1. Best Hi Res Audio Software For Mac Pro
2. Best Hi Res Audio Software For Mac Pro
3. Free Audio Software For Mac

JPLAY FEMTO, our UPnP Renderer, can extract the best performance from virtually all audio formats and resolutions including DSD Native (RAW) up to fs256 & DSD DoP up to fs256. Thanks to extreme optimizations in JPLAY FEMTO, not only local files sound better - Tidal & Qobuz hi-rez lossless streams can be played at much higher quality too. Fully utilizing a Mac’s potential, we have developed VOX's Audio Engine in our FLAC Music Player for Mac. In addition to common formats, including: FLAC, MP3, CUE, APE & M4A – you can also playback Hi-Res Audio (HD Audio) with up to 24bit/192kHz, at 4 times higher than the standard 44kHz sound resolution.

Only a handful of streaming music services offer Hi-Res Audio, or HRA. Here's where to find the high quality music streams that can give you a superior listening experience...if you have the right equipment.

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Apple Music, Pandora, and Spotify are just a few of the many, many online streaming music services that let you listen to your favorite songs and compositions while in the office, making the morning or evening commute, or just sitting in the laundromat watching clothes dry. They're a musical convenience.

That said, that musical convenience comes at a price beyond the monthly subscription fees. The streaming music services typically compress the audio into smaller, more manageable files that are easily streamed. For most people, MP3- or CD-quality audio gets the job done, but folks with a thirst for supreme audio—audiophiles—may want to investigate online music services that deliver Hi-Res Audio.

Hi-Res Audio, as defined by The Recording Industry Association of America (and its Consumer Electronics Association, DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group, and The Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing partners), is 'lossless audio capable of reproducing the full spectrum of sound from recordings which have been mastered from better than CD quality (48kHz/20-bit or higher) music sources which represent what the artists, producers and engineers originally intended.'

In other words, Hi-Res Audio aims to deliver sound that comes close to what you'd hear in a recording studio. That's a big promise. In fact, Xiph.org, a non-profit dedicated to protecting the internet from private interests, claims that the entire affair is hogwash and shenanigans. Tim Gideon, a PCMag Contributing Editor and audio expert, is also somewhat skeptical, but from a logistics point of view. We'll explain.

As Gideon said to me in an email, 'the issue is: What else is part of the signal chain? Hi-Res Audio through laptop speakers or crappy earbuds will not sound like Hi-Res Audio, and even really decent speakers may not be able to convey the subtleties.'

Still, Gideon suspects that if everyone had an amazing sound system and listened exclusively to Hi-Res Audio for year, that they'd hear a difference when listening to CD-quality tunes through the same system. 'The ears get used to things,' he said. 'Even if I am skeptical now, there’s no doubt that down the road, streaming quality will be what we currently consider Hi-Res Audio. But by then, we’ll have maybe have raised the bar again and Hi-Res Audio will have a new meaning or be outdated.'

Regardless of where you stand on the Hi-Res Audio issues, what's indisputable is that there is a small, but growing number, of online sources to stream this music standard. We highlight four of them below. So, grab a quality set of headphones or fire up a home sound system and explore what Hi-Res Audio offers.

Amazon Music Unlimited

Amazon's been a player in the streaming music game for some now with Music Unlimited, but the service's September 2019 update brought Hi-Res Audio as a listening option. Branded as the $14.99-per-month Ultra HD, Amazon's Hi-Res Audio boasts millions of songs that stream at a 24-bit/192kHz, better-than-CD-Quality standard. When that isn't available, the still music defaults to 16-bit/44.1kHz streams that are better than the regular Amazon Music Unlimited tunes. Considering the company's brand recognition and large music library, Amazon just may be the company to bring Hi-Res Audio to the masses.

Primephonic

Primephonic is a streaming music service designed for the classical music lover. You can search for compositions via work, composer, or album—a much-needed solution that solves a problem inherent to most streaming music services that feature classical music. More importantly, at least in regards to this article, Primephonic offers a Platinum tier ($14.99 per month or $149 per year) that lets you stream more than a million classic works in lossless, 24-bit FLAC adaptive bit rate.

Qobuz

Qobuz fancies itself as the home for true music fans. Studio Premier ($14.99 per month or $149 per year) serves up 24-bit FLAC music at up to 192kHz. At the time of this writing, Qobuz has roughly 240,000 Hi-Res Audio albums. In a nice touch, you can also purchase Hi-Res Audio albums at reduced prices if you subscribe to the $299 per year Sublime+ plan.

Tidal

Tidal is an excellent music service, one that offers exclusive backstage content, live streams, and concerts. One of the service's more heavily hyped features is Tidal Masters, a partnership with Master Quality Authenticated that brings more than 170,000 studio-quality streams (typically 24-bit, 96kHz) to your ear. All that you need to listen is a $19.99-per-month Tidal HiFi account or $29.99-per-month Family HiFi plan.

If you want to listen to Hi-res music, here are some high-resolution audio music software you should consider.

While Mac users stick with iTunes, Windows users have integrated options like Windows Media Player or Groove Music, but they can easily search for other favorite music players.

However, if you are a musician, the search will be more difficult when you want to listen to high-resolution audio (Hi-res) in FLAC, MQA or DSD format. This article will suggest some options for Hi-res music player software on Windows for you to choose from.

1. How to play Hi-Res sound on iPhone or iPad
2. Hi-res music applications on the phone
3. How to convert FLAC file to ALAC

1. Hysolid

If your PC is connected to a quality Hi-Fi system, Hysolid may be exactly what you are looking for. This is not a traditional music player, it turns your PC into a music player controlled by iOS or Android devices. You just need to sit on the sofa, choose your favorite song and the computer will play via Hi-Fi system.

Hysolid can play most high-definition formats. The application is compatible with PCM audio, including WAV and FLAC up to 384 kHz as well as DSD from 2.8 MHz to 11.2 MHz in DSF format. Hysolid can also display the operating mode of the USB DAC you are using.

Best Hi Res Audio Software For Mac Pro

2. Amarra Luxe

Amarra Luxe is a high-end music player application, so it's not cheap, but it has many features. The software supports high-resolution audio formats such as FLAC, MQA and DSD.

This is also a handy application if you want to stream high resolution audio. In addition to the ability to play music from your collection, Amarra Luxe can be streamed directly from Tidal and Qobuz. If you want to control all your music with one application, no matter where the music comes from, this may be what you're looking for.

3. Audirvana

Audirvana allows you to control the audio stream from source to output. If there is a powerful computer that can handle great sound, this is the option worth considering. For example, Audirvana supports running higher performance algorithms to reduce signal processor load and avoid overloading.

The application also supports VST3 plugins that help with audio tuning. Audirvana is an inexpensive option, but the absolute power of the app deserves money.

4. Foobar2000

1. Download Foobar2000 for Windows

One of the most popular music playback software for Windows, Foobar2000 is a familiar name. This software has a slightly old interface but it's fast, configurable and most importantly it's free. Although it is not the only free music player on this list, it is the only application similar to the traditional media player.

Foobar supports FLAC, but does not support DSD. To get support for this format, you need to use add-on DSDIFF. When using, you will see this is a powerful audio player.

5. Jriver

Best Hi Res Audio Software For Mac Pro

This music player supports DSD and PC lossless formats. It can also use ASIO or WASAPI, perfect audio transmission to your DAC set.

Jriver has other outstanding features compared to other music players such as audiophile-grade crossfeed options. This feature makes the sound heard through headphones more natural, like listening from a speaker in the room.

6. Roon

Most high-resolution music players focus on sound quality, but Roon focuses on something else, which is lacking in electronic music conversion. Roon aims to introduce a searchable 'magazine' of music.

This software not only applies this technique to music stored on the computer. It can do this with music played from a local NAS or even broadcast from Tidal.

7. JPLAY FEMTO

If you're a music lover, you can't ignore this software. JPLAY FEMTO was developed to optimize everything to transmit audio signals from your source to your DAC set with the highest possible quality. This feature supports PCM, DSD audio and it can even improve the sound quality of Tidal and Qobuz.

Like Hysolid, this is not a music player but a server. You can use it with UPnP-compatible applications and software. The developers proposed Bubble UPnP for Android, Kinsky for Windows, macOS and iOS.

Among other features, JPLAY FEMTO includes Hibernate mode to reduce ambient noise emitted from your computer.

Hope this helpful article helps you choose the most suitable Hi-res music player software.

Free Audio Software For Mac