Pure Music 2

[juliocat]

Upgrade to Pure Music 2 to enjoy high resolution digital music playback with the world's most fully-featured audiophile quality music playback software.

Brand new features:

 

New user interface for main controller / meter bar window

Supports “Cocoa” UI for AudioUnit Plug-Ins

LINK button allows disabling Pure Music and iTunes automatic window docking

Meter bar now automatically resizes to full width of iTunes window (with LINK engaged)

Meter bar can be resized independently of iTunes window

New Transparency control to make the meter / controller a see-through window

New FLOAT function keeps Pure Music window on top of all others

Jog-style Volume slider with 0.1 dB precision

Volume balance knob with precision 0.1 dB control

Menu command to save all plug-in settings and window positions at once

Menu command to show or hide all plug-in settings windows at once

Added 48 dB / octave Linkwitz - Riley crossover option to all crossover configurations

New Quick Playlist feature for quickly playing FLAC or DSD files (and other formats) via ad-hoc playlists, independent of iTunes and without needing to create Bookmarks

Can add groups of files or folders to Quick Playlist with OPEN... command

File Converter now provides choice of converting to Apple Lossless or AIFF

File Sample Rate Converter can downsample DXD format (352.8 kHz) files

Supports having more than one music storage volume with the same name

Sound quality enhancements:

Improvement to dither sound quality

Dithering can be used with the Audio File Sample Rate Converter feature

Dithering now active for all volume settings when using Upsampling

Enhancements to Existing features:

Can choose location for storing Bookmarks

Improvement to playthrough device synchronization and latency

Ensures Played Count and Last Played Date are updated in iTunes

Improvements to Gapless playback track analysis mechanism

New "link to next track" keyword in Comments field to force gapless linking

Simplified Dithering choices

Preserves state of Less is More Mode across launches

Incorporates album art for FLAC files if not present in original file but included in the album folder as folder.jpg, cover.jpg, folder.png, cover.png or AlbumName.jpg (or .png), where AlbumName is the name of the enclosing folder

Enhancements to DSD Support:

Configuring Pure Music for a native DSD (DoP) device is now a one-click operation

Mastering-Quality DSD to PCM File Converter with multiple configuration and output options

Eliminated visible setting for DSD Flag. To toggle flag from 05FA to AAAA and vice versa hold down the Option key while pressing the Copy Name... button

Added check box to enable DSD AC3 binary stream format for drivers that support it

Worked around a bug in .dff files written by certain standalone TASCAM DSD recorders (DV-RA1000HD in particular) that prevented such files from playing in Pure Music (an incorrect offset value was written in the file header by the TASCAM recorder)

Bug fixes:

Corrected problem which caused iTunes to be muted if Pure Music enters Playthrough mode directly after launch

Stereo dither check box now works (was ignored and always stereo previously)

Includes internal hint to Energy Saver API to not allow App Nap, which caused playback to pause under Mavericks (10.9.1 or later) when the monitor sleeps

Fixed positioning issue with Pure Music "hidden UI" placard

Eliminates issue with the File Converter (formerly Convert to Apple Lossless), which used the word length specified in the Sample Rate Converter settings instead of the word length of the original file

Eliminated cause of freeze for Add FLAC/DSD... operation when converting a folder if a .txt file was present in the album folder

File Converter no longer skips non-FLAC files having a 44.1 kHz sample rate

Eliminates iTunes 11 "first track" selection issue after launching Pure Music, when using Remote App

Eliminated lock-up that could happen when trying to perform an Add FLAC / DSD... operation after playing Gapless tracks

Eliminated issue that could cause beginning of a track to be skipped after a sample rate change

Plus additional minor performance enhancements and bug fixes

 

Download the Pure Music 2 Demo / Update now at: CHANNEL D - Download

[Raym87]

Not a free upgrade then. I have had a look through its feature list and see nothing there that I would call a must have feature. Most of the 'upgrades' seem to be bug fixes. Of course, others may think differently.

[Yucca06]

Same here. Looks sober also wich is good, but $45 for that...Don't hear SQ improvements over v.1.89, but I'm testing it only for about 20mn...

[Melvin]

I purchased PM back in January 2011 and this is the first time I'll have to pay for an upgrade .. seems quite reasonable to me. I'll be upgrading tonight when I get home.

[PhVL]

I tested it for a couple of hours and can't find any difference in sq. Still don't like the interface. I think i keep the previous version for now. The sound was already good, so why should i pay for the same. I am very disapointed that i waited so long for nothing.

I repeat: the previous version was already good. I think i use the money for some good downloads.

[Dandaman]

For whatever reason, I was unable to get v. 1.89g to work under Mavericks and the new M2tech driver. It would play 5 seconds and then stop. The PM v.2, however, works fine from the get-go. I've only lately gotten A+ w/ Integer mode and it was a revelation. Now PM 2 pretty much ties it for me. I'm going to keeping listening, but both sound great.

[Melvin]

Upgrade installed. Nice UI tweak and the sound quality remains superb as before (not sure it can be improved upon). I like it.

[tubes59]

I installed it. I'm glad I spent the money. It's better!

[Raym87]

I installed it. I'm glad I spent the money. It's better!

 

Would you like to quantify that statement.

[LBob]

The only SQ improvements I noted in the description of 2.0 were related to dithering. Since I have my version set at 0 (I use my preamp for volume control) I wonder if there would be any effects?

[Melvin]

Listened for about 3 hours last night and I swear this version sounds better. Expectation bias? Probably. DBT? Nope. The whole package is simply more enjoyable (including a quicker response time). I suspect all the "under the hood" tweaks made a difference in SQ (but what do I know?). No regrets paying for this upgrade. As usual IMO, YMMV, ect., ect., ect.

[atletico]

Listened for about 3 hours last night and I swear this version sounds better. Expectation bias? Probably. DBT? Nope. The whole package is simply more enjoyable (including a quicker response time). I suspect all the "under the hood" tweaks made a difference in SQ (but what do I know?). No regrets paying for this upgrade. As usual IMO, YMMV, ect., ect., ect.

 

Agree ! Small amount of money for a superb upgrade.. In my system the sound is better with a slightly bigger soundstage with more space, 3D and air. A bit more "relaxing" soundstage. I use Hog mode/native integer mode/hybrid memory play.

I have also tried a lot of versions of Audirvana Plus but the PM sound better in my system and closer to my preferences.

(I am a musician who have also worked a lot in studio and am used to listening to music also in the way it is presented to the listener.)

 

atletico, norway

[tubes59]

Would you like to quantify that statement.

 

It's subjective of course. There is a free trial so you can give it a try.

[LBob]

I decided to try because they offered a demo. I like the new interface.

 

I have a problem getting Less is More to work properly. It would not toggle on via the keyboard command. Perhaps it's due to running on a headless Mac mini via screen sharing. I do like the direct access to DSDs via Less is More play list. Though it took quite a while to load the DSD file, it did play just fine. However, when I paused and exited Less is More to try another cut I got some very loud cracking noises. I kept the older version of PM for comparison purposes and in case I decided not to upgrade.

 

When I switched back to version 1.86 to compare and was very surprised to see that the user interface had changed to the 2.0 version. I thought perhaps the old file was overwritten, but About Pure Music listed it as 1.86. Strange. I'm wondering if I'm comparing 2.0 with 1.86 or 2.0.

 

Tried it with the Apple Remote via my IPad and it worked flawlessly. Did have one problem on a gapless file but it's one that can sometimes give all my player hiccups.

 

Too soon to tell about SQ but it doesn't sound any worse than the previous version. Upgrade status still in doubt.

[Raym87]

It's subjective of course. There is a free trial so you can give it a try.

 

I have done and along with Melvin I am not sure if there is any difference in SQ. I have paid for the upgrade on the basis that if there are any 'useful' future changes then i'm still in the loop and not expected to shell out the full whack to get them. The point I made in my previous post still stands.

[Axiom05]

In my system the sound is better with a slightly bigger soundstage with more space, 3D and air. A bit more "relaxing" soundstage. I use Hog mode/native integer mode/hybrid memory play.

I have also tried a lot of versions of Audirvana Plus but the PM sound better in my system and closer to my preferences.

 

i tend to agree with this but have done no direct comparisons with 2.0 and 1.89.

 

One minor issue I have noticed, and I don't know if this is new or not, is that the banner that displays the track title, album name and artist only works intermittently. It will work on some tracks but not others. I wish it could be turned off completely. Also, it appears that Less is More mode does not function with integer playback selected.

[mwheelerk]

Though Audivrana with iTunes had been my go to player since OS 10.7 and in the past six months I have almost exclusively used JRiver for Mac I still have a place in my heart for Pure Music. Buying my first DAC convinced me good quality audio was possible from a computer based system and installing Pure Music made it so. I don't know that I need this upgrade but I might do it just to support an "old friend".

[Simon M.]

So I've ran across two questions in testing so far:

 

1. I seem to be able to change the volume with both the itunes slider and pure music buttons even when "all dsp options disabled (except up sampling, invert polarity)" is selected. Anyone else able to reproduce this? I'm using a proton with HW volume control (enabled).

 

2. I would love I someone would make an easy to use walk through of how to set up playthrough. I have it working, but it won't upsample and I'm not convinced sounds as good as it should. Also what options do I need set for it to work (ie it doesn't work if you have hog mode set to yes)

 

SQ wise - sounds good to me. But I thought the previous releases were already fantastic - if I can get playthrough to sound great it would be my player of choice.

 

Thanks!

[jfkbike]

I had a few weird bugs that are now gone. Worth every penny to me and still sounds very good.

[satbaba]

I like very puremusic 2.0

resolution better to me

[REShaman]

Just completed a remote support session with Rob of Pure Music after scheduling an appointment yesterday and downloading the team viewer software used by Pure Music that provides access to my Mac Mini.

 

My reason for scheduling the appointment was precipitated by static whenever I attempted to play DSD64 tracks, after I upgraded to 2.0. I had a number of incorrect settings which I corrected from instruction from Rob via emails. I was actually there for trouble-free DSD64 or 128 play but for one problem I had not noticed. It took Rob all of five seconds to detect the problem. For whatever reason the master volume for my W4S Dac-2 DSDse in Audio Midi Setup had been lowered and that caused the static unless I employed Less Is More which allowed me to bypass iTunes. Once Rob moved the Master Volume slider in AMS to 1.0 (FULL) the static disappeared.

 

My compliments to Rob for excellent, patient support. If any member should experience static while attempting to play DSD tracks in PM 2.0, look at the Master Volume setting in AMS for a possible impediment. Once restored to full volume, my problem was solved. Easy when one knows what to look for.

 

Enjoying the music,

Richard

[freddie40]

What an Embarrassment. Long time users are only given 13 days to upgrade, after that they need to pay full price. Remember this is basically just some bug fixes that we have to pay for. This is an embarrassment.

 

Dave

[Vpitnt]

No. this is not right, it is $74.95 after 28 May.

[freddie40]

No. this is not right, it is $74.95 after 28 May.

 

You are right, I didn't realize that Pure Music costs more that Audirvana Plus and JRiver, combined.

 

Anyway, it is embarrassing that they are charging so much for a few bug fixes.

 

Dave

[Paul R]

You are right, I didn't realize that Pure Music costs more that Audirvana Plus and JRiver, combined.

 

Anyway, it is embarrassing that they are charging so much for a few bug fixes.

 

Dave

 

I don't follow your logic. I rarely use Pure Music anymore and I still paid them the $49 for the upgrade cost. Pure Music is a technical triumph, and it's designer is a brilliant guy. Really nice to work with too.

 

This is the first cost upgrade to Pure Music in *four years*, during which time the technology has evolved tremendously. From making MP3s sound a bit better to dealing with quad rate DSD. That's incredible progress in what many think of as a "staid" industry. Not to mention the competitive landscape has certainly changed.

 

I expect the next major revision to A+ will be a cost upgrade too.

 

Those folks have to eat you know...

 

-Paul