Really tired of waiting for Audirvana 2 - JRiver?

[miguelito]

How does the sound compare to A + 1.5.12?

 

Thx.

 

Miguel

[kennyb123]

How does the sound compare to A + 1.5.12?

 

A+ 1.5.10 sounds more transparent to my ears. This is most obvious in the highs and mids. (I stayed with 1.5.10 since I like the proxy files without sound feature).

 

Not sure if have JRMC optimally configured. If others find they prefer JRMC to A+, I'd be curious as to how JRMC was configured.

[Leonardo Piras]

A+ is lighter and more responsive.

It is better designed software and doesn't look like an "afterthought" of a Windows software ported to the Mac.

 

Also, I agree A+ sounds more open, detailed and crisp.

[kennyb123]

I was upsampling PCM to DSD. I think I might like the sound better with this turned off.

[wgscott]

What is wrong with the current Audirvana? If it is the lack of a remote control interface, take a look at a few of my blog posts.

[kennyb123]

I did a few more comparisons between A+ and JRMC. I will be sticking with A+.

[tne]

What is wrong with the current Audirvana? If it is the lack of a remote control interface, take a look at a few of my blog posts.

 

Good question.

 

Audirvana Plus is already an excellent program at very reasonable cost. I run in playlist mode just by opening up a Finder window and moving the files I wish to hear into the playlist area, then rearranging, adding, deleting as desired. I only care about SQ, not album art and other extraneous matters. In this regard, A+ is excellent. If A+ 2 has better SQ, or the same with more features, that will be great too.

 

I have recently been testing JRiver to try out the conversion to DSD that Paul R. likes, but the jury is still put on this for me.

[miguelito]

What is wrong with the current Audirvana? If it is the lack of a remote control interface, take a look at a few of my blog posts.

I use A+ in standalone mode sometimes (controlled with Screens on my iPad). This is ok but a bit of a pain. Both selecting files from directories and using Screens to do that is a pain.

 

So lately I've been using iTunes w A+. It doesn't sound as good as standalone, but library management over the iTunes remote (as limited as that is) is a blessing.

 

I'd like the best of both worlds!

 

Miguel

[Cycleman]

I use A+ in standalone mode sometimes (controlled with Screens on my iPad). This is ok but a bit of a pain. Both selecting files from directories and using Screens to do that is a pain.

 

So lately I've been using iTunes w A+. It doesn't sound as good as standalone, but library management over the iTunes remote (as limited as that is) is a blessing.

 

I'd like the best of both worlds!

 

Miguel

 

I've been doing sort of the reverse.

Meaning, my main use of A+ has been integrated with iTunes, but lately I've been using it in standalone mode a bit more.

 

And the SQ going from iTunes-integrated to A+ standalone is going from really great to amazingly great.

 

What makes standalone better for me is setting up and saving multiple playlists -- simply by dragging and dropping from iTunes, and then quitting iTunes.

Then, loading and playing a playlist is fast and easy.

 

Dave, who is curious to see what A+ 2.0's library functions will be like

[edtsui]

I've been doing sort of the reverse.

Meaning, my main use of A+ has been integrated with iTunes, but lately I've been using it in standalone mode a bit more.

 

And the SQ going from iTunes-integrated to A+ standalone is going from really great to amazingly great.

 

What makes standalone better for me is setting up and saving multiple playlists -- simply by dragging and dropping from iTunes, and then quitting iTunes.

Then, loading and playing a playlist is fast and easy.

 

Dave, who is curious to see what A+ 2.0's library functions will be like

 

Interesting! But how do you use playlists without going integrated mode with A+?

[wgscott]

I am currently using iTunes on my laptop as a remote control interface for Audirvana on my mac mini, as described here:

 

Remote Control Part VI: Use iTunes on one computer to control Audirvana Plus, Decibel, or other player software on another - Blogs - Computer Audiophile

 

I also use my iPad with Apple's Remote with Audirvana in stand-alone mode (integrated mode seems not to work with Dirac).

 

Controlling Audirvana in Stand-Alone Mode with iTunes and Remote.app - Blogs - Computer Audiophile

[Cycleman]

Interesting! But how do you use playlists without going integrated mode with A+?

 

These are A+ playlists, which the app lets you create, save, and load.

 

Try this, when controlling your music computer directly:

 

• Start in A+ integrated mode.
  
• In the A+ app, uncheck "iTunes Integrated Mode" under the A+ menu.
  
• At this point, iTunes is still open, but there should be an empty A+ playlist window on the screen, too.
  
• In iTunes, find tracks you want for an A+ playlist -- say just one whole album you love -- and drag those tracks from iTunes to that A+ playlist window.
  
• Then, in the A+ File menu, you can save that new A+ playlist. (I have a folder called Audirvana Playlists, and save all A+ playlists in that one place.)
  
• At this point, you can quit iTunes and just play that new playlist.
  

There are other ways to create A+ playlists, such as picking out tracks from the drive where they reside using the "+" button on the bottom left of the A+ playlist window.

But I find this method I outlined easier, because I'm best oriented to my 1700 album collection through the iTunes library.

 

HTH, and let us -- the collective, not the royal "us" -- know if you have any questions.

 

Dave, who says there are further steps in this process for making even more A+ playlists but this is enough for now

[wdw]

Dave, ...dragging iTunes playlists to A+...works like a charm..Absolutely great tip...many thanks. Warren

[miguelito]

I am currently using iTunes on my laptop as a remote control interface for Audirvana on my mac mini, as described here:

 

Remote Control Part VI: Use iTunes on one computer to control Audirvana Plus, Decibel, or other player software on another - Blogs - Computer Audiophile

 

I also use my iPad with Apple's Remote with Audirvana in stand-alone mode (integrated mode seems not to work with Dirac).

 

Controlling Audirvana in Stand-Alone Mode with iTunes and Remote.app - Blogs - Computer Audiophile

I will try this! Awesome! What a great idea.

 

Didn't know about EventScripts, pretty useful! I am thinking you could even use this to copy the physical files selected in iTunes to a RAMdisk and play Audirvana standalone from the RAMdisk (which a lot of people swear by - I haven't tried it yet). Would even work with the local SSD unmounted! Awesomeness.

 

Miguel

[baddog]

I have paid for both, Audirvana and JRiver. To my ears, in my system, my preference is for JRiver. Love both the music and meta management (including JRemote), sound quality and ease of use with most music formats. I think either one is a fine choice.

 

Shortly, I hope to replace my Mac with an Aires, at which point the topic will become moot for me, because in the end, it is about the music. Not to say I haven't enjoyed the tinkering back in the day.

[miguelito]

I have paid for both, Audirvana and JRiver. To my ears, in my system, my preference is for JRiver. Love both the music and meta management (including JRemote), sound quality and ease of use with most music formats. I think either one is a fine choice.

 

Shortly, I hope to replace my Mac with an Aires, at which point the topic will become moot for me, because in the end, it is about the music. Not to say I haven't enjoyed the tinkering back in the day.

Thank you.

 

I've considered going with an appliance type solution such as the Aires. My personal take on that is that it might very quickly become obsolete. For example, I am looking forward to a lossless streaming service (for music discovery - such as Qobuz). It's not obvious that any of the appliance solutions would have an answer to that, but there certainly will be a mac/windows solution. Same for other features. So I'm still on the computer side of things...

 

Having said this, machines like the Aurender W20 certainly look very well designed.

 

Miguel

[baddog]

Well you have a beautiful system, so regardless of whether it is Audirvana or JRiver, I am sure you will be happy

[greentrumpet]

These are A+ playlists, which the app lets you create, save, and load.

 

Try this, when controlling your music computer directly:

 

• Start in A+ integrated mode.
  
• In the A+ app, uncheck "iTunes Integrated Mode" under the A+ menu.
  
• At this point, iTunes is still open, but there should be an empty A+ playlist window on the screen, too.
  
• In iTunes, find tracks you want for an A+ playlist -- say just one whole album you love -- and drag those tracks from iTunes to that A+ playlist window.
  
• Then, in the A+ File menu, you can save that new A+ playlist. (I have a folder called Audirvana Playlists, and save all A+ playlists in that one place.)
  
• At this point, you can quit iTunes and just play that new playlist.
  

There are other ways to create A+ playlists, such as picking out tracks from the drive where they reside using the "+" button on the bottom left of the A+ playlist window.

But I find this method I outlined easier, because I'm best oriented to my 1700 album collection through the iTunes library.

 

HTH, and let us -- the collective, not the royal "us" -- know if you have any questions.

 

Dave, who says there are further steps in this process for making even more A+ playlists but this is enough for now

 

 

 

Thank you,

I'm a complete dunce at this stuff and am pleased to have got A+ to work with iTunes (which it does very well) but your tip was easy to read and understand.

 

And it worked.

 

Shame I was a late adopter and only got 1.5.12 as Damien does not reply about 1.5.10, but at least now I feel confident that I will be able to use v2 when it is available.

Meantime A+ has helped me move away from cd replay and hear 16/44 sound nearer to its optimum.