New Amarra 4

[jp11801]

so bloody conflicted as is pisses me off that I have paid for Amarra (when it was $500), Amarra Tidal and SQ and now it appears that luxe 4 is promising to do what these programs should have done...

 

Really glad to see Jon, Ralph and the Amarra gang continue to progress their work and respect how hard it can be but as a consumer not really feeling it. Here is to hoping that 4 is the program that computer audiophiles have been waiting for I for one am going to pass until the program is road tested and bullet proofed.

[edtsui]

My trial period of Amarra 4 just ended. I like the sound in comparison with A+ and HQPlayer. Very warm and broad soundstage, though less clarity and precision. The problem however is its file management. It does not even open properly some of my files, particularly music with double discs. It mixed up the tracks of disc 1 and 2 big time. This is very problematic for classical music. In short, I cannot use it just by loading music files each time. Very annoying. I have therefore decided to wait until they sort out all the bugs, or at least the main ones.

[DancingSea]

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

At $1050 for Roon + Dirac Live + the mic to use Dirac Live - if there is a God, then I certainly hope it sounds better than the $49 Amarra!

 

I was able to use Terminal to figure out why Amarra 4 (beta 4.0.223-077) was crashing during my iTunes importation. Two items - out of 31,000 - were the culprit. Both were ALAC taken from SACD’s. Both were only one track, the songs had not been divided into separate tracks. One was 6 GB in size (Garcia/Grisman), and the other just over 5 GB (Garcia & Saunders). I removed both from my iTunes library and Amarra 4 was able to make it through scanning and importing about 31K tracks.

Its taking forever to save itself, only at 63% after an hour of trying to save. I realize my library is over the prescribed size limit. Oddly, importing 31K tracks directly from a folder only took about 20 minutes. The iTunes importation process is 2 1/2 hours and counting for the same amount of music.

Until I can easily manipulate playlists tracks in mass, and until there is a rating system (preferably importation of the iTunes ratings), I’ll likely wipe the Amarra 4 library clean and just use it as a player, importing a specific group of CD’s from iTunes before each listening session - as I have been doing. If Luxe does at least that, has an iOS remote, and deals with Tidal properly, I'll be satisfied.

 

To me, the only non-iTunes application with a satisfactory library, or comparable library management system is Roon, which exceeds iTunes. For life of me, cannot understand why Roon costs $500. Add in the cost for HQPlayer, and its simply further down the rabbit hole than I wish to go.

 

iTunes + our problem child A4 Luxe + Tidal shall be sufficient for me. Isn't it all about satisfaction? This hobby is so filled with dangling carrots and unfulfilled desires. But I sense an oasis is near.

 

[DancingSea]

Amarra 4 completed the importation and saving - took 3 hours. All but about 200 of the 31K tracks made it. The iTunes playlists are all there, but not in my all important sub folders, with no option to create new ones. Multi disc sets still get jumbled altogether rather than be in the proper order. Manipulation of the playlists remains tedious as only one track can be dealt with at a time. And still no rating system. Within the playlists, can only view in track mode, there's no option to view the playlist in album or artist mode.

 

But hey, progress was made. Now off to delete the whole library I feel that having an iTunes level library management system in A4 is a long long long long....... ways off. By removing that expectation from my mind I feel a sense of peace, and can enjoy Amarra 4 for what it is, an awesome standalone (sans library management) player. Bring on the Tidal!

[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.

[Amarra_Support]

so bloody conflicted as is pisses me off that I have paid for Amarra (when it was $500), Amarra Tidal and SQ and now it appears that luxe 4 is promising to do what these programs should have done...

 

Really glad to see Jon, Ralph and the Amarra gang continue to progress their work and respect how hard it can be but as a consumer not really feeling it. Here is to hoping that 4 is the program that computer audiophiles have been waiting for I for one am going to pass until the program is road tested and bullet proofed.

 

Thanks for your feedback and sorry for the frustration. We are working at resolving the issues reported and do appreciate your feedback. The next release has many improvements with more on the way.

 

best

Ralph

[jos]

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

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Computer Audiophile

[jos]

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

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Computer Audiophile

 

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

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Computer Audiophile

[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]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Computer Audiophile

[DancingSea]

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

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

[Sonic77]

Just now downloaded and installing library. Will post back with more info. Update is now available.

I'm wondering if that was 3 download updates? Anyway my library is loading now.

[Sonic77]

Ok, so far so great! Good job Woo

Picking a song there is a delay, vs clicking on next which plays right away. Sound is very good.

[DancingSea]

When I downloaded the update my license was locked [emoji357] out. Waiting for Ralph to fix.

 

I think the update is the same as the last beta.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

[Koji]

4.0.233 update fails at my end. 1st try downloaded Zip file and extracted .cpgz file and that does not start installation.

 

2nd try downloaded Zip file which extracted older version's .pkg file... (223 version)

 

So I haven't been able to update to 233... is it happening to only me? Any solution? Need to uninstall older version first?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

[94941]

Same here. Downloaded zip file is labeled as 4.0.233 but extracts as 4.0.223. After installing the update, Amarra kept telling me to update when I opened it so I tried uninstalling and reinstalling. Now I'm locked out of Amarra because it says my license key is invalid. The program sent me to the Amarra website to request my license be resent. That was an hour ago and no email received yet.

 

It's all part of the standard Amarra experience.

[DancingSea]

Same here. Downloaded zip file is labeled as 4.0.233 but extracts as 4.0.223. After installing the update, Amarra kept telling me to update when I opened it so I tried uninstalling and reinstalling. Now I'm locked out of Amarra because it says my license key is invalid. The program sent me to the Amarra website to request my license be resent. That was an hour ago and no email received yet.

 

It's all part of the standard Amarra experience.

 

I had exact same experience.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

[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.

sent from iPad

[quark]

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.

[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.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Computer Audiophile

[ghostdog]

same problem for me on update

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

[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]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Computer Audiophile

[DancingSea]

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.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

[Sonic77]

4.0.233 update fails at my end. 1st try downloaded Zip file and extracted .cpgz file and that does not start installation.

 

2nd try downloaded Zip file which extracted older version's .pkg file... (223 version)

 

So I haven't been able to update to 233... is it happening to only me? Any solution? Need to uninstall older version first?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

Your right, I guess mine never went to 233 after all, it seemed to put me in a upgrade loop over & over. I would rank Amarra 4 after Audirvana and Channel D-Pure Music in sound quality, with Pure Music sounding the best in my system. I hope this is fixed, until then I am going to listen to Channel D-Pure Music and Audirvana.