Is Pure Music still alive?

[bernardl]

I have been enjoying PM 1.74 for some time as it sounds pretty good, but is still quite a bit to be improved with this piece of kit:

 

- It tends to hang from time to time when switching to high res sampling rates,

- The interface still looks pretty amateurish,

- ...

 

There have been no updated of PM in almost 3 months while we were used to get weekly releases.

 

As the ChannelD guys still working on this? If yes what is in the workds?

 

Thanks.

 

Cheers,

Bernard

 

 

[Paul R]

I'm probably switching to Amarra 2.2 this week for three really big reasons - it sounds a little better, it works much better with iTunes Remote (no hanging up and needing to access the console to clear it), and probably most the most compelling, though least important reason, it runs better period, with no crashes and such.

 

The single downside is that Amarra, even in the $700 version, refuses to play gapless tracks without a pause, unless I load it into an Amarra playlist. If it was just an iTunes Playlist, I would not care.

 

-Paul

 

 

[kennyb123]

I've never had any hangs with the Apple Remote when using Pure Music. It has worked just fine, but I also have Remote Buddy installed, so maybe that's the difference.

 

What do you mean when you say you have to access the console to clear it?

 

Remote Buddy has a free trial. Consider giving it a try to see if your problem disappears. It's a much cheaper fix than Amarra.

 

I also can't remember the last time PM crashed. I don't think it has since I upgraded to a Mac mini that has 4 GB installed a few months ago.

 

Ken

 

P.S. I've also been wondering why ther has been so little Pure Music activity recently. I hope Rob is doing ok.

 

[Mercman]

1.74 was a significant improvement for Pure Music. I have't noticed this hang problem.

 

Rob has told me recently that he is working on a new release. But 1.74 seems to be working well for most users.

 

[Paul R]

Witn 1.74 running in Hybrid mode Memory Play on a Macbook with 4gb of RAM, it will occasionally get cornfused and hang up. Means I have to walk over and open the lid on the Macbook to kill it off and restart it, or access it via a shared screen.

 

The hangups are worse the more optimized I make the install - for instance using Hog Mode. It is also a bit sensitive to what DAC or connection I use. If I use any equalization or audio units, and if I use memory play. In other words, most of the reasons I like PureMusic. (grin)

 

It's worse with an async USB DAC connection. The Halide or V-Link does not bother it, but a HRT MusicStreamer or Arcam rDAC just makes it get all sorts of dodgy.

 

This is possibly just something here, but I don't have any of those issues at all with Amarra.

 

-Paul

 

Go figger - 30 seconds after I wrote the message above, PM started cutting in and out audio wise. Did it three times and set my teeth on edge - running Amarra Mini now - no problems.

 

 

[soundslikemusic]

what exactly does HOG MODE do in PM1.74 ?

So far am enjoying my PM, no issues....

 

 

[ted_b]

It allows PM to have exclusive control of the DAC and requires you to NOT pick the DAC driver in Audio Midi, but instead choose it in the dropdowns of PM's audio setup. It results in much better sound.

 

I have PM on constantly, switch DACS and therefore drivers (demos, evaluations,etc) often, sometimes multiple times throughout the day, and have never experienced these hang ups you guys talk about. PM 1.74 has been error-free since day one.

 

[Mercman]

Paul.

 

Have you contacted Rob for help?

 

I have no problems with a 2009 and 2011 MacBook Pro running a Wavelength USB DAC.

 

The issue I have with Amarra is that it doesn't sound as good to me. But this is a personal preference with my system.

 

[Paul R]

Simply takes over exclusive control of an audio interface. You must have at least two interfaces in your system for HOG mode to be enabled.

 

-Paul

 

 

[Paul R]

I don't have any crash files or anything much of value to send. It isn't leaving tracks in the console logs or anything like that.

 

I've been kind of waiting for the next version to come out, as I expect it will leapfrog Amarra again, and probably have a much improved interface.

 

-Paul

 

 

[James1776]

I am thrilled with Pure Music as it is at the moment..I am far more used to computer software that has flaws, is constantly being fiddled with, has compatibility problems with about everything else on the computer and seldom does what it was claimed to do when sold. Pure Music on my very modest system does exactly what it promises and sound very good indeed.

 

Would it not make more sense to save updates for real, major changes than constantly to be screwing with what is not broken?

 

[Paul R]

If it does not work, then no.

 

I'm also finding that there is much more difference between Amarra 2.2 and plain iTunes, than between PM 1.74 and plain iTunes.

 

Amarra doesn't crash, have dropouts, or otherwise cause me grief and irritation on the same Macbook hardware. And the option of 'Playlist Follows iTunes" lets me play gapless albums with a minimum of fuss, if with a bit of leftover junk in the audio buffer when I switch albums or tracks around manually. I suspect that will be zapped with 2.2.1 or whatever the next version is.

 

Like I said, I expect the next version of PM will leapfrog Amarra again. Competition here is a good thing.

 

-Paul

 

 

[myco]

Hello,

 

Rest assured that there is a lot of hard work going into the next releases of Pure Music and Pure Vinyl, and some interesting surprises are in the works.

 

If it seems like things have been quiet, it’s only because we’ve found in 15 years of marketing Mac OS audio software that posting numerous incremental updates, unless needed for fine-tuning major releases, is annoying to most users. The response to Pure Music 1.74a, the latest version, has been overwhelmingly positive. (If you are experiencing any unexpected software behavior, please contact our tech support with detailed information about your computer setup as requested on the Contact page of our website. Any issues are usually resolvable with a few simple changes.)

 

The next updates to those products will be free, as was the case with all previous updates.

 

If there remains any doubt that we are still very active and very busy, that doubt can be dispelled by taking a look at our news page (or online blogs from audio publications featuring trade show coverage). Speaking of audiophile trade shows, I think exposure at trade shows is as helpful to audio product development as racing is to automobile or motorcycle manufacturers. You are putting your products on the line, demonstrating them under trying conditions. If something can go wrong at a trade show, it will. My reward is when people would come in and volunteer comments to the effect that our room had the best sound of the show, even trumping the “big rooms,” as happened over and over last month at AXPONA.

 

Thanks to everybody for your continued support and interest in Pure Music.

 

Rob Robinson, Channel D

 

 

[bernardl]

Thanks for the update Rob, glad to read you are working on the next thing! :-)

 

Cheers,

Bernard

 

 

[soundslikemusic]

Kindly please clarify on:

 

Simply takes over exclusive control of an audio interface. You must have at least two interfaces in your system for HOG mode to be enabled.

 

What you mean by two interfaces in your system ??

 

Would appreciate some inputs.

 

SLM

 

[kennyb123]

Hog Mode usage is well explained in the Pure Music User's Guide.

 

[Paul R]

Definitely read the manual for a full explantion. The simple way to explain is this:

You need one Audio Interface (Built in Audio, a USB attached DAC, etc.) to dedicate to Pure Music, and one for everything else on your Mac to share.

 

The manual will descibe this better, and I believe, provides a way to trick your Mac into thinking it has a second audio interface.

 

-Paul

 

 

[ted_b]

tricking your Mac. Audio Midi will ALWAYS give you the option of using your internal audio driver (standard internal sound) so the notion of "needing two interfaces" is irrelevant/moot. When you attach an external DAC and its driver (whether you have to install the driver or whether it appears automatically) Audio Midi may use that one for external sound if you pick it. However, in PM's hog mode do not pick it within Audio Midi; simply set up your audio within PM's own preference windows (where you'll pick your drivers there). It's straight forward and explained in the pdf manual.

 

[Paul R]

However, without a second interface, there is no supported way to select HOG mode. The manual supports that.

 

ENABLE EXCLUSIVE ACCESS (“HOG” MODE)

 

This option reserves the audio device for Pure Music’s exclusive use while Pure Music is running.To use this feature, the audio device selected in Audio MIDI Setup should be set to a different device than the one used by Pure Music, to allow iTunes to fully access an audio device if necessary.

 

Accordingly, by default, Hog Mode cannot be used for the audio device selected in Audio MIDI Setup. Disabling Strict Device Validation will bypass this check, but doing so is at your own risk (may cause an unexpected quit in iTunes or Pure Music).

 

If using the Built-In audio with a toslink cable, the free, phantom audio driver called Soundflower (from cycling74.com) can be installed and selected in AMS as a default device.

 

Note: If the Input and Output are physically part of the same hardware, selecting Hog mode for one device will disable the Hog mode check box for the other. However, both devices will be in Hog mode.

 

 

This is nothing new, and has been the case since they implemented Hog mode.

 

 

 

 

[ted_b]

My point was simply to say that there is no need to worry about "having two interfaces or two devices" since the question was about plugging a DAC into a MAC, that equals two devices.

 

Rob is doing great work at Channel D, and has many great upgraded features up his sleeve, including the oft-mentioned integer mode (for those DACs that allow it). Look forward to the next version.

 

[Paul R]

I was answering the question of what exactly is Hog mode, and I referenced that it requires two audio interfaces.

 

Not quite sure what you objected to there.

 

"Plugging in a DAC" does not automatically create a second Audio interface, unless it is a Firewire or USB DAC.

 

A DacMagic or Benchmark DAC1 for instance, would use the optical output, and require you "trick" the Mac into thinking it has a second audio interface to use Hog mode.

 

-Paul

 

 

[kennyb123]

Plugging a DAC into a MAC does not equal two devices when the DAC is connected to the the Mac's built-in toslink output. What ted_b says is true only when plugging in a USB or FireWire DAC, as these appear as an additional output device.

 

I used Soundflower as described in the user guide when I used to connect a DAC to toslink.

 

[jfkbike]

"Means I have to walk over and open the lid on the Macbook to kill it off and restart it, or access it via a shared screen."

 

I never have had good luck closing a lid on a laptop. leave open and turn down brightness all the way if that is why you are closing it. May stop the crashing if in fact you are closing the lid.

 

[Paul R]

If the lid is left open, I find cats sleeping on its keyboard. That creates some unusual situations. In any case, I'll replace it with a new Mac Mini when the new models come out.

 

I'm putting together an incident report to send up to Channel D, but honestly, who knows? It doesn't crash with anything else, and it is a freshly loaded copy of MacOS with not much of anything else on it.

 

I don't want them to spend time debugging this when they could be working on the next big version.

 

 

-Paul

 

 

 

 

[jfkbike]

Anyway..., just leave it open about an inch so it does not try to go to sleep etc.... and see if it helps.