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.
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.