macOS catalina

[bobbmd]

any advice on upgrading to this from el capitan

will my streaming music sound quality in cd/hires from roon a+3 tidal qobuz be degraded in anyway have no interest or skills to do 'workarounds' if needed

am perfectly happy with what i have now for macOS

thanks

bobbmd

[avta]

I've been using Catalina beta for the past month or so. No problems at all in regards compatibility with software I use ( Tidal, Audirvana ). Sound is fine. I don't use Room or qobuz. If you have concerns you might wait until the final version ofCatalina is released.

[Dr Tone]

20 hours ago, avta said:

If you have concerns you might wait until the final version ofCatalina is released.

 

It was released on Monday.

[matthias]

22 hours ago, avta said:

I've been using Catalina beta for the past month or so. No problems at all in regards compatibility with software I use ( Tidal, Audirvana ). Sound is fine. I don't use Room or qobuz. 

 

Would you say music via Catalina/Audirvana sounds better than via the former Mac OS/Audirvana?

Thanks

 

Matt

[AnotherSpin]

I updated OS to Catalina. HQPlayer desktop (to NUC NAA) sounds ok, no issues. Can not tell it sounds different from Mojave.

[tmtomh]

Has Apple changed anything in the audio subsystem/back end in Catalina? If not, then there would be no reason to expect audio quality to change compared to Mojave.

[wgscott]

On 10/10/2019 at 7:48 AM, bobbmd said:

any advice on upgrading to this from el capitan

 

If that is working for you, stick with it.  I still run it on my Mac mini (which is what I use for music).  If you don't need any of the new features (like 60,000 useless emoji), then why bother?

 

I say this as a resident OS X [sic] fanboi.

[tmtomh]

The only issue I have that's preventing me from updating my music streamer (also a Mac mini) - and this might not affect a lot of other folks here - is that I use iTunes with the BitPerfect app, which adds on-the-fly resolution switching and integer mode (making all output... bit-perfect). And I am pretty sure that the move from iTunes to the Music app will break BitPerfect. And since Mojave created a small bug in BitPerfect, which the developer still has not patched, I am pessimistic about BitPerfect ever being compatible with the Catalina Music app. So my music streamer stays at High Sierra unless or until I decide to totally switch my playback software.

[bobbmd]

@wgscott@tmtomh thank you and wg like minds....have you listened to 'saint of circumstance' yet what do you think and my almost 40yo just told me about 'reckoning' don't think i ever listened to it??!!

am getting new gungnir multibit and raggy2 with legacy audio hd stereo monitors can't wait..wg what do think of that setup? would you biwire the speakers and what about adding a pair old cambridge soundworks passive/slave subwoofers(just run wire from amp through the woofers to the legacies) or just an old cambridge soundworks powered subwoofer as an out from the ragg2(henry kloss's old last company)?

[jhwalker]

2 hours ago, tmtomh said:

The only issue I have that's preventing me from updating my music streamer (also a Mac mini) - and this might not affect a lot of other folks here - is that I use iTunes with the BitPerfect app, which adds on-the-fly resolution switching and integer mode (making all output... bit-perfect). And I am pretty sure that the move from iTunes to the Music app will break BitPerfect. And since Mojave created a small bug in BitPerfect, which the developer still has not patched, I am pessimistic about BitPerfect ever being compatible with the Catalina Music app. So my music streamer stays at High Sierra unless or until I decide to totally switch my playback software.

 

I don't use BitPerfect any more, but received a mailing this morning they've updated the app for Catalina Music app compatibility

[tmtomh]

56 minutes ago, jhwalker said:

 

I don't use BitPerfect any more, but received a mailing this morning they've updated the app for Catalina Music app compatibility

 

Wow - that's fantastic news! Thanks!

[daverich4]

On 10/10/2019 at 10:48 AM, bobbmd said:

any advice on upgrading to this from el capitan

will my streaming music sound quality in cd/hires from roon a+3 tidal qobuz be degraded in anyway have no interest or skills to do 'workarounds' if needed

am perfectly happy with what i have now for macOS

thanks

bobbmd

Roon is currently not working properly with Catalina according to numerous posts on their forums. 

[mcgillroy]

Be aware that the column browser is gone in the iTunes successor Music.

Really sucks & I’ll pretty much have to switch to some other software now.

[avta]

Bobbmd I have not noticed any audible differences between the different OS's. 

[tmtomh]

I have upgraded and notice no audible differences either. Catalina does seem a bit more responsive on my machines that High Sierra and Mojave.

[wgscott]

On 10/11/2019 at 9:47 AM, bobbmd said:

@wgscott@tmtomh thank you and wg like minds....have you listened to 'saint of circumstance' yet what do you think and my almost 40yo just told me about 'reckoning' don't think i ever listened to it??!!

am getting new gungnir multibit and raggy2 with legacy audio hd stereo monitors can't wait..wg what do think of that setup? would you biwire the speakers and what about adding a pair old cambridge soundworks passive/slave subwoofers(just run wire from amp through the woofers to the legacies) or just an old cambridge soundworks powered subwoofer as an out from the ragg2(henry kloss's old last company)?

 

Sorry, only just saw this.  I haven't heard St. of Circumstance yet, but Reckoning (which was once also published under the title "For the Faithful" if memory serves) is outstanding, and acoustic.  I don't have any experience with the components you are getting, sorry.  

 

The other thing about Catalina is 32 bit programs will no longer work, if that is a concern for you.

[Miska]

23 hours ago, tmtomh said:

I have upgraded and notice no audible differences either. Catalina does seem a bit more responsive on my machines that High Sierra and Mojave.

 

I also consider that performance has been nicely improving across recent releases...

 

[photonman]

My 2014 Mac was in bad need of a refresh so I just completed the disk wipe and reinstalled the OS and then upgraded to Catalina.  Just for the heck of it, I bought Bitperfect to try out Apple Music service.  I must say, it sounded pretty good, probably better than Spotify.  But because I go DAC direct to amp, I do not have good control of the volume, the default level is way too loud so that will not work as my wife thinks I play music too loud anyways.  I see no way to adjust the system volume level?

 

 

[Moosbrugger]

I just upgraded to Catalina and my Scripts are missing.  (Doug's Apple Scripts, to be exact.)  I tried installing a script that was specific for Catalina, but it's not appearing anywhere in Music.  Any suggestions?

[avta]

Have you run Disk Utility First Aid mode? that sometimes helps.