Bluffer's Guide to Software & Media Players

Before we get into some OS (Operating System) specific recommendations, let's address the question: what sounds best – a Mac, a PC or a Linux box?

Before we get into that, we need to define 'best'. Just like an interconnect, what we really want from a digital audio transport is not to get in the way. Sadly, much computer hardware and software is designed to bring something (unwanted) to the party: sound 'enhancements', bass-boosters, virtualisation, graphic equalisation . . . every one a travesty. As well as not mucking about with either the content or the timing of our precious bitstream en-route to the DAC, we would also prefer our transport not to deliver radio frequency or electromagentic interference to the rest of the system.

In principle, a battery-powered, fanless Linux netbook, with its stripped down OS and sweet-from-the-box ALSA drivers is perfect. Or a clunky old Windows machine running any bit-perfect driver: ASIO, WASAPI or Kernel Streaming. As it turns out, though, it's surprisingly challenging to specify an Apple system that sounds as good. And by good, we mean 'not having a sound of its own'.

The culprit appears to be iTunes + CoreAudio: no matter how it's setup, an iTunes sonic signature persists: rolled off highs, a slightly forward mid-range, a bump in the upper bass, and a lack of ultimate low-frequency extension. Although much of the hardware is ideal (energy efficient Mac Minis, MacBooks, etc), users also have to work within current low-end Macs' digital output limitations: USB or optical only. Yes, there are converters for USB > SPDIF, and yes, there are some excellent USB DACs (though most don't play 24 bit over USB 2.0), and, yes, a really, really good optical cable does often sound as good as a competent coaxial interconnect, but you have to be prepared to tolerate some workarounds with a Mac for audio.

For starters, iTunes, despite its fabulous file management interface, needs professional help . . . try Play or Cog if you want to hear how software impacts on sound quality without spending a cent. Or penny. Thankfully, the best-sounding Mac players work with (or through) iTunes, but neither are free: our favourite is Pure Vinyl, closely followed by Amarra Mini. Pure Vinyl is better specified, cheaper and many find the sound more neutral and detailed than Amarra. Both are a significant improvement over iTunes alone. As stated above, the acme of a good PC audio 'transport' is bit-perfection (no data corruption or interpolation) and zero jitter: in audition, this manifests as a clean, uncoloured and detailed presentation with great timing. For us, Pure Vinyl sounds more like it's not there, and wins our current Mac recommendation.

The situation is simpler and easier in the Linux world: turn off all unnecessary services, install the latest version of ALSA and install Songbird: this combination gives the distinctive sound of nothing at all with barely any effort worth mentioning.

On the wild frontiers of Windows ownership, there are literally hundreds of ways of messing things up really badly. This is soundcard territory, unpredictable driver mismatch country, the land of random update FUBAR. However, the plethora of options inevitably yields something worth listening to. Windows XP, Vista and 7 are all gruesomely tangled in system level corruption of audio signals, but all provide some pathways to bit-perfect audio output. Assuming you have wisely ignored the salesman and have not invested in a 'fancy' digital-to-analog converted (unless it's stocked with Burson op-amps), you're just looking for something to read data and spit it consistently and without interference at a coaxial cable. Here your allies are ASIO, WASAPI and Kernel Streaming – all of which bypass Windows' infamous KMixer. One of them will probably work (at least until the next update), with your current operating system.

Just because it's so much less horrible that all the other Windows operating systems, we would have to recommend Windows 7. And under Windows 7, JRiver Media Center using WASAPI output sounds better than any other combination of player and driver. It's a nice interface and has great file management, too. Don't be tempted by the free Jukebox version: the magic lies in the WASAPI implementation of JRMC 14.

Foobar + ASIO or WASAPI also sounds very close to not being in the way. In principle, Kernel Streaming should sound similar (ie, right), but in practice we've not found a machine on which it runs stably. Media Monkey + WaveOut is a polished combination, too, but in audition it proved not to be as transparent as JRMC. The audio-only version (JRiver Jukebox) is now even free but doesn't offer the seamless WASAPI integration of the $50 MediaCenter.

It's important to disable any services or apps you don't really need, and make sure that your audio device has sole priority control (use of WASAPI ensures this). All these systems will handle 24-bit audio over SPDIF at 96khz sample rate without glitches, even with a low-powered processor.

Linux, Windows or PC machines set up optimally all begin to sound very similar when used with identical cabling: an encouraging sign that something is right. Or at least not wrong. With a digital audio transport, less really is more: with all the money you've saved on expensive software and hardware, you can spend the money where it matters: on a DAC, amplifier and speakers.

Finally, what of the 'it's only zeros and ones' digital skeptics? Surely it's right as long as it's bit perfect? Well, CD transports are 'bit-perfect', too: but they all sound different: frequently less alike than those cables that 'transform a system'. We encourage you to listen with open ears and a revealing system to iTunes, JRiver MediaCenre, Foobar et al running different APIs (ASIO, Wave Out, Direct Sound, etc) and judge for yourself.