DIGITAL SOURCE COMPONENTS

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go to: Contents | On The Horizon | Feature | Disc Players | DACs | Music Servers & Accessories | Integrated Amps with USB DACs | Music Download Reviews | Buyer's Guide Turning a Mac Into a Music Server - A Beginner's Guide playback program that can’t beat iTunes’ basic performance benchmarks has no reason to exist. As I mentioned earlier you will need a disc reader/writer to import CDs into your music library. But before you import your first CD you will need to change the preferences in iTunes. The default rip rate is only 320KBPS MP3, so you need to change that to something better in the “import settings” dialog box. I use 44.1/16- bit AIFF, but WAV is also an option. The primary disadvantage of WAV is that you won’t be able to add or change the artwork in a WAV file, while you can add and change art on AIFF files. In the past WAV files were more universally playable than AIFF, but I’ve yet to come across a high-quality portable player that won’t recognize AIFF files. During initial set-up iTunes will need to configure where music files will be stored. I always use a separate storage drive for all my music files. But whatever else you do, if you move your music files to a different drive than the initial default, let iTunes do the moving. If you move music files to a different drive by dragging and dropping, then iTunes will no longer be able to find your files. So don’t do that, please. Once iTunes has been set up and is running I recommend living with it for a while before trying third-party music apps for the Mac. First off, if iTunes runs successfully it’s a good indication that your Mac is stable and properly configured. If iTunes crashes something isn’t working right, and other programs will probably behave in equally buggy fashion. It’s important to get iTunes running right first. I use iTunes as my disc-ripping program. You can also use other programs such as dBPoweramp for disc importing. But despite some articles I’ve seen that claim that dBPoweramp is more likely to produce a “bitperfect” copy of a CD, the error correction built into iTunes also guarantees a bit-perfect replica of a CD’s data. So far I have yet to see any compelling evidence that iTunes disc importation reduces sound quality when compared to other disc-importation apps. Because of the number of variables in a computer audio setup finding a “tweak” or modification that will universally improve the sound of every Apple computer is virtually impossible. Once you’ve lived with and used iTunes for a while you can begin to try other playback programs. I use Pure Music, Amarra, Audirvana, and Decibel regularly. Each program has particular ergonomic advantages and they do not sound the same. Since all have free or demo modes you can try them out for yourself and see which one you like best. Pure Music has the most extensive preference options and because of this is most complex to set up. Amarra, in comparison, has very few options available from its internal preferences. So far I’ve not heard one playback program I would call “the best” in all setups. Obviously, it would be great if a particular collection of settings produced optimal sound quality in every Mac in every system, but that isn’t the case. For instance, when it comes to upsampling versus native-rate conversion I’ve found some music does sound better when upsampled while other music files sound best when played back at their native rate. One vitally important piece of software in the Mac is called “Audio Midi Setup.” I strongly recommend putting an alias of this app on your Mac’s dock because you will be using it a lot. You can do this by dragging the app’s icon (which looks like a keyboard and can be found in the “Utilities” subfolder) onto your dock. When you open the Audio Midi Setup app a box that shows you each input and output will greet you. It also tells you the current format and bit rate. Besides this information the Midi app lets you change format and bit rates and switch audio devices. Look at the “+” sign in the left lower corner. If you click on the little gear symbol next to it you can change audio output devices “on the fly.” Another piece of supplied software that you should definitely use is Apple’s “Time Machine” backup. It will, once set up, automatically back up any drive on a regular schedule. If you have a hard drive or system failure “Time Machine” can reinstall your entire system to the point just before your crash. It has saved my life more than once. Use it. One last piece of free software from Apple that I’ve found invaluable is “Remote.” As you might infer from its name, Remote is an app that lets you control iTunes (or Pure Music, Amarra, or Audirvana when they are linked to iTunes) from an iPhone, iPad, or Smartphone. You can see your whole library, make selections, build and save playlists, and play music from your listening seat. Tweaks Because of the number of variables in a computer audio setup finding a “tweak” or modification that will universally improve the sound of every Apple computer is virtually impossible. Sure, there are “best practices,” such as making sure that your system is not up- or down-converting a file without your knowledge (that’s where the Midi Control is invaluable), but “universal” tweaks Uh, no. Some users have reported that one particular USB port provided better sound than the others. Usually sonic differences between USB ports are a function of what other devices besides the DAC are on those ports. If you click on the Apple symbol in the left-hand upper corner of your screen you can open “About This Mac.” Under the “USB Ports” section you’ll find a list 14 Digital Source Components www.theabsolutesound.com previous page NEXT page
go to: Contents | On The Horizon | Feature | Disc Players | DACs | Music Servers & Accessories | Integrated Amps with USB DACs | Music Download Reviews | Buyer's Guide Turning a Mac Into a Music Server - A Beginner's Guide of each USB port and what is connected to it. Notice on my computer how my keyboard and printers are on a separate USB buss from my audio devices. And since both audio devices I have hooked up are on the same buss but do not receive data at the same time (with the MIDI Control I select one or the other), they For the Obsessive For those of you pursuing all-out sonic performance, here are some refinements to Steven's article that I've picked up from computer-audio experts. First, if you’re about to buy a Mac for a server, the MacBook Pro has some advantages over the other models. Because it is designed to be close to human bodies it reportedly must meet tighter requirements for radiated noise resulting in “cleaner” performance compared with the Mac Mini. The MacBook Air and iMac are less ideal for music servers, the MacBook Air because it uses inferior parts in the USB controller, and the iMac because the integrated video monitor radiates noise. Some tweaky Mac users have reported that 16GB of RAM is preferable to 8GB, largely because the Mountain Lion operating system consumes so much memory. The bad news is that the new MacBook Pro 13" maxes out at 8GB, so if you want 16GB you’ll need the more expensive 15" model. Moreover, in the latest MacBook Pros the RAM is now soldered to the board and can’t be upgraded later. You’re stuck at the level of RAM that comes with the computer. You can, however, opt for a small SSD if the Mac is a dedicated server because your music library will be stored on an external drive. Also keep in mind that a Mac- Book Pro doesn’t come with a disc drive; you’ll need to add the Super Drive ($80). For the budget conscious there are many new MacBook Pros available on the used market that can have their memory increased to 16GB. —Robert Harley should be getting the same quality in their data streams. So far, I have detected no “alpha USB buss” during the seven years I’ve been using my MacPro desktop computer. Users, including myself, have reported hearing sound quality differences when using different USB cables. As to the whys and wherefores of these differences, the most likely reasons are that differences in jitter, bandwidth, impedance, and the reflection of energy influence the time-coherence of the audio signal in subtle yet audible ways. My advice, whether you’re a cable “believer” or someone who doubts that cables can make an audible difference, is to start with a basic cable, such as the Belkin Gold. Then try a “better” cable as well as the thinnest cruddiest, cheapest USB cable you can find lying around and listen for differences. I have heard USB-cable differences with many of the DACs I’ve reviewed when making this comparison. But sometimes, in some systems, USB cable swaps haven’t made an audible difference. Regardless of where you stand on USB-cable audibility, don’t try using a very long or a very short USB cable—best practices indicate that USB cables’ optimal length should be between one and two meters. Finally, as to whether a particular version of the Mac Mini or Mac portable “sounds better” than the others, all the information I’ve seen has been purely anecdotal. Some computeraudio enthusiasts have gravitated to an older generation of Mac Minis that had an external rather than internal power supply because they can easily modify the external supply, and they feel that the aftermarket and sometimes homebrew power supplies have a lower noise floor and put less spurious noise back into the system. Current-gen Mac Minis have an internal power supply, which can also be modified, but that is a more difficult and usually more expensive process. The Starting Line Obviously we can only begin to delve into the mysteries and delights of a Mac-based computer audio system in a magazine article— there are entire books on the subject. But this will get you started in the right direction. For some audiophiles computer audio becomes a consuming passion because the potential for tweaks and improvements are nearly infinite. But before you can begin to wring every last iota of performance out of your system you have to get it up and running reliably. I hope this article will make that a little easier. 15 Digital Source Components www.theabsolutesound.com previous page NEXT page
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DIGITAL SOURCE COMPONENTS

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