Decaud

● local-first music player · mac + iphone · free

Hear your music. All of it.

Decaud shows you the real quality of every file and every stage between the file and your hardware: hi-res lossless, DSD, and a signal path you can actually see. Your files, your DAC, nothing hidden.

Download for Mac Download on the Mac App Store

Mac, iPhone, and iPad

free · macOS 15.6+ · iOS 17.6+ · no account · no subscription · no tracking

the DMG here is the Direct edition: exclusive device access + native DSD over DoP. App Store editions play shared mode, honestly labeled. which edition?

already using Direct 1.2? Install 1.2.1 once from this page. Future Direct updates can then install securely from Decaud › Check for Updates.

verify the download in Terminal:

$ shasum -a 256 ~/Downloads/Decaud.dmg
4506a655b244a7073e687f7b6855fdc0fce8af2c817412e9e776ab5bbf6fb004  Decaud.dmg

earlier version? all releases, checksums, changelog

At a glance
Outputbit-perfect, exclusive device access (Direct Mac)
DSDnative to DSD256 over DoP on Direct Mac, DSD512 plays too (why not native)
AnalysisTrueHz whole-file verification
RoomsAirPlay multi-room, Sonos, DLNA, Chromecast
Librarylocal first, yours, iCloud optional
Price$0, tip jar if you insist
The Decaud library: album covers, the songs table with quality badges, and the now-playing rail
fig. 01 the library: quality badges on every row, DSD labeled as DSD
Now playing with the source, quality, device, and output chain
fig. 02 now playing: source, quality, device, and the chain between
The signal path: every stage between file and device with a per-stage verdict
fig. 03 the signal path: every stage, each with its own verdict
The albums grid
fig. 04 albums
An album page with big play controls
fig. 05 an album page
Listening history: recently played and most played, recorded privately on this device
fig. 06 listening history: recorded on your device, for you alone
The real-time analyzer: spectrum, goniometer, and level meters
fig. 07 the analyzer: spectrum, goniometer, meters
swipe or scroll →

01 · what it does

Built for people who can hear the difference

01

Bit-perfect, exclusively

In the Direct Mac edition, Decaud can take your DAC for itself, so macOS can't resample your stream or mix other sounds into it. What's in the file is what reaches the hardware. The App Store editions play shared mode, and the signal path says so.

02

Native DSD

DSD64, DSD128, and DSD256 delivered untouched over DoP to capable DACs in the Direct Mac edition, with transparent high-quality PCM conversion everywhere else.

03

A signal path you can see

Every stage between file and device, laid out with a per-stage quality verdict. When something isn't bit-perfect, Decaud says so instead of hiding it.

04

TrueHz analysis

Full-decode verification of each track's real quality. A "lossless" file that was made from a lossy master gets caught, not celebrated.

05

Whole-house audio

Multi-room AirPlay in perfect sync, Sonos, DLNA, and Chromecast casting, NAS/SMB and DLNA streaming including DSD, and an iPhone remote for the Mac library.

06

A library that stays yours

Local-first files organized your way, serious tag editing with Discogs and MusicBrainz matching, CD ripping (error-corrected on Direct Mac), and cue-sheet splitting, DSD included.

07

Your music on every device

Import from a USB-C or SD drive on iPhone and iPad, straight into your own iCloud, or play in place right off the drive. Plug the same drive into your Mac and the songs are just there.

08

A phone that knows your Mac

The iPhone Home screen picks up what the Mac is playing, one tap takes control: browse the Mac's library, queue songs, and drive playback from the couch.

02 · what it plays

FLACALACDSFDFFAPEWVWAVAIFFMP3AACOPUSOGG

plus: cue sheets split into real tracks (multi-disc aware) · SACD ISOs extracted to bit-perfect DSF · audio CDs ripped, error-corrected on Direct Mac

no DSD on hand? grab our public domain DSD sample files (DSD64 to DSD256, free)

03 · the lab

TrueHz: evidence, not promises

The TrueHz Quality tab: a Hi-Res Lossless verdict for a DSD recording, the whole-file peak-hold spectrum, and the claimed-versus-measured table
fig. 08 a 192 kHz master holding real energy to 55 kHz · verdict Hi-Res Lossless

A "24/192" label tells you what the container claims, not what's inside it. Files get transcoded from lossy sources, upsampled, and re-wrapped; the badge survives, the music doesn't. TrueHz decodes the entire file and reads the evidence:

  • Whole-file peak-hold spectrum, not a five-second sample: a quiet intro or a dark passage can't fake the verdict.
  • Cutoff vs. claim. Lossy encoders leave a shelf near 16–20 kHz. The 192 kHz master pictured keeps real energy to 55 kHz, far beyond any lossy ceiling: no sign of transcoding ancestry, verdict Hi-Res Lossless.
  • Codec-aware. An AAC stream hiding inside a lossless container is judged by what it is, not what it's named.
  • Analog-aware. Tape hiss on a sixties master is signal, not silence, so genuinely dark recordings don't get falsely convicted.

The verdict persists per track and shows up as the quality badge in your Songs list: Hi-Res, Lossless, or caught-in-the-act. The one impostor in four thousand files has nowhere to hide. Re-run anytime with right-click → Analyze.

04 · the colophon

Decaud is free

It's built by one person who thinks great sound shouldn't need a subscription. If it makes your music sound the way it should, you can keep it growing:

Buy me a coffee
bitcoin  bc1q0s858ev3jmyz4tddecujf2nl467m7j2jhu788l
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