Music Software and Operating Systems

Dynobot has written a hands-on comparison of various operating system in running a computer-as-source music system.  Good read.

Apogee Digital Duet 2 USB audio interface

Apogee Digital's new Duet 2 is a 2 in x 4 out USB 2.0 audio interface for Mac.  Based on the very successful original Duet, but with upgraded specs and interface.  In addition to analog input for your Mic and instruments, the Duet 2 is a very capable 24/192 DAC in its own right with balance output via proprietary breakout cable or box (optional).  All this for only US$595, very tempting indeed.

Specifications

• USB 2.0 Mac audio interface2 analog inputs; Combination Line/Mic/Instrument
• 4 analog outputs
• Balanced line outputs, +20 dBu maximum output level
• 1 Independent 1/4” stereo headphone output
• 2 Microphone preamps with up to 75dB of gain
• A/D and D/A conversion at 24-bit/192kHz
• Top panel high resolution OLED display
• Multi-function controller knob
• Two assignable top panel touch pads:
• Mute speakers, headphones or all outputs
• Assign headphones to outputs 1-2, 3-4 or low latency mixer
• Dim speakers, headphones or all outputs
• Sum to mono speakers, headphones or all outputs
• Selectable 48v phantom power, Soft Limit and phase invert

The Duet 2 mic preamps feature a new design, all new components and seamless click-free transitions as the gain increases and decreases throughout the incredible range of 0-75dB. This unprecedented feature allows you to dial in the perfect level while delivering ultra-low noise and smooth, crisp detail. Most importantly, the Duet 2 mic preamps are optimized for any sound source, so no matter what you are recording you’ll capture every detail. 

The Duet 2 AD/DA converters are an all-new design with 24/192kHz capabilities over USB.

New to Duet 2 is a full color OLED display. This high resolution screen is the main control center for Duet 2, delivering visual feedback for multiple functions including metering, numeric value for input and output levels, input grouping, and phase, muting, phantom power and Soft Limit indication. 

The Duet 2 also introduces configurable touch pads. The 2 touch pads, located on either side of the encoder knob, allow you to quickly access output functions such as “Mute Outputs”, “Dim Outputs”, “Sum to Mono” or “Toggle Headphone Source”. Each are assignable using a drop-down menu within Apogee’s new Maestro 2. This unique feature allows you to select the function you want and access it directly from Duet 2 without having to look at software. 

Duet 2’s new breakout cable is greatly streamlined with 2 combination mic/instrument connectors (XLR and 1/4”) built into a single connector and 2 balanced 1/4” connectors for speakers. The elegant single cable-to-junction design allows for easy cable management and the locking connection to Duet 2 is robust and stylish.

Apogee Electronics announces Thunderbolt audio interface development

Apogee electronics has announced that it is moving toward using the new digital audio interconnection based upon Intel's Thunderbolt technology, first shown in new series of Apple Macs.

Director of Marketing Sean McArthur speaks to the advantages gained by Apogee’s customers. “Simply stated, Intel’s Thunderbolt technology on the Mac marks the end of difficult choices and the beginning of unlimited performance,” he says. “In the near future, Thunderbolt will take the confusion out of choosing a professional connectivity standard for audio production.” McArthur continues, “Too often we have seen our customers frustrated by the options: Should I go with USB 3, FireWire 800, PCI cards and when is that LightPeak thing coming? Now we know, as manufacturers and customers, where we are headed.”

Apogee R&D designed architecture perfectly suited to embrace Thunderbolt. Symphony I/O’s modular, user definable system was the first step. AD/DA conversion modules (our primary technology) were designed to be independent of the Symphony I/O Chassis. This allows Apogee to address interfacing from the Chassis level without impacting I/O module implementation. 

Powered by Thunderbolt, the Symphony I/O platform is the foundation of future digital audio production systems. Any Mac equipped with Thunderbolt technology and paired with Symphony I/O will deliver incredible, high-performance recording from the Hollywood soundstage to the hotel room nightstand.

Apogee will have more information and a timeline for Thunderbolt implementation soon.

Apogee Electronics Corporation is a leading manufacturer of digital audio hardware systems and related accessories for audio professionals and musicians around the world. Founded in 1985 and initially made its name designing filters that solved many of the early problems associated with digital audio. Later, Apogee’s complete conversion systems pushed the envelope of digital audio quality and established Apogee as a key innovator in the field of professional digital audio.

Thunderbolt interface pipes 20x more speed than USB 2.0

Intel's Lightpeak is now rebranded as the Thunderbolt interface. First computer to offer this is the new generation MacBook Pros. Thunderbolt has raw speed of 10 Gbps which is more than 2 times faster than USB 3.0, 12 times faster than FireWire 800, and up to 20 times faster than USB 2.0. Two 10-Gbps channels on the same connector mean you can daisy-chain multiple high-speed devices and a display, without using a hub — and without reducing performance. It replaces the Mini DisplayPort on the new MacBook Pro models, however Apple's existing Mini DisplayPort-based displays will work unmodified with the Thunderbolt port.

Thunderbolt adapters will allow MacBook Pro users to connect to USB, HDMI, Firewire, Gigabit Ethernet or Fibre Channel. Thunderbolt will support much longer cable lengths (USB cables max out at 5 meters).

Intel says Thunderbolt is "designed for" audio and video, so let's expect to see it appears in digital audio equipments in coming months.

Ipad2 to be announced in March reportedly will sport a Thunderbolt port.

A closer look at Thunderbolt on Engadget.com.

Fidelia music player for OS X

Yet another new music player.  Audiofile Engineering, maker of the fine Wave Editor software which we covered in an earlier post, is launching a Fidelia, a Mac OS X music player which does upsampling and dithering on the fly using industry standard iZotope's algorithm. Seems like it has the best features out there.  We will be testing it soon to see how does it compares sonically to competing OS X players like Amarra, Pure Music, Decibel and Audirvana.  Beta testers who were using Fidelia under its previous "Twilight" name, reported excellent sound quality.

• Fidelia takes advantage of Apple CoreAudio, Quartz, and other solid OS X features
• Supports AIFF, WAV, CAF, AAC, Apple Lossless, Ogg Vorbis, MP3 and FLAC, also convert existing files to and from any
• Seamless access by importing your iTunes library, including user-generated playlists
• iZotope's 64-bit Sample Rate Converter featuring a hybrid ringing control enabling a compromise between the standard pre-ringing of a linear phase filter and the post-ringing of a minimum phase filter with unlimited sample rate support (including 44.1kHz, 96kHz, 192kHz, and higher)
• iZotope's MBIT+ dithering algorithm (Audiofile Engineering claims that this is the best sounding dither on the market - making digital domain volume control a real contender for serious listening)
• Fidelia remote app ($10 available from Apple Appstore) for iOS turns your iPhone or iPod touch into a full-featured remote control
• $119 Price to be announced

Update: The base program is $20.00 The Advanced program that includes hog and advanced settings for iZotope SRC is an addtional $50 in the Add-on store.

Decibel music player for Mac OS X

Stephen Booth,  developer of the excellent Max CD ripper and Play, has relaunched Ayrewave as Decibel.  It is free to try , but will be the first program that Stephen will charge some money (full version US$33) for his effort which I think make sense given that Amarra and Pure Music retails for quite a bit of money.
  
Decibel was developed with inputs from Charles Hansen of Ayre and Gordon Rankin of Wavelength audio - the leader in asynchronous USB implementation for audio.  I think the reason for the new name is that other audio equipment manufacturers may not want to recommend using it with "Ayre" and "Wave" in its name.  

Decibel supports all popular lossless and lossy audio formats including FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, Musepack, WavPack, Apple Lossless, AAC, MP3, WAVE and AIFF. 
For lossless formats such as FLAC and WAVE, and for Ogg Vorbis and specially tagged MP3 files, Decibel supports gapless playback with seamless transitions between tracks.  Decibel has an intentionally minimal user interface designed to be instantly intuitive and non-intrusive. 
Decibel processes all audio using 64-bit floating-point precision, providing the highest possible playback quality for files sampled at all bit depths.  (Best to boot your Mac in 64-bit kernel, by holding down "6" and "4" keys while booting, or use the nifty little StartModeSelector program)

For audiophile users desiring more control over their audio, Decibel can take exclusive control of the output device (using hog mode) and send audio in the device's native format. Additionally, Decibel can automatically adjust the output device's sample rate to that of the playing track, preventing audio quality degradation associated with software sample rate conversion.  Finally, Decibel can load and play files entirely in memory, eliminating audio glitching associated with disk access.

Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air

Bowers & Wilkins' new Zeppelin Air ($600) is the company's ultimate AirPlay wireless audio system with completely updated drive units and advanced Digital Signal Processing plus fully integrated AirPlay technology so users can easily stream music wirelessly from iTunes, iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. The improved sonic performance is complemented by a collection of new features, foremost among which is the inclusion of new AirPlay technology.

AirPlay also lets users create an easy to set up multi-room system with iTunes on Mac or PC, delivering music to multiple Zeppelin Airs around the house. As the best sounding Zeppelin yet, Zeppelin Air features dramatic changes over previous models. It's a fully active 2.1 design, which means that all five units are individually driven by dedicated audiophile amplifiers, which are specially designed by Bowers & Wilkins. The improved 4 x 25 Watt and 1 x 50 Watt output powers updated drive units, for a truly room-filling performance. 

Zeppelin Air also features Bowers & Wilkins Flowport technology and advanced Digital Signal Processing in the form of Dynamic EQ; these combine with a significantly upgraded port for dramatically improved bass performance. The DACs have also been upgraded, with 24bit/96kHz capability for compatibility with emerging high-quality audio formats. AirPlay requires iTunes 10.1 or later and iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 4.2 or later.

PS Audio's eLyric™ Music Manager pre-Beta release

PS Audio is providing pre-beta release of the eLyric Music Manager.  The free program is full featured powerful music management application.  


From PS Audio's website:

Introducing the most powerful music management and player application available for the serious music crowd,eLyric™ . It’s full-featured and effortless to use. And it’s free, from PS Audio.

eLyric™ is a powerful, convenient, well-supported desktop music manager, player, and soon, hi-end music store. Best of all, it connects serious music listeners - hundreds of thousands around the world - into an active, sharing community.

eLyric offers all the convenience of applications like iTunes, but with a host of extra features and compatibilities that people with high quality components and sophisticated musical tastes need-and haven’t been able to get yet.

Got a large digital music collection? A classical - or jazz-focused collection? A taste for hi-resolution audio? A network of high-end components, or perhaps just a highend DAC? Chances are, you need eLyric to turn your collection into a convenient, networked listening paradise with no compromises.

eLyric works on PCs or Macs. It lets you to manage your impressive digital music collections in ways you couldn’t before, no matter what format, how large, or where you store them. It’s UPnP compatible so you can stream your music through just about any high-quality hi-fi components you want to connect in your network, or just simply play it on your computer or receiver.

And did we mention…it’s free ?                  

If you are a serious music appreciator, eLyric:

-       serves higher fidelity formats

-       works for larger music libraries

-       delivers greater organizational capabilities than most applications

-       offers universal (UPnP) compatibility so you can connect to any UPnP components

-       Delivers more artist and recording information

-       Connects you to a community of hi-end music lovers

-       and will soon offer hi-res music shopping, one-click downloading, and other features

It’s just what you need to start building, or to complete, your high-fidelity music paradise. 

Network music streamers

If you want to stream digital audio files on your computer to your stereo hi-fi set, you have quite a number of options.  Here are some of them.


Apple Airport Express

A small 802.11n hub/base station that plugs direct into your wall socket.  Not only it is able to create and connects up to 10 users and share a USB printer over wifi, it allows you to stream iTunes over wifi from your computer (the toggle on the lower right hand corner in your iTunes window selects computer or the AE), the Airport Express is then connects to your stereo system over an analog mini output, or a digital mini-toslink output.

• Small, easy to set up
• Works only with iTunes's "Airplay" protocol
• Convertible mini jack analog/digital toslink output
• Support AIFF, WAV, ALAC, MP3, and WMA files
• Only compatible with 16-bit/44.1kHz and 48kHz files
• $US99

The Airport Express works very well.  The analog output sounds surprisingly good considering the diminutive size (putting switching power supply together with DAC and everything else is certainly not a good thing).  if you use normal cable, the toslink output requires an mini-toslink adapter, and it plugs into the same hole as the analog mini output.  My quibble is that having a toslink multiplexer in the digital audio stream is jitter-prone and would like to see a coaxial RCA digital output.  However, since electrical isolation may be a challenge given its small form factor, Apple's engineer may have chosen toslink which is electronically isolated.  Now if you want a better case and power supply...

Micromega Airstrean WM-10

The WM-10 is basically a souped-up Airport Express but they call it "Airstream".  It has basically the same specs and functions except the aluminum case (black or silver) and better power supply (R-core transformers rather than switching PSU).  Although it uses the Cirrus Logic 4344 24-bit/192hKz DAC (same with the AE), the streaming is limited to 16-bit 44.1/48kHz files due to Airplay limitations.  Another limitations is that no matter what file you choose to play, the WM-10 will convert to Apple Lossless (ALAC) on the fly (same as the AE).  Although Micromega is a great french digital company with experience in this field, I still do not see the point of spending $1,595 vs Airport Express' $99.  

Micromega also makes an integrated amplifier with Airstream built-in, the AS400.  Denon and Marantz are coming out with their own version of Airplay compatible network streamers.  Watch this space.

Linn DS

Linn of UK went all out and announced that they will no longer produce CD players and will only market digital streamers, or "DS" in Linn lingo.  Linn DS players music stored on a hard-disk or Network Attached Storage through RJ-45 Ethernet (Linn doesn't believe in Wifi).  There are 3 models, from expensive to super expensive:

• Majik DS - Plays FLAC, WAV, MP3, AIFF with resolution up to 24/192kHz, Ethernet input, on-board digital volume control.  No digital output.  There's also an integrated control+amp model called Majik DS-i

• Akurate DS (above) - adds WMA, OGG and AAC support.  Adds balanced XLR analog audio and digital (BNC S/PDIF) output.  Linn Dynamik switch mode power supply.
• Klimax DS (below) - pretty much the same guts as the Akurate but with better chassis, power supply and analog output stage.

Logitech Squeezebox Touch

For those who do not want to be stuck with everything iTunes and the constrictive 16-bit.  The Touch is the latest incarnation of the successful Squeezebox series.  It is a great product and will play any file format you throw at it up to 24/96 resolution.  It is compatible with both Windows and Mac, iTunes and others.  You need to install a small host program called Squeezebox Server in your host computer and the squeezebox will find the music library automatically when connected to the same wifi network.  The touch screen works well and easy to read.  There was never a single drop-out over the 3 months I used it.  Software on the unit may not be as robust and as user friendly as the Apple-designed ones, but it works as advertised.

• 4.3" touch color screen
• Wifi 802.11N, or Ethernet connection
• AKM4420 DAC chip (one of the best "mid-fi" chip there is)
• USB host port for external USB drives - can be hacked to make it work with USB DACs
• SD card slot 
• Play virtually all formats
• Built-in internet radio capabilities
• Abilities to add custom "apps"
• Coaxial and toslink digital output
• 24-bit/96kHz compatible
• US$299

You can control the Touch using it touchscreen interface, its included small black remote control, or the excellent iPeng app for iPhone and iPad.


The Touch sounds good.  Very easy on the ears and on the soft side and has a laid-back presentation, it is quite good out of the box with little or no break-in.  However we audiophiles are never satisfied.  After searches on the internet, I found out that there are modification services specifically for the Touch available from specialist companies like Audiocom and Bolder cables.


I went for the Audiocom Level-2 digital upgrade (GBP277), sending the unit to UK where they install Bybee slipstream purifier for DC input and replaces circuits with low noise wide band regulators, OS-CONs everywhere and replaces the coaxial digital output circuit with silver wiring plus a nice NextGen digital output jack from WBT.  


I also purchased the Teddy Pardo's TTouch Power Supply (EUR270) which replaces the 5v switch mode wall wart with the superiorly low-noise power supply featuring the propreitary SuperTeddyRegulator.  

Sonic improvements after the upgrade are apparent.  The sound is now cleaner, more articulate and refined.  However, I am using it to feed an external DAC that I am familiar with.  Let me tell you this, as a transport, It beats all the disc-based transports I own and it is definitely better than running toslink direct out of the Mac mini.  Perhaps Wifi protocol just re-arranges the bits and eliminates jitter.  May be the power supply is so clean that the background becomes blacker than black.  The Audiocom modded Squeezebox Touch with Teddy Pardo PSU is the absolute best sounding transport I have ever own. 

Great softwares from Rogue Amoeba

Great collection of softwares (mostly for Mac) from Rogue Amoeba.  Everything is free to try with some features disabled.  All of them is $25-$32 to buy.

Airfoil (For Mac and Windows): Play any audio across your network to a whole host of devices, all in sync! Airfoil sends audio to remote speakers including iOS devices, other computers, and hardware devices like the Apple TV and AirPort Express. Airfoil for Mac gives you any audio, everywhere.

Audio Hijack Pro: Record any audio - three simple words to explain Audio Hijack Pro. Record from applications like iTunes, Skype or DVD Player. Record from microphones, Radiosharks and other hardware. If you hear it, you can record it.

Pulsar:  XM and SIRIUS both provide online access to most of their stations, but tuning in with a browser is clunky at best. With Pulsar and an XM or SIRIUS online account, you can access all this great content directly from your desktop!

Radioshift!: With Radioshift, you can listen to and record internet and AM/FM radio from around the world on your schedule.

Nicecast: The easiest way to broadcast music from OS X. Broadcast to the world, or just across your house. Nicecast can help you create your own internet radio station or allow you to listen to your iTunes Music Library from anywhere in the world

Fission: Streamlined audio editing, you can quickly copy, paste and trim audio, as well as split files. Fission also works with compressed MP3 and AAC formats to edit without the quality loss caused by other editors. Get perfect quality audio when editing natively in the MP3, AAC, Apple Lossless, AIFF and WAV formats.

Two headless servers

After scouting the resourceful Computer Audiophile forum for a while, I decided to get myself a new Mac Mini 2010 model, complete with 8GB Ram and will be configuring it purely for audio use.  To be controlled headlessly from another Mac using screen sharing and will be using my iPad to control music streaming from iTunes (with PureMusic or Amarra) wirelessly through a secure wifi connection. 

I will further enhance the unit by installing a Solid State Drive in it to make it completely silence of noise and radio frequency inferences.  Music will be store in an Oyen digital  separate firewire-connected drive.   Users report that this Mac Mini as transport, coupled with state of the art USB DACs are sublime.  Will see when I finish upgrading the hardware, configure the OS, and get my hands on the Tranquility SE USB DAC.

Now, if I am less of a Mac/Apple fan, I would consider as well a specialized headless UNIX machine design to just playing music.   So in addition to whatever the Mac Mini can do, the Auraliti MPD machine can output high quality analog audio, plus a proper coaxial SPDIF digital output.  


No moving parts and super green (like my mod Mac Mini) and design to do nothing but output music.  Driver-free USB for most USB DACs as well.  At $799 - I may try it out if I have another house or something.