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VeraVox is a bit-perfect audio player for macOS. It delivers the digital audio from your files to your DAC without any modification by the operating system, preserving every bit of the original recording exactly as the engineer intended.

VeraVox requires macOS 14.0 Sonoma or later. It runs on both Apple Silicon (M1 and newer) and Intel Macs.

Drag audio files or folders from Finder directly onto the Queue column. You can also click the + button in the Queue toolbar for a file picker, or the folder-plus button to add an entire directory. From the Library, double-click any track to play it immediately, or use the + button to add it to the Queue. Right-click for more options: Play from Here, Play Next, or Add to Queue.

Click the compress icon (two converging horizontal lines) in the Player top bar. A compact floating window appears with Previous, Play/Pause, and Next controls plus a track title. It shares the same playback state as the main window, so both can be open at once.

In the Now Playing area, the artist and album names under the current track are clickable. Click the artist name to open that artist's albums in the Library; click the album name to open that album's track list. Both names tint to the accent colour when you hover over them. It works whether the Library is hidden, shown as the drawer, or floating in its own window, and the same tap-to-navigate is available in the Web Remote.

Common ones: Space (play/pause), Command+L (toggle the Library drawer), Command+Shift+L (toggle the Library window), Command+P (toggle the Queue), Command+Shift+V (detach the Vectorscope), Command+Option+0/1/2 (system/light/dark theme), Command+Control+0 (reset layout), and Command+? (Help). The system media keys work too.

Press Command+Control+0. This restores the default column widths, closes the floating diagnostic panels and the Library window, and re-centers the main window at its default size.

Pricing and checkout are on the Buy VeraVox page. It is a one-time purchase (not a subscription), you can activate it on up to three Macs, and there is a free 30-day trial to try first. VeraVox is a notarized DMG for direct download, not on the Mac App Store.

Yes. The Help guide (Command+?) opens in its own window, so the Player stays usable while it is on screen and you can follow a procedure as you read it. It can be pinned to stay in front of other windows, it reopens where you left it, and the controls at the foot of its sidebar adjust the text size.

Every release comes with notes describing what changed, in plain language. VeraVox shows them in the dialog that installs an update, and the full history is kept on the Release Notes page, newest version first, so you can read any release's notes at any time, including one you updated past without reading. Inside the app, Help > Release Notes opens the same page, and so does the Version History button the dialog offers when you check for updates and are already up to date.

Yes. The main window restores the size and position it had when you last quit, and the tool panels restore theirs. Command+Control+0 puts everything back to the default layout: default column widths, floating panels closed, and the main window re-centred at its default size.

VeraVox supports FLAC, WAV, AIFF, ALAC, M4A, WavPack, AAC and MP3, plus the RF64 and BW64 containers for PCM files larger than 4 GB (PCM), and DSF, DFF, WavPack DSD and SACD ISO images (DSD). It also handles CUE sheets with automatic track splitting. PCM is supported up to 32-bit / 768 kHz, and DSD from DSD64 through DSD512.

Yes. VeraVox fully supports MP3 playback with native ID3v2 metadata extraction and artwork. MP3 is a lossy format, so it is clearly marked in the interface with an "MP3" prefix and a lossy indicator badge.

Yes. Drop an SACD ISO file onto the Queue and VeraVox parses the Scarlet Book structure and extracts tracks based on the SACD Area preference in Settings (Stereo by default, Multichannel, or Both). Multi-channel tracks play via DoP N-channel on capable DACs, or with stereo extraction on stereo-only DACs. Both uncompressed and DST-compressed SACDs are supported.

Both are containers for DSD audio. DSF (Sony) uses block-interleaved storage and LSB-first bit order, so VeraVox bit-reverses each byte during DoP packing. DFF (Philips/DSDIFF) uses byte-interleaved storage and MSB-first bit order, which matches DoP directly with no reversal. Both support DSD64 through DSD512. DSF is more common for downloads.

Yes. VeraVox parses both single-FILE CUE sheets (one audio file per album, split into individual tracks) and multi-FILE CUE sheets. Track titles, artists, and timestamps are extracted automatically, and deduplication prevents the album from appearing twice.

OGG Vorbis is not currently supported but may be added in a future release. VeraVox focuses on the formats most commonly used in high-resolution audio: FLAC for lossless PCM, DSF/DFF for DSD, and SACD ISO for disc images.

For PCM, VeraVox supports up to 32-bit / 768 kHz (FLAC, WAV, AIFF) or 32-bit / 384 kHz (ALAC). For DSD, it supports DSD64 through DSD512 (up to 22.5792 MHz). DSD1024 is recognized by the parser but exceeds most current DAC hardware.

Connect a USB DAC that supports non-mixable formats (shown with a green Exclusive Ready badge in the device picker). Select it, then play a track. When the orange lock icon appears with the label "Hog mode (exclusive)", bit-perfect playback is active. No extra configuration is needed: VeraVox handles format negotiation automatically.

Hog mode is exclusive hardware access to your DAC. When active, no other application, including the macOS system mixer, can send audio to the device. The orange lock icon confirms that VeraVox holds exclusive access and is delivering a bit-perfect stream. Hog mode is released when you stop playback.

Yes. VeraVox supports DSF, DFF, and SACD ISO files natively. DSD audio from DSD64 through DSD512 is played via DoP (DSD over PCM) transport to a compatible DAC. When the DAC does not support DoP, VeraVox falls back to high-quality DSD-to-PCM decimation.

DoP (DSD over PCM) is an open standard for transmitting DSD audio over USB. DSD data is packed into 32-bit PCM frames with alternating marker bytes (0x05 and 0xFA). A DSD-aware DAC detects these markers and decodes the DSD directly, without any conversion to PCM.

These are DSD sample rates expressed as multiples of the base rate 2.8224 MHz. DSD64 is 1x (2.8 MHz), DSD128 is 2x (5.6 MHz), DSD256 is 4x (11.3 MHz). Higher rates push noise further above the audible band. Each requires a higher DoP carrier rate: 176.4 kHz, 352.8 kHz, and 705.6 kHz respectively.

VeraVox avoids resampling whenever possible. When the file's sample rate is directly supported by the DAC, zero conversion occurs. For non-standard rates (like 22,050 Hz), VeraVox uses an exact integer-ratio conversion to the nearest standard rate, keeping the signal on the bit-perfect path rather than falling back to the system mixer.

Yes. VeraVox implements three-level gapless for both PCM and DSD: immediate file pre-open, adaptive pre-decode into the live ring buffer, and continuous read-through at the track boundary. The hardware never stops, never underruns, and never outputs silence between tracks of the same format.

No. Every transport action passes through a fade envelope. For PCM, the signal ramps smoothly to silence over about 50 milliseconds. For DSD, the callback switches to the DSD silence carrier pattern. During normal playback the fade is inactive and the signal path stays fully bit-perfect.

Green means bit-perfect (exclusive mode, native format) or High Quality (shared output path through the macOS audio engine). Yellow means Enhanced: DSD converted to high-resolution PCM, delivered to the DAC via hog mode (the system mixer is bypassed, but a DSD-to-PCM conversion happened, typically when the DAC supports hog mode but not the DoP carrier rate). Blue means network bit-perfect (UPnP/DLNA). Click the format badge during playback to see the full processing chain.

If the Signal Path LED is yellow (Enhanced), your DAC supports hog mode but not the DoP carrier rate, so VeraVox converts DSD to high-resolution PCM and delivers it via the exclusive path (the system mixer is bypassed). If the LED is green (High Quality), the device has no non-mixable formats and the converted PCM goes through the macOS audio engine. To play DSD natively via DoP (green Bit-Perfect LED), you need a DAC that supports non-mixable formats at the DoP carrier rate.

No, and VeraVox tells you which one is running rather than leaving you to guess. Both are declared decodes: the file itself states that its samples are meant to be decoded, so applying the curve or the HDCD code is what faithful playback means, and refusing to apply it would be the alteration. When either engages, the Signal Path quality level reads Faithful Decode instead of Bit-Perfect, with a dedicated step naming what was applied. The honesty runs both ways: if you switch de-emphasis off and a track declares pre-emphasis, the Signal Path still shows a greyed not applied step, so the situation is never ambiguous.

The HDCD control code is hidden in the least-significant bits of the samples, and any sample rate conversion destroys it. Shared Output runs at the output device's rate, so 44.1 kHz material is resampled whenever the device is set to another rate, and on that path decoding and resampling happen in a single step. On Shared Output the track therefore plays undecoded, which is still perfectly listenable: HDCD is fully compatible with normal playback. CD de-emphasis has no such constraint and works on both paths.

Click the speaker icon in the transport row at the bottom of the Player. A menu lists all available devices with colored badges: green for Exclusive Ready (bit-perfect capable), blue for Shared Output (system mixer path), grey for Lossy (Bluetooth). Select the device you want. You must stop playback before changing devices.

Green (Exclusive Ready) means the DAC supports non-mixable integer mode, so VeraVox delivers bit-perfect audio via hog mode. Blue (Shared Output) means the device only supports mixable mode, so audio goes through the macOS audio engine. Grey (Lossy) means Bluetooth, where audio is compressed by the transmission codec.

When hog mode is active, VeraVox holds exclusive access to the DAC. You must stop playback first to release the hardware, then select a different device. This prevents audible interruptions and format mismatches.

While hog mode is active the DAC belongs to VeraVox alone, which removes the system mixer from the signal path, and the macOS slider acts inside that mixer. macOS also moves the system default output to another device, so the Sound menu shows a different device selected and the menu bar slider then controls that other device instead. Both are normal consequences of exclusive access, and both end when playback stops and hog mode is released. Use the volume control on your DAC, preamplifier, or integrated amplifier.

Choose Shared Output for those headphones in the Playback Mode section of the device picker. Hog mode removes the system mixer from the path, and with it the volume control of any device that has no attenuation of its own downstream of VeraVox. The preference is stored per device, so a dedicated DAC can stay on Exclusive Mode while the headphones use Shared Output. Shared Output still plays at the file's own sample rate, so nothing is resampled.

Yes, set it before you press Play. While VeraVox holds hog mode the volume slider in Audio MIDI Setup is locked and shows a padlock, but the level set beforehand is kept by the DAC and stays in force for the whole session. This applies to DACs that attenuate in their own hardware. When the only volume a device has is the macOS slider there is nothing to preset, and Shared Output is the answer instead.

Yes, VeraVox can play to Bluetooth and AirPlay devices. Bluetooth is classified as Lossy (grey badge) because it uses a lossy codec. AirPlay is classified as Shared Output (blue badge): it uses lossless ALAC but is limited to 16-bit/44.1 kHz. For bit-perfect playback, use a wired USB DAC.

DAC Warm-Up streams silence to your DAC for 1 to 10 seconds before the first track of each session, letting the hardware oscillator and output stage stabilize. Hog mode is retained across the warm-up-to-playback transition, so there is no gap or click when music begins. Enable it in Settings (gear icon). It is most useful for tube-output or R-2R ladder DACs; sigma-delta DACs typically do not need it. It is optional and disabled by default.

Max Bit Depth forces VeraVox to use the highest bit depth your DAC supports, regardless of the source file. A 16-bit FLAC on a 32-bit-capable DAC will use the 32-bit format. This is useful if your DAC performs better with 32-bit input; otherwise it can be left off, since the extra bits are zero-padded.

VeraVox queries all physical formats the DAC exposes, filters them by sample rate, then selects the best match in priority order: non-mixable signed integer (ideal), non-mixable float, mixable integer, then any available. Within each tier, bit depth is ranked by context: 24-bit aligned-high is preferred for most files and DSD, 32-bit is preferred when Max Bit Depth is enabled.

Not on the same output device. When hog mode is active, VeraVox holds exclusive access to the DAC, so other applications are silent on that device until you stop VeraVox playback. Other apps can still play through a different output device, such as the Mac's built-in speakers.

Open the Library (Command+L), click the gear icon to open the Folder Manager, then click "Add Folder" and select a directory. VeraVox scans the folder and all its subfolders for supported audio files. You can add multiple folders, including network shares.

By default, no, it does not rescan at launch at all. The "Sync Library at Launch" setting (in Settings, and mirrored in the Library header's update panel) is off by default, so a restart never re-checks folders you have not changed. When you do change something, click the circular arrow in the Library header and choose "Update", or rebuild a single folder from the Folder Manager. If you turn the setting on, VeraVox scans at every launch using incremental scanning: it compares modification dates against the database and only processes new or changed files, so unchanged folders are skipped and a pass over a collection you have not touched is nearly instant. Either way, folders on your Mac's own drives are watched live while VeraVox is open, so changes made with the app running appear automatically.

If VeraVox was open and the files are on a local drive, the change is picked up automatically within a few seconds, since VeraVox watches your folders live. Otherwise click the circular arrow in the Library header and choose "Deep Re-scan": it walks every folder and re-reads the files whose tags or artwork changed, even when nothing else in the folder moved. The everyday "Update" is faster, but it skips folders whose contents did not change, so it can miss a tag edited in place. To re-read every file from scratch, use "Rebuild This Folder" in the folder's menu in the Folder Manager.

Yes. Add the mounted network share as a Library folder. VeraVox monitors its availability, shows a colored status dot (green for online, red for offline), and automatically reconnects when the volume comes back. Browsing is never blocked by a slow or offline network share.

Type in the search field in the Library toolbar. VeraVox filters the current browse mode in place: Albums shows matching albums, Artists shows matching artists, and so on. Ten fields are searched: title, artist, album artist, album, genre, composer, year, work, grouping, and comment. Prefix matching works as you type ("beth" finds "Beethoven"), and punctuation ends a word rather than being part of it, so "em:t Records" and "AC/DC" work with nothing to escape. Several words are combined with AND, and a minus in front of a word excludes it: "Greatest -Hits" keeps the albums with Greatest and drops those that also say Hits. The comment field is searchable for tracks scanned since it was added, and for older files after a Folder Manager Rescan (Rebuild); it is reached from the Tracks tab and the global search only, by design, since comments are freeform and matching them on the Albums or Artists tab would show entries whose visible text does not contain your query. Format filters and Favorites Only apply on top of the search.

Put a minus in front of it. "Greatest -Hits" shows the entries containing Greatest except those that also contain Hits. Several exclusions can be combined ("Greatest -Hits -Live"), a whole phrase can be excluded with quotes ("-"Greatest Hits""), and an exclusion on its own hides something from the list you are looking at ("-Hits"). The minus only excludes at the start of a word, so a hyphen inside a name is left alone and "AC-DC" still searches for AC and DC. To keep the filter instead of retyping it, use a Smart Playlist rule: "Album contains Greatest" combined with "Album does not contain Hits". Typing the words AND, OR or NOT does nothing: those are query operators, and VeraVox removes them so a title containing one cannot break the search.

Five filters let you narrow the Library by quality tier: DSD (DSF, DFF, SACD ISO, WavPack DSD), DXD (high-rate PCM at 352.8 or 384 kHz), Hi-Res (lossless above 16-bit or 48 kHz), Lossless (CD-quality lossless), and Lossy (MP3, AAC and other lossy codecs). Filters can be combined. Lossless, Lossy and Hi-Res classify each analysed file by the codec actually inside it, so an AAC track inside an M4A container counts as Lossy even though its extension looks the same as ALAC's. Files not yet analysed keep the previous extension-based classification until a Deep Rescan.

A strip above the list names them. Each active filter is a labelled pill ("DSD", "5.1", "96 kHz", "Favorites"), plus the sort order whenever you have moved it off its default ("Year" with a direction arrow), which includes simply reversing the direction. The strip reports departures from the default, so an untouched library shows nothing at all and a list in its usual order says nothing about it. Every pill is a control: click its x to lift that constraint, or "Clear" to lift everything the strip shows. The Web Remote shows the same strip under its sub-tabs. The dot on the filter icon answers a different question: whether anything is set at all, including in a tab you are not currently in, so moving to a tab a filter does not reach never looks like your filter was cleared. Hovering the filter icon names what is set.

Because not every Library tab is reached by every filter and sort, and VeraVox says so rather than implying otherwise. The format, channel, sample-rate and favorites filters narrow Albums, Artists, Genres, Composers, Tags, Folders, All Tracks, Home and every drill-down. The album sort orders the Albums grid and the album grids reached from a category; All Tracks has its own track sort and the Tags list its own tag sort; Home, Folders and the category lists carry their own fixed order. Smart Playlists currently take neither filters nor sorting. Where nothing you have set applies, the strip says so instead of falling silent, and the dot on the filter icon stays lit to show your selection is still there.

VeraVox checks embedded artwork first (FLAC PICTURE, ID3v2 APIC, iTunes atoms), then searches the file's directory for common filenames (cover.jpg, folder.jpg, front.jpg, and PNG equivalents), then artwork subdirectories (art, artwork, scans, covers). Images with "front" or "cover" in the name are preferred.

Because the folder is part of an album's identity in VeraVox. An album is identified by its Album Artist and title plus the folder the edition lives in, or by the MusicBrainz Release ID when the files carry one. Players that read only the tags merge two editions sharing a title and interleave their tracks; VeraVox keeps them apart, so a CD rip and a hi-res download of the same record live side by side, each with its own cover art, tags and ratings. The sample rate is never part of the identity: an album whose tracks sit partly at 44.1 kHz and partly at 48 kHz is still one album. Since two editions almost always differ in sample rate, a split can look as though the sample rate caused it, but the criterion is the folder. To have two editions merged, put their files in one folder; to keep them apart, keep the folders separate. Files carrying the same MusicBrainz Release ID group together even across folders, so in that case give the editions distinct album titles. One more case: an album whose tracks name different artists with no Album Artist declared is grouped as one Various Artists album (see the dedicated question about split albums).

In current versions this usually fixes itself: when an album's tracks name different artists and no Album Artist is declared anywhere, VeraVox groups them as one Various Artists album, provided the track numbers do not repeat (repeating numbers mean several same-titled albums sharing a folder, and those stay separate on purpose). Albums that declare an Album Artist or a MusicBrainz release ID are never touched, and the behaviour can be turned off with Group Untagged Compilations in Settings, which restores the previous grouping exactly. If an album still shows split, check four things: that Group Untagged Compilations is on, that no track carries an explicit COMPILATION=0 tag (it forbids the automatic grouping), that the track numbers do not repeat, and that the tracks live in one folder, because the folder is part of an album's identity in VeraVox. Setting the same Album Artist on every track always works too and always wins; after editing tags in place, run a Deep Re-scan (the circular arrow in the Library header): the everyday Update skips folders whose contents have not changed.

Press Command+L to show or hide the Library drawer (sidebar). Press Command+Shift+L to open or close the Library as a separate resizable window. To close the window and switch to the drawer, press Command+L or click the sidebar icon in the window header. Press Escape or click the red traffic-light button to close the window without opening the drawer.

They tell you the album declares a decode. PRE marks albums whose tracks declare pre-emphasis. The gold HDCD badge comes from the on-demand Dynamic Range analysis, which scans the whole file and so catches control codes that start late in a track, later than the quick pre-scan used at playback. Both badges appear in the Library grid and on the Web Remote album cards alike. For HDCD albums the Crest Factor DR is computed twice, as stored and after decoding: the visible figure stays the as-stored one by design, so it remains directly comparable with the community databases, and the decoded figure appears in the tooltip. Albums analysed before this feature existed show the badge only after a re-analysis.

The Queue is the list of tracks currently lined up for playback: it changes as you add, remove, or replace what you are listening to, and the trash icon only clears the Queue. A playlist is a named collection you save on purpose; it lives in the Saved Playlists browser until you delete it, and loading it copies its tracks into the Queue. In builds before 209 the Queue panel was labelled Playlist; only the name changed, not the behavior.

Click the save button in the Queue toolbar (the stack icon with a plus) and enter a name. The track list and file references are stored locally, including the position of tracks that come from a CUE sheet or a SACD ISO, so each of those still plays its own track. To reload the playlist later, click the plain stack icon next to it and select the playlist. If the name you type already exists, VeraVox asks whether to update that playlist with the current Queue or to keep both. Saved playlists persist across app restarts and updates.

Click the stack icon in the Queue toolbar to open the Saved Playlists browser. Every row has a ... button; click it, or right-click the row. A playlist offers Load, Rename, Move to Folder, Export as M3U and Delete; a folder offers Rename and Delete Folder. Deleting a playlist removes only the playlist: it never deletes audio files and never removes tracks from your Library.

Load the playlist into the Queue, then edit the Queue: remove tracks with the trash icon or the Delete key, add more from the Library, drag rows to reorder. As soon as the Queue differs from the playlist you loaded, an Update button appears in the Queue toolbar; click it to write the change back. Until you click Update the saved playlist is untouched, so you can experiment freely. Removing a track from the Queue alone never changes a saved playlist.

Yes. Shuffle randomizes the play order while keeping the current track at the front. Repeat has three modes: Off (stops after the last track), Repeat One (loops the current track), and Repeat All (wraps back to the first track, or reshuffles if shuffle is on).

Yes. Drag audio files or entire folders from Finder directly onto the Queue column. VeraVox adds all supported audio files, including those in subfolders, and duplicate tracks are automatically skipped.

VeraVox keeps offline tracks in the Queue with their metadata visible so you do not lose your queue. The tracks cannot be played until the source is available again. Once you reconnect the drive or network share, the tracks become playable automatically.

Select the renderer in the output device picker: it appears under "Network Renderers" with a blue dot. Then play a track as usual. VeraVox serves the audio file over HTTP and sends transport commands to the renderer via UPnP/DLNA. Because VeraVox does not touch the audio (the renderer decodes it), this path is inherently bit-perfect.

VeraVox does not apply digital volume to UPnP streams because doing so would require decoding and modifying the audio, breaking bit-perfect delivery. Use the renderer's own volume control: its hardware knob, remote, or manufacturer app.

Yes. VeraVox pre-loads the next track on the renderer using SetNextAVTransportURI when supported, achieving seamless transitions. If the renderer does not support this optional command, there is a brief gap of about 1 to 3 seconds between tracks.

Only if the streamer supports native DSD (DSF or DFF). VeraVox serves DSD files in their original format without transcoding. If your streamer does not support DSD, play the files locally using DoP transport to a compatible USB DAC instead.

VeraVox detects the disconnection within about 5 seconds and shows a red error banner. It then probes the renderer every 10 seconds. When the renderer comes back online, a green reconnection banner appears and you can resume playback.

Enable Web Remote in Settings (gear icon), then scan the QR code with your phone or type the displayed URL into any browser on the same network. Enter the 4-digit PIN to authenticate. No app installation is needed: it works in any browser.

The PIN is a 4-digit code shown in the Settings popover (gear icon) and in the Web Remote panel (Command+Shift+R). Enter it once on your remote device to authenticate. A session token is then stored in your browser for automatic reconnection.

No. Web Remote sends the same commands as the media keys and the Mini Player. It does not touch the audio signal in any way. The bit-perfect signal path is fully preserved whether you control VeraVox from the desktop or from a remote device.

Yes. Open the Web Remote panel (Command+Shift+R), enter the new port number in the Port field, and press Return. The server restarts automatically. The default port is 8090. Ports below 1024 are not supported.

The Library view has nine sub-tabs, in the same order as the desktop Library: Albums (cover art grid), Artists, Genres, Composers, Tags, Folders, Playlists, Smart, and Tracks. A persistent search bar above the sub-tabs filters the active view in place, and also narrows the Genres, Composers, Tags, Playlists and Smart lists. Tap an album to see its tracks. Tap an artist to open a grid of that artist's albums with cover art (mirroring the desktop Artist view), then tap an album to see its tracks; the artist screen also offers Play All and Add to Queue for the whole discography. Tap a genre, composer or tag to open a grid of the albums in that scope, and the Folders sub-tab to browse the on-disk structure of your library folders. Tap a track to play it immediately, or use the + button to append it to the queue.

Yes. In the Queue tab, drag tracks up or down to reorder them; the new order is applied immediately on the desktop. You can also swipe a track to remove it, or tap it to play it.

You can use the Previous and Next transport buttons, or swipe left or right on the album artwork in the Now Playing view to skip to the previous or next track.

Yes. Open the Output tab in the Web Remote and toggle Appearance between Dark and Light. The dark theme matches the desktop dark mode palette and the light theme matches the desktop light mode. Your choice is saved in the browser and persists across sessions.

Yes. If you quit VeraVox with the Web Remote server enabled, it starts again automatically on the next launch. You do not need to re-enable it manually each time.

Use the Signal Generator in the detached Vectorscope window. Set VeraVox's main output device (speaker icon at the top of the player) and the SIG GEN input picker to the same loopback device: BlackHole 2ch for digital loopback, or a loopback-cabled audio interface for hardware. Generate a SINE tone in DUAL mode, press CALIBRATE, and check the BPT (Bit-Perfect Test) meter. PASS means every sample is identical, so the path is bit-perfect. Note: digital loopback verifies the CoreAudio chain only; to verify the analogue DAC stage you need hardware loopback (DAC out to ADC in).

The DAC Diagnostic panel shows every physical format your DAC exposes to the operating system. It displays which format is currently active (and why VeraVox chose it), plus the DAC's maximum capability. Open it by clicking the DAC Info button in the transport row.

It shows a Format Summary with two rows: Active Format (the physical format currently set on the hardware, with a context line explaining why) and DAC Maximum Capability (the highest non-mixable format the device supports). A Device Overview summarises key capabilities (exclusive format count, sample rate range, bit depths, channels). Below, an expandable table lists every physical format with its rate, type, bit depth, and mixability (NON-MIX or MIX). Formats are sorted by bit-perfect eligibility, non-mixable first. Green NON-MIX formats support bit-perfect playback.

The Vectorscope is a real-time Lissajous XY display that maps the Left channel to the horizontal axis and the Right channel to the vertical axis, showing the stereo image at 60 fps: a diagonal along the M axis (up-right) means mono, a circle means uncorrelated stereo, a diagonal along the S axis (down-right) means anti-phase. During playback, click the album artwork in the Player column to flip to it, or press Command+Shift+V to open it as a standalone floating window (which includes the Signal Generator drawer).

Audio Analysis measures the actual spectral content of the file using FFT. It detects the true bandwidth (where the signal drops off) and the true bit depth (from the noise floor level). If the container claims hi-res but the content shows a bandwidth cutoff below 25 kHz or a 16-bit noise floor, the file is classified as Fake Hi-Res.

DSD uses 1-bit pulse density modulation with intentional noise shaping that pushes quantisation noise into the ultrasonic region. Applying FFT-based bandwidth and bit-depth analysis would produce misleading results, because the elevated ultrasonic noise is a fundamental property of DSD encoding, not a defect.

DAC SYNC LOCKED means the ring buffer is keeping up with the hardware demand, with no synthetic silence frames injected. This is the normal, healthy state during playback. WARNING means occasional fills occurred (normal at start), and LOST means sustained underruns.

DoP marker errors mean the alternating byte sequence (0x05/0xFA) that identifies a DSD-over-PCM stream was violated. Phase is tracked independently per channel, so multichannel DoP streams are fully monitored, and all channels in a DoP frame must share the same marker. Brief errors during seek or track transitions are normal; sustained errors indicate a format or buffer-timing issue.

First, set VeraVox's main output device (speaker icon at the top of the player) to the loopback device, for example BlackHole 2ch for digital loopback. Then in the detached Vectorscope, open the SIG GEN drawer, switch SOURCE to INPUT or DUAL, and select the same device in the input picker. The captured audio appears on the Vectorscope and feeds the measurement meters. The output device must match the input source, otherwise the loop does not close and CALIBRATE fails silently.

Before calibrating, set up a loopback: VeraVox's main output device and the SIG GEN input picker must point to the same device (BlackHole 2ch for digital, or a loopback-cabled interface for hardware). In DUAL mode, press CALIBRATE. VeraVox injects a short burst and measures the round-trip latency using cross-correlation. After calibration, the BPT and Phase I/O meters become active. If CALIBRATE shows "---" or never completes, the loopback is not closed. Calibrate once per session, and recalibrate only when you change sample rate or devices.

A-weighting (dBA) models human hearing sensitivity at moderate levels: it strongly attenuates low frequencies where we hear poorly (about -30 dB at 50 Hz). C-weighting (dBC) applies only a mild low-frequency rolloff, better for loud levels. Both are standardised by IEC 61672. Use A-weighting for noise measurement, C-weighting for peak levels, and flat (dBFS) for raw signal analysis.

The Blackman-Harris 4-term window achieves about 92 dB of sidelobe rejection in spectral analysis, meaning a weak signal 92 dB below a strong one can be detected without being masked by spectral leakage. It is the recommended setting for precise frequency measurement. The simpler Hann window offers 31 dB rejection and is fine for general use.

VeraVox has no software volume control by design. Multiplying audio samples by any gain value other than 1.0 modifies the bitstream, breaking bit-perfect delivery. Use the volume control on your DAC, amplifier, or preamplifier instead.

No. During normal playback, VeraVox performs zero signal processing: no EQ, no DSP, no dithering, no resampling. Any processing would modify the samples before they reach the DAC, breaking bit-perfect delivery. The only operations that ever touch the signal are polarity inversion (an exact sign flip) and a brief fade envelope at transport boundaries (pause, stop, seek), both inactive during continuous listening. If your chain includes tone shaping or room correction, it runs outside VeraVox: route the output to your DAC's own DSP, an outboard processor, or a convolution engine installed as a virtual audio device on the same Mac.

Yes. VeraVox does not perform room correction or convolution itself, by design, but it does not stand in the way of software that does. Tools of this kind (Hang Loose Convolver, CamillaDSP, and similar convolution or digital crossover engines) install as a virtual audio device. Select that virtual device as VeraVox's output device, and VeraVox delivers bit-perfect samples to it: the processing stage receives the signal exactly as it left the file, and passes its result on to your DAC. The handoff is verifiable end-to-end with the built-in Bit-Perfect Test. When VeraVox's output device is an Exclusive Ready DAC shared with other audio software, select Shared Output for it, since hog mode would lock the other application out. The in-app Help covers the operational steps under Routing to External Processing.

Open Settings (gear icon in the top bar) and toggle Polarity Inversion on. A segmented picker lets you choose L+R (both channels), Left only, or Right only. The setting takes effect immediately, even during playback, and an orange symbol appears in the top bar when active.

Prevent Sleep keeps your Mac awake during audio playback using a macOS power assertion. In System only mode, the display may still turn off but the Mac will not sleep. In System + Display mode, both stay awake. The assertion is released automatically when playback pauses or stops.

Use the sun/moon icon in the Player top bar to switch between light and dark, or use the Appearance menu: Command+Option+0 for System (follows macOS), Command+Option+1 for Light, Command+Option+2 for Dark. The Appearance menu marks whichever of the three is in force. The sun/moon icon shows the appearance it will switch to, and using it sets an explicit light or dark theme, so VeraVox stops following macOS until you choose System again. Under System, VeraVox follows macOS live, including a change made while the app is running.

On DACs with multi-channel non-mixable formats, VeraVox plays all channels bit-perfect (PCM and DSD via DoP). On stereo-only DACs, multi-channel PCM files play the front-left and front-right channels only (no mixing or DSP), and multi-channel DSD files use stereo extraction; the DSD-to-PCM fallback paths remain stereo-only. VeraVox has no software volume control or EQ (by design for bit-perfect delivery), does not support OGG Vorbis or WMA, and requires a DoP-compatible DAC for native DSD playback.

Use File > Export Library Backup (Command+Option+E). Choose one of three preset cards, Full (everything), Portable (catalog and curated state and universal preferences, no artwork or device preferences), or Custom (compose your own scope), and click Export. VeraVox writes a single .veravoxbackup file at the destination you choose. The archive contains the catalog database, artwork, preferences, and curated state (tags, playlists, smart playlists, listening history). It does not contain your audio files: those are user-managed via Time Machine or a clone tool.

Use File > Import Library Backup (Command+Option+I) and pick the .veravoxbackup file. The Import sheet shows what is inside the archive, with a checkmark on the categories present and a grayed-out row on those absent. Pick Replace mode and click Import. VeraVox saves a safety copy of your current library before the swap, then loads the imported one. Click Reload Library Now to see it immediately, with no app restart needed.

Replace overwrites the current Library with the contents of the archive (after saving a safety copy of your current library first). Merge folds the user-curated rows (tags, playlists, smart playlists, listening history) from the archive into your existing Library without touching the catalog or artwork already on disk, selectively bringing in curated state from a different Mac or a previous backup. Merge is offered whenever the archive ships at least one curated category. Conflicts are resolved per category: duplicate tags and same-named playlists are skipped, and listening history is combined per track.

Open Settings and turn on Automatic Backups. Choose a destination folder (an external drive or NAS works well), how often to back up (every 12 hours, daily, or weekly), and how many backups to keep (3, 5, or 10). VeraVox then writes a full backup named "VeraVox Auto-Backup <date> <time>.veravoxbackup" whenever one is due, and trims the oldest beyond your keep count. It only ever removes its own automatic backups, never your manual exports or other files. Scheduled backups run while VeraVox is open (not after you quit) and are skipped while a library scan is in progress. The card shows the date of the last backup, or the reason if one failed.

Yes. Tuneshine is a small LED display in a wooden case that shows the cover art of what is playing, and VeraVox talks to it directly over your local network. Open the Settings popover (gear icon), find the Tuneshine card, pick your display under “Found on your network” or type its address (it looks like tuneshine-1358.local), click Test, then turn the switch on. It is off by default. The advantage over the display’s own built-in integrations is that VeraVox sends the artwork embedded in your own files, so self-made rips and obscure pressings show their real cover instead of whatever an online lookup finds.

On each track change VeraVox sends the cover art embedded in the file, resized to roughly 256 pixels, plus the title, artist, album and the name of the output device the music is playing on. When playback stops it clears what it put there and the display returns to its idle image. If a track has no embedded cover, VeraVox clears the cover and the display returns to its own idle image. The title, artist and album are still sent, but no image: VeraVox never invents artwork. Everything stays on your local network. There is no account, no cloud service and no internet connection involved, and with the switch off VeraVox does not contact the display at all.

Both devices must be on the same network. VeraVox finds displays by asking the network who is there, and some routers restrict that between wireless bands or on guest networks. You can always type the address by hand: it is shown in the Tuneshine app and looks like tuneshine-1358.local. Click Test before turning the switch on, so a wrong address or a sleeping display shows up straight away rather than as a display that simply never lights. Note that the switch stays inactive until an address is entered.

Both live in the Declared Decodes card of the Settings popover, and both are on by default. Changes take effect from the next played track. Turn HDCD Decoding off if your DAC decodes HDCD in hardware: the bit-perfect path already delivers the code stream to it intact, and the DAC's own HDCD indicator will light.

PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) represents audio as multi-bit amplitude measurements at regular intervals, for example 16-bit samples at 44,100 Hz for CD. DSD (Direct Stream Digital) uses a single bit at a very high clock rate (2.8 MHz and above), encoding audio in the density of 1s and 0s. Both can exceed human hearing limits. Most DSD releases are mastered in PCM and converted to DSD as a final step.

Neither format is objectively better. PCM offers higher dynamic range at equivalent data rates and is easier to edit and process. DSD offers a potentially simpler path through the DAC and gentler reconstruction filter characteristics. The quality of the recording and mastering matters far more than the delivery format. VeraVox plays both with equal commitment to accuracy.

Bit depth determines the noise floor, the quietest signal a recording can capture. Each bit adds about 6 dB of dynamic range: 16-bit gives about 98 dB (CD quality), 24-bit gives about 146 dB (studio master quality). Many files labeled 24-bit were actually mastered from 16-bit sources, which VeraVox's Audio Analysis tool can detect.

Jitter is the timing variation in the DAC's conversion clock: when a sample is converted slightly early or late, it introduces amplitude errors. Modern asynchronous USB DACs have jitter in the low picoseconds, far below audibility. If your DAC uses asynchronous USB mode (most audiophile DACs do), jitter is effectively a solved problem.

ENOB (Effective Number of Bits) measures a DAC's real-world performance. It is calculated from the measured signal quality: ENOB = (SINAD - 1.76) / 6.02. The best current DACs achieve 20 to 22 ENOB, meaning their analog output is equivalent to a perfect 20 to 22 bit converter. The theoretical 24-bit limit (146 dB) remains an aspirational ceiling.

Noise shaping is the technique that makes DSD work. A feedback loop in the delta-sigma modulator pushes quantization noise energy to ultrasonic frequencies (above 20 kHz), leaving the audible band clean. The DAC's analog output filter then removes this ultrasonic noise. The steep rise of high-frequency noise is a normal characteristic of DSD, not a defect.

In Absolute mode each bucket is drawn as two stacked rectangles. The lighter outer layer (peak ghost) shows the loudest sample in that bucket, encoding the digital headroom. The darker inner layer (RMS body) shows the integrated energy of that bucket, the same quantity that drives the VU Meter. The vertical gap between ghost and body is the bucket's crest factor: zero gap means a hard-limited segment, a small gap means a heavily compressed master, a large gap means dynamic material. Adaptive mode draws only the RMS body.

Both are correct and reflect what is actually in the files. The peak ghost (outer layer) reaches the top when the file's samples touch 0 dBFS, typical of brickwalled masters. The RMS body (inner layer) reflects the integrated energy: loudness-war material has a high RMS (around -10 dBFS) and a flat ghost at the top, the visual signature of compression. Classical material has a low RMS (around -25 dBFS, the thin line) but transient peaks reaching -3 to -6 dBFS, so the ghost still rises high. The gap between ghost and body is the crest factor, and it tells the two cases apart at a glance. To inspect very dynamic material, switch to Adaptive (ADP) mode.

No. The waveform is a faithful visual representation, not a calibrated loudness measurement. Peak detection is at sample level only; VeraVox does not currently compute the ITU-R BS.1770-4 True Peak (oversampled reconstruction), which can be 0.5 to 1 dB higher on aggressively limited masters. RMS is broadband (no K-weighting), so it correlates with the VU Meter but not with LUFS / R128 integrated loudness. Dedicated Crest Factor DR and R128 columns are planned as a separate library feature.

HDCD (High Definition Compatible Digital) was used on thousands of titles from the mid 90s to the mid 2000s. A control code hidden in the least-significant bits of the samples instructs the decoder to restore dynamics (Peak Extend) and low-level detail. VeraVox decodes it automatically: at playback start it pre-scans the first seconds of every 16-bit / 44.1 kHz stereo track and engages the decoder only when the code is actually found, so ordinary CDs are never touched. When it engages, a gold HDCD indicator lights in the format badge and the Signal Path shows an HDCD Decoded step with the live decoding detail (Peak Extend status and gain adjustment). Decoded output sits on the reference -6 dB baseline so the restored peaks have room, the same convention used by every reference HDCD decoder.

Many CDs from the early years of the format, especially first pressings and Japanese and classical titles, were mastered with a high-frequency boost that the player is required to undo. Period CD players did it in hardware. Rips preserve the declaration as a PRE-EMPHASIS tag, written automatically by common ripping tools, or as a FLAGS PRE entry in the CUE sheet, and played flat they sound several dB too bright in the top octaves. VeraVox applies the standardized 50/15 microsecond de-emphasis curve (IEC 60908) whenever a track declares pre-emphasis. The curve is computed in 64-bit precision and delivered at 24-bit or better whenever the DAC allows it.

No. VeraVox uses a discrete-in-order channel layout: file channel N is delivered to device channel N in source order, with no spatial role assigned. The macOS Audio MIDI Setup speaker configuration is metadata read by other apps but ignored by VeraVox. This is the channel-transparent guarantee: the file's channel ordering is preserved end-to-end, and how the device labels its outputs is a separate concern owned by the device and your physical cabling.

The Surround Sound Scope shows the canonical SMPTE / ITU-R BS.775-3 layout for the file's channel count, not the configuration set in macOS Audio MIDI Setup. A 5.1 file always renders as the 5.1 SMPTE layout (L/R/C/LFE/Ls/Rs at standard angles), regardless of how the device is configured. For standard files on conventionally cabled DACs the Scope matches the physical placement.

Check that the correct output device is selected in the transport row. Quit any other audio applications that might hold hog mode. Try Stop, wait 2 seconds, then Play to reset the audio engine. Open the DAC Diagnostic panel to verify the active format. If the DAC does not appear in macOS System Settings > Sound, the issue is between macOS and the DAC, not VeraVox.

Open the Stream Inspector and check DAC SYNC status. If it shows WARNING or LOST, the ring buffer is underrunning. Close CPU-intensive applications, and if the file is on a NAS, copy it to local SSD. Clicks at track boundaries between different sample rates are normal DAC relay behavior.

Gapless requires consecutive tracks to share the same sample rate and format. When they differ, the audio engine must reconfigure the DAC's physical format, introducing a brief gap and possibly a relay click. Organize the queue so tracks with the same sample rate are grouped together.

The click comes from a mechanical relay inside your DAC that switches when the sample rate changes (for example, from 44.1 kHz to 96 kHz). This is a hardware behavior outside software control. Tracks at the same sample rate transition seamlessly via gapless playback with no click.

Your DAC is likely receiving DoP (DSD over PCM) data but does not recognize the DoP markers. Check whether your DAC supports DoP; not all DACs do, even if they support DSD via proprietary interfaces. Open the DAC Diagnostic panel and verify non-mixable formats exist at the DoP carrier rate (176.4 kHz for DSD64, 352.8 kHz for DSD128).

Verify the ISO is a genuine SACD disc rip with a valid Scarlet Book structure. If the error says "no stereo area", the disc contains only a multi-channel area: try changing the SACD Area setting in Settings to "Multichannel" or "Both". For DST decode failures, the ISO may be corrupted, so try a different copy.

Not necessarily. Some USB DACs require a vendor-supplied macOS driver to expose non-mixable formats. Without the driver, the DAC only shows mixable formats and VeraVox uses the system mixer path (shown as Shared Output with a blue badge). Open the DAC Diagnostic panel to see what formats the device reports, and check the manufacturer's website for a driver.

Blue (Shared Output) means the DAC does not expose non-mixable formats to macOS. Open the DAC Diagnostic panel: if all entries show MIX (no NON-MIX), the device needs a vendor driver for exclusive mode, so check the manufacturer's website. Built-in audio and AirPlay devices always show blue, and Bluetooth devices show grey, by design.

It means another application already holds exclusive access to your DAC. Only one process can hold hog mode at a time. Quit other audio applications (music players, DAWs, audio utilities) and try again. If the problem persists, disconnect and reconnect the DAC to force macOS to release any stale claims.

VeraVox releases hog mode on quit, but if it crashed, the stale claim may persist. Disconnect and reconnect the DAC to force macOS to release hog mode. If the issue persists, restart your Mac.

Yes. After displaying an error message, VeraVox waits about 6 seconds and automatically resets to the stopped state. This lets the audio engine fully release the hardware before you retry. Note the exact error text, since it helps identify the specific issue if you need to report it.

This can happen when VeraVox was removed with a third-party uninstaller, which can leave the app's local state incomplete. Write to support@veravox.audio and we will restore your access. To avoid it, uninstall with the Uninstall VeraVox… command in the VeraVox menu: it removes everything VeraVox created and keeps your remaining trial days, so a later reinstall picks up where you left off.

Check System Settings > Privacy & Security > Local Network first, and make sure VeraVox is listed and enabled: macOS asks for that permission once, and if the answer was no, every discovery probe is refused silently from then on. It is the only cause that lives on your Mac rather than on the network, and it takes ten seconds to rule out. After that, verify the renderer is powered on and on the same network subnet. SSDP discovery uses multicast (UDP 239.255.255.250 port 1900), so check that your router allows multicast traffic. Wait about 30 seconds for discovery probes. Try Ethernet instead of Wi-Fi. If the renderer does not appear in the manufacturer's own app either, the issue is on the network side.

Ensure both devices are on the same Wi-Fi network. Check that Web Remote is enabled (gear icon). Verify no firewall blocks port 8090 (the default). Try typing the URL manually instead of scanning the QR code. If the PIN is rejected, check the current PIN in Settings; the PIN persists across server restarts and changes only when you regenerate it.

WARNING means occasional silence frames were injected to prevent underrun, which is normal at playback start or after a seek. LOST means sustained underruns where the ring buffer cannot keep up with hardware demand. Close CPU-intensive apps and move files to faster storage. After wake-from-sleep, stop and restart playback.

No, the file is not damaged. It means the container claims high resolution (for example 24-bit/96 kHz) but the audio content has the characteristics of a lower-quality source, such as a bandwidth cutoff below 25 kHz or a 16-bit noise floor. The file was likely upsampled from CD-quality or a lossy source.

Check the source mode in the Signal Generator drawer. If set to INPUT, the Vectorscope shows only the input device signal, so switch to OUTPUT to see the playback signal. Also verify microphone permission is granted if using INPUT or DUAL mode (System Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone > VeraVox).

First verify the loopback: VeraVox's main output device and the SIG GEN input picker must point to the same device. Run CALIBRATE and confirm a valid latency readout ("---" means the loop is not closed). Verify the loopback is digital (for example BlackHole 2ch); a hardware loopback through analog cables always shows ERR because D/A and A/D conversion modify samples. Check that input and output sample rates match. Set AVG to OFF (BPT is auto-disabled when averaging is active) and keep GAIN at 0 dB. If you changed device or rate, recalibrate before retesting.

Try the self-diagnosis steps first: restart VeraVox, play a known-good FLAC file, and check the Stream Inspector and DAC Diagnostic panel. If the issue persists, collect your VeraVox version, macOS version (with chip type), DAC model and connection type, file format and sample rate, the playback path in use (bit-perfect, system mixer, or UPnP), exact steps to reproduce, and any error message text, then write to support@veravox.audio.