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Amarra ...Does anyone work there..or use a phone...or computer


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Chris indicated at one time he thought Sonic studio would have an introductory price of around $1000. I have contacted Sonic Studio twice via email...( nobody picks up the phone apparently) not even a reply....is this indicative of support generally?

 

Do I sound irked? Yes, because I am really interested in Amarra but the company dont seem interested in selling their product.

 

Forward to today, i go to the weiss site and the amarra software is available for $1495....no sign of any introductory offer yet.

 

So how much is Amarra?

 

 

 

 

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Maybe it has been written elsewhere on that forum - but to shed a bit of light:

Amarra will be $1495. The $1000 price is for "early adopters" who qualify to do some work for Amarra in order to test it thorougly. Also early adopters are required to know MAC computers on a better than average level. For details I suggest to contact Sonic Studio (again). I can confirm that Jon Reichbach is at the AES Convention right now, here in Munich, Gemany.

Daniel

 

 

www.weiss.ch

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Quietman,

 

I agree, you'd expect more from such expensive software. Especially when there are no stats backing up it's any better than iTunes.

 

Oops.

 

Matt.

 

HTPC: AMD Athlon 4850e, 4GB, Vista, BD/HD-DVD into -> ADM9.1

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  • 3 months later...

They are a software company, not a sales organization. That is why they have expanded their dealer network. I know, because we recently became a dealer, and part of the agreement is that we help and troubleshoot customers. I get what you are saying, but in this day and age, most companies have to lean down their sales, marketing and tech support in order to stay afloat. I say, give them a break and go with one of the dealers listed on their site.

 

P.S. As several of you know, I am a BIG believer in Amarra. I have tested it to death, and I love it.

 

Sanjay Patel | Ciamara Corporation | New York, NY | www.ciamara.com

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I got an email from sonic last week offering amarra for 995. It expired on the 15.08 though. No conditions were attached to this offer. As you have emailed them about the offer whilst they were in Germany they may well let you have it for this price.

 

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Interesting you mention that, Mr. Connaker, as I was just about to ask whether the reason Mr. Patel is so positive about Amarra is because he sells it or whether he uses that in his own listening rig because it really improves the sound. Demonstrable benefit versus perceived benefit.

 

I am very interested in the tool and am trying to find objective feedback, as sadly I have purchased vapor-ware before.

 

By the way, very thankful for this site. Great stuff!

 

Cheers!

 

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I appreciate your comments, and I am taking them to heart. I am insanely passionate about audio and achieving the very best in sound, and I sometimes get so excited about Ciamara that I accidentally slip into the mode of shameless self promotion. I will try to be more careful, because it is tacky, it is against the rules, and importantly, I want to be a meaningful and trusted contributor to this forum. I have a lot to offer aside from the products we make and sell.

 

To be fair to me, I wanted to be totally transparent about the fact that we have become a dealer for Amarra. If I hadn't been transparent, then I could be accused of trying to hide it in order to promote the product. You should also know that Ciamara just became a dealer for Amarra this week, so it is a very recent development. Chris can vouch for me on this one, as can Sonic Studio. I have put up numerous posts on this forum talking about Amarra, and most of them pre-date our involvement as a dealer for the product. I chronicled my experiences in thoroughly testing the software against the multiple other options that are out there. I chose to make Ciamara a dealer for Amarra because I BELIEVE in the product, and I truly think it does amazing things for the sound. It is the closest to analog that I have ever heard from digital, period.

 

Also, if you check our website, you will see that we are not a traditional retail outlet / dealership. We mostly make our own products (loudspeakers, active crossovers and amplifiers, which we provide through a systems approach). We carry a very small group of brands that we truly believe in order to make them readily available to customers when we install a system that calls for a DAC, a playback software for a music server, or cabling. We have no intention or desire to become a retail outlet, and I can't see us ever carrying more than a handful of brands that we love.

 

So you can take my comments on Amarra or leave them. But for what it is worth, they are truly genuine. When I first heard Amarra, the difference was obvious and not subtle. Major improvement. My initial complaint was that it seemed like the bass information was disappearing with Amarra, but over time, I realized that iTunes was actually exaggerating the bass. I also think that version 1.01 of the software brought out a big improvement in the sound, and having spoken at length with Sonic Studio's software engineer, I know that they will be continually improving the sound engine. Build 3670 is out now, so be sure to download that build if you do try it.

 

And last ... I have said this many times in many places here: Trust your ears! The software is freely available for a demo. If you don't like what YOU hear, then don't buy it. Plain and simple. I honestly think it is worth a good hard listen, because it IS that good, but again, you should be the judge.

 

Thanks all! Have a great weekend.

 

 

 

Sanjay Patel | Ciamara Corporation | New York, NY | www.ciamara.com

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Sunjitwhy,

 

I made the mistake of taking your advice concerning Amaraa 3370. It doesn't work with my DAC. Also, after reinstalling an older version, my DAC isn't recognized by the program display, but Amarra still works.

 

As a dealer, perhaps you should not recommend versions that are still being tested by SS.

 

Wavelength Silver Crimson/Denominator USB DAC, Levinson 32/33H, Synergistic Research Cables and AC cables, Shunyata Hydra V-Ray II with King Cobra CX cable, Wilson Sasha WP speakers with Wilson Watch Dog Sub. Basis Debut V Vacuum turntable/ Grahm Phantom/Koetsu Jade Platinum. MacBook Pro 17\" 2.3GHz Quad Core i7, 8GB RAM, Pure Music, Decibel, Fidelia, AudioQuest Diamond USB Cable.

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Before you jump to conclusions and publicly attack someone, perhaps you should get your facts straight. I spoke with Sonic Studio on Thursday, and I was told that build 3170 is the latest version -- apologies, I accidentally typed 3670 in my prior post, but hopefully that didn't cause a problem, since there is no such build. 3170 is the version they are now burning onto the installation CDs that will be provided if you purchase the product. Build 3170 addresses stability issues that some users were having.

 

As with any software program, it will continually be improved and bugs will be caught and fixed. In a computer environment, even on the Macintosh / OS X platform, there are countless different configurations among countless different users. It is only through feedback that software developers can improve their code to ensure broad stability for all users.

 

Specifically, what issues are you having?

1. What DAC are you using? Is your DAC also your audio interface? That is, do you have it directly connected to your computer via USB/Firewire? What equipment are you using?

 

2. Is your audio interface recognized in Audio Midi Setup? This can be found in ApplicationsUtilities.

 

3. Can you play back audio from iTunes without Amarra launched? Does the audio come through?

 

Here are the fixes to try, but before you do anything, I need to know what equipment you are using:

1. Quit all programs

 

2. Delete Amarra preferences. Go to ApplicationsAmarraExtras and run "Delete Amarra Preferences.command" This is a terminal script and may take a few seconds to run. You will see [Process Complete] once it has finished.

 

3. Quit Terminal.

 

4. Go to Disk Utility, found in ApplicationsUtilities, and Repair Permissions

 

5. Restart your machine

 

6. Upon restart, open up Audio Midi Setup and see if your audio interface is recognized

 

If this fails, then try the following:

1. Quit all programs

 

2. Run the "Uninstall Amarra.command" which is also in the Extras folder

 

3. Repair permissions

 

4. Reinstall build 3162, which is available here: http://www.sonicstudio.com/releases/Amarra_101_Installer_3162.zip

 

5. Again, check to see that your audio interface is recognized in Audio Midi Setup.

 

Let us know how you get on. And please be careful with public accusations. I am only repeating what I learned through direct conversations with Sonic Studio. Rest assured, we will get you back up and running. Feel free to PM me or call me. I would be happy to help you troubleshoot this. Thank you.

 

Sanjay Patel | Ciamara Corporation | New York, NY | www.ciamara.com

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"As a dealer, perhaps you should not recommend versions that are still being tested by SS."

 

Perhaps dealers should not be making recommendations here AT ALL about products they sell.

 

And if they do, perhaps they shouldn't have thin skin. :)

 

clay

 

 

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Thanks for your help Sanjay. Everything is OK now. 3170 just screwed things up.

 

Wavelength Silver Crimson/Denominator USB DAC, Levinson 32/33H, Synergistic Research Cables and AC cables, Shunyata Hydra V-Ray II with King Cobra CX cable, Wilson Sasha WP speakers with Wilson Watch Dog Sub. Basis Debut V Vacuum turntable/ Grahm Phantom/Koetsu Jade Platinum. MacBook Pro 17\" 2.3GHz Quad Core i7, 8GB RAM, Pure Music, Decibel, Fidelia, AudioQuest Diamond USB Cable.

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Thank you for letting us know. If you have the time, can you please let us know what equipment you are using? Can you describe the problem in a little more detail? It is helpful to know what issues are being caused by 3170, and I will certainly feed that back into Sonic Studio.

 

Sanjay Patel | Ciamara Corporation | New York, NY | www.ciamara.com

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I did not notice any difference in the sound with 3170 vs. 3162. For us, it merely eliminated a stability problem we were having on a Mac Pro with a Lynx AES16e audio interface. To be fair, I did not think to do a real A/B test, so all I can really say is that there was no obvious or material difference.

 

Sanjay Patel | Ciamara Corporation | New York, NY | www.ciamara.com

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Equipment:

 

DAC: Wavelength Crimson USB DAC

Mac: MacBook Pro 17" 2.93GHz 8GB Ram OCZ Vertex SSD Drive

Music Library; Firewire OWC HD 2TB

 

When I installed 3170, Amarra would not start (green bars moving). The DAC was not recognized, just "internal".

 

This computer is dedicated for music only. Repairing the Permissions and uninstalling seemed to do the trick. I first tried uninstalling, but did not repair permissions.

 

I hope this will help you folks.

 

Wavelength Silver Crimson/Denominator USB DAC, Levinson 32/33H, Synergistic Research Cables and AC cables, Shunyata Hydra V-Ray II with King Cobra CX cable, Wilson Sasha WP speakers with Wilson Watch Dog Sub. Basis Debut V Vacuum turntable/ Grahm Phantom/Koetsu Jade Platinum. MacBook Pro 17\" 2.3GHz Quad Core i7, 8GB RAM, Pure Music, Decibel, Fidelia, AudioQuest Diamond USB Cable.

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I'm glad the fix worked!

 

Interesting what you describe. That is exactly the problem we were having with build 3162, and it was solved for us in build 3170. I will let Sonic Studio know. While we are on the subject, if anyone else has suggestions, comments or concerns, please voice them and I will feed them back to the company.

 

 

 

Sanjay Patel | Ciamara Corporation | New York, NY | www.ciamara.com

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I'm sorry I gave you a hard time Sanjay. The thought of no Amarra is depressing!

 

Wavelength Silver Crimson/Denominator USB DAC, Levinson 32/33H, Synergistic Research Cables and AC cables, Shunyata Hydra V-Ray II with King Cobra CX cable, Wilson Sasha WP speakers with Wilson Watch Dog Sub. Basis Debut V Vacuum turntable/ Grahm Phantom/Koetsu Jade Platinum. MacBook Pro 17\" 2.3GHz Quad Core i7, 8GB RAM, Pure Music, Decibel, Fidelia, AudioQuest Diamond USB Cable.

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No worries, and thank you for saying that! I am glad Amarra is working for you again, and I know exactly what you mean. It's like a cab driver once told me when I first moved to New York in the '90s ... Once you get New York in your blood, you can't get it out! And the same is true of Amarra, at least for me.

 

FYI, I received a PM earlier from someone suggesting that Sonic should offer a 2-channel box to go with their software, such that the overall package is a complete solution that is affordable. Sonic Studio has told me that the software sounds its best when using their hardware (which we can all choose to believe or not -- I haven't heard it yet, so I can't comment). But if this is true, then I think this the 2-channel interface is a great idea. What do the rest of you think? Suggestions on pricing? I will be sure to feed the comments back to them. Thanks all!

 

Sanjay Patel | Ciamara Corporation | New York, NY | www.ciamara.com

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I am very interested in the tool and am trying to find objective feedback, as sadly I have purchased vapor-ware before.

 

I don't sell it, but I like it and recommend it.

 

I have not received compensation for any of the people (a lot!) I have sent John and/or Jon's way, I recommend it strictly based on my experience with it and as I could not imagine NOT having it any longer...

 

Peace,

 

Lee

 

Locus Design Group[br]www.locus-design.com[br]www.cryo-parts.com[br]www.cryo-freeze.com

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