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Improved sound quality in El Capitan!!!

I

IanvanDahlen

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 11, 2014
2
0
Sound is much better, more clarity, more presence, louder, overall soundstage and latency has improved.
I wonder what changes have been made to the Core Audio API?

I´m running an audiointerface with high quality AKM Converters and Logic Pro X!

Anyone else noticed this???
 
IanvanDahlen said:
Sound is much better, more clarity, more presence, louder, overall soundstage and latency has improved.
I wonder what changes have been made to the Core Audio API?

I´m running an audiointerface with high quality AKM Converters and Logic Pro X!

Anyone else noticed this???
Click to expand...

Awesome news, I am a music person and Logic Pro X user myself.. going to update NOW
 
OP can you do a blind test with a pre-10.11 Mac? I don't mean any disrespect, but the placebo effect can be a very powerful thing.
 
am also a LX user. but really...latency could be improved, but i doubt any audio quality changes have occurred... the hardware hasn't changed...
 
I also use an external DAC (the Audioengine D1). With El Capitan, after every reboot, my sound output resets back to the internal speakers... Anyone know how to change the default sound output device to be persistent?

- Jon
 
I never understood how audiophiles can claim to have such sensitive ears. I bought an external DAC for my Mac which is capable of 96 Khz audio at 24 bits, and even when downloading lossless files and playing them through my Audioengine A2+ speakers, I seriously cannot tell any difference at all between it and a standard 256 Kbps AAC file off iTunes. I read several posts from audio engineers, professionals, and forum enthusiasts and understood any factors that would cause re-sampling or degradation of audio quality and made sure nothing was affecting my tests. Of course, the setup sounds way way better than my old Logitech Z-2300's (and it's about 8x the price), but as said, in a blind test of compressed vs uncompressed audio, I can't tell of any difference. And it's almost laughable how some people claim the diameter and material of the cables make a difference — the cable runs are so short that there's no way it'd cause any perceivable attenuation or pick up interference.
 
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Could be that the hardware the OP is using is now better supported and/or used more to its potential. Don't expect the audio to be better if you use normal speakers/headphones though.
 
Takuro said:
I never understood how audiophiles can claim to have such sensitive ears. I bought an external DAC for my Mac which is capable of 96 Khz audio at 24 bits, and even when downloading lossless files and playing them through my Audioengine A2+ speakers, I seriously cannot tell any difference at all between it and a standard 256 Kbps AAC file off iTunes. I read several posts from audio engineers, professionals, and forum enthusiasts and understood any factors that would cause re-sampling or degradation of audio quality and made sure nothing was affecting my tests. Of course, the setup sounds way way better than my old Logitech Z-2300's (and it's about 8x the price), but as said, in a blind test of compressed vs uncompressed audio, I can't tell of any difference. And it's almost laughable how some people claim the diameter and material of the cables make a difference — the cable runs are so short that there's no way it'd cause any perceivable attenuation or pick up interference.
Click to expand...

i wouldn't argue about cables, but...i've spent my life around pro audio work, and i can explain the differences between different headphones/earbuds/speakers/etc. but not magic, just my 'area of expertise'. just like my GF (who's a food expert), can tell me things about a meal that i don't perceive...
 
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Takuro said:
I never understood how audiophiles can claim to have such sensitive ears. I bought an external DAC for my Mac which is capable of 96 Khz audio at 24 bits, and even when downloading lossless files and playing them through my Audioengine A2+ speakers, I seriously cannot tell any difference at all between it and a standard 256 Kbps AAC file off iTunes. I read several posts from audio engineers, professionals, and forum enthusiasts and understood any factors that would cause re-sampling or degradation of audio quality and made sure nothing was affecting my tests. Of course, the setup sounds way way better than my old Logitech Z-2300's (and it's about 8x the price), but as said, in a blind test of compressed vs uncompressed audio, I can't tell of any difference. And it's almost laughable how some people claim the diameter and material of the cables make a difference — the cable runs are so short that there's no way it'd cause any perceivable attenuation or pick up interference.
Click to expand...

You're absolutely right, they're fooling themselves (did someone say 'placebo'?). Don't believe anybody when they spout this crap unless they have undertaken double blind tests. Show me such a test with statistically relevant results and I'm totally on board, but until then forget it.
 
steve23094 said:
You're absolutely right, they're fooling themselves (did someone say 'placebo'?). Don't believe anybody when they spout this crap unless they have undertaken double blind tests. Show me such a test with statistically relevant results and I'm totally on board, but until then forget it.
Click to expand...

sad, really. if you can't perceive a difference, that's ok. but not everyone has the same experience. people who know, for example, video really well (say, a cinematographer), can tell you the difference between cameras, resolutions; they can see it because it's their area of expertise. others may not see the difference.

altho, i suppose, posting 'absolute' statements on a webforum could be considered an act of expertise... :rolleyes:
 
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Takuro said:
I never understood how audiophiles can claim to have such sensitive ears. I bought an external DAC for my Mac which is capable of 96 Khz audio at 24 bits, and even when downloading lossless files and playing them through my Audioengine A2+ speakers, I seriously cannot tell any difference at all between it and a standard 256 Kbps AAC file off iTunes. I read several posts from audio engineers, professionals, and forum enthusiasts and understood any factors that would cause re-sampling or degradation of audio quality and made sure nothing was affecting my tests. Of course, the setup sounds way way better than my old Logitech Z-2300's (and it's about 8x the price), but as said, in a blind test of compressed vs uncompressed audio, I can't tell of any difference. And it's almost laughable how some people claim the diameter and material of the cables make a difference — the cable runs are so short that there's no way it'd cause any perceivable attenuation or pick up interference.
Click to expand...


Audioengine A2+ speakers are entry level but decent speakers. You aren't gonna notice much difference. Also not all external dacs will be an improvement. The dragonfly 1.2 is much better than the dac in apple computers and devices. Although the dacs apple uses sound flat and detailed which is better than others. But the with the dragon fly is flat and detailed but better layering and bigger sounding.

I am listening now w/ ps audio perfect wave dac mkii --> sennheiser hdva600 --> sennheiser hd800s and I hear a big difference in sound quality. It's less bright sounding and more musical sounding.
 
fisherking said:
sad, really. if you can't perceive a difference, that's ok. but not everyone has the same experience. people who know, for example, video really well (say, a cinematographer), can tell you the difference between cameras, resolutions; they can see it because it's their area of expertise. others may not see the difference.

altho, i suppose, posting 'absolute' statements on a webforum could be considered an act of expertise... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

You show me some double blind tests otherwise I'm not the slightest bit interested in your imagination.
 
fisherking said:
must be great to have the 'facts' while the rest of us have to do with our 'opinions'. anyway, i stand by what i've posted, and my experiences. there is more to the world than what you personally think and perceive...
Click to expand...

It's up to you to prove it with double blinds, just like any rigorous scientific testing.
 
Takuro said:
I never understood how audiophiles can claim to have such sensitive ears. I bought an external DAC for my Mac which is capable of 96 Khz audio at 24 bits, and even when downloading lossless files and playing them through my Audioengine A2+ speakers, I seriously cannot tell any difference at all between it and a standard 256 Kbps AAC file off iTunes. I read several posts from audio engineers, professionals, and forum enthusiasts and understood any factors that would cause re-sampling or degradation of audio quality and made sure nothing was affecting my tests. Of course, the setup sounds way way better than my old Logitech Z-2300's (and it's about 8x the price), but as said, in a blind test of compressed vs uncompressed audio, I can't tell of any difference. And it's almost laughable how some people claim the diameter and material of the cables make a difference — the cable runs are so short that there's no way it'd cause any perceivable attenuation or pick up interference.
Click to expand...

My brother is like this. He does very well in double blind tests. Not for every thing he's played. It depends a lot on the type of music. But some people just have the ear.
 
steve23094 said:
Quote my post when you find the data for a double blind with statistically significant results so it shows up in my notifications.
Click to expand...

Not sure anyone cares enough to go to the lengths of doing a statistically significant randomised control trial, but it's very impressive when you have someone in the room who is in touch with these things. I don't have any interest in trying to convince anyone else though.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if it has to do with moving more components from QuickTime/QtKit over to AV Foundation/AV Kit and the recent changes they've made to the I/O audio stack as well (they've done a clean up of the USB stack as well) - lots of 'under the hood' changes have occurred based on the diff they've uploaded onto their developer library. It'll be interesting to see what happens once the final version makes its way out into the real world and the pro's start pushing it in real world scenarios.
 
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