Bit
Pedant

For streaming audio and DAC users who care about quality.

Download our MacOS helper app to monitor and resolve streaming and DAC audio resolution issues.

↓ Download for macOS v1.1 · unsigned · 13.0+ · ~600 KB

Unsigned. If macOS says "BitPedant is damaged", see install steps below.

Installing

Open the BitPedant disk image and drag BitPedant.app into Applications.
If macOS says "BitPedant is damaged and can't be opened", open Terminal and run:
```
xattr -cr /Applications/BitPedant.app
```
That clears the quarantine flag macOS attached on download.
Open BitPedant.app. The bit-pedant finger appears in your menu bar.

Why the warning? Bit Pedant ships unsigned (no Apple Developer account yet — $99/yr). The app isn't actually damaged; macOS quarantines unsigned downloads. The xattr step removes that flag. The app source is openly maintained; verify it yourself if you'd like.

What it shows

Bit-perfect

The format your app is sending matches what the device receives. No conversion in the path.

Resampling

macOS is converting between rates — e.g. your 24/96 FLAC is being downsampled to 48/16 on the way to AirPods.

Idle

No audio is currently playing. Format is shown but no verdict needed.

How it works

Bit Pedant reads two CoreAudio properties on your output device's stream: the virtual format (what your music app is writing) and the physical format (what's actually serialized to the hardware). If they differ, macOS is resampling — and you're not getting the bits you paid for.

It works for any output device. USB DACs, AirPods, AirPlay receivers, HDMI, internal speakers — same code path, same verdict. No accounts, no servers, no telemetry. Logs are local at ~/Library/Application Support/BitPedant/log.jsonl.

Verify your chain

We've put together a set of FLAC test tones at known sample rates and bit depths so you can verify what your audio chain is actually delivering at each tier.

→ Test tones & how to use them

Why "Bit Pedant"?

Because this is a niche concern. macOS resamples a lot of audio, mostly imperceptibly, and most listeners are fine with it. If you're the kind of person who cares whether your 24/96 FLAC arrives at your DAC as 24/96 FLAC instead of 16/44.1 PCM — yes, you're a bit pedant. Welcome.