SeeDeClip Duo and iTunes - declipping on demand
In this download of the iTunes server (below) you can however take advantage of your SeeDeClip Pro purchase simply by copying it into the directory you run the Itunes server ./itunes in, and making sure the daapd.conf file points to it.
You can try it out for free by using the Demo version of SeeDeClip Duo (track time limited).
Once installed, every WAV track you listen to can be levelled and declipped to DeClip Pro standard. Declipped tracks are cached too, so to re-test you may want to re-start the iTunes server, when it will read in daapd.conf again and clear the song cache.
Listening to your CD tracks in the Loudness War
iTunes is a really nice client interface for playing your music, and the airport express boxes allow remote digital input to a remote DAC, for very high quality playback.
If you store your music on a different computer you get the following advantages:
- You can fit a cheap 500GB HDD to your server, and leave your desktop/laptop alone
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You can run iTunes on Windows or Mac without moving your music files
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Because the server sees the tracks before iTunes, we can process the files just before we serve them, meaning we can declip the ripped WAVs from CDs when requested.
- Preserving the original distorted CD waveforms (just declipping when requested) allows an upgraded/different declipping algorithm to be slotted in
This is the type of display you then get to see, the shared songs prefixed with W. under Genre are WAVs, and therefore declipped and now of highest quality.
This free, open source program presents a network jukebox to an iTunes client (running on a Mac or Windows) and whenever you play a song that is stored as a .WAV file, the server quickly calls out to the declipper to fix it first, and then serves it to you. So with minimal effort you can play your whole precious WAV collection without any CD clipping distortion, combining the benefits of iTunes with the benefit of a CD sounding smooth and listenable.
This is the best way I've found for avoiding the CD loudness war, with its attendant Lo-Fi digital clipping distortion.
Every single CD now at Cutestudio is only heard after it has been thoroughly declipped by DeClip Pro (now part of SeeDeClip Duo).
Installation
First: Download the config file mt-daapd.conf (6.5kB) and copy it to /etc.
To do this open a terminal and type:
sudo cp mt-daapd.conf /etc
You will need to edit the file to tell it where to look for your music, and where the declipper is.
The line:
declipper /usr/local/bin/txtdeclip -J -g0.5 -VL18 -f7.5 -Z
controls SeeDeClip. The flag -J should always be used, the others are according to taste, the full flag list is available in the txtdecip documentation here, which can also be viewed by just running the program with no arguments.
In this case the decipper (txtdeclip) has been moved to /usr/local/bin, this program is included with your SeeDeClip Duo program, it will be here:
/Applications/SeeDeClip Duo_3.0-1 Pro.app/Contents/Resources/txtdeclip_3_0-1_pro-apple
The line
mp3_dir /shared/Music/jukebox
controls where the music folders are stored, see below about arranging the files.
Second: You need then to download the program mt-daapd (205.8kB) and run it.
To do this open a terminal and type:
./mt-daapd -yr
That's it.
Arranging your files for the iTunes server
You need to follow the structure of Genre -> Artist -> Album -> WAV tracks for this server to present them correctly to the iTunes players.
Example directory layout:
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