FLAC Player

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Corn Pop, Aug 13, 2022.

  1. Corn Pop

    Corn Pop Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    eagle nest, nm
    Hi,

    I use Audirvana on an older Mac. Forgot to deauthorize before wiping the drive before I sold and had problems getting 3.5 to work on it anyways....So considering the stand alone Origin as opposed to the subscription option. $89 for previous license holders.

    I like Audirvana just fine! I ripped way too many tune to FLAC so iTune/Music too much of a hassle.

    SO before I drop $89 on Audirvana is it still viable and is there a better option?

    Thanks!
     
  2. MIOM

    MIOM Music Is Our Mind

    Location:
    United States
  3. Corn Pop

    Corn Pop Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    eagle nest, nm
    Thanks!

    Yes I'm using the trial and it's fine. Lacks streaming Tidal access but that's no big deal.

    I don't require much besides a simple organization and ability to play FLAC.

    I researched pretty heavily back ~2018 when I first bought Audirvana and still can't find no complaints.

    With current $$$ scares it pays to research a little more and I see a couple other for similar prices but difficult to find honest feedback by google searches...
     
  4. Ingenieur

    Ingenieur Just a dog looking for a home...

    Location:
    Back in PA
    Foobar2000?
    Free
    Player
    Organizes library
    Has a ripper

    I run it on a small $150 form factor computer and USB to DAC
    either external SSHD
    or buy some onboard SS
     
  5. yamfox

    yamfox Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    I'm stuck with old Audirvana (3.5.5) because I need UPNP fuctionalilty and I absolutely refuse to pay for subscription software of any kind on principle.
    Still works for now on newest macOS on M1 chip so I assume it'll be future proof for a while, but I probably will be SOL and have to come up with some other playback solution eventually.
     
    RockAddict likes this.
  6. WhatDoIKnow

    WhatDoIKnow I never got over it, I got used to it

    Location:
    Italy
    +1 for foobar!
     
  7. harby

    harby Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR, USA
    The forum for that software is full of people asking for their license to be reset for similar situations. And support just closes the thread without replying. They have an email address for support - then you shame them on social media - then you never use them again and tell your friends.

    FLAC is free and open source software.
     
  8. jfbar167

    jfbar167 Forum Resident

    Location:
    SW Florida
    ++1 on Foobar. Plex also supports FLAC and it is free (for the most part), runs on PC or pretty much any streaming device as well as some NAS.
     
    Tajo1960, Ingenieur and WhatDoIKnow like this.
  9. Ingenieur

    Ingenieur Just a dog looking for a home...

    Location:
    Back in PA
    And add MonkeyMote, iirc it costs a few $
    iPhone control
     
  10. charlie W

    charlie W EMA Level 10

    Location:
    Area Code 254
    Try VOX. It's free and it's not a resource hog.
     
  11. MIOM

    MIOM Music Is Our Mind

    Location:
    United States
    Flac files, dedicated high end USB DAC and JRiver Media Center working well here. I gave Audirvana a try but couldn't see paying $120 for it when I already have JRiver (only $25 bucks for upgrades).

    That's me.
     
    Corn Pop likes this.
  12. R. Totale

    R. Totale The Voice of Reason

    It's foobar for me but OP has a Mac. Does the Mac port of Audacity not play FLAC?
     
    Corn Pop likes this.
  13. Oelewapper

    Oelewapper Plays vinyl instead of installing it on the floor.

    Foobar or Plex.
    Plex is free for playback of local files; the smartphone app is about 5 bucks, but your Plex server can be accessed through the smartphone browser as well (the app works much smoother though).
     
    Corn Pop likes this.
  14. Corn Pop

    Corn Pop Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    eagle nest, nm
    Thanks!

    So...it ends up the new Mac Music has auto play you can not stop! Brand new MBP and when ever it connects to bluetooth Music pops up and starts playing 1st song alphabetically. Can't quit it! Well actually you can BUT starts right back up. Can't delete it! A 3rd party app will auto quit but you end up with the icon bouncing off and on in the dock! Literally opens music on top of any document or browser your working on! Minimize it and it pops back up!

    Impossible to remove! They designed it as a core component. I spent hours on the phone with applecare working 4 levels of techs up and finally told "It's designed to operate like that"!

    I did complete reinstall of OS removing all my additions and still does it.

    Complete utter insanity by mac that has made some dubious decisions since Jobs croaked.

    The MBP rocks otherwise so I'm hoping a 3rd party audio player will usurp the music. In an attempt to see if Audirvana 3.5 will work Audirvana says I have installed on another machine which I don't so waiting to see if they will reset my key code.

    Unbelievable behavior from apple trying to bludgeon customers into subscription service! What are they thinking? I used to spend $50 a month on iTunes music but had enough years ago. So from $600 a year to $0 a year! Brilliant strategy apple!

    Thanks again for the suggestions and be careful with upgrading mac OS (Ventura and Monterey have the issue) if you value your sanity!
     
  15. JohnT

    JohnT Senior Member

    Location:
    PA & FL gulf coast
    I use Audirvana 3.5 & Foobar2000 on a PC and everything is flac.
    Not a fan of the subscription model so I've no idea where I'd go from here.
     
  16. bdfin

    bdfin Forum Resident

    Location:
    Washington State
    Amarra luxe from Sonic Studio has a 14 day free trial. Has FLAC support, Tidal and Qobuz integration. Been using it for a while, has a quirk or 2 but running on a mac mini with OS 12.5. Just another option. Free trial. Sounds good.
     
  17. subzro

    subzro Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tx
    So so funny, you reinstalled the OS and then derped out on the forum when you could have clicked one button to turn the setting off.
    Never underestimate the ability of users here to make entry-level tech painfully difficult!
     
  18. Jimi Floyd

    Jimi Floyd Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pisa, Italy
    Impossible.

    I have a MacBook Pro M1 running Monterey with all my music stored in Music

    Just like many other users, I don't have and never had the unstoppable auto-play Music problem you are talking about

    You are either doing something really wrong or have an anti-apple agenda for whatever reason

    read my signature below this post
     
    Last edited: Aug 16, 2022
    Mudflapper likes this.
  19. Corn Pop

    Corn Pop Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    eagle nest, nm

    Nope!

    They removed the option to do this. I'm not kidding I spent 3 hours on the phone with 4 different techs doing screen share etc. The last one said it's a feature not a bug.

    Can not be removed either!
     
  20. Corn Pop

    Corn Pop Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    eagle nest, nm

    Cool!

    Do you connect via bluetooth? That's when it does it. It's a documented issue for some...I don't know why not all. I'm glad to hear it's not effecting you as to say annoying is an understatement.

    I updated the OS and erased all my content and still does it BUT via a test user it doesn't! It's maddening and puzzling! If it still does it when I install Audirvana 3.5 (They opened my key code this morning, Thanks Audirvana!) I'll see about migrating to the test user account for admin. So strange even a clean install does it for the first admin account.

    There's even a 3rd party app to auto quit so it's a real issue. Plenty of reports if you care to google the problem. I'm not alone and final tech I spoke with finally acknowledged it an issue by reading internal forums the techs use to share current issues and solutions. He's the one who said feature not bug!

    I do love Macs! This MBP may be the best yet! It replaces my 2015 MBP that has been flawless aside from battery swelling. I travel and it was getting difficult to use personal hotspot from iPhone 13 Pro Max. I have it on High Sierra OS so I can use my stand alone Photoshop CS6 so not 100% compatible with iPhone.

    Again try connecting to a bluetooth stereo and see if it happens.

    Thanks!
     
  21. Jimi Floyd

    Jimi Floyd Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pisa, Italy
    Instructions: Use the Playing Next queue in Music on Mac

    [​IMG]
     
  22. Jimi Floyd

    Jimi Floyd Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pisa, Italy
    I tried but can't replicate your problem.
    Just a question, are you playing your own files in Music or are you streaming?
     
  23. Corn Pop

    Corn Pop Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    eagle nest, nm

    Sorry if I used the wrong terms...I meant autostart not autoplay although even when autoplay was de-selected it would autoplay too!!

    Connect your mac to bluetooth and see if it auto starts and wont quit.

    Thanks for trying to help!
     
  24. Corn Pop

    Corn Pop Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    eagle nest, nm

    My own files! Mostly Apple Lossless ripped via dBPoweramp over the years.

    I'm a full time RV'er and my set up is just a Clarion M508 car stereo in dash type. I usually break out my Hegel DAC and direct connect but not in current location to go through that right now. The Clarion is ok.

    I used to have the same problem with Apple Podcast on iPhone. Although I could quit it even when it wasn't opened it would start playing via the Clarion! I don't know how the Clarion could be influencing autostart/autoplay though.....

    Thanks!
     
    Jimi Floyd likes this.
  25. Corn Pop

    Corn Pop Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    eagle nest, nm
    Bottom line though is Apple "should" allow us to remove Music app, which is not possible! Try to do it! It's locked into the core. I've not even found a Terminal hack that can remove or disable it....just brick it and let it lay in a dark corner!

    OR..

    Support FLAC and other file formats.

    IF I had not ripped 100+ cds to FLAC I'd have been fine with this behavior. Turn off bluetooth when I don't want to rock out!

    MacBook Pro is a GREAT platform for playing through a high quality DAC and Apple should recognize many may be coming over or previously opted for other file formats.


    Aside from this issue I must say this is one of the more impressive Macs of the maybe 20 I've owned. So not mac bashing as much as I scratch my head over many of their decisions such as this
     

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