunes. I use the Apple Remote on iOS devices to manage the server library so I want something that is still compatible with the iOS remote control.
   

 

Now, my odd problems have to do with FLAC files:

1. If I use VLC files to play FLAC files, they don't sound as good as I think they should. Specifically, if I turn up the VLC volume slider past about 70%, the FLAC files clip and they sound horrible. Any thoughts on this? Is it just that the gain is too much?
   
2. What is the best way to play FLAC files within iTunes. Some say Amarra and others PureVinyl. What are the pros and cons in my specific setup?
   
3. I don't mind converting my FLAC files to Apple Lossless if that's the best course of action and I'm very tech savvy and happy to do that too.
   

 

I appreciate any additional thoughts from the community to help me out here.

[Jsmith]

It seems like you can try all of your options for free and determine which works best for you.

 

- Download the Amarra and Pure Vynl demo version and try them.

- Convert a few tracks to Apple Lossless and compare to the demo versions to see how you like it.

 

I have used Audirvana with good results, but I think this fails your Apple Remote requirement.

[jhwalker]

It seems like you can try all of your options for free and determine which works best for you.

 

- Download the Amarra and Pure Vynl demo version and try them.

- Convert a few tracks to Apple Lossless and compare to the demo versions to see how you like it.

 

I have used Audirvana with good results, but I think this fails your Apple Remote requirement.

 

Audirvana Plus offers iTunes integration, which means you can use it the Apple Remote

[thxtheater]

Audirvana Plus offers iTunes integration, which means you can use it the Apple Remote

 

That's good to know. I haven't heard of Audirvana Plus. I'll check that out.

[thxtheater]

It seems like you can try all of your options for free and determine which works best for you.

 

- Download the Amarra and Pure Vynl demo version and try them.

- Convert a few tracks to Apple Lossless and compare to the demo versions to see how you like it.

 

I have used Audirvana with good results, but I think this fails your Apple Remote requirement.

 

Jsmith,

 

Thanks for the reply.

Any particular pros or cons with any of these additions? Do they tend to work across iTunes upgrades?

 

Much appreciated!

[Paul R]

Just my $0.02 - but personally, rather than trying third party apps to play the FLAC files, just use XLD to convert the FLAC files to ALAC or AIFF files, put them into iTunes, and play away.

 

If you want to do remote streaming this is far and away your best choice for now.

 

If you don't intend to ever do remote streaming, say to an Airport Express, then Amarra, Audivarna+, etc. may all do something really nice for your sound, but at a price. That price is occasional glitches (gapless playback fails, a few seconds of Max Headroom like repeating at the start of tracks, or other odd and undesirable behavior, up to and including Kernel panics) and not being able to do remote streaming. Might look at BitPerfect too.

 

Or just simply stay with iTunes, and manually adjust the sample rate when you want to play hi-res files. This is the major complaint with iTunes, no automatic sample rate switching.

 

Greetings all,

 

I need some configuration feedback on my server setup to make sure that I'm getting the best sound; I also need feedback on some odd problems. Here is my current setup:

 

1. I have a Mac running OSX 10.7 and the latest iTunes. I'm not running anything else; I'm not using any plugins
   
2. I'm going from the Mac to my Anthem 50v Preamp via a Musical Fidelity V-Link USB to S/PDIF.
   
3. I have CDs, High Res Apple Lossless and FLAC files on my server
   
4. If I want to play FLAC files, I use VLC
   
5. I have the MIDI setup for the Musical Fidelity set to 96k 2ch-24bit integer for output.
   

 

My general questions are:

1. Is there anything that I should be doing specifically to optimize my audio?
   
2. What plugins or other software would one recommend to work with iTunes. I use the Apple Remote on iOS devices to manage the server library so I want something that is still compatible with the iOS remote control.
   

 

Now, my odd problems have to do with FLAC files:

1. If I use VLC files to play FLAC files, they don't sound as good as I think they should. Specifically, if I turn up the VLC volume slider past about 70%, the FLAC files clip and they sound horrible. Any thoughts on this? Is it just that the gain is too much?
   
2. What is the best way to play FLAC files within iTunes. Some say Amarra and others PureVinyl. What are the pros and cons in my specific setup?
   
3. I don't mind converting my FLAC files to Apple Lossless if that's the best course of action and I'm very tech savvy and happy to do that too.
   

 

I appreciate any additional thoughts from the community to help me out here.

[thxtheater]

Paul,

 

Thanks for that feedback. I have, in fact, used XLD previously to convert FLAC files. It's a step I don't mind taking. It's actually worked quite well. I have a few files that I haven't yet converted and I'm now going to make the time to do that. I downloaded the demo version of PureMusic and I'm not hearing any difference (nor would I expect to hear a difference) between the FLAC and ALAC versions.

 

Now, to PureMusic. I've been looking at the different software choices and this one appeals to my programming side and philosophy from what I've read. There's no A/B option to listen with and without it engaged, unfortunately and I haven't yet had the time for critical listening. I haven't noticed any real issues and other than a response delay with the Apple Remote, it's worked well.

 

What I've been doing with iTunes prior to PureMusic is just leaving the MIDI sampling rate at 24/96 and it seems to have worked fine.

 

Just my $0.02 - but personally, rather than trying third party apps to play the FLAC files, just use XLD to convert the FLAC files to ALAC or AIFF files, put them into iTunes, and play away.

 

If you want to do remote streaming this is far and away your best choice for now.

 

If you don't intend to ever do remote streaming, say to an Airport Express, then Amarra, Audivarna+, etc. may all do something really nice for your sound, but at a price. That price is occasional glitches (gapless playback fails, a few seconds of Max Headroom like repeating at the start of tracks, or other odd and undesirable behavior, up to and including Kernel panics) and not being able to do remote streaming. Might look at BitPerfect too.

 

Or just simply stay with iTunes, and manually adjust the sample rate when you want to play hi-res files. This is the major complaint with iTunes, no automatic sample rate switching.