![]() We will have to get up and change the record, flip it over, or put it back in the case and extract another. We should always clean the record with the proper brush (more on this later). Whatever we might say about vinyl we surely will agree that is not the most convenient form of listening over an extended period. Today, however, we are going to look into the advantages of casual and convenient listening. ![]() A well-recorded vinyl album is hard to surpass or even duplicate in any other medium. When last we met we were celebrating the joys of true analogue recordings. I encourage your sharing of info and insights. Let me know in the comments what you think. The wonder is that this music is reproduced in ACC at 256 kbits/s. If you love the sound of the cello and you love great playing, get this album. Emmanuelle Bertrand plays beautifully and, on my AudioEngines’s, she is right in the room. I know what a live cello concert sounds like. ![]() downloads, but the beauty is that it will greatly improve the sound of iTunes and Apple Music. It just sits in the system in the background and stays out-of-the-way, while it busily cleans up all those little bits. Not only that, but the latest version of BitPerfect has been significantly improved from the version I reviewed previously. The Amarra app is not as easy to use and it does not play as well with iTunes. Nevertheless, what we are talking about here is casual listening. The Amarra HiFi was a bit better at a cost of $50 (no pun intended). See iTunes Audiophile Software Comparisons. I reviewed this app along with several others. Coloration? Maybe, but a significant improvement to my listening experience. What about the sound with this app in the system? Bass is more solid, resolution seems to be improved, and the high-end is sweeter. Do not ask me why I chose certain settings. Here are the settings I arrived at for my particular system for music recorded in ACC at 256 kbits/s: However, this can almost be eliminated with a little playing around with app’s preferences. There is a little digital glare so to speak. Just using it plug and play, one will discover a significant improvement in the sound. The amazing thing is that it greatly improves Apple’s AAC files as well. But what is does do is to, somehow, play any type of files whether high-resolution or not. The beautiful part of this app is that it is compatible with airplay (after a little fiddling) and that it just sits in the background without changing the iTunes user interface in any way. ![]() Download the BitPerfect app from the Mac App Store. (Always the tweaking!) The bits need to be cleaned up. But first a little tweaking is necessary. The audio playback can sound wonderful, even from iTunes. This could be done from an iPad or iPhone, but the laptop provides more flexibility and the use of additional software. With a Mac laptop, using the latest operating system, one can airplay his or her music to the great AudioEngine A2+’s. This is needed to establish a home network so that one can airplay directly from a laptop.) Remembering that we are still talking about casual listening, I have discovered the joy of having great music at my finger tips for an unheard of price. I already had an Apple Airport Express which connects to the AudioEngine speakers. (Well, I did spend $650 on the used MacBook Pro. I just upgraded my audio system for the unheard of price of ten dollars. In fact, Apple has asked that all music producers submit their recordings in a high resolution format. This has enabled Apple to improve the sound on many recordings, whether labeled as “Mastered for iTunes” or not. Apple has done that with its “Mastered for iTunes” program. If, however, the original master tapes or digital recordings are carefully transferred, the sound can be quite good. What Apple has done is significantly improve the sound of iTunes. I have been able to locate some wonderful classic recordings. It is a great way to discover new music or get re-acquainted with some old classics. It is now easier to navigate after some recent tweaking by Apple. I bought a used MacBook Pro laptop at a very good price from my local computer store. And it can reproduce realistic sound with a little experimentation. But I have found that it can come very close to the point that I can imagine myself at a live concern if I turnoff the super critical OCD mindset. (I will always clean my vinyl and dust the stylus.) Let us call it casual listening.Ĭan casual listening be enjoyable? Yes! Can such listening compete with high-definition sound? Well, not quite. It is for the software – I mean the music. There are days when you just want to sit back and enjoy the music without any fuss. But let us not forget why we have all this expensive hardware. Audiophiles are often fiddling with their system to wring out the very best sound possible.
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