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Article: Amarra For Tidal Review


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Hello Brian,

 

Long time Amarra Symphony user. And recently Amarra For TIDAL and AsQ+. Your review is well done in my experience after a month or so with the program and TIDAL HIFI purchased even earlier. Setup was easy and almost transparent, provided one has a TIDAL subscription. The prepaid was a no-brainer in my opinion. The 7th month is free, after which the subscription rate returns to the 19.99 from 16.99.

 

I find the interface with TIDAL HIFI to be an easy one and immediate. I also appreciate that I can employ iRC with both A4T and AsQ+ given I already have a license for iRC since Amarra Symphony 2.6. iRC takes TIDAL HIFI a bit further along that differentiation you alluded to when comparing with 96/24 versus 44.1/16 provided with TIDAL HIFI.

 

Thank you for your take on the program.

 

Best,

Richard

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Have you done a comparison of the data stream between the Amarra and Tidals factory player?

If they are delivering the same data (and they should) to Auralic DAC any difference you are hearing is fantasy.

"The gullibility of audiophiles is what astonishes me the most, even after all these years. How is it possible, how did it ever happen, that they trust fairy-tale purveyors and mystic gurus more than reliable sources of scientific information?"

Peter Aczel - The Audio Critic

nomqa.webp.aa713f2bb9e304522011cdb2d2ca907d.webp  R.I.P. MQA 2014-2023: Hyped product thanks to uneducated, uncritical advocates & captured press.

 

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The review is not very useful unless you compare Amarra with the standard streaming available from Tidal. If they are both delivering bit-perfect streams to your DAC, then any difference is purely imaginary.

 

The advantage of integrating streaming services into the player apps is convenience. You can access all your music through the same interface.

 

I also wonder why reviews like this make it appear as if Tidal is the only CD-quality streaming service on the planet. Qobuz has a bigger catalogue and there are other services too.

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is there a remote app?

I don't think so I have SQ and that doesn't. This is where the Amarra range falls down imho by not offering remote apps for its products, it can't be that hard to develop one.

MBP>Chevron Audio Sabre UV player/Dac/Meridian Explorer dac>Chevron Audio Paradox Pre>Leema Hydra 2>Leema Xavier speakers.

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is there a remote app?

 

Thanks for your interest in a remote app for Amarra products. We are hard at work on a remote initially for our streamers, Amarra for TIDAL and Amarra sQ+.

 

Here are some initial images of the EQ and Now Playing windows on an iPhone:

 

AmarraRemote_EQ.PNG

 

More information can be found on our news page at:

 

Amarra News & Reviews

AmarraRemote_NowPlaying.PNG

If you have any other questions or need assistance, please don't hesitate to contact us.

 

Best regards,

 

__________________________________________________

 

Sonic Studio Customer Support .:.

Sonic Studio, LLC .:. Trust the transparency

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Hello Brian,

 

Long time Amarra Symphony user. And recently Amarra For TIDAL and AsQ+. Your review is well done in my experience after a month or so with the program and TIDAL HIFI purchased even earlier. Setup was easy and almost transparent, provided one has a TIDAL subscription. The prepaid was a no-brainer in my opinion. The 7th month is free, after which the subscription rate returns to the 19.99 from 16.99.

 

I find the interface with TIDAL HIFI to be an easy one and immediate. I also appreciate that I can employ iRC with both A4T and AsQ+ given I already have a license for iRC since Amarra Symphony 2.6. iRC takes TIDAL HIFI a bit further along that differentiation you alluded to when comparing with 96/24 versus 44.1/16 provided with TIDAL HIFI.

 

Thank you for your take on the program.

 

Best,

Richard

 

Richard, what is the difference between Tidal + AsQ+ and Amarra for Tidal? I already have AsQ+ and can use it as the output from Tidal - does buying Amarra for Tidal get me anything more?

John Walker - IT Executive

Headphone - SonicTransporter i9 running Roon Server > Netgear Orbi > Blue Jeans Cable Ethernet > mRendu Roon endpoint > Topping D90 > Topping A90d > Dan Clark Expanse / HiFiMan H6SE v2 / HiFiman Arya Stealth

Home Theater / Music -SonicTransporter i9 running Roon Server > Netgear Orbi > Blue Jeans Cable HDMI > Denon X3700h > Anthem Amp for front channels > Revel F208-based 5.2.4 Atmos speaker system

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If all of you who say that something can't make a difference (including this) have actually heard it and confirmed it to be so, then I will will respect your opinion. But, if you have not actually heard it, then to paraphrase the founder of Linn Electronics "if you haven't heard it, you don't have an opinion".

 

I get really tired of all this "it can't possibly be so" stuff from people on this site who have not heard the thing that they say this about.

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If all of you who say that something can't make a difference (including this) have actually heard it and confirmed it to be so, then I will will respect your opinion. But, if you have not actually heard it, then to paraphrase the founder of Linn Electronics "if you haven't heard it, you don't have an opinion".

 

I get really tired of all this "it can't possibly be so" stuff from people on this site who have not heard the thing that they say this about.

 

The science says it's not possible if the software isn't altering the data stream, Bits is Bits. So if you or anyone else says they can hear a difference it's up to them to prove it with both double blind testing and measurements. Until then it's just fantasy. (or the software IS altering the datastream, I don't see any measurements to check for a little juicing of the sound.)

"The gullibility of audiophiles is what astonishes me the most, even after all these years. How is it possible, how did it ever happen, that they trust fairy-tale purveyors and mystic gurus more than reliable sources of scientific information?"

Peter Aczel - The Audio Critic

nomqa.webp.aa713f2bb9e304522011cdb2d2ca907d.webp  R.I.P. MQA 2014-2023: Hyped product thanks to uneducated, uncritical advocates & captured press.

 

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The science says it's not possible if the software isn't altering the data stream, Bits is Bits. So if you or anyone else says they can hear a difference it's up to them to prove it with both double blind testing and measurements. Until then it's just fantasy. (or the software IS altering the datastream, I don't see any measurements to check for a little juicing of the sound.)

 

A timely rebuttal for the Bits are Bits reasoning.

AS Profile Equipment List        Say NO to MQA

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A timely rebuttal for the Bits are Bits reasoning.

 

The noise argument is more fallacy, save the fairy tails for the little children. If the ones and zeros can be read through the noise the data will be read bit perfect. If it's so polluted not to be read correctly there's something seriously wrong with your equipment design Are the Lights On or Off? | Real HD-Audio

"The gullibility of audiophiles is what astonishes me the most, even after all these years. How is it possible, how did it ever happen, that they trust fairy-tale purveyors and mystic gurus more than reliable sources of scientific information?"

Peter Aczel - The Audio Critic

nomqa.webp.aa713f2bb9e304522011cdb2d2ca907d.webp  R.I.P. MQA 2014-2023: Hyped product thanks to uneducated, uncritical advocates & captured press.

 

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The noise argument is more fallacy, save the fairy tails for the little children. If the ones and zeros can be read through the noise the data will be read bit perfect. If it's so polluted not to be read correctly there's something seriously wrong with your equipment design Are the Lights On or Off? | Real HD-Audio

 

sorry, the noise argument is compelling and cannot be ignored for computer audio especially DACs and transmissions to DACs are electrical values, not pure 1's and 0's.

 

All AES3, USB, Firewire, Ethernet signals that are transmittable to a DAC by electricity and through wires are :

 

Analog Voltages.

 

Pulsed Waveforms.

 

Not pure 1's and 0's. no bitperfect either. Error correction is fine, bank accounts are safe, I agree, BUT when you deal with DACs, it's physical electricity with predictive behaviour, often undesirable for audio cause it's audible!

 

Some of the voltage is passed through to the DAC for processing, the remainder of the voltage has to go somewhere and is reflected back to the source as noise unwanted rubbish. The worse the receiver has to work to make sense of the signal, the worse the reflected noise is in the system, this is especially true for USB and Ethernet transmissions which are delivered as packets of signal, then nothing, the more packets, like a barrage.

 

Sadly this noise appears in power supplies and in the very sensitive receivers of the DAC. The ideal is the transmitted signal (yes voltage, not BITS) can be controlled by software, or in another way EQ'd enough to provide good signal integrity.

 

Anyway, these pages have been through enough bits are bits arguments, no need to start here, you're welcome to start a new thread, be prepared for a nutkick though :) The article's links should be studied a little more instead of scoffing about stories for little children.

AS Profile Equipment List        Say NO to MQA

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Not worth the time to argue with subjective audiophiles, thousands more pages of fantasy have been wasted then ever should.

In the end it all come down to money, bet sure you get yourself one of them $3K power cables too. LOL

"The gullibility of audiophiles is what astonishes me the most, even after all these years. How is it possible, how did it ever happen, that they trust fairy-tale purveyors and mystic gurus more than reliable sources of scientific information?"

Peter Aczel - The Audio Critic

nomqa.webp.aa713f2bb9e304522011cdb2d2ca907d.webp  R.I.P. MQA 2014-2023: Hyped product thanks to uneducated, uncritical advocates & captured press.

 

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Richard, what is the difference between Tidal + AsQ+ and Amarra for Tidal? I already have AsQ+ and can use it as the output from Tidal - does buying Amarra for Tidal get me anything more?

 

 

Sorry John for the delay in responding to your post. I will catch up with you tomorrow. Appreciate your understanding. I do appreciate your query as it touches on a variety of possible solutions. You will also notice Sonic Studio is readying an iOS and, I believe, a Windows version, remote app for AsQ+wiRC and A4T(Amarra For TIDAL) with iRC. Tomorrow

 

Best,

Richard

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What a moronic comment. Maybe not post?

 

??? Seems like a perfectly legitimate question to me. If the two digital file servers sound different aren't you curious as to why? Maybe one of them is defective? The first most logical place to start would be to compare their outputs data streams.

"The gullibility of audiophiles is what astonishes me the most, even after all these years. How is it possible, how did it ever happen, that they trust fairy-tale purveyors and mystic gurus more than reliable sources of scientific information?"

Peter Aczel - The Audio Critic

nomqa.webp.aa713f2bb9e304522011cdb2d2ca907d.webp  R.I.P. MQA 2014-2023: Hyped product thanks to uneducated, uncritical advocates & captured press.

 

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Must admit i tried Amara HiFi using iTunes into an Antelope Gold DAC to my headphone's and couldn't identify an improvement to justify keeping the app. Infant on gapless tracks it added a slight gap which detracted from the music.

 

The only minor benefit was it set the DAC to the required setting for playback.

I tested Jriver and this also switch between 96. and 44. for the various tracks, I decided to use Jriver when player higher res files local files.

I don't use TIDAL and HiFi also does not work using Apple Music streaming where I now listen to playlist and new artist before purchase of the files from Qobuz etc.

Setup:

Lumin D2> Roksan Blak> Focal 806

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Richard, what is the difference between Tidal + AsQ+ and Amarra for Tidal? I already have AsQ+ and can use it as the output from Tidal - does buying Amarra for Tidal get me anything more?

 

Dear John,

 

Given your experience with computer audio and your overall experience with IT, I thought it best to convey a response from Sonic Studio that I hope will be responsive to your query. I trust that you can visit the Sonic Studio website and compare the features of A4TwiRC (with or without HIFI) and AsQ+wiRC.

 

The following is a response from Sonic Studio that I am sharing with the membership of CA as my first loyalty is to the membership with a proper regard for what as a volunteer beta tester I am able to share and that which I must respect the confidentiality expected of me. If my response to you misses what you expected, please do not hesitate to inquire further. Just to maintain an awareness and clarity, I have no investment of relationship to Sonic Studio other than as a CA member and enthusiast for computer audio who decided on a preferred software player. I never argue with perception.

 

In response to your inquiry, Sonic Studio provided me with the following. I decided that Sonic Studio's clarification whether or not self-serving was the better reference. I am always available as a fellow-member to confirm or contrast.

 

From Sonic Studio:

 

As for differences between using Amarra for TIDAL and TIDAL app with Amarra sQ+ is as follows

 

Benefits of A4T:

1) Amarra for TIDAL preloads the files - so we are playing from RAM.

2) Amarra for TIDAL has the Amarra Engine integrated so the Whole signal path is controlled by Amarra.

3) Amarra for TIDAL is One application

- less overhead and system cycles dealing with 2 applications

4) The upcoming remote

 

If this is not comprehensive, help me help you as I continue to beta test both program along a continuum of innovation. I remain very positive. I also appreciate othe solutions having purchased both a life-time license/membership for roon and TIDAL HIFI and Dirac Live (Full). So I am not advocating one over the other, rather, encouraging us to check out what delivers the best for the criteria we regard as satisfactory. I personally have purchased every program I review, whether I have to or not.

 

Enjoy the music,

Richard

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  • 4 weeks later...
is there a remote app?

 

 

For me, you could charge the same price for the remote app and I would buy that too. This still fills a gap on the economical side of how to stream tidal with a decent remote.

Rega Brio-R, Calyx Coffee, Monitor Audio, MacMini Server (intel) 2011

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  • 2 weeks later...

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