“In this article, I’m going to take a bit of a right turn…” writes John Reekie, as he prepares to sort out a streaming music solution based on a $35 credit-card sized computer. Add a digital interface board, a case, a power supply, a Wifi card… OK for a bit over a hundred dollars, “there’s no reason every Mac user shouldn’t just get one to play with.”
“All the world’s a stage,” wrote Shakespeare in the introduction to the monologue on the seven ages of man. Dan Gravell writes about the lifecycle of a computer music library based on his twenty years of experience in managing music libraries. Over the course of the “four ages” of a music library, he covers file formats, tagging, and security.
Oliver Masciarotte surveys the field of “plugins” for audiophile music players, explaining what they are and how they can benefit your listening experience. From shufflers and measurement tools to the dreaded EQ, there is much benefit available to the open-minded audiophile willing to explore the possibilities. Oliver lists his favorites and recommendations, from free to not-so-free, and explains how to evaluate plugin quality.
Of the music players available for the Mac, Pure Music stands out as the one with the most comprehensive feature set. One of those features is its active crossover, which can be used to implement an active speaker system of up to four ways. John Reekie explains how to use the Pure Music active crossover, together with the FabFilter Pro-Q equalization plugin for correcting driver and room response.
“More and more audiophiles are using a computer to purchase, manage, and play back music. The advantages of storing everything on a computer are compelling…” John Reekie provides an in-depth tutorial on how to do it on the Mac.