iTunes Mac Music Player Replacement

Posted by admin in Software on April 7, 2012

We’ve been exploring software available for replacing iTunes.  Why are we searching for an iTunes alternative? We want better quality in the audio stream and more control options during distribution throughout our house.  Ideally, this would include automatic switching between different formats, resolutions, and bit rates.

Currently, iTunes converts everything to the bit rate set in “Audio MIDI Setup”.  We are now listening to more 88.2/96 Khz files in various formats like FLAC (which iTunes does not handle).  Our recent music is coming from HDTracks so the HD formats are manditory. We also want seamless syncing with our Apple devices.  So far we’ve not found that magic combination.

This post represents our quest for information and will be updated as new information is found.

The options found so far:

# Name License Cost Platform Source Updated Notes
1 Amarok GPL Free KDE 2012-04-07 Beta version available via Macports.
2 Amarra* Proprietary $99 to $695 Mac OS X
3 aTunes GPL Free Java 2011-10-01
4 Audirvana* GPLv3 Free Mac OS X Objective-C
Audirvana Plus* Proprietary $49 Mac OS X
5 Banshee MIT Free X11 c# using Mono 2012-03-21
6 Clementine GPLv3 Free C++ 2011-12-27
7 cmus GPLv2 Free Mac OS X C 2011-11-30
8 COG GPL Free Mac OS X Objective-C 2010-10-26
9 Decibel* Proprietary $33 Mac OS X Snow Leopard+ 2012-01-05
10 Ecoute Proprietary $7.99 Mac OS X Snow Leopard+ 2012-01-19 Mac App Store
11 Everplay $14.95 2010-10-18 Web site is wierd & broken.
12 Fidelia* Proprietary $19.95 Mac OS X Snow Leopard+ 2011-08-17
13 Fidelia Advanced* Proprietary $49.95 Mac OS X Snow Leopard+ 2011-08-17
14 Instinctiv Proprietary Free Mac OS X Snow Leopard+ 2011-11-18
15 iTunes Proprietary Free Mac OS X Snow Leopard+ 2012-03-28
16 Jajuk GPL Free JRE 1.6+ Java 2012-02-20
17 Jukes Creative Commons Free JRE 1.6+ Java 2010-10-30
18 Miro GPL Free Mac OS X Leopard+ C, Python, Objective-C Focused on TV, Video HD, and Torrents
19 MPlayer* GPLv2 Free
20 Music Player Daemon 2012-04-04 Available from Macports, Fink, Homebrew.
21 Neutrino Proprietary $29.95 Mac OS X Leopard+ 2011-04-15 Was named AudioCodex. AU Effects, Per Track settings.
22 Play GPLv2 Free Mac OS X Tiger+ Objective-C 2010-09-12 Not in active development.
23 Plex Proprietary Free Mac OS X Snow Leopard+ 2012-02-27 Media Server
24 Pure Music* Proprietary $129 Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.5.8+
25 Pure Vinyl Proprietary $229 Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.5.8+
26 simple song Proprietary Free Applescript 2010-02-17 Simply a search bar where the name is typed and simple song finds the music on your hard drive and plays it.  No preferences. No browsing.
27 Logitech Media Server GPL Free Mac OS X Tiger+ Perl 2012-03-14 For use with squeezebox.
28 Songbird GPLv2 Free Mac OS X Leopard+ C++ 2012-01-25
29 Vox Creative Commons Free Mac OS X Tiger+ 2011-08-09
30 XMBC GPL Free Mac OS X Leopard+ C++ 2012-03-24

* Considered Audiophile, whatever that means.

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Mac Non-free Electronic Design Automation Software

Posted by admin in Mac Electronics on April 7, 2012

Wikipedia lists a number of proprietary options for Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software that should work on a Mac. This post details my experience looking for schematic capture.  Trials were run using a MacBook Pro, OS X 10.6.6.  This post will be updated as I work through the options to find a schematic creation and board design software for the Mac.

  1. McCAD. Basic schematic $295, Everything $1395.
  2. Osmond PCB. $79, free for designs less than 700 pins, last update 7 Apr 2012, does not do schematic capture or simulation.
  3. DesignWorks. $69 for LogicWorks (Feb 12, 2012), $195 for DesignWorks Pro (11 Sept 2011). Only Available in the Apple Store.
  4. Eagle. $249 for schematic capture to $747 for layout, schematic capture, and routing.  Last update Oct 2010.  Light edition is limited to 100 x 80 mm board size, 2 board layers, and 1 schematic sheet.  Good description of the various options is located here.  Library of components seems very complete right down to the manufactures name and part number.  So far the best I have found.  The GUI is a little non-mac like as its obviously using non-native or cross platform library.
  5. Douglas. $25 if you use Douglas for PC boards, $495 to use with other manufacturers.  Demo expires in 30 days.  A lot of pages on the web site do not function.  Does not inspire.
  6. DesignSpark PCB.
  7. Mentor Graphics.
  8. OrCad.

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Mac FOSS Electronic Design Automation Software

Posted by admin in Mac Electronics on April 7, 2012

Wikipedia lists a number of free and open source (FOSS) options for Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software that should work on a Mac. This post details my experience looking for schematic capture.  Trials were run using a MacBook Pro, OS X 10.6.6.  This post will be updated as I work through the options to find a schematic creation and board design software for the Mac.

  1. CBOLD.  Is a C++ framework for a schematic design.  One creates a C++ program that describes the design.  Not what I was looking for.  Authors have not tested on OSX even though Wikipedia lists it as Mac architecture.
  2. Electic (Java).  Seems to work but could not easily find a transformer element.
  3. gEDA (X11). Not interested in running x11.
  4. Icarus Verilog.  
  5. Kicad.  Could not get Kicad to work native on the Mac.  Documentation for the native Mac version was very hard to find. Mac users in the development list were reporting much better success using Ubuntu in VMware on the Mac.  The Sourceforge download page lists two sources (Brokentoaster and  Mdx4) for Mac versions.  Mdx4 seemed out of date with last version dated Sept 2010.  The Kicad Wiki lists an additional source that I used as it seemed more up to date as it was a nightly build.
  6. KLayout. Layout viewer (GDS and OASIS) and editor. Based on Qt and Ruby. Maintenance release 0.21.16, 5 March 2012.  Binary available for 10.6. Seems focused on chip design not boards.
  7. LayoutEditor. Latest version is dated 18 Dec 2011.  Three versions; Full ($1499), Reduced ($379), and Basic ($49).  Schematic capture requires full version. Requires license to save/export.
  8. MyHDL.  Uses python as a hardware description and verification language to create Verilog and VHDL files.  Ignored for this reason.
  9. Open Schematic Capture (Java). Open Schematic Capture is a set of programs intended to be a production grade open source mixed analog/digital IC schematic entry tool along with a project manager and net listers. A system level simulator and a data viewer are also included. Alpha release 20 March 2012.  Have to type in Terminal to start and modify shell scripts.  Was not intuitive GUI.  Could not get it to work.
  10. Quite Universal Circuit Simulator (QUCS). Latest version 11 Dec 2011.  Seems to work fine.  This is really focused on simulation and not schematic creation and board design.
  11. MI-Sugar. Circuit simulation. Discontinued.
  12. ngspice. Circuit simulation only.
  13. MacSpice. Circuit simulation only.

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