![]() Disengaging Audio Playthrough was the only way to return to something listenable. Engaging PureMusic Audio Playthrough introduced an occasional stream of glitching sounds to enter the playback chain of MacMini, Resonessence Labs Herus, REDGUM RGi60 and Zu Soul MKII. Investigating what PureMusic could do to lift Plastikman’s EX – which already sounds mighty fine in lossy format – was a short-lived affair. Instead, PureMusic hijacks the audio feed as per Pandora’s web browser audio stream. No way to tell Spotify that it’s gotta talk to DPad first. Simple enough for everyday users but for power users looking to introduce third party engines like PureMusic’s DPad it comes up short. Without the ability to specify an audio output device from within Spotify’s desktop app it fires ones and zeroes at whichever hardware device is specified in OS X’s system preferences. DPad routed audio is a smidge smoother, a soupçon softer…but that’s all she wrote. PureMusic definitely brings something to the party but with my headphone rig – LHLabs GeekOut firing into Audeze’s LCD-X – the gift is small. With Pandora playing inside Google Chrome, A/B-ing between PM Playthrough and direct-to-DAC in OS X’s sound output device selection menu becomes a single-click affair. Selecting Channel D DPad as the default output device in OS X’s system preferences and then engaging ‘Audio Playthrough’ (from PureMusic’s MusicServer drop down menu) is simple enough signal metering shows the user when PureMusic is handling playback processing. More troubling was PureMusic’s tendency to crash on exit upon which freshly applied settings were lost.Īn email to PureMusic’s tech support team on 14th June received no reply. This kinda bugs me but it isn’t a deal breaker. The former launches the latter and you can expect to iTunes to remind you of its presence each time PureMusic starts up as well as each time it quits. This brings us to my first niggle: decoupling PureMusic and iTunes just isn’t possible. ![]() PureMusic must be restarted to apply any such changes. Inside Playthrough’s software settings a hardware DAC can be specified. The Channel D website explains it thus: “Playthrough permits conveniently playing other computer audio sources (Internet radio, movies, etc.) through Pure Music, with full access to Pure Music’s dithered volume control, 64 bit crossover, audio EQ plug-ins, NetSend streaming, metering, etc.”ĭPad must be installed from within PureMusic’s audio setup options panel. DPad can also intercept audio played back from the web browser – hello Pandora radio. I took the 15 day trial versions of 2.0.1 and 2.0.2 for a spin.īundled inside the main app is the DPad plug-in which installs a virtual output device on your Mac through which any audio can be routed and – therefore – improved. Ahead of its release I thought I’d take a closer look at its main competitor: Channel D’s PureMusic (US$129). That coverage was somewhat Windows-centric with the final mention going to the forthcoming Amarra SQ, software that promises OS X users an audible improvement with ANY music application, not just iTunes. I recently detailed several ways in which to connect better software playback engines with Spotify and Qobuz. Time to remind ourselves that the mastering quality is as (if not more) important than the delivery format. Spotify sates more (theoretical) casual listening via 320kbps Ogg Vorbis but it too can still sound downright impressive. ![]() Renting access to CD-quality music is big news. With Qobuz and WiMP lossless streaming services up and running we now look to the cloud as a source of music. In 2014, we no longer consider only locally hosted libraries, accessed via an iTunes database. Whether it’s been a showroom demo or a home audition not once have I been unimpressed with the amelioration brought by each of these pieces of software. Spend a few hours with any of these applications and you’ll find returning to iTunes running solo a most unsatisfactory listening experience: it will likely sound flat and lifeless in comparison. They each retain iTunes’ library management system but at the click of play digital audio is handed off to the third party player where lower system overheads and RAM pre-loading solicit an uptick in sound quality. ![]() Computer audiophiles using Mac OS X will likely be familiar with the Channel D’s Pure Music, Sonic Studio’s Amarra and Audirvana+ – all alternatives to iTunes’ own playback engine.
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