New Amarra 4

[DancingSea]

9 minutes ago, Jamesroy said:

I now have a working copy of  3.13.3. Thanks But I do like the Library setup on A+, I feel like I'm going backwards to viewing library in iTunes?

 

I prefe the iTunes library system over Audirvana’s. 

 

But the idea with Geoffrey’s HPQServer app is to provide an alternative to Roon as a HQPlayer front end. 

 

It all boils down to your relationship with HQPlayer ?

[DancingSea]

7 minutes ago, Jamesroy said:

If I choose to try this will my entire library need to be imported into iTunes. Now I just import into RAM a single album from external HD?

 

Yes, HQPServer uses the iTunes library. 

 

But before you go that route, make sure you independently like HQPlayer. 

[Jamesroy]

Well I downloaded his apple script. I'm wondering if I install HQP and add his script how will it effect A+ incase I want to go back to it. But you didn't answer my question, if I can still work my library from external HD? I"d hate the thought of loading all my music into my Mac Book. It has a small flash drive. And what do you mean "t all boils down to your relationship with HQPlayer"? Also "independently like HQPlayer"?

[DancingSea]

43 minutes ago, Jamesroy said:

Well I downloaded his apple script. I'm wondering if I install HQP and add his script how will it effect A+ incase I want to go back to it. But you didn't answer my question, if I can still work my library from external HD? I"d hate the thought of loading all my music into my Mac Book. It has a small flash drive. And what do you mean "t all boils down to your relationship with HQPlayer"? Also "independently like HQPlayer"?

 

Your iTunes library can be on an external hard drive.  Also, be sure to download the latest HQPServer script as it has gone through many revisions.  Its best to direct questions about it to its current running separate thread here on the CA forums.

 

The script's purpose is to have iTunes be the front end for HQP.  The first step is to test out HQP on its own and see if you like it.  HQP can be tricky to setup at first.  But its DSD upsampling engine is much superior to Audirvana.

 

Start with the HQP trial.  See if you like the sound.  And then move onto the HQPServer script.

 

This route is going to involve far more tinkering than you're accustomed to with A+.

[Jamesroy]

Well thats good to hear about the Library, I got my self thru A+ and my ifi nano with the help of this forum. I don't mind tinkering just as long as if I screw up I can get back to home. I have one script created 10/1/17 and the newer one 1/20/18

It's good to see people using Mac. Changing subj. I'm going to try my Parasound Preamp with my Stellar and see if I can hear a difference. One person we both talk with disagrees with that. BTW I don't need a trial version of HQP I have a full working version but don't think it's upgradable.

[quark]

14 hours ago, DancingSea said:

 

Your iTunes library can be on an external hard drive.  Also, be sure to download the latest HQPServer script as it has gone through many revisions.  Its best to direct questions about it to its current running separate thread here on the CA forums.

 

The script's purpose is to have iTunes be the front end for HQP.  The first step is to test out HQP on its own and see if you like it.  HQP can be tricky to setup at first.  But its DSD upsampling engine is much superior to Audirvana.

 

Start with the HQP trial.  See if you like the sound.  And then move onto the HQPServer script.

 

This route is going to involve far more tinkering than you're accustomed to with A+.

Hi DancingSea,

 

 I don’t find Audirvana harsh or aggressive in my system at all and my PV1 speakers can naturally be a little harsh if in the wrong system and set up. 

Have you tried a USB Reclocker?

One of the best things I’ve bought in my system and very reasonable price. Lowers the noise floor massively and has given me a much more organic analogue sound. I was really surprised how much it improved the sound, removing most of the harshness of Computer audio.

 

However, I really want to try your recommendation of Roon with HQplayer, just don’t have any money any more :-) but when I’ve got plenty of time I will trial both of them together, if that’s possible. 

Although I much prefer to not up sample and direct play to my Brooklyn DAC, I am also curious about the DSD up sampling with the Roon HQPlayer combination, as you give it such a glowing recommendation :-)

Though I do find direct play with Audirvana much better than DSD up sampling with Audirvana. We will see.

[jos]

5 minutes ago, quark said:

Hi DancingSea,

 

 I don’t find Audirvana harsh or aggressive in my system at all and my PV1 speakers can naturally be a little harsh if in the wrong system and set up. 

Have you tried a USB Reclocker?

One of the best things I’ve bought in my system and very reasonable price. Lowers the noise floor massively and has given me a much more organic analogue sound. I was really surprised how much it improved the sound, removing most of the harshness of Computer audio.

 

However, I really want to try your recommendation of Roon with HQplayer, just don’t have any money any more :-) but when I’ve got plenty of time I will trial both of them together, if that’s possible. 

Although I much prefer to not up sample and direct play to my Brooklyn DAC, I am also curious about the DSD up sampling with the Roon HQPlayer combination, as you give it such a glowing recommendation :-)

Though I do find direct play with Audirvana much better than DSD up sampling with Audirvana. We will see.

You are right about Audirvana, it isn’t harsh. It’s all about the components you have together, what determines the sound. And of-course your ears, they are unique too.

[Jamesroy]

Let me jump in here Quark are you willing to share your preference setting in A+?

[Lio_B]

Ok can you jump in A+ thread ?

 

more seriouly, About Amarra sound quality,: since I worked with HQP, I slowly mouved to prefer HQP...

 

[copy_of_a]

18 hours ago, Jamesroy said:

I now have a working copy of  3.13.3.

 

17 hours ago, Jamesroy said:

I don't need a trial version of HQP I have a full working version but don't think it's upgradable.

current version is 3.20.1 ( https://www.signalyst.com/consumer.html ) ... so of course it is upgradeable (for free).

[quark]

59 minutes ago, Jamesroy said:

Let me jump in here Quark are you willing to share your preference setting in A+?

 Yeah it is true we are on the wrong thread really, sorry.

But my settings are pretty much exclusive mode, linear mode, no up sampling, allowing the maximum amount of memory for Audirvana as I can (because I don’t use that particular Mac Mini for anything other than music). but I won’t be able to check exactly until I get to look at my computer tomorrow.

 All my music is on an external Gtech FireWire 4 GB hard drive, and I stripped the operating system of, and removed, anything that isn’t required for audio playback.  Also I’m still using the script thingy app that came with Amarra symphony that allows you to easily switch off much of the mac’s automatic operating nonsense, like spotlight and notifications...etc

 

[DancingSea]

3 hours ago, quark said:

 Yeah it is true we are on the wrong thread really, sorry.

But my settings are pretty much exclusive mode, linear mode, no up sampling, allowing the maximum amount of memory for Audirvana as I can (because I don’t use that particular Mac Mini for anything other than music). but I won’t be able to check exactly until I get to look at my computer tomorrow.

 All my music is on an external Gtech FireWire 4 GB hard drive, and I stripped the operating system of, and removed, anything that isn’t required for audio playback.  Also I’m still using the script thingy app that came with Amarra symphony that allows you to easily switch off much of the mac’s automatic operating nonsense, like spotlight and notifications...etc

 

 

Across the long history of this thread, we have discussed Audirvana settings extensively. Copy_of_A provided us a great recipe, which I can dig up. And there has been the various tube/ analog simulation plugins, etc.  I still find Audirvana off putting!  I’ve tried everything. 

 

Amarra, Fidelia, and now HQP with Roon all sound more pleasing to me. 

 

Yes, I’ve had a RUR for a long time now, with a Curious Link no less. 

 

Roon is so expensive, but the more I use it, the more difficulty I have in canceling the trial. It has vastly superior library management and functionality. . And with HQP, the sound is amazing.  

[DancingSea]

Copy_of-A's recommended A+ settings are found mid way down this page....

 

 

[freesteve]

Distortion w/ Tidal... Tidal OK with Audirvana and direct play.  Anyone else with issue and a fix ?  Thanks.

[Jamesroy]

On 6/26/2017 at 2:17 PM, copy_of_a said:

 

FWIW here are my settings & plugins.

 

A+ prefs (from my Desktop computer with a little NAD D1050 DAC… but the actual settings are the same as in my main system):

 

Audio System -> Low Level Playback options:
- Exclusive access mode: engaged
- Direct Mode: disabled
- Large I/O buffer: engaged
- Integer Mode: engaged

 

Upsampling:
- steepness: 22
- Filter length: 500,000
- cutoff: 0,95
- AA: 100
- pre-ringing: 0,86
- Forced Upsampling: power of 2

 

AU:
1. PSP preQursor2*
2. PSP Mix Saturator
3. PSP X-Dither

I have my music coming into a Mac Book from an external HD. I tried your settings in A+ and get too much harshness so back to A+ default settings. I have the Stellar Gain Cell DAC. Haven't tried connecting the REGEN yet. I only have about 25hr's break in so far. I do have the Parasound P5 HALO preamp that I'm not using since I have a preamp in the Stellar. Will need to test it yet. It's only 1 year old.

Plugins:

 

preQursor:
- analog pre-amp: +8
- filterbands engaged but all set to zero
- output gain: -3db
- SAT: engaged

 

Mix Saturator 2:
- seperate Low and High filtering disabled
- saturation: 20%
- Shape: Valve 1 (the smoothest option)
- Mix (Dry/Wet): 65%

 

Dither:
- Mildly shaped Dither (Smooth NS „A“)
- (additional) Dither Shape: Flat
- Dither Level: High
- bit depth: 24bit

 

Now, as said above, it’s not my goal to exactly match Amarra’s sound.
This is less processing - A4 sounds bolder.
To get the same „richness“ as Amarra set the pre-amp of preQursor from +8 to around +12 and Saturation to 30%-40% (mix to 65%-75%)... in case you really use this plugin.

 

______

 

Saturation: I’ve tried the Klanghelm IVGI saturation plugin but even at the lowest setting it’s too much for my taste.
It sound really good (very good!) - as an effect - but too bold to match Amarra sound and much too bold for my personal taste.

Since I already have a high quality saturation plugin I don’t want to check all the other plugins mentioned here.

 

Personally I also like preQursor2 alone (with SAT enabled in conjunction with -3db output gain) … but the second addition of some saturation (at very low settings) is certainly nice if you want to get closer to Amarra.

 

Dither: 24bit TPDF Dither will do - you don’t need to buy a plugin for this purpsose…

 

Hope that helps.

 

__________

 

 

* make sure to update to the latest version of preQursor2 (2.0.2)!

 

__________

 

 

 

 

Thanks

 

[Otherworld74]

On 12/6/2017 at 6:18 PM, Amarra_Support said:

Hi All,

Sorry for the delay, got a bit backed up over the holiday with the Black Friday sale.

 

I wanted to give an update regarding iTunes integration with Amarra 4.  We are now looking into this and doing some initial testing.  If all works well, we'd provide a platform to use iTunes to select and manage your library and Amarra will be the playback engine.  It's still early, I don't have any other details other than we are looking at it now.

 

For those that were wondering why we were even looking into this, the answer is really two-fold.

- First is a sound quality issue.  iTunes is a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none player.  It uses Core Audio for playback which is used by just about every other function on the Mac to make noise.  The result is that using iTunes for playback does not provide the best sound available, what we feel is the holy grail.   For those of you that use Amarra 3, compare iTunes mode with Amarra Playlist mode and I think you'll hear improvements when only using Amarra Playlists.  The same is true for Amarra 4, it was purpose built to playback music, doesn't use core audio and the result is the great sound. 

 

- The second part is that we needed to do this so we can support some future projects including the Remote, MQA support, DSD support and some other goodies that are coming in the future.

 

We're still making more improvements and appreciate your continued feedback.

 

Fyi, if you're using the remote and haven't updated recently, there's a new version on the App Store, v1.3.

 

best

Ralph

 

Any updates on iTunes integration?

[ddalmas]

hi mr Ralph 

i am one of the strongest criticizer of A4 as you have clearly seen, but i also a strong supporter of A4's sound! So i want to ask too you if you consider that there may be  other possibilities ,but iTunes integration ,to resolve A4's enormous library problems??

Can i suggest to you a very simple solution?As it is well, and sadly, known by every A4's  user  ,and by you too believe ,loading your own library takes a lot of time and it is a wasted time because when loaded a great mess is created!!!Nothing is in the right place and nothing is manageable by the user.... and so on...!!

This happens since A4 must load, before being abled for playing anything ,the needed library (regardless if only PART of it OR THE WHOLE)...is this true?

Well why do not bypass this problem simply letting A4 to look to the folder/s where the album/songs library is stored and also keeping sinced to this/these folder/s without the necessity to load part or the whole library but simply chosing the needed songs/album just at the moment of the need to listen to it.this will give a lot of advantages: 1no loading wasted time .....2 no sound degradation ....as there will not be any unneeded signal passage ,only a direct disk reading !this will lead to --> .....3 a lot of memory saved .....4 any user is free to organize its own library at it's own will,  so that  no one could anymore criticize A4 songs/albums organization!!

i apologize if i took the permission to suggest that to you,that undoubtably are more learned to programming than me, but it seems to me the easiest way to lead all user to fidelity to A4 ,and not a now that a considerable part of desperate  users  is searching for alternative players even renouncing to the unbeatable A4's sound quality....yes desperate users as me!! Listening to music is a pleasure of life and  must not become a continuous stress!Tthe ideal player is the one with A4's sound quality combined with ease and externe simplicity of use, (and also for this A4 is ok) with easy simple and comfortable songs searching features . A4 misses only the last one ! so why do not give  A4 this feature ?  

excuse again my intromission

ciao ciao

P.S. this forum is silent since a lot of time! why this ? this would lead to think about i!me  as other i think is currently using A+ and Fidelia as alternatives to A4 even knowing that A4 sound greatly better!!I'd like to return to use A4! Please....Me Ralph

[Lio_B]

3 hours ago, Otherworld74 said:

 

Any updates on iTunes integration?

Hi,

On amarra website version 4.2 with iTunes integration for Mars, generally end of the annonce month

it look's old fashion ...

For me it's too late, I have Roon + HPQ + Tidal, and I enjoy the music.

Bye

 

[ddalmas]

Great....it could already be something more ! But everybody must remember that iTunes integration does not solve the flac to aiff/m4a conversion necessity !!! i think that's still not the right way to solve A4 library problems, even disregarding the possibility of sound degradation  using iTunes library management!!

[GregWormald]

1 hour ago, ddalmas said:

Great....it could already be something more ! But everybody must remember that iTunes integration does not solve the flac to aiff/m4a conversion necessity !!! i think that's still not the right way to solve A4 library problems, even disregarding the possibility of sound degradation  using iTunes library management!!

 

As long as the integration works, then I can't really see how iTunes library management could affect sound quality. Of course, I could be wrong.

I already convert everything to ALAC and have more than 1TB waiting for easy access to the sound quality of Amarra 4.

[Dean358]

For many of us iTunes integration is actually critically important, as described up thread. Regarding sound quality, IMHO based on running Amarra, SQ+, Audio Nirvana + and Roon,  Amarra produces the best sound quality hands down. Using my Trinnov room processor as an ethernet Roon output node is next best. But Amarra is the only player with that "damn, it's 2:00 AM but just need to listen to one more song" quality.

 

So Ralph and Sonic team, tnx for upgrading A4 to integrate iTunes -- looking forward to it!

[GregWormald]

It appears that the newest version of A4 is out, and it says it has iTunes integration.

I haven't tried it yet as my preamp is out being upgraded.

[Lio_B]

6 hours ago, GregWormald said:

It appears that the newest version of A4 is out, and it says it has iTunes integration.

I haven't tried it yet as my preamp is out being upgraded.

Hi,

No new A 4.2 released for instance on their site.

May be a beta one

[GregWormald]

I'm not up on A4 because I want a library that works, and haven't loaded the latest version 4.2.399 because my system is down. The PR says it has iTunes integration. Is this not a new version?

[Frans]

I just happened to be on the site of Sonic Studio and see a new version of Amarra: 4.2.401!!!

Tonight I'm going to try this new version.

 

Enjoy the music!