Audirvana + 2.0

[Jud]

Fun...) And, for me it was laughable all the time - differences in sound between 1.4.9.7, 1.5.2.10 and so on... Seems like Damien is joking on you, guys. By moving slider up and down.

 

And you know the really entertaining thing? Superdad (Alex C) and I heard the same differences in sound quality from build to build, separated by 3000 miles and not seeing each other's comments until we'd emailed after writing. Heck of a coincidence through several months and many, many builds.

 

But perhaps we can get back on topic?

[AnotherSpin]

 

But perhaps we can get back on topic?

Before we go to topic. Can I give my humble idea on what is going on? If the sound of every build or every half-build is different, then... something is going wrong in the shop, no?

 

P.S. Alex in California, you are in Israel (?), I am in Ukraine...

[wdw]

Before we go to topic. Can I give my humble idea on what is going on? If the sound of every build or every half-build is different, then... something is going wrong in the shop, no?

Don't have a horse in this race but this is an interesting question...I've simply been updating throughout the 1.5 series but my interest was piqued with the general allegiance to 1.5.10 and this weekend obtained a copy (thanks to Roch) and must say it sounds more dynamic that the later versions. Why would this be?

Shouldn't the "sound engine", to use a very crude term, remain the same during changes in I/O programming?

Haven't jumped to 2.0 yet after viewing the issues raised in this thread.

WDW

[Bilderspiele]

It's not so simple. There are changes in Mac OS over time. With Mavericks (Mac OS 10.9) core audio mode was avaible again. So you can play with different settings that cause differences in SQ and there are interferences with different versions of iTunes. So Damien build his own file managment system to get rid of the always changing iTunes thing.

[AnotherSpin]

There are differences. But for me I stop comparing releases. Just listening to Multichannel FLAC from Tubular Bells :-)

I am listening to Falstaff, Karajan, 1955 EMI - HQPllayer, no desire to move to any anther player right now.

[Jud]

Before we go to topic. Can I give my humble idea on what is going on? If the sound of every build or every half-build is different, then... something is going wrong in the shop, no?

 

P.S. Alex in California, you are in Israel (?), I am in Ukraine...

 

Pennsylvania, USA.

 

Here's something from John Swenson in the Computer Audio Asylum forum that may be instructive:

 

So lets take this program and make two copies, one which has a small buffer and one which has a large buffer. The total amount of processing is exactly the same, the code is exactly the same, but is the ground plane noise the same? NO!

 

In the case of the small buffer the first thread spends a fairly short period of time waiting since the buffer empties out quickly. It spends a small amount of work often. With the large buffer each time it wakes up it has to handle a lot more data, but it waits a much longer time between sessions.

 

So why does this matter? If you look at the "work performed by the thread" over time the large buffer version shows a very "bursty" activity, but the small buffer shows a much more uniform activity. If you look at this in the frequency domain the small buffer version is dominated by relatively low intensity at high frequencies, mostly above the human hearing range. But when you look at the large buffer version you see higher intensity at much lower frequencies that are right smack dab in the middle of the human hearing range. This latter noise is going to have a much bigger affect on audibility.

 

What does this mean in the context of various builds of any audio software, Audirvana included? It means that changes which "officially" have nothing to do with sound quality (like the two different buffer designs John Swenson uses as his example) may well affect it.

 

So it isn't that 2.x cannot sound different than 1.x, even though Damien hasn't worked explicitly on SQ. However, it seems to me comments re SQ will be more useful to him when he is intentionally working to change that.

[AnotherSpin]

Are you suggesting the move to pre-Mavericks OS?

[AnotherSpin]

Pennsylvania, USA.

 

Oh, Pennsylvania.. Did you rub shoulders with Keith Jarrett? Returning back to A+ SQ. Some of piano music sound just gorgeous with A+ in my system. But, overall, SQ in Amarra, and now - HQP sounds more engaging.

[Set845]

I'm having trouble loading my library. Sometimes it just stops sycing. It will show my folders synced but they are not. Other attempts I was successful but then certain elements of the UI stops working, such as preferences window won't load and in album view the album playlist window won't load or I just can't play anything. When I restart Audirvana it just crashes. I have to delete the app and library db files to start over.

[Jud]

Are you suggesting the move to pre-Mavericks OS?

 

No.

 

Now I think it really is time to allow this thread to get back to bugs/problems in the aspect of A+ being worked on currently, which at present is library management. If you would like to discuss SQ further, I personally feel it would be courteous to do so in another thread for now.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[AnotherSpin]

If you would like to discuss SQ further, I personally feel it would be courteous to do so in another thread for now.

Just let me know when it will be ready to boil. Not so soon, I guess.

[Jud]

Oh, Pennsylvania.. Did you rub shoulders with Keith Jarrett?

 

I grew up only a few miles from where he did, but I believe I'm younger. Love his music, though!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[timmermc]

At first I was sceptic about the upgrade, especially for the price Damien asked. I found a 20 euro more then enough.

But that was immediately after having problems with the install of the upgrade, program crashes, crashes in changing mode's, etc...

 

A couple of days ago, I decided to completely remove my old V1... version, including all files that came with the program and all preferences installed.

Next, after the stand alone install from V2 there were no problems anymore, its running smoothly for days now.

But you still have to be careful before changing mode's, wait until V2 completely releases the engine before switching to iTunes mode or vice versa. Otherwise V2 gives you a crash.

 

Sound-wise I was used to listen to Amarra, but from now on, my favorite is becoming V2 from Damien. Sound is very clear and sparkling, it looks to me as Amarra was sounding behind a curtain.

 

In the next days I compare V2.1 soundwise and maybe will be adding some metadata.

Yes, I bought the upgrade, payed the money now with a smile. The program is, although it still feels a bit buggy a 100% worth the money, I took my hat off for Damien.

[AnotherSpin]

I grew up only a few miles from where he did, but I believe I'm younger. Love his music, though!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Me too.. First vinyl I owned was Arbour Zena, 1978, behind the curtain then.

[sandab]

Here's a suggestion for functional improvement. In the morning I unplug my laptop from the DAC at home and take it to work where I plug it into a different DAC. The opposite happens in the evening when I go home. To switch output device I have to open preferences, click the change button, select a DAC, and then update the playback settings. My suggestion is twofold: first, allow output selection directly from the menu. Second, separate general playback settings (like integer mode, only use DAC volume control and such) from DAC-specific settings (such as whether to always oversample first to the highest integer multiple of the content that the DAC supports; say 176/24 or 352/24 for 44/16, or whether to limit the output rate). Then associate the latter with the DAC so switching output devices automatically switch settings for it as well. This may require a little refactoring of the settings, say whether to only use a DAC volume control when available, then for a particular DAC whether to use its volume control. For instance, I'd set this to true in general, and true for the Bifrost Uber, but I don't want to use it with the Peachtree X1.

 

Edit: actually, even better, remember DACs and automatically pick another remembered one if the current one disappears. Like my laptop remembers and picks wifi networks.

[AnotherSpin]

Seems like Damien will go miles and miles before his software will work to any acceptable satisfaction possible. Anyone wish to compare with excellent Amarra of fabulous HQPlayer?

[Mystic]

Seems like Damien will go miles and miles before his software will work to any acceptable satisfaction possible. Anyone wish to compare with excellent Amarra of fabulous HQPlayer?

Please stop... You are coming across as a whining baby who isn't getting what he wants this very minute.

[Set845]

You mean the endlessly buggy Amarra? I haven't heard HQPlayer but I can speak for Amarra and I tell you that they have some secret sauce going on that colors the sound. But if thats your thing then great you won't see me trying to shove Audirvana down your throat. Lets not forget how stable Audirvana 1.x is. I have no doubt that 2.x will get there too.

[Bilderspiele]

Off topic

[ale76]

Hi Everyone,

I am new to the forum, so please to meet you :-)

Here is my experience so far....

My source is a Mac mini (late 2012/maverick) connected to a Heed Audio Obelisk DAC 2.0.

I was using Audirvana 1.6 and everything was working fine, then I upgraded to A2.0 and now the Mac is not recognising the DAC anymore.

Sometimes is not seeing the DAC at all, sometimes it recognises it as a USB 1.0 device, limiting audio resolution to 24/96.

Given the above, I tried to step back to 1.6 but the issue with the DAC is still there.

I rebooted the Mac mini from an old TM back up....did not fix the issue

I rebooted the Mac from scratch...no luck again.

I performed a PRAM reset..useless.

The USB Cable is working well, I tested it on a different device.

 

Anybody has a suggestion? I struggle to believe this is due to A2.0 upgrade, there must be something with USB interface.

Any help is appreciated...

Ale

[AnotherSpin]

Let sort things out. Damian is trying to challenge ever winning Amarra SQ. Did he sussed? Not. Not now. Gues what? Genius Finnish guy named Jussy is coming into the game. With his own set of rules. And, sorry to disturb, beautiful sound. Amarra wins, Jussi is giving his own, different picture. Library management? Why not. For those who don't bother to listen, but sort.

[timmermc]

Whats the best cover art pixel-rate for A+2. Just added a 1200 X1200 cover and wow, it feels and views to big. Though A+2 would auto shrink it.

[Mystic]

Let sort things out. Damian is trying to challenge ever winning Amarra SQ. Did he sussed? Not. Not now. Gues what? Genius Finnish guy named Jussy is coming into the game. With his own set of rules. And, sorry to disturb, beautiful sound. Amarra wins, Jussi is giving his own, different picture. Library management? Why not. For those who don't bother to listen, but sort.

 

You are tiring... Please stop, we get it.

[AnotherSpin]

You are tiring... Please stop, we get it.

Truth is disturbing, lie lullabying, be calm, not bother anymore.

[timmermc]

I get the point in this. This member is trying to get everybody in using Amarra, right?

 

Can you imagine how lonely the world would be if everyone would wear the same clothing, car, house, holiday, music player....

Luckily we have a choice, and we can choose several music-players. And there are people who prefer this one, other that one.

 

And I respect everyones choice!