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FLAC On A Mac

I know this topic appears here often but it seems to change every time I try to do a download.
I have a 7 year old MacBook Pro that i recently changed to OS to El Capitan after endless badgering from Apple to do so.  I previously had both XLD and Decibel on my OS for converting FLAC to Mac Compatible formats for the few downloads that I had ordered from HD Tracks.  
  I hadn't listenedto these downloads since the afore mentioned conversion.  i just ordered a new download (24 bit) from Presto Clasical and now I am getting messages that both programs will not work because they are from unknown developers.  Why these developers have become strangers to Apple after happily coexisting with them is another story but can someone tell me what the current best program for playing these files is>  My Internet search is unhelpful as everything seems to be recommending these two programs
mahler123
sbank's avatar
sbank
3,378 posts
 
iTunes sounds lousy, period.
A+ sounds relatively lousy running in iTunes integrated mode vs. standalone mode.
A+, Amarra & PureMusic sound about the same with some folks feeling more strongly about one or the other, all on Macs.
IMHE, getting the disk-spinning CD player, mac or pc out of the equation entirely is the big leap forward. Cheers,
Spencer
vegasears
1,173 posts
 
You may want try Swinian. It plays FLAC.  It is free to try for 30 days and cost very little.  It's claim to fame is: It looks and feels like iTunes use to before the App Store junk. If you have used iTunes, Swinian has a very low learning curve.

randy-11
1,913 posts
 
why do you think iTunes sounds lousy???
sbank's avatar
sbank
3,378 posts
 
Probably because top sound quality isn't Apple's goal. Selling you more stuff is. So they are always trying to lure you into their store, run multiple background processes that use more voltage, etc. & generate more noise.
All the other software sounds better. 
iTunes also frequently creates duplicate listings in its library and exhibits other quirky behavior like splitting songs from the same into two albums whenever a guest artist is "featured" on a track or two. Cheers,
Spencer
randy-11
1,913 posts
 
change the options settings to prevent that splitting


re: "why" above:
I am curious what process inside iTunes could be causing it to sound worse than other software...

If you have no idea why, then just describe the methodology in your comparison listening tests.
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