You might be surprised to learn that such a solution has existed since the late noughties but its pricing (north of US$10K) and hardware ties keep it out of mortal reach. An app that will solicit an ‘oh-my-god-that’s-awesome’ response from anyone that uses it, especially those who value form as much as they do function.
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What’s missing from the desktop software scene is a similarly satisfying solution. Joe digs Sonos because the UI is intuitive, powerful and elegant. J River brings some serious utility to the table but only once the end user is familiar with its deep menu drill-down approach.Īudiophiles roll with aesthetic and configuration compromise punches that a regular Joe would laugh out of the room.
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Foobar is bare-boned from the outset with skin customization probably only tackled by its power users. It’s Chuck Norris before it’s Brad Pitt.Īmarra and Audirvana+ 2.0 function just fine as standalone players but you couldn’t call them elegant or stylish. Channel D’s PureMusic plays only this way – perhaps why its own overlay skin is little more than functional. These software interlopers marry iTunes’ reasonably slick library management, song/album selection and transport control (and associated smart device remote apps) to the sound quality goodness of the third party player engine. Some even depend on it.Īmarra and Audirvana+ can be configured to play standover man between iTunes and D/A converter, thus mugging the former of its digital feed duties. And whilst each app betters iTunes on separation, detail and all-round avidity to varying degrees, few (if any) better its UI. On Windows, it’s Foobar, J Play, J River and Fidelizer (among others).
Sonic Studio’s Amarra, Channel D’s Pure Music and Audirvana+ are the big three for OS X. This needs-must approach has contributed heavily to the proliferation of audiophile-centric software players that promise improvements on iTunes’ sound quality baseline. And so consumer-grade devices dominate the digital transport landscape - jack of all trades, master of none. As well as tune spinner, the PC or Mac must double as social media updater, photo editor and web browser. The latter are seen as ill-affordable extravagances by the budget conscious buyer. Home computers don’t blend into the rack as well as single-use devices like CD players, music servers and streamers.
Deploying a PC or Mac as a digital front end for a hi-fi system – it’s a compromise.
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