Calling all digital Gurus

[Try1256]

Ok, so up until now, my digital usage has been fairly limited. I am still primarily an Analog Man. I had a Sonos connect and a CD player. I subscribe to Tidal which I use mostly in my car through my phone. I subcribed to Roon which I like. It is resident in my Mac and I can choose music from Tidal or my iTunes library seamlessly. Its cool. With my new DAC, I feel like I am getting more out of it sonically. I have had it a little over a year now and have paid 2 yearly subscription fees. It is $119 per year I think. You can pay a lifetime subscription for like $495. Sorry to be negative but I just don't believe any technology company will be around for a lifetime. I am looking to switch to something less expensive but still works good and has an intuitive user interface. Any suggestions?

 

[MikeyFresh]

I am looking to switch to something less expensive but still works good and has an intuitive user interface. Any suggestions?

On a Mac that would likely be Audirvana, $75 and you own it.

There are too many variables and even just single end user preferences to consider with regard to making any easy direct comparisons, I'd suggest using a trial version first to see if you like the UI and the setup/config. The sound is fantastic, many feel the best available sonically for macOS (and that would include Roon).

Another slightly less expensive option for macOS is JRiver, $59, a little more complicated to setup but once finished it is set and forget, there is no constant messing with it. Also great sounding, but seems to lack that last bit or "certain something" with regard to musicality, as compared to Audirvana. YMMV.

Both Audirvana and JRiver are fine longstanding choices for the macOS, neither is as polished looking as Roon, but that never really bothered me much as I don't necessarily need to look at extensive metadata or the UI, or get additional recommendations based on what I'm currently listening to. All nice to have, but not at all critical in my case for listening enjoyment. Again, YMMV.

Lastly, on the cheap you can turbo charge iTunes itself with the BitPerfect plugin at $10. This too sounds great, but lacks many of the features of Audirvana and JRiver. Not clear to me where that one is going with regard to Apple's official dismemberment of iTunes in favor of various separate apps, I do not know if BitPerfect is compatible with the newer "Music" app that took iTunes place as a music player. Low risk to try it though, that was my very first hi-rez audio player for macOS, and if that's all I ever had to this day, I'd still be in good shape. If you require DSD playback that's a $29 add-on called DSD Master not included in the $10 for BitPerfect itself.

My pick is Audirvana, however a friend of mine in CA (who is a lifetime Roon subscriber) keeps Vox Music Player as his fall back for macOS. I've never used it but I trust his judgment, if he kept it on his machine that means it must be really good. Vox does use the subscription price model (which I hate), I don't know what all the price tiers are except to say it starts at $4.99 per month.

 

[Pboser]

Okay, since we're on the subject, what about suggestions for Windows? Still Audirvana? Thanks in advance!

 

[MikeyFresh]

Okay, since we're on the subject, what about suggestions for Windows? Still Audirvana? Thanks in advance!

Originally Audirvana was macOS only and it stayed that way for many years. Within the the last 2 years or so they ported it to Windows, and while I can't imagine it isn't pretty much exactly the same as the Mac version at this point, I have never actually used the Windows version myself so can't confirm. Again, give the trial version a go to get an idea if you like it.

JRiver for Windows is excellent, that I do have on my Windows machine and it is super stable/mature, however some people think it's complicated to setup. I say it isn't bad, you do go through some initial growing pains both with the setup/config, and just learning your way around the interface and various menus, after that it's a breeze.

The Windows freeware that is also excellent though a definite pain in the neck to get setup is Foobar2000. This is an incredible program that is almost infinitely configurable/expandable/customizable to do almost anything you can imagine, however it is also somewhat complex. While I was very impressed with Foobar on my older Windows 7 machine, I didn't carry it over to Windows 10, too much hassle, but I'm a semi-unique situation there in that I never relied on it as my primary program, so pretty easy for me to kick it to the curb. If my only computer were Windows I'd probably still be using it.

Overall, I'd go with JRiver on Windows if the $59 suits you, far less hassle than Foobar, though a trial of Audirvana would seem in order in any event.

To me really best of all is neither Windows nor macOS, I decided to offload my music server and streamers from my multi tasking daily driver computers several years ago, to the cheap and easy Raspberry Pi. Low cost, low energy consumption, great software options, I just leave those on 24/7 and their only job is to be available in a heart beat to stream music to any of 3 connected rooms, and it also sounds better than almost anything but a purpose built custom Windows or Mac solution does.

Another version of that lies with taking an old Windows machine and re-purposing/refurbishing it to run Linux. I chose Linux Mint 19.1, but there are various other good distros including Ubuntu that fit the bill, and will run JRiver (for instance) flawlessly.

 

[airdronian]

Originally Audirvana was macOS only and it stayed that way for many years. Within the the last 2 years or so they ported it to Windows, and while I can't imagine it isn't exactly the same as the Mac version at this point, I have never actually used the Windows version myself so can't confirm. Again, give the trial version a go to get an idea if you like it.

I had a trial with the Windows version in a VM. The two versions were different in appearance until the 3.5.x version when they merged the UI.

 

[Try1256]

On a Mac that would likely be Audirvana, $75 and you own it.

There are too many variables and even just single end user preferences to consider with regard to making any easy direct comparisons, I'd suggest using a trial version first to see if you like the UI and the setup/config. The sound is fantastic, many feel the best available sonically for macOS (and that would include Roon).

Another slightly less expensive option for macOS is JRiver, $59, a little more complicated to setup but once finished it is set and forget, there is no constant messing with it. Also great sounding, but seems to lack that last bit or certain something with regard to musicality, as compared to Audirvana. YMMV.

Both Audirvana and JRiver are fine longstanding choices for the macOS, neither is as polished looking as Roon, but that never really bothered me much as I don't necessarily need to look at extensive metadata or the UI, or get additional recommendations based on what I'm currently listening to. All nice to have, but not at all critical in my case for listening enjoyment. Again, YMMV.

Lastly, on the cheap you can turbo charge iTunes itself with the BitPerfect plugin at $10. This too sounds great, but lacks many of the features of Audirvana and JRiver. Not clear to me where that one is going with regard to Apple's official dismemberment of iTunes in favor of various separate apps, I do not know if BitPerfect is compatible with the newer "Music" app that took iTunes place as a music player. Low risk to try it though, that was my very first hi-rez audio player for macOS, and if that's all I ever had to this day, I'd still be in good shape. If you require DSD playback that's a $29 add-on called DSD Master not included in the $10 for BitPerfect itself.

My pick is Audirvana, however a friend of mine in CA (who is a lifetime Roon subscriber) keeps Vox Music Player as his fall back for macOS, I've never used it but I trust his judgment, if he kept it on his machine that means it must be really good.

Thanks Mikey, I downloaded the trial of Audirvana and it is the ticket. It gives up a few things to Roon but for the price its a no brainer. My subscription to Roon runs out in September so I will use the 30 day trial of Audirvana and then buy it. I think the sonics might even be better than Roon. Thanks again.

 

[MikeyFresh]

Thanks Mikey, I downloaded the trial of Audirvana and it is the ticket. It gives up a few things to Roon but for the price its a no brainer. My subscription to Roon runs out in September so I will use the 30 day trial of Audirvana and then buy it. I think the sonics might even be better than Roon. Thanks again.

Thats great, I'm glad it seems to suit your needs, and you are well out ahead of your Roon expiration date so you get to put the Audirvana trial through the paces.

I find it very interesting that your take on the sonics is in alignment with what many others have said, and it dovetails with my experience comparing Audirvana to JRiver. Audirvana on a Mac seems to be just slightly better sounding than any other program, the developer is brilliant and for many years he focused his effort entirely on the Mac platform, so it makes sense in that regard.

I also find Audirvana's Qobuz integration to be top notch, how is the experience with Tidal?

 

[Audionut]

Good thread/questions/answers!

 

[Try1256]

Thats great, I'm glad it seems to suit your needs, and you are well out ahead of your Roon expiration date so you get to put the Audirvana trial through the paces.

I find it very interesting that your take on the sonics is in alignment with what many others have said, and it dovetails with my experience comparing Audirvana to JRiver. Audirvana on a Mac seems to be just slightly better sounding than any other program, the developer is brilliant and for many years he focused his effort entirely on the Mac platform, so it makes sense in that regard.

I also find Audirvana's Qobuz integration to be top notch, how is the experience with Tidal?

It works well with Tidal. In Roon, the the resolution of the file is displayed a little more prominently whereas in Audirvana, you have to drill down a little to find it but thats not a big problem. I do like the feature in Roon that combines the streaming service and my iTunes files in one screen but for the difference in cost, I can certainly live without it. Switching back & forth in Audirvana is pretty easy. I was previously using the dac in the sonos connect to get from the computer to the pre-amp in my system. As inexpensive as it was new, the Emotiva DAC is a pretty substantial step up from that so I think thats why I can hear subtle differences in Roon and Audirvana. I wonder what a really high end DAC would do? ......... Never mind, I didn't say that, well I did say it but I didn't really mean it.

 

[Pboser]

Good thread/questions/answers!

Yes, great insights and experience-based info - thank you all, especially MikeyFresh.

 

[Audionut]

It works well............I wonder what a really high end DAC would do? ......... Never mind, I didn't say that, well I did say it but I didn't really mean it.

But you did.
And so it goes in this wonderful hobby of ours; you improve on one area and it shines the light on another.

 

[MikeyFresh]

I wonder what a really high end DAC would do?

It would do incredible things, like empty your wallet:

 

[Audionut]

It would do incredible things, like empty your wallet:

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Oh sugar, honey, iced tea! They sure are proud of that stack.