I have made a list of audio players to be used under OS X a while ago, but now I have changed my listening environment somewhat from a full Windows desktop box to a Windows running on Mac mini to suppress various noises and since version updates have been made to several of those players, I figured it’s time to give another simple comparison.

My environment consists of,

• Machine : Mac mini (mid 2011) – 4GB memory and swapped the disk into Crucial CT128M4SSD2 SSD
• DAC : Internal Mac mini audio output (I have tried RME Babyface for nearly a month only to find internal output sounds better overall)
• Speaker : BauXar Jupity 301 active speaker (Some English reference page)
• OS : OS X 10.7.1
• Format : Apple Lossless (ALAC)

I made sure that all player settings are supposed to keep the sample rate and bits of the source file for output without any conversions and the source file is located on the machine’s file system locally.

iTunes

As usual, this sounds just great overall. Doesn’t feel thin or too thick and feels satisfying.

afplay

This definitely made iTunes sound richer.

Audirvana

It has a notable purity in the sound but comes with minimal interface.

Decibel

It has clarity and power while not being rough which makes the audio convincing. Interface is quite minimal but possibly a little buggy as I have seen it crash a few times on quit.

Vox

This has a really slim and good looking interface and even comes with good quality (geared more to the clarity side but on the other hand, lacks a bit of energy).

Cog

At first, it sounded like average, but the audio is rather enjoyable. Easy on the ears. Interface is simple and to the point.

MPlayer OS X Extended

Once again, (Hideki’s) award winning mplayer engine makes it such a rich and pure sound, it gives some pleasant time.

doubleTwist

The interface is a lot like iTunes’ and it has satisfying decent clarity and accuracy of sound.

New Entries

These are new entries I have found since back then.

BitPerfect

This has the least intrusive interface as an iTunes addon, which only resides on the upper task bar as an icon. It adjusts sample rate, bit depth adjustment according to the song being played. It certainly brings more clarity to the audio, but in my humble opinion, it somewhat unbalances the entire audio as a whole.

clementine

This new entry, while the interface won’t get awards, does make quite nice sound quality.

Oops

Ecoute

My demo version expired…

Fidelia

Seems demo version has expired since library window never loads anymore…

Amarra Mini

My demo version expired…

Pure Music

My demo version expired…