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iTunes: dynamics, midrange gone 'til restarted

Has anyone else experienced this? Upon occasion,when I have shut down my Mac Mini, then restart, and restart my iTunes, I sometimes get playback where the dynamics are gone, and the mid range is non-existent by comparison to it's normal function. This is not a subtle change in sound, it's very pronounced.
So far my successful work around has been to simply restart the iTunes, and the problem resolves.......until I shut down my computer again. I'm not absolutely sure it happens with every shut down, but it may.
This caused a pronounced freak out after taking my system down, installing my new DACMagic, and not figuring out for awhile that my sound problem was the iTunes, rather than the much anticipated DACMagic!
Anyway, anyone else? And is there a way to make this problem go away?
rabco

Showing 2 responses by elf73

elf73
104 posts
 
Yeah, the exact same thing happens to me. And you're absolutely right, the difference isn't subtle at all.

I thought I was going nuts, until one of my very "non-audiophile" friends (she rolls her eyes constantly) noticed.

I've never noticed this happening until recently. I'm wondering if it is because of iTunes 8.

I'm streaming into an airport express though, and thought the problem lay with the AEx or my router. Guess not. The sound improves when I unplug/re-plug my airport express.

I know common wisdom was not to use the itunes volume control and leave it at max (change volume on preamp/amp) but I've never noticed a problem before doing it on itunes. Now it experiences an instant degradation of sonics as soon as I do it.

So your work-around is simply to re-start itunes? What happens if you don't shut down your Mac-mini or itunes but simply stop playing music for awhile?

Sorry I can't be more help. I tried posting a similar question on a computer audiophile forum, but no answers. If you figure something out, let me know. It's a really annoying problem.
elf73
104 posts
 
Yeah it is very disconcerting...

I have checked and my settings haven't changed. And for me, with streaming to the AEx, I don't think the AudioMidi settings even factor in.

For you since you have it hardwired, it may be a different story.

I have mine connected to from the AEx into a DAC through a toslink cable.

I'm almost positive, from your description, we're encountering the same problem. The sound completely recesses at some point.

Once you re-start itunes, does it remain stable. That is, the sound stays to your liking?

I've read something Benchmark put out about the sampling being done either through itunes or the operating system, something to do with "coreaudio", or SRC (Sample Rate Conversion), "truncated word-length". I didn't fully understand it at the time (I'll blame it on jet-lag)...

I couldn't find the article, but here is one that may help. At least, it'll help with your AudioMidi setup:

http://extra.benchmarkmedia.com/wiki/index.php/ITunes-QuickTime_for_Mac_-_Setup_Guide

Found it:

http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/feedback/issues/122007.php

I'll re-read it, and if you can make sense of it in practical terms.. let me know.
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