New Amarra 4

[quark]

1 hour ago, ddalmas said:

Hi mr Ralph

Why going to the possibility of loosing sound quality with iTunes integration??? there is a very simpler way as the way used by Audirvana+ ,in standalone manner, that simply sees in realtime to the your music folder and applies all the changes done to it immediately in realtime!

there's no way to do playlists or scanning libs...all your song files are there ,catalogued as you want (genre ,artist, name, etcetera...).....simple and easy to be done !

please consider this way to  next A4 upgrade ...no danger of loose of SQ ,complete freedom to organize allowed to every user's need...please take a look to A+.... with A4 unbeatable sound quality and A+ similar lib organization you will be in another planet of liquid music ...nothing  more left to any other one's software!!Please seriously consider that way to make happy the most part of your users

and this do not exclude a parallel iTunes integration at all ,if you want and for those who still want it! but it will only be a further option.....rarely used i think!!Please in this words consider that I do not want to raise myself to the rule of teaching to you...only suggesting

ciaociao to you Ralph and to you all

Yes exactly, this is what Sonic Studio should really be doing of course. 

Audirvana+ fast library scanning and effortless playlist constructing using their very useful iOS app is the minimum sonic studio should really be aiming for with their media players. 

So yes please Sonic Studio have a look at one of your closest rivals Audirvana and see what an audio player should be like, quick library scanning and excellent playlist constructing via iOS app. With your sound quality no one would bother buying anything else.

[Lio_B]

38 minutes ago, quark said:

 

 

To be honest most of my Qobuz purchases, which are a lot, are FLAC, and because Apple are so stupidly stubborn I would have to re-download them or convert them, which would take ages.

Hi,

Why don't you purchase in AIFF version ? It would be OK with most of the palyers

Regards

[ddalmas]

no if you use this it takes very short times:dbpoweramp Music Converter.....it converts in batch mode

ciaociao

[quark]

1 hour ago, Lio_B said:

Hi,

Why don't you purchase in AIFF version ? It would be OK with most of the palyers

Regards

 My experience with the AIF downloads on Qobuz is occasional distortion through the tweeters, no idea why, but maybe they’ve improved them now as it’s been a long time since I downloaded them in AIF. Interestingly when you look at the file downloaded from Qobuz in AIF,  it is labelled as AIF and not AIFF, not sure why.

I get no distortion in the tweeters with FLAC files from Qobuz.

 I could re-download them in AIF and see if I still get distortion, but that would represent a lot of work. My point is Apple are ridiculously stubborn unnecessarily with FLAC.

Also I have a different DAC and power amp now and of course the distortion could’ve been partly down to my previous system.  I will investigate next week by downloading an album from Qobuz in AIF.

 

 I can easily convert them using my preferred CD ripping software XLD, but in my extremely revealing audio System I definitely noticed a loss of quality in doing this. Playing the original download represents better quality than after converting the file in my audio system. (Please no comments on “placebo affect...” i’m scientifically minded and not stupid enough to allow myself to be fooled, this is what I notice and that’s all matters).

 

 Anyway, thanks for the replies.

 If Sonic Studio add iTunes compatibility with the option to create a playlist in iTunes, then import it to Luxe and then quit iTunes, I will have to make a decision.

 

[GregWormald]

I think it is important for us to remember two things:

1. Apple has $millions invested in iTunes and has spent years getting the library function both complex and functional, and looks like continuing its development in the future.

2. Amarra 4 has (for many of us) the best sound out there.

 

I want to play using Amarra 4 and have the functionality of the iTunes library all without undue hassle. I sincerely doubt that Amarra can duplicate the iTunes library software in any sort of economical or timely way, so letting me use iTunes for library management and then use Amarra in something like A3's Playlist mode would be great. That's what I mean by iTunes compatibility.

[Lio_B]

14 hours ago, quark said:

 My experience with the AIF downloads on Qobuz is occasional distortion through the tweeters, no idea why, but maybe they’ve improved them now as it’s been a long time since I downloaded them in AIF. Interestingly when you look at the file downloaded from Qobuz in AIF,  it is labelled as AIF and not AIFF, not sure why.

I get no distortion in the tweeters with FLAC files from Qobuz.

 

 

It's intersting,

I did not notice that Qobuz files were AIF ! before.

I never noticed any listening difference between Qobuz FLAC and AIF files, I will try again.

Thank you

[MarkoF]

My wish for a future Amarra product, while we are revisiting the itunes integration route, would be to separate the Amarra sound engine entirely and present it  as a kind of "virtual sound card" in which the output of any music app, such as iTunes or the Qobuz app, could be captured and directed through the engine and controlled at a basic level, such as a system preference for example. 

 

I love the Amarra sound, which for me is the best on my mac, but the database, memory handling and aspects of the interface leave a lot to be desired, so much so that I have remained at version 3.

 

Just wishful thinking and opinion - I guess it's that time of the year -  but I would be very interested in this kind of product.

 

Mark.

[quark]

1 hour ago, MarkoF said:

My wish for a future Amarra product, while we are revisiting the itunes integration route, would be to separate the Amarra sound engine entirely and present it  as a kind of "virtual sound card" in which the output of any music app, such as iTunes or the Qobuz app, could be captured and directed through the engine and controlled at a basic level, such as a system preference for example. 

 

I love the Amarra sound, which for me is the best on my mac, but the database, memory handling and aspects of the interface leave a lot to be desired, so much so that I have remained at version 3.

 

Just wishful thinking and opinion - I guess it's that time of the year -  but I would be very interested in this kind of product.

 

Mark.

 Agreed, this is the ideal solution I think but doubt they would pursue that avenue.

but yes I concur that Sonic Studio should stick to what they know best,  awesome sound quality, presented as a kind of plug-in for other audio players which would probably increase their market massively, especially if advertised properly.

 

[Melvin]

1 hour ago, MarkoF said:

My wish for a future Amarra product, while we are revisiting the itunes integration route, would be to separate the Amarra sound engine entirely and present it  as a kind of "virtual sound card" in which the output of any music app, such as iTunes or the Qobuz app, could be captured and directed through the engine and controlled at a basic level, such as a system preference for example. 

 

I love the Amarra sound, which for me is the best on my mac, but the database, memory handling and aspects of the interface leave a lot to be desired, so much so that I have remained at version 3.

 

Just wishful thinking and opinion - I guess it's that time of the year -  but I would be very interested in this kind of product.

 

Mark.

 

Isn't this what they did with sQ+ already? IIRC Sonic Studio claims the sound quality isn't quite as good as their other products. I would love to see them develop it further.

[MarkoF]

50 minutes ago, Melvin said:

 

Isn't this what they did with sQ+ already? IIRC Sonic Studio claims the sound quality isn't quite as good as their other products. I would love to see them develop it further.

Many thanks. For some reason I though it was just an equalizer.

 

I'll give it a go.

 

Mark

[DancingSea]

Yes, Amarra SQ is exactly that, a virtual sound card. I found it to not sound as good as A4L - but still sounds good. 

 

It also has its own share of bugs and quirks. It monkeyed with my system sound settings to an uncomfortable degree. So I uninstalled the trial. 

 

I felt it was better to keep the buggy side of sonic studios software isolated to one app rather than give the bugs access to my broader system. 

[ddalmas]

Does anybody heard some sonic difference in the last iTunes version?if my ears still work it seems to me greatly better than before!! is it an illusion of my old mind and ears?

thks for feedback

ciaociao

[DancingSea]

11 minutes ago, ddalmas said:

Does anybody heard some sonic difference in the last iTunes version?if my ears still work it seems to me greatly better than before!! is it an illusion of my old mind and ears?

thks for feedback

ciaociao

 

Sounds way better!  (everyone, just tell ddalmas it sounds better, we don't want to upset him)

 

Aloha Ciao!

[ddalmas]

hi my friend please be serious...i am not always upsetted ...i only seriously say what i think about truth! about A4 i know i have been very hard because they seems to joke of their users ,but when last update sorted out i also told good words for them!! please do not misunderstand me my dancing friend...and reply to me seriously please.Did you noticed any difference in last iTunes?

ciao

[Tand]

When will the iRC be fixed?

 

I am using:

IRC version 1.2.4

Amarra 4 Lux version 4.1.364

 

Just finished a new meassurement with iRC - but the sound is still shifting to the right and totaly flat, no 3d. I even generated a filter below 168 hz, but no. Something  is fundamentaly wrong with the iRC implementation. 

 

Some have reported that you use iRC and that it works fine. What versions of iRC and A4L do you use?

 

And everytime I close A4L I have to use forced shutdown. Why is that?

 

Back to Symponhy again I guess.

[DancingSea]

8 hours ago, ddalmas said:

hi my friend please be serious...i am not always upsetted ...i only seriously say what i think about truth! about A4 i know i have been very hard because they seems to joke of their users ,but when last update sorted out i also told good words for them!! please do not misunderstand me my dancing friend...and reply to me seriously please.Did you noticed any difference in last iTunes?

ciao

 

Aloha our favorite Italian audiophile!

 

I'll check it out, but I really never listen to iTunes on its own so I'm not really qualified to comment.  If I do use iTunes, its always integrated with A+ and the Wave Arts Tube Saturator 2.....

[Jamesroy]

On 6/26/2017 at 1:46 PM, DancingSea said:

I am curious if Amarra updated/ improved their sound engine with A4.  Or is it just the same sound engine as A3/ SQ etc with a more pleasing user interface - visually that is?

 

I don't see anything on the Sonic Studio touting "a new and improved sound engine."  Its all about their new interface and related features.  One would think that if the sound engine was improved, they would list that as a main selling point.

 

So maybe my perception that A4 sounds better the Amarra SQ, or Amarra 3/ HiFi is just an illusion, a product of expectation bias?

 

Does anyone know if A4 has a new sound engine?

John do you have this plugin preQursor2 ?

[DancingSea]

38 minutes ago, Jamesroy said:

John do you have this plugin preQursor2 ?

 

I opted for the Wave Arts Tube Saturator 2 because I’m a sucker for anything described as tubes. 

 

It also received Copy_Of_A’s blessing later in the discussion....

[ddalmas]

i do not say iTune sounds well i only want to know if someone else notices that it has changed in sound quality.Sometimes we are so peeped by something that do not see other things! me too never played iTunes in this later times but ,after an apple mac osx upgrade to the more recent High Sierra . it happened to me by chance to listen to iTunes in standalone mode and i noticed a very different sensation than i had in the past (less plastic like sound , not anymore out of phase as before it was, less exagerate highs !!) i don't mean that it has become a liquid music HI TECH. HiFI listening but sounds less scandalous than before!!

I do please anyone that experimented this as me to feedback this sensation on this forum

may thks to everyone

ciaociao

[Spherical Cow]

12 hours ago, ddalmas said:

i do not say iTune sounds well i only want to know if someone else notices that it has changed in sound quality.Sometimes we are so peeped by something that do not see other things! me too never played iTunes in this later times but ,after an apple mac osx upgrade to the more recent High Sierra . it happened to me by chance to listen to iTunes in standalone mode and i noticed a very different sensation than i had in the past (less plastic like sound , not anymore out of phase as before it was, less exagerate highs !!) i don't mean that it has become a liquid music HI TECH. HiFI listening but sounds less scandalous than before!!

I do please anyone that experimented this as me to feedback this sensation on this forum

may thks to everyone

ciaociao

 

It sounds better than it did before the recent revamping of Itunes that came along with High Sierra. I'm happy that Apple is at least doing some much needed clean up of iTunes. That said, it still doesn't sound as good as Amarra or AV+ or Pure Music. I'd really like to know how Amarra massages the music to get the quality that we all seem to admire. For Apple, with their $200B stash of fairly liquid assets, one would think it would be trivial for them to get sound comparable to Amarra. Clearly there is no interest.

[ddalmas]

thks my friend to share the same sensation! it seemed to me to have become mad when i  noticed that! I never meant to said that could be compared to A4 or A+ nor Fidelia SQ ,but at last now  it is not so scandalously sounding  as it was before....when Flac in Apple? does everyone knows?

ciaociao

[DancingSea]

15 hours ago, ddalmas said:

thks my friend to share the same sensation! it seemed to me to have become mad when i  noticed that! I never meant to said that could be compared to A4 or A+ nor Fidelia SQ ,but at last now  it is not so scandalously sounding  as it was before....when Flac in Apple? does everyone knows?

ciaociao

 

Yes, maybe iTunes is a little better.

 

I've been experimenting with HQPlayer upsampling everything (ALAC & AIFF) to DSD 128 and playing through my DAC via DoP.  Have been using a Roon trial as a front end.

 

HQP for Mac is essentially free.  It plays for 30 minutes and quits, but can be relaunched right away - and perpetually.

 

So far I like the DSD upsampling results, it smoothes things out a bit.  And regular DSD files sound very good as well.

 

All in the quest to find a functioning Amarra type sound!

[quark]

Hi all, merry belated Christmas

for any of you with Audirvana+ There is a new update which for me on my system is a significant improvement in sound quality, enough to seriously challenge Amarra Luxe.

 There is a new upsampling algorithm available, SOX, which when I select and even without upsampling sounds amazing, on my system. I can only guess that perhaps it lowers the computers noise floor. 

[ddalmas]

i this is a very good news!! would you please be so kind to give more infos about how to set it ?i do not find it !

thks

[quark]

36 minutes ago, ddalmas said:

i this is a very good news!! would you please be so kind to give more infos about how to set it ?i do not find it !

thks

In Audirvana preferences select audio filters tab, click the ‘converter’ drop down menu and select SoX.

 Like I said, I’m using direct mode without any upsampling but it still sounds significantly better and good enough to not miss Luxe. Must be somehow lowering the computer’s noise floor perhaps.