FAQ

Not sure? Stay on Shared.

Yes. In Settings → Output → Device, pick your DAC instead of System Output. Music then always goes to the DAC, whatever macOS uses for everything else. Each device shows what it can do: Exclusive · DoP, Exclusive, or Shared only — modes the device cannot do are greyed out.

You can switch device or output mode while a song plays; it continues at the same spot. If the picked DAC is unplugged, Audio Harbor plays on System Output and goes back to the DAC from the next song after you plug it in.

They need an external DAC — connected over USB, Thunderbolt, FireWire, or PCI. On built-in speakers and headphones, virtual devices (VB-Cable, BlackHole), Bluetooth, and AirPlay there is nothing to gain, so Audio Harbor plays Shared and greys the other two out.

Audio Harbor watches your outputs live. Plug the DAC in and both options come back straight away.

No. Without a DAC, Settings shows Shared as selected and playback uses Shared. Your DAC choice is remembered: plug the DAC back in and Exclusive or DoP — whichever you had — is selected again on its own.

No, that is how exclusive playback works. Audio Harbor holds the DAC for itself, and macOS moves the system output — which the volume keys control — to another device. Audio Harbor does not scale the samples either; that would end bit-perfect playback.

Set the level on your DAC or amplifier. If you want the volume keys, use Shared. With the iPhone remote you can also set the DAC’s own volume from the couch — see iPhone remote.

While Audio Harbor holds the DAC in Exclusive or DoP, no other app can use it, so macOS picks another default output for everything else. When you stop or switch to Shared, the DAC is released and macOS returns to it.

• Exclusive · Bit-perfect — PCM straight to the DAC, unchanged (Exclusive or DoP mode).
• Exclusive · DoP — DSD as DoP to the DAC. Only in DoP mode: DoP holds the DAC exclusively too, hence the name.
• Exclusive · DSD→PCM — DSD converted to PCM, still exclusive. In Exclusive mode, or in DoP mode when the DAC cannot take the DoP rate.
• Shared — through macOS like any other app.
• Exclusive · FX — the plugin rack is in use; Audio Harbor still holds the DAC at the file’s rate, but the sound is processed.
• Shared · FX — the plugin rack is in use, through macOS.
• Shared · No external DAC — Exclusive or DoP is chosen, but no DAC is connected.
• Network / DSD · Network — the file goes untouched to a network player (Mac), including native DSF / DFF / SACD when the player lists DSD.
• PCM · Network, DSD→PCM · Network, DoP · Network, Wi‑Fi PCM · Network — the network player gets PCM (or DoP-in-WAV) made from the file.

DSD is a different audio format from the usual PCM, but USB only carries PCM. DoP (“DSD over PCM”) packs the DSD data into PCM frames with a marker. The DAC sees the marker, unpacks the data, and plays real DSD. Most DSD DACs show “DSD” or “DoP” on their display when it works.

Your DAC most likely does not play DSD: it takes the DoP frames as ordinary PCM, and that is noise. Switch Output to Exclusive — DSD is then converted to PCM and stays bit-perfect for everything else.

It was removed. The output mode decides now: DoP sends DSD as DSD, Exclusive and Shared convert it to PCM. If the DAC cannot take the DoP rate, Audio Harbor converts to PCM so the track still plays. The one DSD setting left is how loud converted DSD plays — see below.

DSD stores no sample values, only ones and zeros: how loud it is depends on how many ones come in a row. It must never use the full range, or the DSD modulator runs out of control, so the SACD standard sets full volume at 50 % of it. With DoP your DAC plays the DSD itself and most DACs make up for that inside. Converted exactly to PCM, 50 % is half of PCM full scale: 6 dB quieter.

Settings → Output → DSD as PCM evens it out: 0 dB (the exact conversion), +3 dB (the default, leaves room for almost every disc), or +6 dB (as loud as DoP, but loud SACD masters can clip). It applies straight away, also to the song that plays. DoP is not touched, and no quality is lost.

In several linear-phase filter stages down to 88.2 kHz PCM, from DSD64 up to DSD256. The response is flat to 25 kHz, then falls steeply and is at least 120 dB down from 44.1 kHz. That keeps DSD’s strong ultrasonic noise out, so none of it folds back into the audible band.

DSF, DFF, and SACD ISO images (stereo area), including DST-compressed discs. Each SACD track shows up in the catalogue on its own.

The first play of an SACD track extracts it from the ISO — and decodes it if the disc is DST-compressed — into a cache. After that it starts right away. Multi-channel areas are not played.

Stereo Audio Unit effects: AUv3 extensions and classic AU components. Plugins that are not marked sandbox-safe — most commercial ones — run in macOS’s own Audio Unit host rather than inside Audio Harbor, so a plugin that crashes does not take your music with it.

Plugins process the sound, so the result cannot be bit-perfect, and they work on PCM. With Exclusive or DoP on an external DAC, Audio Harbor still holds the DAC and sets it to the file’s sample rate — Exclusive · FX: no system mixer, no macOS resampling, but processed PCM. DSD is converted to PCM for the plugins, so DoP pauses. Without an external DAC, the rack plays Shared · FX. Clear the rack for bit-perfect and DoP again.

Some plugins expect a DAW and refuse a player’s audio format. Audio Harbor drops them with a message instead of crashing. Waves plugins are the usual example.

No. It reads the folders you add and keeps its catalogue in its own storage. Your music stays where it is.

Yes. In Playlists, use Import M3U for .m3u / .m3u8 files from foobar2000, VLC, Audirvāna, Roon, or Music. The tracks must be in a folder Audio Harbor already knows. To take a playlist or label elsewhere, select it and click Export M3U8 (or right-click a playlist and choose Export M3U8…).

No. In Catalogue → Directories, search always covers every directory you have connected, wherever you are browsing. Use Reveal in Folders on a result to jump to its folder.

Yes — that is what a click does. Clicking a track, album, artist, folder or playlist plays it and keeps you where you are. The row that is playing shows a small speaker, and the mini player at the top shows the track.

Click a song to play it and stay in the list. Click that same song again to pause, and once more to resume. A different song starts fresh. To go to the Deck: click the mini player, press ⌘3, ⌘-click the item you want to play, or right-click it and choose Play and Show Deck.

Space play / pause · ⌘→ next · ⌘← previous · ⌘1 Catalogue · ⌘2 Playlists · ⌘3 Deck · ⌘, Settings · ⌘O add a music folder · ⇧⌘R rebuild the catalogue · ⌘\ show or hide the queue beside the Deck · ⌘0 bring back the main window. ⌘-click on anything playable also opens the Deck.

Yes. Right-click a directory, folder, album or artist and choose Add to Playlist or Labels. A folder brings everything below it, subfolders included; an album or artist brings all of its tracks, even if a search shows only some. On the Deck, right-click the title above the queue for the whole queue, or one row for one track.

A label shows a check when every track has it. Choosing it then removes it from all of them.

From the picture embedded in the file (FLAC, MP3, M4A). If there is none, Audio Harbor uses an image in the album’s folder: cover, folder or front (.jpg or .png), then Windows-style AlbumArt…Large.jpg, or the folder’s only image. That also covers DSF, DFF and SACD ISO. After you add a cover image, use Rebuild in the Catalogue.

Albums are grouped by their album artist tag (ALBUMARTIST in FLAC, TPE2 in MP3, aART in M4A). Without that tag, one album title with several artists in the same folder still counts as one album, shown as “Various Artists”. The Artists view keeps each track under its own artist.

It is a remote for Audio Harbor on your Mac. The music plays on the Mac and its DAC; your iPhone or iPad steers with the same three tabs as the Mac — Deck, Catalogue, and Settings. Browse, search, start albums and playlists, jump in the queue, file songs into playlists and labels, change Mac Settings, and set the volume. Nothing is copied to it. The remote is free.

Yes, from version 1.1.1 on the Mac and the iPhone or iPad. Long-press a song and choose Add to Playlist… or Labels…, or use Playlist and Labels on the Deck for the song that is playing. Tap a playlist or label to put the song in, tap it again to take it out — a checkmark shows where the song is. You can also make a new playlist or label there. The change is saved on the Mac straight away. Smart playlists fill themselves and are not listed.

Playing a song or Play all keeps you in the list; the song that plays is marked. Tap that song again to pause, and once more to resume.

Search lives under the Catalogue tab (not on the Deck). The field under Dirs, Albums, Artists, and Lists searches like the catalogue search on the Mac (version 1.1.1 on both). In Dirs it finds directories and files across every connected directory; tap a directory to open it. In Albums, Artists, and Lists it keeps the ones with a matching song and shows only those songs — a playlist whose name matches shows all of its songs.

Put both on the same network. On the Mac, open Settings → Remote, turn on Allow Remote Control, and tap New Code. On the iPhone, allow local network access, tap your Mac, and enter the six-digit code. The code is valid for three minutes. You pair once — afterwards the phone reconnects on its own. Revoke on the Mac removes a phone.

Yes, while the remote is open and connected. On the Deck, tap the speaker next to Queue to open the volume slider; the iPhone’s volume buttons work even when the slider is closed. Both change the volume of the output the Mac plays to: the DAC itself when it has a volume control, otherwise the Mac’s own output. The DAC changes its own level, so the music stays bit-perfect, in Exclusive and DoP too. Turn the DAC’s knob or press the Mac’s volume keys and the phone follows.

Many DACs have a fixed output level and no volume control. Then the Deck shows a muted speaker — set the level on your amplifier. While another app plays music on the iPhone, the buttons stay with that app.

Yes. Open the Settings tab while connected. You can pick the output device (a full-width list that scrolls when you have many), Shared / Exclusive / DoP (or Wi‑Fi friendly / Full / DSD for a network player), DSD as PCM level, turn library sharing on or off, see connected directories, and rebuild the catalogue index. Adding or removing music folders still happens in Settings on the Mac. The Mac and the remote both need a build that speaks remote protocol 3.

Check that Allow Remote Control is on and the Mac is awake, that both are on the same network (guest networks often keep devices apart), and that local network access is allowed on the iPhone under Settings → Privacy & Security → Local Network → Audio Harbor.

If the remote says it can't reach the Mac right after the Mac app restarted, turn Wi-Fi on the iPhone off and on again and tap the Mac once more. From 1.1.1 the Mac keeps the same port across restarts, so this should be rare.

Yes, on the Mac. UPnP / DLNA players on your home network — a Devialet Expert, a streamer, some TVs and soundbars — appear in Settings → Output → Device under Network Players, separate from This Host (your Mac’s DACs and speakers). Pick one and the music plays there; the Mac keeps the library and the queue and the player fetches the music over the network.

The radios under Output switch with the device. A USB DAC keeps Shared / Exclusive / DoP. A network player gets Wi‑Fi friendly, Full, and DSD, SACD, DoP (greyed out until the player lists DSD). Files the player accepts go untouched; with DSD listed, DSF, DFF and SACD can go native too. Otherwise DSD becomes 88.2 kHz / 24-bit PCM on Full. The plugin rack does not apply on the network path. Songs follow each other without a gap when the player supports it. The iPhone remote sets the player’s volume, and the Mac stays awake while it plays.

DSD converted for the network needs about 4.2 Mbit/s, more with retries on a weak link. With a network player selected, choose Wi‑Fi friendly: DSD and SACD then go as CD-quality PCM (44.1 kHz / 16-bit, about 1.4 Mbit/s). FLAC and other files stay untouched. A cable or a strong 5 GHz network helps too.

Check that the player is on and on the same network as the Mac (guest networks often keep devices apart), and that UPnP / DLNA is enabled on the player — on a Devialet Expert in the Devialet Configurator. On macOS 15 and later, allow Audio Harbor under System Settings → Privacy & Security → Local Network. If the macOS firewall asks, allow incoming connections: the player fetches the music from the Mac.

Yes, with a DLNA player app such as mconnect. On the Mac, turn on Settings → Sharing → Share Library on the Network. In the app, pick “Audio Harbor (your Mac)” and browse Albums, Artists, Directories, Playlists and Labels. The app gets the files as they are and plays them itself — whether it plays DSD depends on the app. The Mac must be awake with Audio Harbor open.

While sharing is on, anyone on your network can browse and play the library — DLNA has no sign-in. Turn it on at home only.

Audio Harbor is free to install and fully usable for seven days from the first launch. After that, playback needs a one-time unlock — no subscription, no account. Browsing the catalogue and Settings keep working.

Open Settings and use Restore Purchases with the same Apple Account. See the Privacy Policy for what is stored.