I see television streaming services going through the same growing pains, now: my Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime, also offer purchase and renting of titles they don't offer for free, and also give you access to other streaming services or channels you have to pay extra for.just so you don't get hacked-off and leave their service, to go directly to somebody else's service. So the choice starts not with which program you like better, but what your priorities are, and how much you need to accommodate the other, secondary priority. But, most of the management software packages you can choose from today, are also aware, they need to bring that streaming-service flexibility into their world along with it. You need to bear in mind, managing your personal library of tracks and dealing with a music streaming service are clearly two different objectives. As I said, in terms of source material in that chain I believe I will be focused on Quboz, Spotify, and personal digital files. I also currently have a Schiit Modi as a DAC though I've considered upgrading that as well. I have a 2012 Mac Mini that I've been planning to use in large part because I have it and "no additional cost" is well within my budget. I've been trying to figure out my digital chain in terms of both source and DAC. My system is a pair of high efficiency single driver speakers from Omega, a tube amp built around the '45' tube, and (for the time being) a SS preamp (B&K Pro/5) that will be used in pass through mode where it essentially acts as a volume control and input switcher. Because of this, I have no current digital chain to speak of. At the same time I live in a digital world and have a huge collection of digital music that can't be ignored. I've focused on building a system to focus on my vinyl collection that hasn't seen any use in all these years. Kids caused my home stereo to get pushed aside and I'm only now trying to get things built back up. Are all the software choices variations on the same use case? Do they all offer management of existing music, management of incoming streaming, and providing an interface for those services? Are the services all interchangeable or are there actual different use cases for each? I know many people have their favorites but can I’d like to hear some analysis of the differences from people who have used multiple choices so I can better understand the similarities and differences.Ĭlick to expand.I'm currently putting together my first two channel system in a lot of years. I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed, not so much just by the decision but also in figuring out how this all interacts. I'm also not clear if these software packages replace the interfaces on the streaming services or not. I’m not clear how well any of these do this. One of the big keys for me is the way they manage my existing collection of digital music which is fairly huge. BitPerfect seems focused on passing high quality audio out of a Mac, but maybe not with the interface options offered by other software. Roon seems to get praised for a better interface and its organization of files that exist already in your collection. I had thought Audirvana was a good answer because of high marks for sound quality. I’m confused about what software I need to be adding to my system. Right now, my plan is to use an older Mac Mini headless and dedicated as a music server. I have a large collection of digital music, both MP3s and uncompressed files like WAV and AIFF. I plan to subscribe to Quboz because I want access to high definition audio and I find they get the most consistent high marks for audio quality particularly since I don’t want to have to purchase gear that plays MQA. I plan to keep Spotify because my whole family uses it and I think they have great features regarding finding related music. (I think a Mac, for example, passes lower quality audio unless an additional program forces it to do otherwise.) As I’m understanding it, they handle passing high definition audio through the system. I believe these programs largely manage the process of digital music. Here is where I think I’m getting more confused. There are also apps that people seem to use such as BitPerfect, Pure Music, Audirvana, JRiver, and Roon. Some of these, like Spotify, have far better interfaces than others, of course. Quboz, Tidal, Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, etc. I get that there are streaming services that provide access to music. I know there are a lot of threads about managing digital for a hi fi system, but I’m still having some confusion. I could use some guidance and education from the hive mind.
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