Newbie needs help on assembling a high performance server

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hold off on the MusicGiants download because it won't work on your Mac without some serious work. Try the new HDtracks.com site. You can even download in AIFF format! Nothing better than that.

 

What format did you dowload from Linn? Flac? Do you still have the original files? I thought you mentioned replacing them.

 

Don't get too frustrated, we'll get it all figured out.

 

[Gadget Guy]

Chris,

 

Just for the fun of it I went back to the LinnRecords web site and downloaded another album in FLAC by Claire Martin called "He never mentioned love"

http://www.linnrecords.com/recording-he-never-mentioned-love.aspx

 

The only difference was that this time I downloaded the FLAC 16bit 44.1kHz version instead of the higher resolution FLAC 24bit 96kHz. I converted the files to AIFF and imported them into iTunes using MAX the same way I did the other files and they play perfectly.

 

This suggests that the problem I am having is either some setting in iTunes that is not processing the 24/96 files properly or that the files are in SACD format which requires a different player to process other than iTunes.

 

Thoughts?

 

Thanks,

Steve

 

To answer your question: I still have all of the original FLAC files from both albumns.

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

I am certain they are not SACD format. I downloaded the He Never Mentioned Love 24/96 flac version and converted it with MAX. It all works great.

 

Just for kicks, have you tried different Audio Midi settings such as 24/96 etc...?

 

[Gadget Guy]

Chris,

 

I spoke to LinnRecords and they suggected that iTunes won't play hi-rez 24/96 files. Their Help section has a blurb that says "FLAC Studio Masters play in Play and VLC, but not in Cog or MPlayer."

 

Are the Studio Master files you converted to AIFF still 24/96 in iTunes? Also, How do I change my MIDI settings?

 

I would like to try a player that can play hi-rez FLAC files in their native format without having to convert them. Does anyone have a suggestion or any experience with Play or VLC?

http://sbooth.org/Play/

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html

 

Thanks,

Steve

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hey Steve - iTunes won't play flac in any resolution. I convert the 24/96 flac studio masters to 24/96 AIFF files and play them back in iTunes. So, yes the Studio Masters are still 24/96 after conversion as long as you set MAX to convert to 24/96.

 

Obviously you can keep them in flac format and play them back in PLAY or VLC, but you really lose a lot of functionality when you do that. PLAY and VLC are primitive in my book. If all your other music is in iTunes it is a pain to switch for your 24/96 content, especially when you can play it in iTunes after conversion.

 

o change your Audio MIDI settings go into your applications folder and then into the utilities folder. There will be an app called Audio MIDI Setup. It is pretty straight forward. Select the output device you want to adjust and you'll see 16/44.1, 24/96 etc...

 

[Gadget Guy]

Chris,

 

Under "Audio Output" on the lower right corner of the Audio MIDI Setup window it says "Output is not supported"

 

Do I need to add an output device?

 

Thanks,

Steve

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Make sure the built-in Microphone is not selected as the device. You have a built-in output device already so don't worry about adding anything.

 

[Gadget Guy]

Sure enough, the microphone and 24/44 was the default. I have changed it to internal output device and 24/96. I'll plug it into my DAC when I get home and see what happens.

 

[Gadget Guy]

Here is where I am.

 

I have changed the output settings in MIDI to "Internal Output Device" and set the quality to 24/96. I did the same for the input settings as well. The microphone no longer appears as the default.

 

I deleted all of the AIFF files that I had created previously and set the conversion format in MAX to AIFF (Linear PCM) 24/96 (Core Audio).

 

I re-converted my Studio Master FLAC tracks and they all show-up in iTunes, but still will not play. Only static. Interestingly, they appear as 44Hz files in iTunes and not as 96Hz. However, the test tone files that I also downloaded from the Linn website show as 88Hz and they do play.

 

Just for a sanity check to see if the FLAC files were corrupted or not I downloaded PLAY, which plays native Hi-Rez FLAC, and the FLAC files played fine. I also used PLAY to convert the FLAC files to AIFF via MAX (they seem to integrate seamlessly) and they still showed up in iTunes as 44Hz and unplayable.

 

So it appears as though somewhere there is another setting that needs to be changed to 24/96 so that the files end up in iTunes at 96Hz and not 44Hz.

 

I am quite handy with PC's but this is my first MAC so I am still feeling my way around the OS.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks,

Steve

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

OK Steve - Something very strange is going on here. Now everything I convert with MAX gives me nothing but white noise or a bunch of static.

 

Maybe when i get this resolved it will resolve your issue as well.