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New Amarra 4


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Amarra have just sent me a notification email and looking through their website I'm struggling to see the difference between 4 and 4 Luxe.

Can anyone enlighten me pls

 

4 Luxe also appears to allow use of iRC, which regular Amarra 4 does not include. This is Amarra's house implementation of the Dirac software, and as noted above by Toddc2, iRC greatly enhances the Amarra experience. That said, I've switched over to Roon with Dirac (used to run Amarra Symphony with iRC), and I've been happy with the change.

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  • 1 month later...

I upgraded from Amarra Symphony with iRC and encountered a problem when trying to import my music files. The import function stalls at 4.8% complete. I've stopped and restarted the import several times; I've even Forced Quit Amarra 4 and restarted it, but it always sticks in the same place. I have submitted a ticket to Amarra Support, but just in case anyone else here has had the same problem and found a solution, please let me know.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have also been attempting to give Amarra 4 a trial. After dozens of failed attempts to load in my entire music library (stalls and crashes), today I decided just to load whatever portion of my library I could until the application crashed, then listen to some of the more familiar pieces and decide whether the sound warrants the trouble. In short, no.

 

I am a long-time proponent of Amarra and have invested hundreds of dollars in their software (including Amarra Symphony with iRC). But for the past 18 months or so, I have been listening through Roon with Dirac Live providing the DSP that iRC did with Amarra. I have grown to appreciate and prefer what I find to be a purer, more detailed and likely more faithful (to the recording) sound with Roon + Dirac. This has been reinforced this evening listening to track after track comparing Amarra 4 (feeding into Dirac) versus the same material heard through Roon + Dirac. (You can do that if you, like I, purchased Dirac independent of Amarra's version of Dirac, iRC).

 

What did I hear? I heard the "Amarra engine honey" I used to love and crave when playing Amarra. It makes for a total sound presentation that in some ways does give a great approximation of a live performance, especially in the height of the sound stage image.

 

But I heard what I now consider better sound through Roon. I think a key element in this is my upgrade to a more resolving system since what I had during my prior use of Amarra. Specifically, I upgraded to (1) a better DAC (Bifrost with multibit upgrade, versus standard Bifrost during my earlier time with Amarra) and (2) an Uptone Audio Regen and LPS-1 with that upgraded DAC to further enhance its revolving power.

 

Basically what I think I am hearing from Amarra 4 - as I think in retrospect was also the effect that got me drooling over earlier versions of Amarra - is a rounding down of the locational sounds or "edges" of the instruments (or instrumental sections of larger ensembles) and opening up of soundstage width and height by sacrificing precision of imaging. I also think Amarra is giving a bump to the upper end of the bass to further "enbiggen" the sound. The effect can be intoxicating, but at the end of the day, I think I am losing more than I am gaining from the "Amarra sound." Again, I used to love it, and I am not saying I now find it to be poor sound, but with a better-resolving digital front end, I think I am getting a better result from Roon + Dirac Live.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 4 months later...
7 hours ago, Frans said:

After half a week with Roon I switched this night to Amarea 4 Plus with IRC again... what a sound! More musical, richer... my wife, who was in the kitchen, came to the listening room and says that this is the best sound she ever heared with our system.

As a control, have you tried comparing Roon to Amarra with iRC turned off to determine how much of the improvement you hear with Amarra is attributable to the room-correction functions of iRC? I use Roon with Dirac Live and also have Amarra 4 with iRC. In my room, iRC/Dirac has the more dramatic improvement on sound for both Roon and Amarra. But I also find that Amarra is distinguishable from Roon when the iRC/Dirac variable is controlled for, just not necessarily better sounding than Roon - my ears, my taste, my system, my room ... of course.

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3 hours ago, Frans said:

That is a good suggestion. I have also Roon and Dirac Live, so I can try Roon with Dirac Live, then Amarra 4 with IRC and then Amarra 4 with Dirac Live.

I'm going to do this test this week and write my conclusion in this treath.

Great plan! Be sure to use filters in iRC and Dirac generated from the same or very similar measurements and following identical curves. 

 

I look forward to your report. 

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  • 3 years later...

Roon is a  user interface for locating music in your library or on streaming services like Tidal and Qobuz, creating playlists from that music, and playing the music through your stereo or other output endpoint. Roon integrates access to your local and streaming music in one application and has lots and lots of other goodies that make the whole experience more enjoyable to many users, myself included. Roon also is network based so you can control multiple endpoints throughout your home playing different music at the same time. Think of Roon as iTunes on steroids. 
 

HQPlayer is a separate and optional application that can be used in conjunction with Roon. HQPlayer is not published by the makers of Roon but is compatible with it. It is a signal processing application that allows you to manipulate and improve the sound of digital music files and streaming music using tools like oversampling and various filters before sending the signal on to your DAC. I think HQPlayer was described as a “back end” because it works invisibly behind the scenes after an initial setup process and doesn’t require routine action by the user. It’s not necessary to use HQPlayer to use Roon, but the signal processing HQPlayer provides can be used to tailor/change/improve the sound of your music library and streaming music to your tastes, including changes that can mimic what Amarra does.

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