Sorana Flow — free macOS music player with DSP (feedback welcome)

[ruki7423]

Sorana Flow v1.10.3 — hotfix.

**Compilation Album Fix**
Fixed a bug where compilation albums (Various Artists, soundtracks, etc.) were split into separate entries per track artist. Albums now correctly group by the Album Artist tag when present. Non-compilation albums are unaffected.

After updating: Settings → Library → Rescan to re-index your existing library.

Thanks to the user who reported this — great catch.

Download: https://soranaflow.com/downloads

 

[williaty]

1. What macOS version are you running?

macOS 26.3 on a M4 Pro macbook.

2. Roughly how large is your library?
10,048 tracks (according to Sorana) I don't actually have a great way to estimate the total number of albums

3. Crashes instantly when Albums is clicked

4. Nothing comes up with a search. Nothing shows when monitoring system.log as I trigger the Sorana crash

5. Deleted the App Support directory and it's reindexing now. Will report back.

 

[ruki7423]

macOS 26.3 on a M4 Pro macbook.

2. Roughly how large is your library?
10,048 tracks (according to Sorana) I don't actually have a great way to estimate the total number of albums

3. Crashes instantly when Albums is clicked

4. Nothing comes up with a search. Nothing shows when monitoring system.log as I trigger the Sorana crash

5. Deleted the App Support directory and it's reindexing now. Will report back.

As it's 2am here now, I need to sleep. I'll fix it as soon as I wake up. Thank you!

 

[williaty]

As it's 2am here now, I need to sleep. I'll fix it as soon as I wake up. Thank you!

No problem. Your response times are shockingly fast by the standards of most software projects.

 

[williaty]

As it's 2am here now, I need to sleep. I'll fix it as soon as I wake up. Thank you!

Deleting ~/Library/Application Support/SoranaFlow/ and reimporting the entire library has fixed the crash when clicking on Albums.

 

[williaty]

Feature Request:

Can you add the option to save multiple custom PEQs? It'd be nice to be able to save a set of PEQ corrections to use with each different set of headphones, etc.

 

[DWPress]

And yes, unfortunately Apple Music integration is playback-only without DSP — Apple's DRM (FairPlay) prevents us from accessing the raw audio stream for processing. It's the same limitation that Roon and other third-party players face. We do support DSP for local files, NAS streaming, and other non-DRM sources though.

Roon, JRiver and others have DSP available for streaming and Apple's limitation doesn't affect me - a virtual cable to HLC is all I need for system level EQ and XO to speakers.

You and Weeb Labs are cranking out some really interesting coding. Love how the ASR community helps with development.

 

[ruki7423]

Feature Request:

Can you add the option to save multiple custom PEQs? It'd be nice to be able to save a set of PEQ corrections to use with each different set of headphones, etc.

Of course! I'll add on the roadmap

 

[ruki7423]

Deleting ~/Library/Application Support/SoranaFlow/ and reimporting the entire library has fixed the crash when clicking on Albums.

Has the crashing issue solved? I just woke up! And thenk you for specific information! I'll add auto deletion(because new versions DB are not compatible with previous ones) in the next release!

 

[ruki7423]

Lol, I can wait. Roon is my daily driver.

If you could somehow do Tidal or Qobuz integration in addition to Apple Music you would have a Roon killer. I'd drop Roon in an instant (insane subscription plan) and your free app all of the sudden has significant value. All the metadata is fun in Roon but not the biggest selling feature I'll bet. Eventually maybe integrate multichannel capabilities into your DSP and you'd get another small niche of users...

Lots to chew on but nice potential roadmap.

I have a roadmap. First, make app for Mac perfect. Then port it to Windows, email youtubers for app reviews like free roon? titles(they'll surely do for free because it's free), And When we have enough user pool, I'll add premium subscription. But it won't be more than $3 a month(before vat). It's donation app now, but the real reason for adding premium and making a company is because I want qobuz and tidal api lol

 

[ruki7423]

Roon, JRiver and others have DSP available for streaming and Apple's limitation doesn't affect me - a virtual cable to HLC is all I need for system level EQ and XO to speakers.

You and Weeb Labs are cranking out some really interesting coding. Love how the ASR community helps with development.

@DWPress Thanks for the kind words — really appreciate the support from the ASR community.

Good point about HLC/virtual cable for system-level DSP with streaming. That's a solid workaround for Apple Music's DRM limitation.

v1.10.5 just went up with auto library migration fix + EQ presets (save/load/delete per headphone). Since you liked williaty's preset request, thought you'd want to know it's already shipped.

With your Okto DAC8 Pro setup and active crossovers, the per-channel L/R DSP feature is definitely on the roadmap — that would be a big one for multichannel users like yourself.

 

[ruki7423]

Sorana Flow v1.10.5 is out — two updates:

**EQ Presets (v1.10.4)**
- Save, load, and delete named EQ presets
- Switch between headphone-specific EQ configurations instantly
- Presets stored as shareable JSON files in ~/Library/Application Support/SoranaFlow/eq_presets/

**Auto Library Migration Fix (v1.10.5)**
- Fixes the Albums crash reported by @williaty — thank you for the detailed report!
- The app now automatically detects outdated databases and rescans on first launch
- No manual action needed — queue, EQ settings, and preferences are preserved

Download: https://soranaflow.com/downloads

As always, feedback welcome. PEQ preset feature was directly inspired by community requests from @williaty and @DWPress.

 

[asuser]

I have a roadmap. First, make app for Mac perfect. Then port it to Windows, email youtubers for app reviews like free roon? titles(they'll surely do for free because it's free), And When we have enough user pool, I'll add premium subscription. But it won't be more than $3 a month(before vat). It's donation app now, but the real reason for adding premium and making a company is because I want qobuz and tidal api lol

You have to be upfront about your subscription plans on your web site... too many services nowadays try to pull in users while being free and then play the subscription-enshittification card. I don't think you want to be in that cohort.

 

[DWPress]

Your download link on the website is still pushing 1.10.2

I agree with @asuser - just make it an upfront price once you're out of beta, you'll get some of my money. I hate subscriptions and your app is showing promise for me to get rid of one.

 

[ruki7423]

You have to be upfront about your subscription plans on your web site... too many services nowadays try to pull in users while being free and then play the subscription-enshittification card. I don't think you want to be in that cohort.

@asuser Fair point — I should be upfront about it. Here's the honest plan:

The app is free now and the core features (local playback, Apple Music, NAS, DSP) will stay free. The reason I'm considering a paid tier at all is because Tidal and Qobuz require commercial app status to grant API access — I literally can't integrate them without becoming a registered business.

When that happens, I'm thinking either a small subscription ($3/mo) or a one-time purchase. Based on the feedback here, one-time purchase might be the better route. Either way, I'll make it clear on the website before anything changes. No bait-and-switch.

Appreciate the direct feedback — this is exactly the kind of thing I need to hear early.

 

[ruki7423]

Your download link on the website is still pushing 1.10.2

I agree with @asuser - just make it an upfront price once you're out of beta, you'll get some of my money. I hate subscriptions and your app is showing promise for me to get rid of one.

@DWPress Good catch on the download link — fixing that now, sorry about that.

And noted on the subscription vs one-time purchase preference. You and @asuser are saying the same thing, and honestly it makes sense. A one-time unlock for Pro features (DSP, plugins, NAS, streaming integrations) is probably the right call for this audience. I'll figure out the exact pricing when the time comes, but the core app will always have a free tier.

Thanks for sticking with the testing — your Okto DAC8 Pro setup is exactly the kind of use case I want to support well.

A quick note: I am thinking $3/month, $30/year except vat. How much do you think one time purchase should be? I'll consider about your opinion seriously.

 

[DWPress]

your Okto DAC8 Pro setup is exactly the kind of use case I want to support well.

I know you keep saying this but it's going to be a lot more development before your app can get to the same multi ch DSP level as Roon & JRiver. I've created active XOs in both those apps in the past for 8ch and, while doable, even with their level of integration it is far from ideal. Sometimes separate tools work better but for 2ch work your app is already showing great promise.

Good point about HLC/virtual cable for system-level DSP with streaming. That's a solid workaround for Apple Music's DRM limitation.

Any plugin host and virtual cable can do the same. Mitch's HLC Host app is cheap and works beautifully with Loopback, Caster and Blackhole or purchase SoundSource for Mac.

There's another person here working on a Mac audio player with DSP and auto EQ, check out this thread:

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-for-speaker-and-headphone.66460/post-2467825

 

[ruki7423]

I know you keep saying this but it's going to be a lot more development before your app can get to the same multi ch DSP level as Roon & JRiver. I've created active XOs in both those apps in the past for 8ch and, while doable, even with their level of integration it is far from ideal. Sometimes separate tools work better but for 2ch work your app is already showing great promise.



Any plugin host and virtual cable can do the same. Mitch's HLC Host app is cheap and works beautifully with Loopback, Caster and Blackhole or purchase SoundSource for Mac.

There's another person here working on a Mac audio player with DSP and auto EQ, check out this thread:

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-for-speaker-and-headphone.66460/post-2467825

@DWPress You're absolutely right — multichannel DSP with active crossovers is a whole different beast. That's firmly in the "processor" territory rather than "player" territory, and I don't want to half-ass it. For now the focus is making 2ch playback and processing rock-solid.

Thanks for the link — I'll check out that thread. Always good to see what others are building in this space.

A quick note: I really love your dac haha

 

[ruki7423]

Hi guys, I'm back!
I'm asking if you guys could evaluate the new site UI I made with an ai.
Here's link for it. https://v0.app/chat/sorana-flow-website-cuoFjdALKya?ref=32CZXA
Please leave a comment if now one or new one is better

 

[ruki7423]

Website download button downloads v1.10.2 instead of v1.10.5 has fixed.