I thought it might have been an incremental improvement, but I hadn't played anything for a few days so maybe I was just pleased to hear the system again.
I haven't worked out exactly what to do with the linking thing, either. It's an app when download it, but it says it's an AppleScript. I've Googled, but there doesn't seem to be anything about it anywhere else.
I'm loving the fact that 'exclusive access' 'memory play' and all the other features on Decibel address a lot of previous music server tweaks like renice-ing etc.
I noticed it tonight when iTunes wanted to update & some other software wanted a look-in also. I let it all get on with it but when decibel started playing the other processes almost stopped - until I stopped the player again. So I can use the MAC more or less like a normal computer, knowing that Decibel will go a long way to prioritising everything towards audio playback when necessary. That is a neat compromise.
Yes, also, by quite a margin, or I wouldn't have paid for it when the Beta ran out. I hope Audirvana improves further though, and will happily jump ship if it does enough.
Back to the drawing board, then. Had some trouble with it in an earlier version (OS and player), so will revisit it soon. Has some pedigree, that player . . .
Probably to do with silence at the start of the track. I imagine Ayrewave doesn't do anything as mundane as look at the song duration properties in some data file, I'd expect it counts up all the none zero samples and works out the length for itself. Probably a function of the memory play.
Probably as a method of minimizing the memory footprint. If you are sending music data to be converted and the dac doesn't display track detail data, then all you want to send are the actual PCM samples, and if you are doing that then why not strip out silence at the start of the track and just send them all over to the dac with a fixed run-in duration.
Or perhaps it's the other way, maybe Itunes does something to each track to force them all to have the same space between them, appending the file somehow.
New version of Decibel released on the 17th May, v1.2 with added functionality!
I had a go with it last night and am looking forward to a session today, so I'll understand it better soon. The ongoing discussion on computer audiophile has been resurrected as well, so there is some reading there - but this is what I noticed after a quick shufti:
It sounds great - possibly better than ever? I haven't spent much time listening to the big rig recently, so it may be placebo, but I was reminded just how good Decibel is.
There are new functions, possibly released with previous updates but only just noticed by me - like a pre-amplifier gain section on preferences, where gain can be reduced/increased. I run mine just a smidgen below 0.
There is also a volume control now! I don't yet know if it is a 'proper dithered' control, or a bit-cutting volume control like iTunes. It lurks at the bottom of the window towards the left.
There is a section on the preferences for sample rate converters - not really applicable to me but probably useful for some.
There is also - finally - wait for it - iTunes integration via plug-ins! It isn't the 'full fat scroll through the album art' integration you might have hoped for, rather a list you can bring up & filter. It is very effective, perefectly happy using a library stored on a NAS and I imagine it will work very well with a headless configuration, using a touch or iPhone as a touch-screen remote over VNC.
The whole shebang is still £20 (Yes - twenty!) for something that rivals PureMusic and Amarra, and if you already have a license you should get your update within a hour of starting Decibel. (There is also talk of a magazine shoot-out between Decibel, Amarra & PureMusic.)
@thrang I see you asking about third party players on computer audiophile -- how about trying decibel on a trial as well? It's not such a big player programme to download on your machine as PM or Amarra, although they also have free trial periods and are undoubtedly very good.
You still use iTunes as a library manager - just drag and drop your albums to Decibel to play them.
I should also point out that Audirvana has the same advantages, and is completely free (as opposed to $30 USD for Decibel). I didn't enjoy it's sound so much though, but things may have changed since I last listened to it. It is safe to say that they all improve on the the iTunes 'sound'.
Recent updates have been really good IMO, now a very usable UI as far as I'm concerned.
There is a bit of talk surrounding Fixed Integer Playback on Computer Audiophile at the moment, something neither Decibel supports nor my DAC (Young). The developers of both are looking at it though, and judging by some of the comments I've heard regarding fixed integer playback that might be a good thing. I am getting curious.
This is a quote from Stephen Booth.
"I want to clarify one point about what integer mode (or integer playback) means in the context of Decibel. The term is becoming popular but it lacks a concise definition, so there can be some confusion on its meaning in various contexts.
If exclusive access is enabled and the DAC supports integer input, Decibel will send audio to the DAC as integers. In exclusive mode, as the name implies, Decibel has complete control over the audio device and what audio is sent to it.
Internally Decibel represents audio as floating point numbers. This isn't a problem because all "normal" sized integer audio samples can be converted to and from floating-point numbers 100% reversibly and with 100% accuracy.
What Charlie means by fixed integer in his post above is an all integer audio playback chain. Take a plain WAVE file on disk- in an all integer chain the audio will be read as an integer from the file, perhaps bit shifted left, and then sent to the DAC as an integer. There are no conversions to or from floating point. The end result, however, is the same- the same bits are sent to the DAC. Some early versions of AyreWave had an all integer playback chain, but I shifted to the floating point intermediate when I added support for more DACs and digital volume."
I must say that I've not been keeping up with the discussion on integer mode - too busy with other stuff :-(
But, without seeing the complete thread (on CA?), it seems that fixed integer is another take on nailing down bit-perfect? Or am I squinting stupidly through a slit at only part of the argument?
It's an extension to the idea as far as I understand. MACs all output data at 32bits even if the music player outputs 24 bits, like apple's own iTunes.
The MAC is therefore converting everything to 32 bits for transmission, which the DAC will then convert back to 24 bits (or even 16 bits?). It is in many ways an unnecessary conversion, but it has something to do with the computer being able to perform other tasks like mixing at the same time as outputting audio data. At 24 bit this wouldn't be possible apparently.
Fixed Integer mode bypasses Core-Audio altogether - so no conversions at all - and just gives the DAC the data straight from the file > media player.
Theoretically I can see that would be advantageous, but I might not understand the theory...
The only reason I keep wondering about it is all those Audirvana users are having a great time with it & their compatible DACs. I'm not in the least bit dissatisfied with either Decibel or the Young, but I am always interested in improvements.
Maybe some clever people might drop in sometime soon & explain a little better.
The gist is the third post (by WGScott - I like his posts, he is most informative) and the post shortly following by that US national treasure, @Ted_b.
Comments
I haven't tried the linking thing because it is a script, and I don't know what a script really is or how to run it.
I noticed it tonight when iTunes wanted to update & some other software wanted a look-in also. I let it all get on with it but when decibel started playing the other processes almost stopped - until I stopped the player again. So I can use the MAC more or less like a normal computer, knowing that Decibel will go a long way to prioritising everything towards audio playback when necessary. That is a neat compromise.
I reckon it is a bargain also, though I'm not sure about the middlemen & their exchange rate...
I had a go with it last night and am looking forward to a session today, so I'll understand it better soon. The ongoing discussion on computer audiophile has been resurrected as well, so there is some reading there - but this is what I noticed after a quick shufti:
It sounds great - possibly better than ever? I haven't spent much time listening to the big rig recently, so it may be placebo, but I was reminded just how good Decibel is.
There are new functions, possibly released with previous updates but only just noticed by me - like a pre-amplifier gain section on preferences, where gain can be reduced/increased. I run mine just a smidgen below 0.
There is also a volume control now! I don't yet know if it is a 'proper dithered' control, or a bit-cutting volume control like iTunes. It lurks at the bottom of the window towards the left.
There is a section on the preferences for sample rate converters - not really applicable to me but probably useful for some.
There is also - finally - wait for it - iTunes integration via plug-ins! It isn't the 'full fat scroll through the album art' integration you might have hoped for, rather a list you can bring up & filter. It is very effective, perefectly happy using a library stored on a NAS and I imagine it will work very well with a headless configuration, using a touch or iPhone as a touch-screen remote over VNC.
The whole shebang is still £20 (Yes - twenty!) for something that rivals PureMusic and Amarra, and if you already have a license you should get your update within a hour of starting Decibel. (There is also talk of a magazine shoot-out between Decibel, Amarra & PureMusic.)
More later campers!
;-)
Duh! Simon Booth is an old client of mine.
Looking through SBooth's forum, it seems the volume control should be set to 1 or disabled for bit perfect playback.
Still handy though.
There must be a knack to this.
You still use iTunes as a library manager - just drag and drop your albums to Decibel to play them.
I should also point out that Audirvana has the same advantages, and is completely free (as opposed to $30 USD for Decibel). I didn't enjoy it's sound so much though, but things may have changed since I last listened to it. It is safe to say that they all improve on the the iTunes 'sound'.
There is a bit of talk surrounding Fixed Integer Playback on Computer Audiophile at the moment, something neither Decibel supports nor my DAC (Young). The developers of both are looking at it though, and judging by some of the comments I've heard regarding fixed integer playback that might be a good thing. I am getting curious.
This is a quote from Stephen Booth.
"I want to clarify one point about what integer
mode (or integer playback) means in the context of Decibel. The term is
becoming popular but it lacks a concise definition, so there can be
some confusion on its meaning in various contexts.
If exclusive access is enabled and the DAC supports integer input,
Decibel will send audio to the DAC as integers. In exclusive mode, as
the name implies, Decibel has complete control over the audio device and
what audio is sent to it.
Internally Decibel represents audio as floating point numbers. This
isn't a problem because all "normal" sized integer audio samples can be
converted to and from floating-point numbers 100% reversibly and with
100% accuracy.
What Charlie means by fixed integer in his post above is an
all integer audio playback chain. Take a plain WAVE file on disk- in an
all integer chain the audio will be read as an integer from the file,
perhaps bit shifted left, and then sent to the DAC as an integer. There
are no conversions to or from floating point. The end result, however,
is the same- the same bits are sent to the DAC. Some early versions of
AyreWave had an all integer playback chain, but I shifted to the
floating point intermediate when I added support for more DACs and
digital volume."
The MAC is therefore converting everything to 32 bits for transmission, which the DAC will then convert back to 24 bits (or even 16 bits?). It is in many ways an unnecessary conversion, but it has something to do with the computer being able to perform other tasks like mixing at the same time as outputting audio data. At 24 bit this wouldn't be possible apparently.
Fixed Integer mode bypasses Core-Audio altogether - so no conversions at all - and just gives the DAC the data straight from the file > media player.
Theoretically I can see that would be advantageous, but I might not understand the theory...
The only reason I keep wondering about it is all those Audirvana users are having a great time with it & their compatible DACs. I'm not in the least bit dissatisfied with either Decibel or the Young, but I am always interested in improvements.
Maybe some clever people might drop in sometime soon & explain a little better.
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/Fixed-Integer-Playback
The gist is the third post (by WGScott - I like his posts, he is most informative) and the post shortly following by that US national treasure, @Ted_b.