If you use an AirPort Express and its optical output the Mac is still using AirPlay to send the music to the AirPort Express so you are still going to hit the limitations of AirPlay.The Rise of the HD Music Player for Audiophile's Why use a digital audio player in 2019?Fully utilizing a Mac’s potential, we have developed VOX's Audio Engine in our FLAC Music Player for Mac. In addition to common formats, including: FLAC, MP3, CUE, APE & M4A you can also playback Hi-Res Audio (HD Audio) with up to 24bit/192kHz, at 4 times higher than the standard 44kHz sound resolution.Easy to encode High Resolution Flac files to be compatible with any media player, like iTunes.
![]() ![]() Hi Res Audio Player Mac Is StillThat’s why a range of Mac-based iTunes software add-ons such as Audirvana+ ($49), Amarra Hifi ($35), Pure Music 2 ($129) and BitPerfect ($10) have emerged. Then, when you switch to a different format, you’ll need to repeat the process all over.Of course, having to repeatedly call up a setup utility depending on the file type you are playing is a hassle. Basically, what you’ll need to do is select the appropriate format and bit rate (e.g., 96kHz/24-bit) for the track you want to play. The second—and here’s where the workaround part comes in—is to switch between standard and Hi-Res audio formats using your Mac’s Audio Midi Setup utility. The first is to buy Hi-Res music in the ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) format, which is offered by sites such as HDtracks as a FLAC alternative. ITunes can support up to 24-bit, 192kHz via AIFF and ALAC files, though it's only recently that some sellers have offered ALAC in anything higher than 16-bit, 44.1/48kHz, and most still force FLAC or AIFF for 24-bit audio of any sort. It's worth noting that, out of the box, no Mac is capable of native DSD output over any of its digital connectors, nor is iTunes capable of decoding it.ITunes itself isn't *bad* for High-Res music, but it's certainly not the best. If you don't mind using the available HDMI output, though, there are mixed reports of 24/192 support over it for LPCM. Mac sound cards should provide decoding for up to 24-bit, 96kHz digital audio via their headphone jack, but said jack is almost always capable of TOSLINK Optical output of 24/96 as well via the OS (it's perfectly capable of 24/192 in hardware, but Apple hasn't supported it in the OS yet I need to verify that, though, as I haven't checked El Capitan yet). This can significantly degrade audio fidelity, but it's also a convenience feature if your computer is off.So there you have it! High Resolution is making inroads into the Apple Ecosystem, and Apple technically has broad hardware support for it should they ever choose to adopt it. If not, you may want to consider foobar2000 on a Windows install, as that can let you have more granular control over audio output through things like ASIO (beyond the scope of this answer, unfortunately).There are some additional caveats, by the way:*AirPlay is restricted to 16-bit, 44.1/48kHz only, regardless of end device capabilities.*iPods cannot play high resolution tracks at all.*iOS devices are technically capable of High Resolution audio, but the default Music app is not.*With the advent of iTunes Match and Apple Music, the AppleTV will attempt to stream the track from Apple's servers instead of accessing your local copies on your iOS device or iTunes library when used via AirPlay. That said, it's still a perfectly capable setup, and if you're willing to invest in things like external DACs or software applications that can tap into iTunes' library and metadata, then it's a very nice way to enjoy your music collection. Unfortunately, this also means that all audio from iTunes will be upsampled to meet those output requirements, which some purists will dislike (personally, I have no issues with it for day-to-day use).So while the Mac is a bit limited, and iTunes a bit klutzy, it's far from an ideal setup for High Resolution audio playback. ITunes itself can be configured (at least on Windows) for specific output in both sample and bitrate, and that's what it'll default to for all audio on the Mac, this should be exclusively controlled under System Preferences, however, since iTunes is heavily integrated with Core Audio there. ![]() Twonky works best with my Marantz receiver. This was after trying many different serve apps. To stream Hi-Res audio from my iTunes Library, I set up a Twonky DLNA server on my mac. I'm also using BitPerfect which automatically switches to the correct resolution to the DAC.Now if you want to stream HiRes audio, as mentioned AirPlay down converts to 16bit/44.1k audio. Roots genealogy program for macThere are a lot of advantages keeping your music within iTunes, especially if you bring it along on your i devices, stream it, or use iTunes Match or Apple Music. The only work around is for album art.needs to be embedded or have a folder.jpg file in the folder of the art.I hope this helps someone.
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