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About Me

  1. Newbie Dave here. I just finished building my own rig. ASRock FM2A88m Extreme 4+ MB, 16 GB Ram, 128 SSD, W10. Works fine! No audiocard. There is an external SPDIF port on back! I want to buy a pair of Behringer MS20 speakers. (I currently have no speakers at all and use earplugs). The Behringer MS20 speakers have their own 24/192 DAC built in and they have a SPDIF input on back. If I use an SPDIF cable from output on computer to input on speakers will this bypass my computer DAC entirely! I've heard that computer DACs are very cheap 16/44 specs I think! I hope I explained this OK. DACs confuse the heck out of me! Tks for any help - David
  2. Hello Fellow Computer Audiophile's. Now I use a old PC Laptop, with Roon, Signalyst HQPlayer, NAS (with ripped CDs and DSD) and of course TIDAL HiFi mostly playing the new Masters, I love the sound from MQA? But I need new hardware, please help me to chose that I shall buy! I'm open for any suggestions as long as it's a hardware, that I can use for a longtime and upgrade after needing!!! Well as "Newbie" here so do I hope that people on Computer Audiophile's are helpful and trustworthy! So I put my faith into your experience and knowledge, when it comes to that I need and shall buying! Remember that I now how music shall sound, but my skills in the computer world are so I managed to get a pc laptop run I have been a professional musician and studio producer, studio and live engineer since 1978, so almost 40 years! I hope that you will help me with my new hardware, so I can get everything running smooth and better! Just so you know!!! I have everything else! Like amps, DAC's, speakers, the best different cables, electric supply and Entreq grounding products. L&R String
  3. Hi All, I believe this is my first post, so please excuse any apparent ignorance. Can the community here suggest 'the best' computer-based playback device(s) currently available. I am looking for a system that does the following: -digitize incoming analog sources, preferably on-the-fly, and includes options for applying vinyl RIAA curves, etc -can accept DSD, SACD, HDCD and DVD-A signals -can analysize audio data files, optimize and/or make corrections to those files -can apply room and/or speaker corrections -has EQ with preset memory -can manage a song library -has a regulated power supply -components are of good build, properly isolated and appropriate for low-noise audio playback I would greatly appreciate your feed back. Many Thanks!
  4. I have an Onkyo 605 7.1 Home Theater receiver. I bought this specifically to have surround sound for my custom gaming PC. I have 3 speakers for left/right/center channels(about to purchase more). I have the speakers connected to the receiver but when I use HDMI, I can't get any sound. Are there any better ways to do this? I don't particularly want to have to use the Home Theater as the 'middle man's for the video output for my computer, but if I have to, I will. Thank you!
  5. Good morning all, As I am a new member of this forum, also kind of newbie in audio systems and listening itself, I hope you would be able to help me with some questions I have regarding my new stereo system in house. After searching through half the internet I bought Wharfedale Diamond 220 speakers with Onkyo A-9010 amplifier. Among with this i bought QED Reference Silver Anniversary XT speaker cable and Prolink RCA Futura FTC 103 cable to connect amplifier with PC. Indeed, I plan to use audio system only with PC or PS4/TV, that is why I am trying to get the best sound quality from the source i have. I am not an audiophile, these are my first steps here and please advise me what else can I to do improve my quality. Previously I had casual 2.1 and now the difference in quality is really HUGE. I can no longer listen to any mp3, as on my previous audio it did not make a difference if i used mp3 or flac. 1. Is this DAC (Wolfson) in my Onkyo enough or should i buy a sound card to my PC? 2. For now I have my speaker connected directly with "nude" cable. Should I buy fork or banana plugs? Will it improve the sound? 3. I use foobar2000 with ASIO (hope i have configured it properly with instructions from the internet). Can I somehow check if I get Bit perfect quality in some of my FLAC files or it supposed to be done only by ear? Maybe you have any other ideas to play tracks with best quality possible? 4. I do also lack of bass a bit. Mostly I listen to Rock, Jazz and soundtrack from movies, but during a day it is a lot of hip hop pealing out of my speakers - that is where i lack bass the most, as i hoped it would get much deeper (even on loudness option). However my room is rather small for now, about 10m3 but it may get bigger with time. Any chance for improving? Forgive me for such "amaterous" questions, but I am really new in this, already excited about the sound I am getting and I hope you would help a bit. My goal is to work out with my audio, listen in various configurations to know this world better. Will be much grateful for any tip you can get me. Thanks!
  6. What I want is some program that will run on a cheap tablet (to be purchased) that will search and select CD quality music files stored on an external hard drive (files ripped to flac from physical CDs using Exact Audio Copy) and will send the selected files to the USB input of an external integrated amp containing a built-in DAC in order to play the files through my main tower speakers.
  7. Hi Computer Audiophiles, I'm writing to you because I'm a Wedding and Event DJ looking to step up the quality of my music files. I believe since most DJ equipment and my equipment is 2 channel, I think all questions going forward pertain to 2 channel audio. The first question I have is how many high quality physical media formats are there that I can use. I'm aware of SACD, DVD Audio and Blu-Ray audio. Are there any other physical media types I should be familiar with? What is the best way to find out if physical media has 2 channel audio? Is there a way to convert multi channel audio to 2 channel without sacrificing quality. Are there any file based non-physical media formats that I should consider? My goal with my collection is to have at a bare minimim CD or vinyl record quality. 1000+kbps and above essentially. I hope my questions are clear and I hope I posted this in the correct section of the forum. Thank you.
  8. I just got my first proper system with just an Amp (Hegel H90) and a stereo speakers (Monitor Audio Silver 6) for my living room, and I need something to play music on. I already have a HTPC with Node 202 case, and a server running FreeNas with Xeon E3, 16gb ECC, and 9TB storage. My amp has a USB input, and supports DLNA. I also have a bunch of CDS and Blurays ripped on my FreeNAS running plex server in a container, and I have a turntable. But mostly I listen on Tidal/Spotify (I just started Tidal while still waiting for Spotify lossless) So, my options are: Using HTPC and consider upgrading everything inside and connect via USB. Using FreeNAS server and DLNA to stream to Amp. Buy a Bluesound Node 2 and connect amp via S/PDIF Can you please provide opinions thank you
  9. I am about to run an experiment. I would like others thoughts before I make this happen. I have a “spare” Mac Mini that was my music server and my current music server which is the last generation Sonic Transporter i5. I have been reading the threads about using a bridged network to improve sound quality. So I am am thinking about the new ST i7 DSP but before I spend $$$$ I want to experiment. My current NAA is a microrendu with 1.3 hardware and 2.5 software. I am running Ethernet to it. The music servers are in the network rack in the basement. 1. Move Roon Core back over to the Mac Mini and put the music either on my Synology NAS or on a drive attached to the Mac. 2. Test the Mac Mini as the server without bridging for a few days. 3. Setup bridging on the Mac Mini and see what happens. 3.5. Try some software optimization’s? 4. Move back to the sonic transporter to close the loop. I really like the Sonic Transporter for the simplicity in that I do not have to worry about software updates or OS Managment. . There are a lot of ways to spend say $2000 on just the server. —RJF I have a SoTM-200 ultra and their power supply on order to try.
  10. Hello everyone, I just joined the forum and appreciate all the information on this website. I am researching a problem that I was hoping you could help with. I have a laptop driving a 4k display using displayport 1.2 (3840x2160@60Hz). I'd like to get the audio stream (intel display audio) into my receiver but cannot find any displayport audio extractors. I could use HDMI but then my display could only run at 30Hz (looks horrible). I've looked into USB-to-SPDIF devices, but I don't believe those won't provide 5.1 sound from Netflix/PowerDVD/MPC. Anyone have thoughts how I can get bit-perfect stereo audio into my receiver when playing music as well as 5.1 Dolby/DTS encoded sound when watching movies? Thanks, Nathan
  11. I recently upgraded to Windows 10. After my upgrade was complete I realized my sound card (Creative Labs X-Fi Titanium Pro) the manufacturer won't update them anytime soon. This sprung me to do some research on finding a new audio solution. Upon doing some research I found that using an internal sound card especially one like the one I was using was inferior to many other options. Now here comes my dilemma and confusion as to what I need. A buddy of mine uses a stereo receiver to play back audio over his computer. I like the way that looks and sounds and was thinking that would be the route I would go as I want something with multi-channel capabilities (I'm currently running 5.1 surround on my computer) although I would be willing to drop down to a 2 channel setup although ultimately I would like the option to have a full surround setup. Would a good stereo receiver benefit from a DAC? Or should I just hook the receiver directly up to my computer?
  12. So... I recently bought myself a pair of Polk Audio RTi A1s for my birthday. Long story short, I have no idea how to connect them to my computer. Things I have: Schiit Audio Mangi 2 Amp 3.5mm Jack on PC ~100$ So, I think that I need a DAC that supports speaker wire and a 3.5mm input. Am I right? What else do I need? Any suggestions on quality stuff at roughly 100$?
  13. As you’re aware that there’ll be upgraded version of Fidelizer in upcoming release. However, it doesn’t decrease the quality of works I put into original Fidelizer one bit. Version 6.0 comes with big changelog fixing various issues found thorough the year. It also have some changes and improvements to be more stable and reliable. If you enjoy good sound from Fidelizer and want more for the better, consider Fidelizer upgrade program to advance your computer audio journey to the next step. Changes in version 6.0 -Added Fidelizer upgrade program for buying advanced version of Fidelizer -Changed ‘Professional’ optimization level name to ‘Workstation (General Purpose)’ -Changed default optimization level to ‘Workstation (General Purpose)’ for stable default configuration -Changed some core optimizations to supported values according to Microsoft documents -Fixed multi-core optimizations not working properly for audio playback part -Fixed Fidelized audiophile player playback stability and compatibility -Fixed JRemote and few others apps not working in Windows 8.1 using Extremist optimization level -Fixed some Network Streaming optimizations that worked on unchecked one instead -Fixed uPNP not working using Extremist optimization level with keeping network services -Fixed some errors in parsing system configuration -Revised core optimizations improving compatibility with all optimization levels and network streaming Info and Download: Fidelizer 6.0
  14. What a sad loss. Those of you who grew up in the 80s and 90s playing games, especially in the UK, would know the impact Sinclair had on gaming and home computers. Such an influential inventor and a true legend. My beloved ZX Spectrum (Timex Sinclair in the US) certainly changed my life. RIP Sir Clive Sinclair. 🙏❤️
  15. Like many here, I try to keep computer audio simple. My music library resides on a single external bus-powered Oyen firewire drive. Until recently, this was a 1TB Samsung HDD. I've now replaced it with a 1TB SSD, but what is of relevance here is what happened after about three years of constant, daily use. Like many drives (HHD and SSD), it started to fail. However, it wasn't obvious to me, at first, that the hardware was failing. I am still not certain. When I copied the contents of the library, I noticed some files failed to copy: HFS+ has a reputation for being a fragile file system. I decided if I wanted to definitively address this problem, I wanted one of the more robust "self-healing" filesystems like sfs or btrfs on a NAS. Although replacing music files that become corrupted is a pain in the arse, it is at least possible. However, for my laboratory experimental data (including many 100s of GB of X-ray diffraction images), the data files are irreplaceable. Similarly, family digital photos cannot be replaced. I decided to get a NAS as part of a (redundant) data backup and storage strategy for my research group, and this would also allow me to keep a remote backup copy of my music library (and family photos) at work. An added bonus is that these would be accessible from any computer at work (or anywhere else). Since I have a computer hardware budget and limited time, I didn't want a DIY project. I wanted a NAS that would essentially be plug-and-play with minimal configuration. After a lot of consideration, I went for a ZFS-based freeNAS with four disc drives that could be configured in a raid array. The FreeNAS mini runs freeBSD, which happens to be the flavor of unix from which Darwin (OS X unix) was derived. The main point is it is a fairly standard unix operating system, so anyone familiar with linux, OS X, or other flavors of unix should be able to find their way around. The FreeNAS project is an open-source effort designed to allow a NAS such as the one I purchased, or one you might choose to assemble yourself, to be configured from a semi-user-friedly web-based GUI. (Although I am actually more of a unix command-line-oriented individual, rather than a GUI fan, I actually found the interface to be quite helpful. In fact, my only gripe is that the way this thing works is that changes made within the GUI persist, but many system modifications one might try to make on the command-line get wiped out upon reboot (or sooner). At first, this irritated the living shit out of me, but now I have come to appreciate the point of doing things this way, if one is administering what the vendor insists upon referring to as an "appliance." If I ever decide the GUI does more harm than good, I can always kick it to the curb, but for now I have surrendered to its functionality for the most part.) Hardware The hardware seems to be first-rate. The chassis holds four conventional hard drives, which the vendor optionally supplies, formatted and ready to install. I decided to take advantage of getting everything bundled, and got the largest hard drive option they sell. Their choice is the WD Red HDD, which I guess is reasonably robust, unlike the 3TB Seagate Drive with the 38% failure rate I bought at Costco. All you do is stick the drives in the bays and plug it in. (I didn't realize you have to use the ejection lever to put the drive in properly, or it won't seat on the pins and power up. Customer service got back to me at 7 am local time when I submitted an 11th-hour plea for help via email.) Once you get the discs installed, you have to hook up a VGA monitor temporarily, and a USB keyboard, and issue a few responses to some initialization prompts, and then you can access the web browser-based GUI from the comfort of any other computer on your local network to complete the setup process. Here is what the GUI looks like: The FreeNAS GUI What you see below is the web-based interface that allows you to control the NAS. You have to configure everything using the GUI. The GUI then saves the configuration parameters in a sql-like database file, and from that file standard unix configuration files are generated (and re-generated) upon rebooting (sometimes sooner). This can be a double-edge sword. I quickly learned to stop fighting it, but it still bugs me that I can't over-ride some default settings that appear to be counter-productive or security holes, without coming up with some crazy work-around strategies (one of which I describe at the end.) You can save the original factory settings, and each set of changes (and prune the list as you see appropriate), which allows you to go back to and boot into a previous configuration if you run into problems: Once you configure the RAID and import some files, you can export all or portions of the RAID file system to your other computers using Apple's firesharing protocol (AFP), SMB, NFS, or other options. The GUI allows you to configure these, and importantly, restrict who can access them and from what computers (using hosts allow and host deny and/or username-based access). Here's a (redacted) copy of the first few AFP exports I created. I am able to mount (for example) my music and photos library from my laptop in a hotel room many miles away (not an option I recommend implementing normally): Jails and Plug-ins I mentioned FreeNAS is very intolerant of customizations you might wish to make that are not available via the GUI. Instead, if you want to run a lab website, or a music server or minecraft server or whatever, you can create what FreeBSD maintainers call a "Jail" or sandbox, which creates a FreeBSD operating system nested within the parent OS. In other words, you can run a computer within the computer, and the computer within cannot interfere with or damage or delete files in the parent computer. Its contents and functionality are jailed or sandboxed. A set of pre-prepared jails are made available as "plug-ins" that can be installed from the FreeNAS GUI, or you can create your own jail, as I did, when I cloned my lab's website. These jails get their own IP addresses, MAC addresses, and so forth, and to the outside world look like stand-alone computers. Importantly, these files reside on the RAID itself, and are not clobbered upon reconfiguration or reboot. Although I don't happen to use this NAS as a conventional music-server NAS, you can see there are several plug-in options that would enable you to do this. (You can then export your library from the main filesystem to the jail and mount it). Turn off the damn GUI I think having a GUI login with a root password is idiotic. It is even more idiotic to have to type the root password in via http rather than https (the default, although you can, and should, remedy this). It is even more idiotic to broadcast that GUI login page to the universe, and have no apparent way to firewall it off or restrict access to your LAN or vLAN. WTF? Even my attempts to do this in the webserver configuration files got clobbered almost immediately. One workaround I have is to ssh into the machine and kill the webserver, and then start it back up only when I need it. This is not reasonable, and even this won't survive a reboot. I defined two shell functions to try to make this easier: I really shouldn't have to do this. Complaining got me nowhere. Overall Assessment: Although by no means as simple as setting up an Apple computer running OS X, assembly and set up of the FreeNAS Mini was relatively straightforward, and file exports work as expected. I am even able to do time-machine backups, although I find rsync both faster and more useful. (Time machine creates a monolithic sparse disc image file, so I would suggest not using it for NAS backups, but instead use rsync or the equivalent, especially if you are dealing with a music or photo or movie library.) The FreeNAS GUI and OS, along with the plugin/jail system, gives you the flexibility you need, within the confines imposed by the FreeNAS way of doing things. (The flip-side of the imposed restrictions is they have made administering the NAS fairly idiot-proof, and it spares you the need to learn a lot of zfs jargon and configuration, which looks to me like a fairly steep learning curve. If you have the time and patience and aptitude to DIY, you can save some money, but this "appliance" will save you a lot of grief if you are a time-strapped ADHD-addled borderline computer illiterate like I am.) Additional Information: Wikipedia Article on ZFS iXSystems FreeNAS Mini NAS Review - Tom's Hardware iXsystems FreeNAS Mini 4-Bay NAS Review ---
  16. I let iTunes organize my music library. (In the "advanced" preference window, you can choose to let iTunes do this, or you can choose to do it manually. Manual seems too much like work, but I hate that I cannot customize how iTunes organizes things). iTunes serves many functions, much to many people's annoyance. It is a bloated monstrosity, and gets more annoying and controlling and arbitrary by the year. But like any disfunctional relationship, one clings to hope like a gerbil on greased teflon, at least until something demonstratively superior comes along. The functions that iTunes provides, in decreasing order of importance to me, are the following: 1. A music file-system organizer. 2. A database management system. 3. A music player. 4. A movie player. 5. A shameless consumerism interface. 6. An iOS management system. 7. A music streamer. 8. A radio player. The list doubtless goes on. I try to use it mainly for the first two functions. As a database manager, it does pretty well. Certainly, there are quibbles about its limitations for classical music, but they haven't been deal-breakers for me. As a music file-system organizer, iTunes (if you don't disable this feature) will import all of your music into ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes\ Media/Music/<level_1_subdirectory>/<level_2_subdirectory> Although you can customize the first part of this path to put the files on an external drive (or elsewhere), the penultimate and final directories are determined by iTunes. The <level_2_subdirectory> takes the name of the individual album. In most cases, this makes sense. It is the <level_1_subdirectory> that brings me to tears, especially in the case of classical music. With non-classical music, things work fairly smoothly. For example, you might import an album entitled "Workingman's Dead" by the band called "Grateful Dead." In this case, all of the music files get placed in the following directory: ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes\ Media/Music/Grateful\ Dead/Workingman\'s\ Dead A complication might arise if I have two versions of this, perhaps the original version, and then say the 24 bit, 96kHz remaster. If I do nothing, both sets of files might wind up in the same directory. This is easily avoided if you manually change the album name to (for example) reflect the remastered content. For many consumers, this system works fine, and there is no need to worry about anything. In addition, if you wanted to find or copy your Grateful Dead collection of 52 different albums, they should all be in that same directory, each one in one of 52 subdirectories. Who could possibly object? The problem begins to arise when one discovers half of the music is in a different directory, perhaps called "The Grateful Dead". Again, this is easily fixed by editing the "Artist" entry metadata tag, removing the word "The". Kind of tedious, but not that bad. But what happens when you get one of those albums that has several different artists? Now files start to get spread all over the place. Despite having used iTunes for probably 15 years, I never picked up on how exactly the file structure is created, until I looked more closely at it yesterday. I experienced what drunks call a moment of clarity: The penultimate directory, i.e., <level_1_subdirectory>, takes on the name provided in the "Artist" metadata tag, UNLESS the rather obscurely named "Album Artist" metadata tag is also provided, in which case "Album Artist" takes precedent. In the case of classical music, the "Artist" metadata field is notoriously ill-defined. Often it makes reference to the Conductor (if any), the orchestra or quartet or whatever ensemble, perhaps the star piano player, or perhaps key figures in the Trilateral Commission. Even worse, it might be the Conductor's last name only, her or his first and last name, or initials, or who knows what else. You can wind up with 10 different directories all corresponding to Claudio Abbado, and they might have half a dozen different composer's stuff within their subdirectories, which might in turn be unhelpfully named "Symphony No. 6". In terms of a file-system hierarchy, this is a total mess. I would like all my Grateful Dead albums to be in unique subdirectories under one directory called "Grateful Dead." I don't want to have to use a relational database to find the contents of my music library. I should be able to navigate it just like any other rationally-organized filesystem. When examining my classical music library the other day, I realized that the "Album Artist" metadata tag seems to be underused. In most cases it was simply blank. In many others, it contained at least a subset of the information already in the "Artist" tag. Maybe if instead of calling this tag "Album Artist", iTunes had called it "Insert your choice for the name of <level_1_subdirectory> in here:", the solution would have been more obvious. I decided then to re-organize my classical music library, simply by copying the name of the Composer (which I dutifully included in the Composer metadata tag when first importing my music) into the "Album Artist" metadata tag field. In the case of Composers who are proportionately over-represented in my library, like Beethoven, I filled in the field with "Beethoven: Abbado" or "Beethoven: Haitink", and if I possess multiple cycles, I further differentiated this in the album titles themselves. At least now, all of the Beethoven stuff is grouped together when the filesystem hierarchy is alphabetized. An example is shown in the attached screen-shot: [ATTACH=CONFIG]20904[/ATTACH] Please add comments here
  17. <p><a href="/monthly_2014_12/58cd9bc8d7baf_ScreenShot2014-12-18at2_04_23PM.png.02fba4ecfe8c901197fc96352c848cbf.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28310" src="/monthly_2014_12/58cd9bc8d7baf_ScreenShot2014-12-18at2_04_23PM.png.02fba4ecfe8c901197fc96352c848cbf.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p> Before you Start ... Take a look at the well-hidden Computer Audiophile Academy: Basics Introduction There is a lot of mythology surrounding computer audio. This is too bad, because it is very simple to do. Take a look around any community college campus; almost every student is using computer audio without any fanfare, either directly via their iPhone (or iPod), via their computer, or via some sort of streaming service to an iPhone or computer. They don't really have to do anything in terms of preparation. If you want to use your Apple computer to play music out of its tiny tinny little speakers (which on my iMac actually sound fairly decent), or via your headphones, all you have to do is fire up iTunes. If you have a cable with a minijack at one end and RCA jacks at the other, you can do the same thing with your home stereo. Everything else is simply a refinement of the same procedure. One improvement in terms of electrical noise and possibly inherent sound quality is to use an external DAC (digital analogue converter), which you can connect to via USB, via optical (most Apple computers have a mini-jack that doubles as optical out), HDMI, or via USB/coax converter. How to set up OS X to work with your external DAC or AVR receiver If you have a stand-alone external DAC or DAC that is part of an integrated stereo system, chances are that it will use USB input, and/or optical and/or coax digital inputs, whereas if your DAC is part of an AVR, it most likely will offer HDMI and/or optical and/or coax digital inputs. Whichever is the case, the setup procedure is basically the same. What they all have in common is that you select the output device using a program located in the Utilities folder of the Applications folder on the main systems drive. The name of the program is called Audio MIDI Setup. You can open it quickly just by typing "Audio MIDI Setup" in Spotlight. It might be a good idea to keep it available in your Dock for future use. Note: You (probably) don't need a "Driver" Unless you are using an unusual interface or DAC, it is very unlikely that you will need to install any software at all to use it. If you are shopping for DACS or USB converters, place a high priority on those that don't require software drivers, which can cause huge headaches when the manufacturer doesn't keep up with operating system upgrades. Note: You don't need an expensive cable. <p><a href="/monthly_2014_12/Huckster.jpg.f3524eeb02fc3fe5f40c3ec65b88d02b.jpg" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28311" src="/monthly_2014_12/Huckster.jpg.f3524eeb02fc3fe5f40c3ec65b88d02b.jpg" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p> If you are spending more than $10 or $20 on a digital cable, you are paying for branding, jewelry or bragging rights. The differences you hear almost certainly will disappear when you close your eyes. Any competently manufactured cable will be good enough (eg: Bluejeans Cable, Monoprice, etc.) If you do decide to blow a wad of cash on a digital cable, at least become familiar with what a non-designer cable sounds like first, so you can compare. Do a double-blind test. Ask for objective measurements. Anyone who really makes something superior should be more than happy to prove it to you on your terms, not theirs. a. If you have a USB DAC or USB coax converter or other USB bridge <p><a href="/monthly_2014_12/MIDI_bridge.png.6c5fb49dcab6cedf2a60c9c0f4633e3f.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28309" src="/monthly_2014_12/MIDI_bridge.png.6c5fb49dcab6cedf2a60c9c0f4633e3f.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p> Select the name of your USB device, and set it as the default audio output. If there is an option for bit depth settings, set it to 24 bit (or higher if your DAC will allow it). Set the sampling frequency to the highest value your DAC allows (or highest in your audio file collection). If you have only mp3, AAC, or CD rips, 44,100 is all you need. If you set it higher (or in general to a different value), the system will resample your music. b. If you have an HDMI receiver or integrated amp <p><a href="/monthly_2014_12/MIDI_HDMI.png.6d867ca38dcfc72f85fa330d4f02a849.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28307" src="/monthly_2014_12/MIDI_HDMI.png.6d867ca38dcfc72f85fa330d4f02a849.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p> If you instead have an HDMI device, and your computer (mac mini or macbook pro) has an HDMI output, you can instead use this. If there is an option for bit depth settings, set it to 24 bit (or higher if your DAC will allow it). Set the sampling frequency to the highest value your DAC allows (or highest in your audio file collection). If you have only mp3, AAC, or CD rips, 44,100 is all you need, but you might be better off setting it to 48,000 Hz, for movie playback. If you set it higher (or in general to a different value), the system will resample your music. c. If you are using optical output to your DAC or receiver <p><a href="/monthly_2014_12/MIDI_builtin.png.6c8c70019c9579a3a4b7ca8b7c34c700.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28308" src="/monthly_2014_12/MIDI_builtin.png.6c8c70019c9579a3a4b7ca8b7c34c700.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p> If you are using the optical output (via the audio mini-jack, which doubles as an optical output), this will appear as "Build-in Output" or possibly "Digital Output" in the Audio MIDI Setup interface, which can be a bit confusing. The bit depth setting should be set to 24 bit. Set the sampling frequency to the highest value your DAC allows (or highest in your audio file collection). In general, optical output with Mac OS X doesn't go above 96000 Hz. If you have only mp3, AAC, or CD rips, 44,100 is all you need, but you might be better off setting it to 96,000 Hz anyway, depending on the DAC. The system will resample your music, but this process is transparent (at least I have never been able to hear differences). How to maximize playback quality a. Deactivate iTunes sound effects: a good idea Assuming you are using iTunes, it is a good idea to turn off all of the playback "features" like fading and equalization. In general, these degrade sound quality. In the iTunes preferences, go to "Playback and uncheck every option: <p><a href="/monthly_2014_12/iTunesPref.png.07f8737ca287ead52ea19ab167e1e15b.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28305" src="/monthly_2014_12/iTunesPref.png.07f8737ca287ead52ea19ab167e1e15b.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p> b. Deactivate System sound effects: A good idea In System Preferences, de-activate all the sound effects: <p><a href="/monthly_2014_12/SoundEffects.png.e80e54ea6770e83e3bea73f71f6df455.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28306" src="/monthly_2014_12/SoundEffects.png.e80e54ea6770e83e3bea73f71f6df455.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p> It is also a good idea to divert system alert sounds to some interface other than that which is connected to your $50,000 speakers. (I use "Soundflower", which is an emulated interface available in the form of free software.) c. Notification Center: Do not disturb Although I doubt it would damage the sound quality, the "Notification Center" can be incredibly annoying. You can set it to the "do not disturb" mode, or define your waking hours as the period you do not want to receive notifications. There is also a nuclear option for getting rid of it once and for all. d. Spotlight: Leave it on, but ... Some people suggest turning off Spotlight. I suggest you do not do this, because it will interfere with essential software updates. Instead, go to System Preferences, and configure Spotlight to avoid indexing your music library, and possibly the home directory for the account from which you play music. (In general, it is a good idea to have a separate account for this, if your computer is dedicated to audio and video functions.) e. System files, startup items and system processes: Just don't fuck with them! I personally recommend against deactivating system processes and startup (launchd) items. The claims of sonic improvement are subjective and controversial, and there is absolutely no compelling evidence that any of this improves sound quality. There are several shell scripts floating around that enable the user to blindly make changes; I strongly advise against their use, and I have to say I am really tired of people asking me to help them un-fuck their computers after using these. If you don't understand the syntax of any command that needs an administrative password to implement, please run away from it as fast as you can, and avoid a whole world of hurt. The launchd system that OS X now uses for startup is fundamentally different from what Windows uses or what other unix systems use. These items are designed to run only on demand for the most part, so they do not tax the system. Those who recommend disabling them simply do not understand how OS X works. Similarly, removing Applications and system files will do absolutely nothing other than free up disk space; it cannot affect the sound quality. Leave this stuff alone! f. Hardware tweaks: Hang on to your wallet Having 8 gig of memory may offer advantages. An internal SSD may also be advantageous. Although the case for it improving sound quality is subjective and controversial, it does give you a snappier and more responsive system. Remember that all discs, including SSDs, fail eventually, so be sure to back them up. You may eventually find that having an external drive for audio and video is a must. I personally favor the firewire bus-powered hard drives from Oyen Digital. Other hardware tweaks have been suggested, but I have never found a compelling case for any of them. Various companies that modify mac minis for playback come and go; Apple does not take kindly to this, and they seem to be very good at screwing up your computer and voiding the warranty. My advice is to stay away, and spend your hard-earned cash on some music instead. g. Wireless vs. ethernet cable There is no credible evidence that suggests using wifi on your music playing computer will in any way harm sound quality. If it is convenient to have a wire, go for it, but please do not think it is a requirement. h. Third-party playback software Some people use other player programs rather than, or parasitic upon, iTunes. This is by no means a necessity for high-quality audio playback. At the very least, become very familiar with iTunes, how it sounds, and its limitations, so if you decide to evaluate something that costs money, you can at least make an intelligent comparison. <p><a href="/monthly_2014_12/iTunesPref.png.2816095b112d32e225eb5c12d7470f83.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28555" src="/monthly_2014_12/iTunesPref.png.2816095b112d32e225eb5c12d7470f83.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p><p><a href="/monthly_2014_12/SoundEffects.png.b5a0360fc9da7faa21ebd7b4cd4e58e7.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28556" src="/monthly_2014_12/SoundEffects.png.b5a0360fc9da7faa21ebd7b4cd4e58e7.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p><p><a href="/monthly_2014_12/MIDI_HDMI.png.1f02ef763e6faca4fa53313e46284876.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28557" src="/monthly_2014_12/MIDI_HDMI.png.1f02ef763e6faca4fa53313e46284876.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p><p><a href="/monthly_2014_12/MIDI_builtin.png.616e2a39c90a80477071e05f1d65b430.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28558" src="/monthly_2014_12/MIDI_builtin.png.616e2a39c90a80477071e05f1d65b430.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p><p><a href="/monthly_2014_12/MIDI_bridge.png.0b92a6807303c86ed9b7f79f8ce83f15.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28559" src="/monthly_2014_12/MIDI_bridge.png.0b92a6807303c86ed9b7f79f8ce83f15.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p><p><a href="/monthly_2014_12/58cd9bd0746d6_ScreenShot2014-12-18at2_04_23PM.png.1b09d6850a97f9bcad0cfd885b725e8e.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28560" src="/monthly_2014_12/58cd9bd0746d6_ScreenShot2014-12-18at2_04_23PM.png.1b09d6850a97f9bcad0cfd885b725e8e.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p><p><a href="/monthly_2014_12/Huckster.jpg.0255ce3cda4f2a720c742b4f176f8d44.jpg" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28561" src="/monthly_2014_12/Huckster.jpg.0255ce3cda4f2a720c742b4f176f8d44.jpg" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p>
  18. Here are two AppleScripts that turn write-protection on and off for your music library. If you want to add or edit stuff, run the script ResetWriteProtectMusic. If you want to protect your music files from accidental alteration or deletion, run the script WriteProtectMusic. These can be placed in the user's ~/Library/iTunes/Scripts directory, and they appear in the iTunes script menu item (here as the bottom two entries): <p><a href="/monthly_2014_07/menu_iTunes_Scripts.png.2ca9ab456e125a704513078a620a72b7.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28275" src="/monthly_2014_07/menu_iTunes_Scripts.png.2ca9ab456e125a704513078a620a72b7.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p> The AppleScripts (Updated for 10.11 and iTunes 12.3, should be back-compatible): [ATTACH]21546[/ATTACH] The scripts assume a normal iTunes-organized music library, but you can alter them easily enough if your situation is non-standard. It is designed to "just work" for a standard iTunes library, regardless of where you have it located. Here is how this is discovered: The first line contains a line of unix code (embedded as an Osascript) that looks like this: defaults read ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iApps.plist iTunesRecentDatabases | grep file | perl -p -e 's|file://localhost||g' | perl -p -e 's|iTunes%20Music%20Library.xml||g' | perl -p -e 's|iTunes%20Library.xml||g' | perl -p -e 's| \"||g' | perl -p -e 's|\"||g' It reads the iTunes library XML file to find where you keep your music. On my iMac, it returns this: /Users/wgscott/Music/iTunes/ and on my mac mini, it returns this: /Volumes/Media/iTunes/ <p><a href="/monthly_2014_07/Scripts_7_21_2014_150_zip.7a47d2e5f4ffd7f5bc2819f5dbab584a" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28276" src="/monthly_2014_07/Scripts_7_21_2014_150_zip.7a47d2e5f4ffd7f5bc2819f5dbab584a" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p><p><a href="/monthly_2014_07/menu_iTunes_Scripts.png.dac64611e7d172b7c96964b624bbee92.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28525" src="/monthly_2014_07/menu_iTunes_Scripts.png.dac64611e7d172b7c96964b624bbee92.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p><p><a href="/monthly_2014_07/Scripts_7_21_2014_150_zip.391cdbd313844fce01a19a92c6fcb21e" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28526" src="/monthly_2014_07/Scripts_7_21_2014_150_zip.391cdbd313844fce01a19a92c6fcb21e" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p>
  19. How to use iTunes on one computer to control Audirvana Plus or other third-party player software on another computer I'm experimenting with using iTunes as a remote-control interface. It has always kind of bothered me that there is no desktop-based version of Apple's Remote.app (like the one on my iPad I can use with Bob Stern's script to control Audirvana). I found a way to trick iTunes into doing this for me, using a simple zsh shell script that you can obtain from this link: remoteplayer.zsh In order to get this to work, I needed to do the following: 1. Enable ssh passwordless login from the controlling computer to the music server. This allows you to send commands and copy files easily, in addition to facilitating command-line login, so it is useful (and safer than using passwords) as it uses a public and private encryption-key system. This link explains how to do it. 2. Enable iTunes on the music server to share its library on your local network. This is by far the easiest way to make the interface. (Other options include using "Home Sharing" or sharing the drive that contains your iTunes library. If you use this last option, set iTunes on the controlling computer up so it won't try to manage the library. Then just add the files to the library.) 3. Purchase and install EventScripts. This is worth buying. It is worth every penny, for a variety of reasons I have blogged on here. We will make use of its ability to run a shell script (or Applescript) whenever iTunes changes a track. 4. Download the zsh shell script linked to above, and open it in your favorite text editor. (Apple's TextEdit.app will do, but you really owe it to yourself to get TextMate, which I paid good money for, but version 2.0 alpha is now free.) At the top of the file there are five environment variables (all caps), the first three of which you absolutely must edit: MUSICDIR="/Users/home/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music" This is pointing to the default iTunes directory for a user called "home". Change it to wherever yours is, or it will not work. REMOTEUSER="home" This needs to be changed to the username of the account that contains your music library on your music server. MUSICSERVER="tv-stereo-mini.local" This needs to be the name or numerical ip address of your music server. Apple typically appends the .local onto these names. When you are done, set the executable bit on the file (the command is chmod a+x remoteplayer.zsh ) and put it into the EventScript directory: cp remoteplayer.zsh "~/Library/Application Scripts/net.mousedown.EventScripts/." (You can access this directory from the EventScript preferences window, and drag and drop the file.) 5. Set EventScript to run the shell script when iTunes starts to play a track. Here is a picture: <p><a href="/monthly_2014_06/eventscript_pref.png.c5e6b83632c690bb65115b9cfb76fac0.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28272" src="/monthly_2014_06/eventscript_pref.png.c5e6b83632c690bb65115b9cfb76fac0.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p> 6. Try it (a) Open iTunes and (Audirvana (in stand-alone mode), or Decibel, or Vox, or ...?) on the music server, and set audirvana to run in stand-alone mode, rather than iTunes-integrated mode. (b) Open iTunes on the controlling computer, and access the shared music library. Select something and play it. <p><a href="/monthly_2014_06/sharedlib.png.291d51090da93355764fa90387025d57.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28273" src="/monthly_2014_06/sharedlib.png.291d51090da93355764fa90387025d57.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p> Updates, Current limitations and to-do list: The script (as of version 0.0.4) now works when encountering compilation/various artist albums. The script (as of version 0.0.5) will work with other player software that can use "open -a <appname> <filename>" syntax to load files into its playlist buffer. So far, I have tested Audirvana (in non-iTunes-integrated mode), Vox and Decibel, and all of these work. The script loaded into EventScript relaunches iTunes when you try to quit it. My current workaround is to quit EventScript first, but this is a stupid bug. <p><a href="/monthly_2014_06/eventscript_pref.png.8be7f71b784b9a73e4f656c9cfd74418.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28522" src="/monthly_2014_06/eventscript_pref.png.8be7f71b784b9a73e4f656c9cfd74418.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p><p><a href="/monthly_2014_06/sharedlib.png.81a719a84c853633117ccd261e724ced.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28523" src="/monthly_2014_06/sharedlib.png.81a719a84c853633117ccd261e724ced.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p>
  20. I had been using Audirvana in iTunes-integrated mode since it became available, but have now returned to using it in stand-alone mode because the integrated mode is incompatible with Dirac room-correction software. In the time that I have been using Audirvana in integrated mode, the plug-in that I hacked together (with considerable help from Bob Stern) stopped working; it is incompatible with the latest iTunes and/or OS, and I haven't been able to fix it. I found a much simpler work-around, but it costs $5: EventScripts. I've described it in the blog-posting below subtitled "EventScripts and its companion free iOS app." For our purposes, we need just one of its features, the ability to run an Applescript or shell script each time iTunes starts to play a track (which is the same thing my plug-in did in a very hackish clunky manner.) So if you are willing to suck it up and pay the EventScript $5, you can do this. It also gives you a whole lot of other highly useful functionality, like being able to re-map all the Apple physical IR remote commands, direct them to a single program (like Audirvana), and the ability to run any shell script or AppleScript from the comfort of you iOS device. In other words, you get your $5 worth. (This is beginning to sound like an advertisement, so I should note I have no affiliation. It actually irks me to pay money for something I used to be able to do myself for free, so this is more like post hoc self-justification.) Here is how I am doing it. 1. Purchase and install EventScripts: $5. Eventscripts creates a directory within the user's own Library directory (aka folder), called ~/Library/Application\ Scripts/net.mousedown.EventScripts Don't worry, you can open that directory from the EventScripts icon that appears in the menu bar. Simply place whatever shell script or AppleScript you want to use with it in that directory, and then attach it to a command within the EventScripts interface. (We will get back to this, with more explicit directions, in step 3.) 2. Make an AppleScript to load selected albums or tracks into Audirvana In collaboration with Bob Stern, I've made two AppleScripts corresponding to two different ways to use the interface, depending on a user's preferences. The second option actually does everything, so you might simply prefer it. However, the first option, which is limited to loading a single album at a time, is my default preference, as it is significantly faster and matches my listening habits (I like to listen to one complete album, and then take a break -- I have a very short ADHD attention span.) Anyway, pick one of these first two, or write your own or modify one of these. As an alternative to cutting and pasting, here are the AppleScripts I am using to control Audirvana: <p><a href="/monthly_2014_03/net.mousedown.EventScripts_zip.42b0775c80d43146461a8278ca7ca95b" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28241" src="/monthly_2014_03/net.mousedown.EventScripts_zip.42b0775c80d43146461a8278ca7ca95b" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p> 2a. Load an Album into Audirvana and play it. Cut and paste the following into an AppleScript editor and save it to the ~/Library/Application\ Scripts/net.mousedown.EventScripts directory: -- Script to hand off playing Albums in iTunes to Audirvana Plus. -- Conditional test to prevent handing over non-music files. -- Assumes you have bound command-k to "Delete" menu item -- William Scott, January 30, 2014 -- Works with EventScripts.app for automated functionality http://www.mousedown.net/mouseware/EventScripts.html tell application "iTunes" set iTunesFileKind to kind of the current track if "audio file" is in iTunesFileKind then -- do this only if it is an audio file, not a movie etc. pause -- Now that we have the info, stop playing iTunes and use Audirvana set filePath to location of current track set theTune to POSIX path of filePath set shellCommand to "dirname " & "\"" & theTune & "\"" set dirPath to do shell script shellCommand tell application "Audirvana Plus" activate -- here we use Audirvana Plus rather than iTunes to play the album after clearing the playlist tell application "System Events" to keystroke "a" using command down tell application "System Events" to keystroke "k" using command down delay 1 open dirPath end tell stop -- stops iTunes playback and clears it. end if end tell -- app iTunes I've commented the script so you can probably figure out what each line does. The keystroke command-a and command-k deletes the previously-added items in the Audirvana current playlist window. For this to work, you have to do two things. These are described in part 2c. 2b. Load selected tracks into Audirvana and play them. Cut and paste the following into an AppleScript editor and save it to the ~/Library/Application\ Scripts/net.mousedown.EventScripts directory: tell application "iTunes" set trackName to name of current track set CurrentAlbum to album of current track pause -- Now that we have the info, stop playing iTunes and use Audirvana set filePath to location of current track end tell -- here we use Audirvana rather than iTunes to play the track set theTune to POSIX path of filePath tell application "Audirvana Plus" open theTune end tell tell application "iTunes" next track if (trackName is name of current track) then set x to 1 else set x to 0 play pause end if end tell if x = 1 then tell application "System Events" set visible of process "iTunes" to false set visible of process "Finder" to false end tell return -- prevents endless repeat of the last song on the playlist end if 2c. A few tweaks to make this work properly. 1. Turn on Accessibility (formerly Enable Assistive Devices) so that the AppleScripts will work. 2. Bind the Command-k to "Delete" menu item in Audirvana Plus. You can do this in the "System Preferences > Keyboard" preferences pane, under the "shortcuts" tab. Here is a picture: <p><a href="/monthly_2014_03/commandK.png.ad41d1ad818d8c12cd457be6b0cc14da.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28238" src="/monthly_2014_03/commandK.png.ad41d1ad818d8c12cd457be6b0cc14da.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p> 3. Attach the AppleScript to EventScripts via the interface. For details, see the EventScripts documentation. However, this is fairly self-evident: <p><a href="/monthly_2014_03/attachEventScript.png.e89923a0f5248b5b9f1846f66a680b22.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28240" src="/monthly_2014_03/attachEventScript.png.e89923a0f5248b5b9f1846f66a680b22.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p> <p><a href="/monthly_2014_03/Eventscripts.png.410fbdc070ddb109f09e2f1d5484db94.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28239" src="/monthly_2014_03/Eventscripts.png.410fbdc070ddb109f09e2f1d5484db94.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p><p><a href="/monthly_2014_03/commandK.png.786faf9ca121767050b826582d70916b.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28488" src="/monthly_2014_03/commandK.png.786faf9ca121767050b826582d70916b.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p><p><a href="/monthly_2014_03/Eventscripts.png.818c317abaaae4f6eb30288ec9d56fe5.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28489" src="/monthly_2014_03/Eventscripts.png.818c317abaaae4f6eb30288ec9d56fe5.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p><p><a href="/monthly_2014_03/attachEventScript.png.9178e253000e3ef5a2214d1abd1538f2.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28490" src="/monthly_2014_03/attachEventScript.png.9178e253000e3ef5a2214d1abd1538f2.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p><p><a href="/monthly_2014_03/net.mousedown.EventScripts_zip.15b0074ee94669b3fae051077242696a" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28491" src="/monthly_2014_03/net.mousedown.EventScripts_zip.15b0074ee94669b3fae051077242696a" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p>
  21. I just got an application called EventScripts and its companion free iOS app. It has quite a bit of functionality. The two I instantly made use of are (1) the trigger function, so it can execute an Applescript or shell script in response to an event (eg: starting playback in iTunes), and (2) the iOS remote functionality, which gives you a simple interface to run any Applescript or shell script remotely, eg: <p><a href="/monthly_2014_02/photo.PNG.18ad0c3a1da28eec5d23be44dba0e4cf.PNG" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28235" src="/monthly_2014_02/photo.PNG.18ad0c3a1da28eec5d23be44dba0e4cf.PNG" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p> There is a lot more to this, and I have only started to play around with it. It also allows you to remap the remote control functions on your mac. So for example, the Apple "direction down" button now lowers my living room lights, turning the main ones blue and the ones illuminating the fire place magenta, which I can then use with my Harmony 650 Remote (the poor man's one you can get for $60) to have the lights go low with activities for viewing TV movies or listening to music. "Direction up" then brightens the lights when I turn the power off. Each of these is mapped into a shell script I wrote to control the Hue lights I have (see below). The other remote functions I use primarily to control Audirvana, using Applescripts that talk directly to Audrivana. I mapped the "Menu" button into an AppleScript GUI control that clears the stand-alone playlist, which facilitates full integration with my iPad's Remote.app, even though I am using Audirvana in Stand-alone mode. More info here: EventScripts: Advanced Script Triggering for Mac OS X and iOS<p><a href="/monthly_2014_02/photo.PNG.8946a9bec84bbc11b8d44968e83c4e7a.PNG" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28485" src="/monthly_2014_02/photo.PNG.8946a9bec84bbc11b8d44968e83c4e7a.PNG" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p>
  22. One of the best things about FLAC is that it contains an internal checksum, so you can see if the audio portion of the file has been changed (i.e., corrupted in some way, or has suffered "bit rot"). You can change the tags embedded in the file all you want, and it won't alter this checksum. The only thing that will cause it to change is damage to the audio content of the file. Wouldn't it be nice if ALAC had the same feature? It turns out the Apple OS X command-line utility can do this for lossless ALAC, aiff, and a few otehr types of files. In the case of AIFF, it can actually embed the checksum in the file itself, but it can't do that for ALAC files. However, using another OS X command-line utility, xattr, you can add this (or anything you please) to the resource fork associated with the ALAC file. The following is a shell script that will do exactly this for you, for ALAC files. In the future, I might expand this to do it for aiff as well, or you could modify it easily enough. Anyway, here is the shell script on google code: https://zsh-templates-osx.googlecode.com/svn-history/trunk/Library/init/zsh/zshrc.d/local-functions/darwin/bitrot Download it, make it executable ( chmod a+x bitrot ) and stick it in your $PATH, and Bob's your uncle. (For compatibility with the example launchd plist file below, I suggest putting it into /usr/local/bin ). Read the shell script for more details. [i wrote it in zsh because it is better than bash. Try doing recursive globbing ( **/*.m4a ) in bash.] I recommend running it as a background process manually when you want to create the checksums. Then you can run the actual checking process from a lauchd script or /etc/periodic however often suits you. It is set to log only changes it detects in ~/Library/Logs/bitrot No news (or log file) is good news. If you want a reality check, run bitrot -l . It goes fairly quickly. I haven't tested this on a system in which Spotlight has been deactivated, but it might not work properly on those. Let me know. Example launchd plist file. You can name this local.bitrot.checker.plist and put it into your user's Library/LaunchAgents folder. Make sure you edit the WorkingDirectory string entry first, providing your own username, and the actual path to where your music files reside. This will check your files every sunday at 1 am. You may wish to adjust this according to your listening habits and degree of paranoia. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"> <plist version="1.0"> <dict> <key>Label</key> <string>local.bitrot.checker</string> <key>WorkingDirectory</key> <string>/Users/yourusername/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music</string> <key>ProgramArguments</key> <array> <string>/usr/local/bin/bitrot</string> <string>-c</string> </array> <key>StartCalendarInterval</key> <dict> <key>Hour</key> <integer>1</integer> <key>Minute</key> <integer>3</integer> <key>Weekday</key> <integer>0</integer> </dict> </dict> </plist>
  23. You need two downloads, each of which is free: 1. Soundflower. Download Soundflower for Mac - Allows applications to pass audio to other applications (beta). MacUpdate.com 2. AU Lab: http://images.apple.com/itunes/mastered-for-itunes/docs/au_lab.zip Install, reboot. For use with iTunes, you need to select Soundflower 2.0 as the (virtual) output device. Open AU Lab, and set the input device to Soundflower 2.0, and the output device to what you really want (your dac, bridge, etc). <p><a href="/monthly_2013_03/58cd9bc396f76_ScreenShot2013-03-25at1_22_01PM.png.90e01153a17bf9ab18a1c81f0478e152.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28156" src="/monthly_2013_03/58cd9bc396f76_ScreenShot2013-03-25at1_22_01PM.png.90e01153a17bf9ab18a1c81f0478e152.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p> Click the "Create Document" button. Then select what AU interface you want. For example, this is the parametric equalizer: <p><a href="/monthly_2013_03/58cd9bc3a406a_ScreenShot2013-03-25at1_20_24PM.png.87761bad6565dc301c264414baa11825.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28157" src="/monthly_2013_03/58cd9bc3a406a_ScreenShot2013-03-25at1_20_24PM.png.87761bad6565dc301c264414baa11825.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p> Another potentially very useful option is the new Dirac AU (beta) plugin, which will allow you to use Dirac with everything: [ATTACH=CONFIG]23217[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]23219[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]23218[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]23220[/ATTACH] You can save it if you want a permanent filter. Voila! You aren't restricted to Apple's plugins, either. Eg, the tube amp you always wanted as a room-heater: <p><a href="/monthly_2013_03/58cd9bc3aa7eb_ScreenShot2013-03-25at1_32_28PM.png.3b70c7f0b989ca5032fcc80819bbb12e.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28158" src="/monthly_2013_03/58cd9bc3aa7eb_ScreenShot2013-03-25at1_32_28PM.png.3b70c7f0b989ca5032fcc80819bbb12e.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p><p><a href="/monthly_2013_03/58cd9bcb96a15_ScreenShot2013-03-25at1_22_01PM.png.cd2d635fbdda3c45e68afd29d3679934.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28406" src="/monthly_2013_03/58cd9bcb96a15_ScreenShot2013-03-25at1_22_01PM.png.cd2d635fbdda3c45e68afd29d3679934.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p><p><a href="/monthly_2013_03/58cd9bcba1248_ScreenShot2013-03-25at1_20_24PM.png.77269228024821422bda0e1814ec237d.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28407" src="/monthly_2013_03/58cd9bcba1248_ScreenShot2013-03-25at1_20_24PM.png.77269228024821422bda0e1814ec237d.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p><p><a href="/monthly_2013_03/58cd9bcba6d04_ScreenShot2013-03-25at1_32_28PM.png.7c046443bc96de068645a77d4cd814c4.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="28408" src="/monthly_2013_03/58cd9bcba6d04_ScreenShot2013-03-25at1_32_28PM.png.7c046443bc96de068645a77d4cd814c4.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p>
  24. I need a new stereo setup. I'm a music lecturer and I only listen to classical music. Orchestral, piano, voice, lots of new music, some with electronics etc… My office is small, about 9' x 14'. The thin end has a window all the way along, and I usually sit facing the window at a desk. I will be using my Macbook Pro Retina with a Meridian Explorer as the main source. Sometimes I listen to LPs, but I don't have a fancy LP player and won't be buying one. Most of the music I listen to is from CD, sometimes online (soundcloud, youtube… sad but true, all necessary for work). I mostly sit at my computer, and so I need something that can sit on my desk. (I think this is really a constraint. I have thought about rearranging my room around some speakers, but I'm not sure how practical this would be given how small the room is (the rest of the walls are lined with bookcases). I can imagine speakers standing in the middle of the room might get knocked over etc… But I'm open to ideas) I really have no idea where to start looking. At home I have some Tanoy R3s and Denon amp, 755AR CD player etc.. and I like the sound (or at least I did when I was a teenager and bought it, and now I'm totally used to the sound). At the moment at work I mostly listen to music with Denon AH-D2000s a I can't help but want a bit more clarity from my speakers than I used to. The Explorer sounds a treat. I don't have endless money (hard working lecturer). But I think about 2000-3000 on some speakers and an amp might be ok. What proportion do I spend on an amp? Do I get one with phono? or use the cheap preamp I bought for my LP player (I think so)? What do I gain over spending less? Or more? Is there a good argument either way? As I often have neighbours, I need to a system that sounds ok at low volume and in the office space. Though I don't have neighbours on weekends and holidays (hard working lecturer, right?!) and over the summer when other people work from home. I'd like this to be a one-off purchase, rather than part of a continual upgrade project. I have the money now and I'd like to still think it sounds sweet in 15+ years. If I need to spend a touch more then I'd rather get it right. Thoughts? Thanks in advance!
  25. I have desktop computer with three jacks in the back panel. and two(mic and headphone) in front panel. I do not have speakers. The computer has realtek audio device. I have a mono radio with line-in jack in front. I want to connect computer to the radio. how can I do it so that .detailed instructions are solicited with color code of jacks also. thank you. I would lprefer from front panel.
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