New Amarra 4

[GregWormald]

The "Playlist" function in A3 worked well, and iTunes was still the library manager.

 

The "Library" function in A4 has more bugs than a swamp and is virtually useless for choosing and playing music. The only thing that works (for me) is to clean it out every session and only load one night's music at a time--and even so it mis-files albums. Then I have to update iTunes manually.

 

I really wish it wasn't (IMO) the best sounding player.

[Tand]

Hi all

 

According to Ralph on "High Sierra....." tread  in here a new iRC measure app is ready to download. I tried to genereate new filters with old meassurement but it did not work. Has anyone tried to se if the sound shift is gone?

 

 

 

A link to the new iRC Measure.app v1.2.4 can be found at: http://downloads.sonicstudio.com/iRC/iRC_Measure_1.2.4.zip

 

We're in process of updating the website, very sorry for the inconvenience.

 

best

Ralph

[Frans]

Hi Tand,

 

With my system and the latest Amarra 4 Luxe I did not have a sound shift.

Also when I use it together with the equaliser it does a good job.

Tomorrow I will install the new IRC Measure.app v1.2.4 and make some new filters.

I understand from another tread that the old filters don't work in the new IRC.

 

Enjoy the music!

 

Frans

[twist222]

13 hours ago, DancingSea said:

 

It’s nice to have a choice. A3 allowed the option to integrate with iTunes. Audirvana has the same option. 

 

Its makes little sense to eliminate iTunes integration mode in A4. 

 

I thought the consenses was that having iTunes running in parallel with Amara had a negitive impact on sound quality and this was the reason many users wanted Amara to operate without iTunes intergration. I have no way to verify if this is true but if iTunes intergration has a negartive impact on sound quality do you really want this option?

 

From all reports the Amara 4 without iTunes intergration is the best sounding version yet. Perhaps we should be encouraging Sonic Studio to keep improving the library function of Amara 4.

 

Regards

Mark

[foodfiend]

1 hour ago, twist222 said:

 

I thought the consenses was that having iTunes running in parallel with Amara had a negitive impact on sound quality and this was the reason many users wanted Amara to operate without iTunes intergration. I have no way to verify if this is true but if iTunes intergration has a negartive impact on sound quality do you really want this option?

 

From all reports the Amara 4 without iTunes intergration is the best sounding version yet. Perhaps we should be encouraging Sonic Studio to keep improving the library function of Amara 4.

 

Regards

Mark

Mark,

 

While I agree that running Amarra without iTunes running in parallel produces better sound, many of us are also struggling with the "library management" of Amarra. Amarra crashes if I attempt to load my entire music library at one go, so many of us have our workarounds. This is why some are calling for the return of iTunes integration.

[jos]

Pure Music is out with a new version (3.09c) and is better sounding with some fixes, and you can still use iTunes library management. What do we want more? Give it a try...

[ddalmas]

hi to all 

i my opinion the main thing that really misses in A4 is that if A4 would simply look better to our music folder

than all the problems are solved !! Everyone would look to its own library ,organized as he wants and as he needs, and A4 simply looks at a folder and loads a single desired album/ file/or playlist each time always with the music folder under view...and all would be done !! this only needs a simple and continuous looking to our music folder(maybe more folders would be still better)....very simple to do i think....no need to load more albums  or entire libraries with crashes confusion or what else could be invented by A4!! all organized in the user's music folder to it's will ....no more discussions about iTunes integration or what else!! Mr Ralph please consider this option would be easy and almost DEFINITIVE and....very unique...if anyone of you would need more explanations i will be happy to give

ciaociao

[Dean358]

16 hours ago, twist222 said:

In earlier versions of Amarra wasn't there a large number of people demanding Amarra get rid of the connection to iTunes. This in fact lead to the playlist function so that people could enjoy Amarra playback without the need to have iTunes running. No that Amarra has done what large numbers of people asked for and came up with a solution that does not require iTunes we get the other end of the spectrum asking for iTunes intergration !!!!

 

Huh?? Apologies if I haven't been reading these forums carefully enough but for me the connection to iTunes is an absolutely essential attribute for any music playback software. Not having it is a deal breaker and preventing me from upgrading to A4 :-(

 

16 hours ago, twist222 said:

 

 

[lbcyclist]

14 hours ago, GregWormald said:

The "Playlist" function in A3 worked well, and iTunes was still the library manager.

 

The "Library" function in A4 has more bugs than a swamp and is virtually useless for choosing and playing music. The only thing that works (for me) is to clean it out every session and only load one night's music at a time--and even so it mis-files albums. Then I have to update iTunes manually.

 

I really wish it wasn't (IMO) the best sounding player.

 

the main problem here is that they released a non-working product to the market and expect their customers to debug it. I may come back to it if and when it works. Right now I am happy after going back to A3.

[ddalmas]

i am sorry to contradict you but if they'd expect their users to debug they would have already followed our suggestions .....given gratis to them!!! But NO!  neither this seems to be their way!!

[twist222]

9 hours ago, foodfiend said:

This is why some are calling for the return of iTunes integration.

 

But is it worth it if the sound quality is reduced ?  Perhaps we already have A3 for that.

 

Regards

Mark

[twist222]

Would iTunes intergration also preclude the use of many of the new features of A4 ? DSD playback,Tidal playback, upsampling, support for flac files. 

 

Regards

Mark

[foodfiend]

24 minutes ago, twist222 said:

 

But is it worth it if the sound quality is reduced ?  Perhaps we already have A3 for that.

 

Regards

Mark

I am living with the quirks of Amarra 4 Luxe, but I do understand the frustration of the less-than-satisfactory library management on Amarra at the moment. When you are reduced to loading about 100 songs at a time, to prevent Amarra 4 from crashing, and have more than 100k songs in your library, I do understand if you would give up and ask for iTunes integration.

[DancingSea]

25 minutes ago, twist222 said:

Would iTunes intergration also preclude the use of many of the new features of A4 ? DSD playback,Tidal playback, upsampling, support for flac files. 

 

Regards

Mark

 

Audirvana & A3 allow one to toggle between iTunes and stand alone mode. 

 

In A4L, nothing would be lost as one could pick. 

 

DSD via DoP still doesn’t work in A4L wish it would come soon. 

[nano35]

Another frustrating A4L user here. 

I have updated to 4.1 the latest. 

It still does not import songs correctly. Some missing second half of the albums, some have first song missing. I however can search those missing songs and playback them. 

Also identical songs with same names from different compilation albums cannot be imported. 

 

And The remote app is virtually unusable. Extremely slow and unresponsive after first minute of use;  and it forcefully plays everything in Random. ( no, I don’t have “random play” on). 

 

I enjoy joy the sound quality very much but it is just too buggy to control. 

[mav52]

Newbie on this topic/   I read that A4L support MQA http://www.sonicstudio.com/amarra/amarra4luxe.php#features

How does that differ from Tidal since A4L still has to use Tidal to get the files and you still need a MQA DAC for the complete unfold. .   Do I have this correct.  I'm just thinking why !   Thanks in advance.

[mav52]

1 hour ago, mav52 said:

Newbie on this topic/   I read that A4L support MQA http://www.sonicstudio.com/amarra/amarra4luxe.php#features

How does that differ from Tidal since A4L still has to use Tidal to get the files and you still need a MQA DAC for the complete unfold. .   Do I have this correct.  I'm just thinking why !   Thanks in advance.

So the software does the unfolding and the MQA capable DAC still needs to do the rendering.!

[ddalmas]

hi my friends......A4 is and wants to remain a bunch of shit! throw it out of the window and you lives will be happier !! i know its sound quality is fine maybe the best ,but, if it breaks you nervous system, well....is it worth?Your always irreverent ddalmas

ciao ciao

[left channel]

4 hours ago, mav52 said:

Newbie on this topic/   I read that A4L support MQA http://www.sonicstudio.com/amarra/amarra4luxe.php#features

How does that differ from Tidal since A4L still has to use Tidal to get the files and you still need a MQA DAC for the complete unfold. .   Do I have this correct.  I'm just thinking why !   Thanks in advance.

 

2 hours ago, mav52 said:

So the software does the unfolding and the MQA capable DAC still needs to do the rendering.!

Amarra, like the Tidal app, will give you MQA 1x "unfolding" and up to 24/96 output on its own, no special MQA DAC required.

 

Some MQA DACs, like the AudioQuest DragonFly (Black and Red), are MQA "renderers" that require the 1x software decoding ahead of them in the chain, then do 4x unfolding and up to 24/192. Renderers are supposed to be portable devices.

 

There are also MQA DACs that can do all the work themselves, like the Mytek Brooklyn+, the Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital, and many others. For those DACs you would actually turn off the software decoding in Amarra, and send a bit perfect stream. It seems to me these DACs may be superior to MQA renderers not because of how they handle MQA, but because they are larger, with external power options, more features, more processing power, and more room for creative circuit design.

You'll find more about MQA here, with graphics:

 

[simplon]

On 17.11.2017 at 7:54 AM, Tand said:

Hi all

 

According to Ralph on "High Sierra....." tread  in here a new iRC measure app is ready to download. I tried to genereate new filters with old meassurement but it did not work. Has anyone tried to se if the sound shift is gone?

 

 

 

A link to the new iRC Measure.app v1.2.4 can be found at: http://downloads.sonicstudio.com/iRC/iRC_Measure_1.2.4.zip

 

We're in process of updating the website, very sorry for the inconvenience.

 

best

Ralph

 

In my installation the shift is still there but now in both directions. The soundstage is gone and music comes from the speakers. E.G. Johny Cash sits exactly in the middle between the speaker without iRC but with iRC he shifts to the right speaker. In the middle is a sound hole.

[Munchoba]

I've been very critical of the latest Amarra offerings, and rightly so, with all of the library bugs and other issues, but to be fair... just got the newer version and... Goddamnit...THAT SOUND! Unbeatable.

 

Bernard

[lbcyclist]

1 minute ago, Munchoba said:

I've been very critical of the latest Amarra offerings, and rightly so, with all of the library bugs and other issues, but to be fair... just got the newer version and... Goddamnit...THAT SOUND! Unbeatable.

 

Bernard

I think the fabulous sound is the only reason most of us are sticking with Amarra through this library mess. 

[foodfiend]

4 hours ago, lbcyclist said:

I think the fabulous sound is the only reason most of us are sticking with Amarra through this library mess. 

I think most of us would support that statement!

[mav52]

On 11/18/2017 at 1:21 PM, left channel said:

 

Amarra, like the Tidal app, will give you MQA 1x "unfolding" and up to 24/96 output on its own, no special MQA DAC required.

 

Some MQA DACs, like the AudioQuest DragonFly (Black and Red), are MQA "renderers" that require the 1x software decoding ahead of them in the chain, then do 4x unfolding and up to 24/192. Renderers are supposed to be portable devices.

 

There are also MQA DACs that can do all the work themselves, like the Mytek Brooklyn+, the Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital, and many others. For those DACs you would actually turn off the software decoding in Amarra, and send a bit perfect stream. It seems to me these DACs may be superior to MQA renderers not because of how they handle MQA, but because they are larger, with external power options, more features, more processing power, and more room for creative circuit design.

You'll find more about MQA here, with graphics:

 

Thank you for the info

[Surapong]

On 11/18/2017 at 5:24 AM, twist222 said:

Would iTunes intergration also preclude the use of many of the new features of A4 ? DSD playback,Tidal playback, upsampling, support for flac files. 

 

Regards

Mark

 

22 hours ago, lbcyclist said:

I think the fabulous sound is the only reason most of us are sticking with Amarra through this library mess. 

 

18 hours ago, foodfiend said:

I think most of us would support that statement!

 

Yes, IMO, the AM4L is sound perfectly and characteristic nearly the LP. For the sound quality, not matter to say anything.

The AM4L, the latest version 4.1.360-142, many things are improved even the library. But it still has the issue problem with the compilation album. Some compilation album (Various Artist album) are display all music tracks perfectly, but many VA albums are separated to show as many album one by one artist in that album. 
It's not pretty for me that I would like to listen the music file album as the CD/LP.  And so on this splitting will be worse in a music managment. 

I hope in the next update of AM4L, just resolve this issue first will make AM fans around the World feel happily rather than MQA integration