Well-known for its fully-featured Windows software, which includes video playback.īased upon Pure Vinyl and using its own playback engine, like Amarra, integrates with iTunes, running in a window alongside and can re-sample music on the fly. Can be used with Raspberry Pi and similar acting as endpoints, with the NAA daemon installed.

The commercial version is required to be able to save Youtube videos and stream to Airplay devices.Īn up-sampling (or re-sampling) music player that allows the user to choose numerous algorithms and even DSD conversion and network transmission, potentially allowing for improved sound quality from DACs with good hardware but poor or no (ie: non-oversampling) digital filter implementations. Now supports up-sampling and DSD playback.įree with commercial 'pro' version available with more features.Ī multi-media player that also supports Youtube. Great if you want a simple and cheap solution while still using iTunes. Integrating with iTunes, this software sits in your menu bar and feeds music via Integer Mode to your DAC, matching the sample rate in the process. The latest versions include support for TIDAL, quobuz and HighResAudio streaming.

Playback can be via its own playlist, iTunes library sync or using an iTunes Integrated Mode. It can also suspend Spotlight and Time Machine for dedicated music servers and either directly play DSD files for supported players over USB or on-the-fly convert them to high-res PCM. Apple and Windows.Īimed at the high-fidelity crowd, contains a plethora of features ranging from iZotope or SoX-based up-sampling (with comprehensive options) to device integer and exclusive access modes. They were one of the very first companies to come out with a player focussed on improving sound quality and have changed their offerings over the years.Ĭommercial, demo available for download. The latter is a fully-fledged player which supports DSD, FLAC and MQA and includes up-sampling and EQ options. Apple, iOS and Windows.Īmarra sQ+ for Mac, Amarra Play for iOS and Amarra Luxe for Mac and Windows. So for the curious, here is a list of the players currently available that I know of, along with some basic information about them.įeb 2019: Removed Decibel, Nightingale and Fidelia as they haven't been updated in years.Ĭommercial, demo available for download. Additionally, they can entirely take over the output device ('hog mode') giving the program exclusive access which prevents system beeps and other programs interfering with music playback. However their main advantages over iTunes for improving the quality of the computer's output is a dedicated playback engine different to the one in Mac OS X or iTunes, as well as the ability to switch the system output to the sample rate of the track being played, which is important if you have a mix of high-resolution as well as CD quality music and wish to have bit-perfect output every time. The latter is especially useful as Mac OS X has a built-in 31-band equalizer which is very handy for learning about frequency response. At the very least, they offer features not available in iTunes, such as upsampling and access to the audio filters built into Mac OS X.

Many people feel that using the audiophile-oriented music players improves the sound with their equipment. This now leads the pack of the free players (after the association was dropped and the program re-named Decibel) if you want a simpler program and potentially better sound than you get using iTunes. As those two have fought it out in the commercial arena, the developer of Play came up with a free program, AyreWave, in conjunction with Ayre, which combined the simplicity of Play with high-quality 64-bit playback. Offering higher-quality playback, it has become famous among audiophiles, alongside its biggest competitor, Pure Vinyl (and now Pure Music). For a while, that was Play and one or two others, but then Amarra came on the scene. Though iTunes wiped out the need for competition when it was introduced, it has become a huge, multimedia and store program, leaving many people wanting something simpler. There seems to have been an explosion lately in 'audiophile' music players for Mac OS X lately.

Mac os x vox music player