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 | 2013-08-13 | 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 | 2012-03-01 | |
| 5 | Audirvana Plus* | Proprietary | $74 | Mac OS X | 2012-06-03 | ||
| 6 | Banshee | MIT | Free | X11 | c# using Mono | 2012-03-21 | |
| 7 | BitPerfect* | Proprietary | $9.99 | Mac OS X | 2014-03-22 | Mac App Store. Works as add-on to iTunes. | |
| 8 | Clementine | GPLv3 | Free | C++ | 2011-12-27 | ||
| 9 | cmus | GPLv2 | Free | Mac OS X | C | 2014-03-13 | Available via Macports. |
| 10 | COG | GPL | Free | Mac OS X | Objective-C | 2013-07-11 | |
| 11 | Decibel* | Proprietary | $33 | Mac OS X | 2012-01-05 | ||
| 12 | Ecoute | Proprietary | $7.99 | Mac OS X | 2012-01-19 | Mac App Store. | |
| 13 | Everplay | $14.95 | 2010-10-18 | Web site is wierd & broken. | |||
| 14 | Fidelia* | Proprietary | $19.95 | Mac OS X | 2014-03-20 | ||
| 15 | Fidelia Advanced* | Proprietary | $49.95 | Mac OS X | 2014-03-20 | ||
| 16 | Instinctiv | Proprietary | Free | Mac OS X | 2011-11-18 | ||
| 17 | iTunes | Proprietary | Free | Mac OS X | 2012-03-28 | ||
| 18 | Jajuk | GPL | Free | JRE 1.6+ | Java | 2012-02-20 | |
| 19 | Jukes | Creative Commons | Free | JRE 1.6+ | Java | 2010-10-30 | |
| 20 | Miro | GPL | Free | Mac OS X | C, Python, Objective-C | Focused on TV, Video HD, and Torrents | |
| 21 | MPlayer* | GPLv2 | Free | ||||
| 22 | Music Player Daemon | GPLv2 | Free | C++ | 2014-02-07 | Available from Macports, Fink, Homebrew. | |
| 23 | Neutrino | Proprietary | $29.95 | Mac OS X | 2011-04-15 | Was named AudioCodex. AU Effects, Per Track settings. | |
| 24 | Play | GPLv2 | Free | Mac OS X | Objective-C | 2010-09-12 | Not in active development. |
| 25 | Plex | Proprietary | Free | Mac OS X | 2012-02-27 | Media Server | |
| 26 | Pure Music* | Proprietary | $129 | Mac OS X | |||
| 27 | Pure Vinyl | Proprietary | $229 | Mac OS X | |||
| 28 | 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. | |
| 29 | Swinsian | Proprietary | $19.95 | Objective-C, C | 2014-02-14 | ||
| 30 | Logitech Media Server | GPL | Free | Mac OS X | Perl | 2012-03-14 | For use with squeezebox. |
| 31 | Songbird | GPLv2 | Free | Mac OS X | C++ | 2012-01-25 | |
| 32 | Vox | Creative Commons | Free | Mac OS X | 2011-08-09 | ||
| 33 | XMBC | GPL | Free | Mac OS X | C++ | 2012-03-24 | |
* Considered Audiophile, whatever that means.