Best music library management app for OSX?

Nyal Mellor · Jun 19, 2013

Hi I am doing a system for a client and I am looking for a nice, easy to use library management app for OSX that can handle FLAC.

Playback is via a Bryston BDP linked to a NAS.

We need a library management app to do basic things like
- ripping CD
- metadata editing
- artwork management
- sync to an Astell & Kern player (nice to have)

Any thoughts? I've only used iTunes on OSX and that doesn't work (no FLAC support).

Need something that is as easy to use and non-computer geeky as possible.

jtinn · Jun 19, 2013

Try PureMusic from ChannelD. It integrates with iTunes and will do what you need.

Nyal Mellor · Jun 19, 2013

jtinn said:
Try PureMusic from ChannelD. It integrates with iTunes and will do what you need.

How does PM work with FLAC? I've used PM before but AFAIK it sits on top of the iTunes library so you still can't import and edit metadata for FLAC?

jtinn · Jun 19, 2013

Nyal Mellor said:
How does PM work with FLAC? I've used PM before but AFAIK it sits on top of the iTunes library so you still can't import and edit metadata for FLAC?

You import flac and dsd files through PM instead. Also, once it has been imported, you can manipulate the metadata through iTunes.

From the PM user manual ( http://www.channld.com/PureMusic-DSD-Setup-Guide.pdf ):

1. Open the Add FLAC or DSD Files window (press command - F, or select from the Pure Music menu). (The iTunes window will automatically be minimized, to make the next step easier.)
2. Drag and drop the DSD music tracks (or folders containing the tracks) into the window. Pure Music will allocate as many file processing threads as processor cores on the computer, for maximum throughput. This also benefits from the Hyperthreading capability of the latest CPUs, doubling the effective number of processor cores. Note: the speed of the DSD Add... operation depends on the speed of your computer, and can take as long as a few minutes per track to complete. However, DSD tracks can be “moved” to another iTunes library or computer by simply dragging and dropping the Pure Music DSD Bookmark file (see below) into the iTunes window, without having to perform the Add operation.
DSD DAC Setup Guide 5 The DSD tracks (note: FLAC tracks are shown in this example) will be listed in the iTunes player
window, where they can be selected and played like any other music tracks (while Pure Music is running, of course). The Pure Music sidebar automatically will be hidden when playing DSD tracks, because the Monitor volume control has no effect during native DSD playback.

asiufy · Jun 19, 2013

For the record, Audirvana+ does the same, looks better than PM, and sounds better too

alexandre

Nyal Mellor · Jun 19, 2013

jtinn said:
You import flac and dsd files through PM instead. Also, once it has been imported, you can manipulate the metadata through iTunes.

From the PM user manual ( http://www.channld.com/PureMusic-DSD-Setup-Guide.pdf ):

1. Open the Add FLAC or DSD Files window (press command - F, or select from the Pure Music menu). (The iTunes window will automatically be minimized, to make the next step easier.)
2. Drag and drop the DSD music tracks (or folders containing the tracks) into the window. Pure Music will allocate as many file processing threads as processor cores on the computer, for maximum throughput. This also benefits from the Hyperthreading capability of the latest CPUs, doubling the effective number of processor cores. Note: the speed of the DSD Add... operation depends on the speed of your computer, and can take as long as a few minutes per track to complete. However, DSD tracks can be “moved” to another iTunes library or computer by simply dragging and dropping the Pure Music DSD Bookmark file (see below) into the iTunes window, without having to perform the Add operation.
DSD DAC Setup Guide 5 The DSD tracks (note: FLAC tracks are shown in this example) will be listed in the iTunes player
window, where they can be selected and played like any other music tracks (while Pure Music is running, of course). The Pure Music sidebar automatically will be hidden when playing DSD tracks, because the Monitor volume control has no effect during native DSD playback.

Thanks for the reply and indeed it looks like it would work but why do you have to turn off "Keep iTunes folder organized"? If my client changes metadata in iTunes then I need the folder structure to be updated on the backend (which happens with the "Keep Updated" option checked) because the BDP1 looks at the folder structure not at the iTunes library.

rrr · Jun 20, 2013

With Pure Music you have to import DSD files manually and since PM uses iTunes, you have to be careful to disable a couple of database update "features" that iTunes resets when iTunes is updated (see the PM documentation).

JRiver Mac is still in beta but it doesn't require iTunes and can be set to update automatically, even DSD files and you can drag and drop to the A&K players. The server feature in JRiver which allows you to run and sync multiple macs from a single database works quite well.

I tried Audiovana+ for a couple of weeks and didn't care for the interface or the support, and I felt that sound of PM was better, and maybe the sound of JRiver too.

Phelonious Ponk · Jun 20, 2013

Convert the FLAC?

Nyal Mellor · Jun 20, 2013

Phelonious Ponk said:
Convert the FLAC?

Too complicated, unless I do it for him.

I will look at JRiver some more. I use it for Windows and love it, have not tried it on mac yet.

We are using Bryston for file playback which looks at the underlying folder structure for how it organizes things.

wes · Jun 24, 2013

Nyal Mellor said:
Hi I am doing a system for a client and I am looking for a nice, easy to use library management app for OSX that can handle FLAC.

Playback is via a Bryston BDP linked to a NAS.

We need a library management app to do basic things like
- ripping CD
- metadata editing
- artwork management
- sync to an Astell & Kern player (nice to have)

Any thoughts? I've only used iTunes on OSX and that doesn't work (no FLAC support).

Need something that is as easy to use and non-computer geeky as possible.

Audirvana integrates with iTune works very well

untangle · Jun 30, 2013

IMO, you(r client) will be swimming upstream on the Mac by using Flac. I recommend converting to ALAC, in which case your options burgeon and ease-of-use goes up dramatically. With this approach, management is done in iTunes and playback in Audirvana+ (iTunes integrated).

The other choices are quite flawed:

Audirvana, PM, Amarra do no library management
PM's handling of Flac is arcane (like many of its functions)
Jriver on Mac is raw and incomplete

Another option may be to dual-boot the Mac and just run Win8/Jriver.

Bob

jriver · Aug 8, 2013

untangle said:
Jriver on Mac is raw and incomplete

It's working well for most people now. It will never be complete.

stevebythebay · Oct 10, 2013

JRiver on Mac is a winner. Running on MacBook Pro that's a few years old. Feeding FLAC music via ethernet attached drive (WD My Book Live). Feeding output of MAC via USB into Berkeley Alpha USB and Berkeley Alpha DAC. Better than Windows-based servers I've used. Likely its the implementation of HW/OSX drivers.

cpp · Nov 5, 2013

wes said:
Audirvana integrates with iTune works very well

another + for Audirvana Plus

jriver · Nov 5, 2013

JRiver Media Center can replace iTunes. It isn't an add-on.

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Best music library management app for OSX?

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