Since these all matched the sound of the masters in the tests I ran, I consider this a good thing. I could not distinguish between any of the players. Now, it turns out, in the comparisons I've done of some (not all) apps, including one which has not yet been announced, I did not hear or measure any difference whatsoever. Regardless of whether I liked the results or not, I would not call this "better". If some other software package delivers playback that sounds different from the first, it would also be delivering playback that sounds different from the masters. ![]() If one piece of software delivers playback of those extracted files that I cannot distinguish from playback of the original files (both in listening tests and by nulling a capture of each made just ahead of the DAC chip in the ULN-8), I'm very happy with it. The criterion I'm using for comparison is: Does it sound like the original? I am fortunate to have masters for a number of CDs and use these to compare with the results of extracting audio from the CDs made from these masters. Still, I'm not finding it to be a great problem in the meantime, as I simply quit iTunes, go to Audio/MIDI Setup and change the rate, then re-launch iTunes and listen.Īside from avoiding on-the-fly sample rate conversion, the supposed advantage of these and other apps is they don't do the "damage" iTunes does to the audio.Ĭlick to expand.For me, it isn't a question of "satisfying" or "sounding good". I would however, like to see it able to switch sample rate to match that of the file being played, thus avoiding the sonically damaging on-the-fly sample rate conversion. But so far, as long as its internal processes are defeated (boxes unchecked in Preferences) and its own volume control is left at maximum, I'm finding iTunes playback to be unimpeachable. I (always) leave room for the possibility that I've missed something and may at some future date discover something that eludes me at the present. All three nulled, to the sample, showing what enters the DAC in all three cases is absolutely identical. I have taken the signal at the input to the DAC and was able to achieve a full null between iTunes playback, original master playback and playback from another, as yet unannounced application similar to the ones mentioned in this thread. And I've already proven (to my own satisfaction) that playback from iTunes is indistinguishable from playback of the master files used to create the CDs which were later extracted into iTunes. ![]() Personally, I've yet to hear a sonic difference among the apps I've tested. Click to expand.Aside from avoiding on-the-fly sample rate conversion, the supposed advantage of these and other apps is they don't do the "damage" iTunes does to the audio.
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