New Amarra 4

[jos]

I have been testing the new beta too. Loading took a lot of time, but without any problem and I got my iTunes playlists [emoji106], but when activating a playlist Amarra was crashing. I repeated this process, again with a fresh start, but with the same crash. I have sent my Apple crash report to Ralph and asked for a new build.

 

 

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[jos]

Can be, but workable software is needed too, otherwise it's a death-end with competitors like Audirvana and Roon.

[jos]

Yes, we'll continue to encourage and help Sonic Studios to get the useable part better. I am eager to try the Luxe version, in particular to hear Tidal through the excellent new sound engine.

 

I want to have that version too, but it will be based on this version, so Sonic Studio have to work hard to improve things (no time to lose). In the mean time Audirvana Plus 3 will come out with MQA, Tidal and other improvements. The problem with Sonic Studio is that they have a bad track record if it comes to software development. However, I hope for the best...

 

 

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[jos]

Good proposal to hire Damien; it's the best move they can make.

[jos]

I installed the new beta version that came out yesterday, again with 'bad luck'. It was crashing two times after a fresh installation (deleting the old one and installing the new one with the activation key). The loading process seems to be okay but very long. After that I deleted unnecessary playlists, like movies and so on. Hopefully others will have more luck, but I will wait for a new build.

[jos]

Still waiting for Audirvana 3; 'end of January' seems to be end of February, hopefully [emoji120]

 

 

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[jos]

Still waiting for Audirvana 3; 'end of January' seems to be end of February, hopefully [emoji120]

 

 

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Sorry, wrong thread, but perhaps a worthy alternative? [emoji3]

 

 

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[jos]

Audirvana 3 is coming very very soon, as you can read in the 'Audirvana Plus With MQA Decoder' thread. So Soon we can compare both, before spending our money [emoji389]

 

 

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[jos]

With every new beta they should send a new license key to avoid this kind of problems. I am pretty sure my license key will not work anymore with the next beta.

[jos]

I just end up owning both. They have me captured.

 

Me too, I also have Pure Music (PM). Perhaps Amarra 4 should be something like PM. I guess most people only want Amarra for SQ and not for library management. Then they have more time to develop Amarra 4 Luxe with Tidal, MQA and so on.

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[jos]

I've just done a trial of Audirvana and to be honest there's not much difference between that and Amarra 4. I've tried seven times flicking between the two and they are both very similar, very revealing I'd say that Amarra 4 he's definitely have the softer but they are both very very close in sound quality from my ear and system.

For the moment Audirvana has a far better control system and meta data, even has an iOS app, so I think I'll just buy it to show my appreciation and carry on using that until Amarra Luxe is released with IRC, iOS remote and hopefully a much better cataloguing system.

Especially with what's happening with Amarra 4 now with the update nonsense going on.

Anybody else have the experience with comparing Audirvana and Amarra 4.

 

I have the same experience in comparing both player and what I have heard from Jud is that Audirvana 3 is even better sounding than 2.6.6. So the same approach for me; buying Audirvana 3 and waiting for Amarra 4 Luxe.

 

 

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[jos]

same problem for me on update

i like the SQ of amarra but how we can propose a product with non mature update ????

 

Yes, that's the question [emoji51]

 

 

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[jos]

Is A+ 3 out?

 

I do prefer the Amarra 3 & 4 SQ to A+ 2.6. Curious about A+ 3. I prefer the softer edge.

 

I believe the upgrade path to Amarra 4 and then to Luxe is the same price as waiting for Luxe. That's what Sonic Studio said in their upgrade pitch.

 

 

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Not yet, but within a few days from now. I know about the Amarra pricing, but I don't want to go from one problem to an other.

 

 

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[jos]

But as we know, that's where we'll go... at least it will sound good for the journey [emoji1374]

 

 

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Thank for cheering up, but I will enjoy Audirvana 3 instead [emoji3]

 

 

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[jos]

I continue to use Amarra 4 without significant issue as a player, not a library management system.

 

I have Amarra 4 setup to scan a separate "Amarra Selections" folder on my external hard drive. I use iTunes for library management and drag, from iTunes, a few CD's into the folder. Alternatively, if I want a particular playlist, I drag the whole playlist into the "Amarra Selections" folder.

 

Amarra 4 quickly scans the folder and imports the music. It plays perfectly, no bugs at all. Doesn't quit, freeze, or otherwise misbehave except that Amarra's shuffle repeats songs before playing the whole playlist or CD. I can also add other songs to the "Amarra Selections" folder and the app rescans without importing duplicates, just the new ones.

 

Before the next listening session, I completely clear the Amarra 4 library and repeat the process above.

 

The sound is phenomenal and I've grown satisfied with what the Amarra 4 player can, and cannot do. Having just tested A+ 3', its library system is only marginally better. Both are far behind iTunes in terms of management. And to my ears and tastes, the Amarra 4 sound quality greatly exceeds A+ 3.

 

To my ears the sound quality of Audirvana is as good as Amarra 4. Perhaps a little cleaner, but that is just a matter of taste. You could also say: Amarra is sounding a little warmer. And of course, it also depends on the system. In the Audirvana section of this site everyone is quite happy with the improved sound quality and functionality. In my opinion: Audirvana is a far better choice if you want to spend some money for a player. I also think that Amarra 4 is no serious competitor anymore to Roon or Audirvana. Hopefully they can catch up in the future, but I think it's to little to late.

 

 

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[jos]

We shall, as the saying goes, agree to disagree. In my system, A+ 3 is virtually unlistenable for a variety of music genres. Only low key new age type stuff sounds good.

 

I own both Amarra and A+ 2.6.

 

Indeed, it's a matter of personal preference. There is no right or wrong.

 

 

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I totally agree! [emoji120]

 

 

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[jos]

I am still thinking of buying Amarra 4, but I am not sure yet. I bought Audirvana 3 already and also own Pure Music. Amarra is sounding great but the software is so buggy. Every time it is crashing in my system after I change something, like deleting an empty playlist. And it would not start anymore. On the the other hand it's quit cheap now and perhaps it will improve, although that's not my experience with Sonic Studio; they always need al lot of time and in the end, it is still buggy. So, I am not sure yet.

 

 

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[jos]

That makes sense. In my system described earlier in the thread, when I delete, I delete the whole library and reload - I don't delete individual things. Over several weeks now, very stable using that system of iTunes and cohabitation with the idiosyncrasies.

 

Yes. I known, that's the right approach, but It's so frustrating and loading takes a lot of time. [emoji51] But then you can enjoy the sound [emoji2].

I already advised Sonic Studio to do the Pure Music approach and I will buy it immediately. They simply need a lot of more time, I guess (and hire Damien).

[jos]

In my method, load times are rarely more than a minute.

 

 

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I scan the whole library by pointing the xml-file, and that is time consuming if you have about 18000 songs. And then I play them random during the day. I normally do some adding/correcting in iTunes, so I want to have a background refresh functionality in Amarra. In Audirvana I only use the sync functionality and that is working fine. In Amarra I must clear and load again.

 

 

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[jos]

Also, in my method, Amarra handles adding addition songs well. It's the difference between the scan iTunes feature vs the scan folder feature in Amarra. The folder option, of a modest amount of tracks - works well.

 

I'm completely over the scan iTunes feature. Ugh.

 

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Your approach will work acceptable for you, but not for me. Anyhow, thanks for the explanation.

 

 

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[jos]

You could drag all 18,000 songs into a separate folder. In Amarra, use the scan folder feature instead of the scan iTunes feature to import into Amarra 4. To add stray songs, just drag from iTunes into the folder and rescan in Amarra. It will only add the new songs, not all 18,000.

 

Just an idea!

 

 

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Yes, I can do that, thanks, and in the beginning I was doing exactly that, but I want my iTunes playlists too. And if they offer this functionality it should work properly and also with an refresh function, like Audirvana. So no work around for me.

 

 

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[jos]

my Amarra 4 trial ended in failure with the library scan issue - at first I scanned several folders and it worked then on later uses it only picked up a folder and not the others I added. I think for me it is time to say good bye to Amarra. I am going to delete amarra for tidal (waste of money - never worked well), amarra sq (totally pissed when after I paid for it a better version came out that I had to pay for to get) and Amarra Symphony (paid $500 for this years ago - enjoyed it early on until later iterations had issues and audirvana came along with greater stability).

 

Agree, I'm leaving them too and definitely choose for Audirvana. I already stopped beta-testing and removed Amarra. Perhaps I will look into Amarra 4 luxe, after several updates in 1918. I believe it's a death end for them if they don't fire there development team and start over again. I already advices them to make one program, like Audirvana and Roon is doing, and put all there efforts in one application

 

 

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[jos]

You are correct, small oversite on our part, sorry for any inconvenience. A new installer is available for download the does not create the two files initially. They were a leftover from our testing.

 

Nothing else in the installer has changed except this item. The new installer is there in case you need it.

 

Best

Ralph

 

I could not resist to test the latest Amarra version. The iTunes XML option, which is my preferred option, is still crashing. The folder scan is working properly until now, but a little slow. Sound wise I could not notice a lot of difference between Audirvana 3 and Amarra on my system; perhaps Audirvana is a little clearer with some more dept/separation. Audirvana seems to be a little warmer/flatter. But this is just my first impression.

[jos]

Ralp, no loading issues. It's when using afterwards, but I can't determine why.

 

 

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[jos]

Ralph, I never had any loading issues with Amarra4 4. It's because my ITunes system is a very clean one with only ALAC files. The first time loading Amarra 4 I could determine a few AIFF files (leftovers after converting to ALAC files). I would advice everyone to convert all your files in iTunes to ALAC. It's also important to give every track an album-artist name. One question: why is Amarra loading empty playlists, like movies?

 

 

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