Audirvana Plus 3 (official thread)

[rodrigaj]

15 hours ago, mevdinc said:

....snip
I end up quitting and restarting Audirvana, then it connects to TIDAL fine. 

When you "end up quitting and restarting Audirvana" do you physically have to go to your desktop A+ and restart or are you "swiping away" Audirvana+ Remote and restarting the iOS App?

 

I am a new user of A+ and have experienced the same hangups. I'm trying to figure out the quickest way to get things running again.

[rodrigaj]

As a new user and purchaser of A+ v. 3.2.6 (3127) and A+ Remote, I was wondering what is the most expedient way of getting information on this player. I see that Audirvana has its own forums, and there is this thread and various others on CA. What have the more experienced users found?

 

No player is perfect and sometimes all you want to know is "is this normal behavior?" until the bugs are worked out. Case in point, is the previous 'waking on LAN via A+ Remote' posts - I thought I was doing something wrong.

[rodrigaj]

A+ 3.2.6 on an iMac

My settings:

Going to a Sonore ultraRendu > USB > PS Audio DS DAC via UPnP / DLNA from music stored on a Synology 1513+ NAS.

 

Problem: I can't get the DSD128 upsampling when my file is DSD 64. I can get DSD 128 at any other file format and when streaming from Tidal.

 

Can anyone help out? I am a new A+ user and Sonore ultraRendu owner, so I am not sure what to expect.

[rodrigaj]

@jamesg11 @jimdukey Thanks! That explains it. HQplayer is next on my list of players to try.

[rodrigaj]

2 hours ago, Jud said:

 

Or you can convert offline with Audiophile Inventory.

 

https://audiventory.com/

Yes, I have a license for AuI and I have used it with excellent results. Trouble is it takes so much time to convert to DSD128 that for me it just isn't feasible. I suppose I could get a faster computer but I can't justify it when the ultraRendu and A+ work so well together.

[rodrigaj]

1 hour ago, 2Control said:

I asked some mastering guys about this kind of voodoo-player-software like Amara, PurMusic, Audirvana :

The responses were not very nice, but consistent in terms of content. :-(

....snip....

@2Control Please start your own thread.

 

This is the official Audirvana+ 3.x.x thread and is intended for those of us who would like to share and learn and optimize this software.

[rodrigaj]

3 hours ago, Aboulfad said:

Back on topic ? I’ve had the following problem 3 times in the past week, where during playback of various Tidal  music through Audirvana (16/44.1, or sometimes MQA) for two hours plus, all of a sudden I get horrific white noise thru my dearly old precious 35 years old ProAc Studio 2. You can imagine the shock one would get as you are listenning to some nice flamenco guitar or female vocals, and shushhhhhhhhhhhhh.

 

My setup is Audirvana latest version on MacMini (8Gb, 512Gb SSD, MacOs 10.13.3 Optimized for audio), using Tidal on A+ iOS remote, Denon 3808CI as UPnP Music renderer.

 

if I shut down and restart the Denon, the noise continues, only way to stop it is to restart Audirvana on the Mac. I’ve reached out to the dev and hope to hear from him next week. I am not sure where the problem lies, but given my limited tests, it is pointing to some corruption on the Mac and/or Audirvana.

 

Anyone else, playing Tidal over UPnP through Ausdirvana for many hours encountered this problem? Any suggestions to try ?

Do you have an alternative playback method for Tidal?

 

For example, I have the option of bypassing my iMac / A+ and listening to Tidal using my NAS in an OpenHome emulation and Lumin App on my iPad.

 

Peace of mind if for no other reason.

[rodrigaj]

1 hour ago, Fridolin said:

Is Audirvana Plus 3 supposed to play with an Auralic Aries Mini via UPnP?

https://audirvana.com/?page_id=6065

 

Scroll to the bottom. These are the "partners":

 

Onkyo/Pioneer , Sonore, Bricasti

 

I discovered this when my UPnP enabled PS Audio / Bridge II would not work. It takes the folks at Auralic and Damien Plisson of Audirvana to share software and hardware details to get it to work properly. Jesus Rodriguez of Sonore was ahead of the curve on this and thus the micro / ultraRendu work flawlessly together with A+.

[rodrigaj]

3 hours ago, Fridolin said:

 

Thanks @rodrigaj.

I saw these few examples on their site but couldn't believe that's all.

 

My KEF LS50w work pretty well with Audirvana in UPnP mode, however. 

I couldn't believe it either.

 

I'm sure there are more manufacturers that work, but it is useful to know that those on their site are the only ones that are guaranteed to work.

 

Your KEF's were used the Darko's review of A+, BTW:

 https://darko.audio/2017/08/network-streaming-comes-to-audirvana-plus/

 

It was in that review that I discovered the work that needs to be done between renderer developer and Plisson. Doesn't sound like it is all that difficult, but it does require a certain degree of openness on the part of the manufacturer. I would contact Auralic and ask them if they wouldn't mind bringing Audirvana+ on board.

 

I tried with PS Audio, but they are looking at their own solution in the form of Octave which is due to be finished by the end of the year. 

[rodrigaj]

16 minutes ago, buonassi said:

This renderer uses DLNA, so yes, it'll work.  They may not be listed as a partner, but it'll work all the same.  

 

Not necessarily. My PS Audio Bridge II uses DLNA and A+ did not work properly. The only way to know for sure is to try it using the free A+ trial.

[rodrigaj]

This is a curiosity.

 

When using Tidal within A+ 3.2.7 i like to use the desktop Tidal application on my iMac for searching and creating both "Favorites" and "Playlists" in My Music.

 

The curious thing is that the "Favorites" update in the A+ window as expected, but the "Playlists" do not.

 

I have to quit A+ and restart it in order to see the Tidal "Playlists" that have been added.

 

Am I missing something?

[rodrigaj]

I am a relatively new A+ user, so perhaps I don't understand something.

 

But...I don't get the whole Direct Mode thing. A+ 3.x.x intended purpose is LAN connectivity. Is it not? I know you can put it into local, but I thought that was just an accommodation.

 

Am I missing something? (It wouldn't be the first time).

[rodrigaj]

2 minutes ago, Jud said:

 

You can have either LAN connectivity or (with older or new patched OS) Direct Mode, but not both at once.  Direct Mode operates as a USB DAC driver, so if the computer running A+ isn't directly connected to the DAC via USB, no Direct Mode.

 

Good. Not something I need to worry about since I will never have a computer in my music room.

 

When I run A+ on my LAN from a dedicated Mac mini I am in the Integer Mode. I'm not sure what that is but from the manual I think it is a good thing. I mostly care about the ease with which A+ handles SRC to DSD 128.

[rodrigaj]

2 minutes ago, jimdukey said:

SRC to DSD 128.

I you convert PCM to DSD 128 ( I do ), then Integer Mode doesn't apply.

AFAIK, that is.

Hmm... I could swear that the little "INT" green letters come up on the mac mini A+ window. But I could be wrong since I use A+ remote and it doesn't give that level of detail. Regardless, it sounds wonderful.

[rodrigaj]

Integer Mode is on, just checked Aiff 16/44.1 to DSD128

 

 

[rodrigaj]

1 hour ago, bnbayer said:

Depends. What else do you use it for?

 

My music iMac is a dedicated music computer - not used for anything else except A+  - and I've left it quite happily on Mavericks.

 

If you need to use it for other things with other software, there may be reasons to update.

A+ v3.5 will require El Capitan (10.11) or higher.

 

https://audirvana.com/?page_id=3450

[rodrigaj]

19 minutes ago, diecaster said:

 

Sure. But you can’t turn it on or off via a preference setting. Does it mean that setting always on when talking to DLNA players? Or something else??

 

If it is green it means that integer mode is effective for your renderer. IOW, your renderer supports integer mode and should always show the green INT.

 

If you change renderers and no longer see the green INT it means that your new renderer does not support integer mode.

[rodrigaj]

1 hour ago, bnbayer said:

Does El Capitan allow Direct Mode without the patch?

 

And is El Capitan available as a free upgrade any longer? The App Store only wants to take my Macs all the way up to High Sierra.

 

I can't help you on Direct Mode since my use of A+ is on a network.

 

Here is the link from Apple  on El Capitan upgrade:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206886

[rodrigaj]

9 hours ago, bnbayer said:

So, another question comes up... if we stay with the network connection, and Direct Mode becomes a non-issue, is there any consensus as to sound quality amongst the newer versions of Mac OS? (i.e., El Capitan, Sierra, High Sierra) Do any sound better or worse?

 

I bought my mac mini used and it came with Yosemite. I ran A+ on my network with Yosemite for one month. As soon as I found out about A+ 3.5 I upgraded to Sierra. I could hear no difference between Yosemite and Sierra on the network.

 

I chose Sierra based on the recommendation of a local Apple certified technician, solely for technical reasons, having nothing to do with sound quality.

 

I switch OS only when I have to. I have Sierra on my iMac and I was familiar with it, so that was what I went with. I would have stayed with Yosemite had it not been for the A+ 3.5 announcement.

[rodrigaj]

Question:

Does "Maximum memory allocated for tracks pre-load", set in the A+ preferences under Audio System, have any effect on Tidal or Qobuz streaming? Or is that setting meaningful solely for local (NAS, HD, etc.) music libraries?

[rodrigaj]

8 hours ago, buonassi said:

 

...You can observe this by pressing play on an album in Tidal and waiting for the buffering into RAM to halt.  Then skip tracks forward.  After a skipping one or two, you'll find a song that still hasn't finished loading (confirmed visually with the play control bar).  It'll go from 1/3 or so gray to fully gray.  This is best observed if you're doing upsampling, otherwise it happens so darn quick you may not see it.  

 

I have noticed this unintentionally as I was sampling an album. This sort of forward skipping plays havoc, for some reason, with my networked mac mini/A+ 3.2.7, ultraRendu and DirectStream DAC. 

The DirectStream DAC eventually locks up and only a rear panel power cycle and initialization gets things unlocked.

 

I left it at the default value (13K MB) and was wondering if I should decrease it.

[rodrigaj]

Question:

Is there any advantage to having SYSOPTIMIZER "on" when running A+ 3.2 on a network?

 

Problem:

SYSOPTIMIZER hangs up occasionally. A+ Remote offers no way of dealing with SYS OPT. I have to go to my mac mini located in my server room and click on a SYS OPT dialog box.

 

I would like to turn it off if it doesn't help an network connected computer.

[rodrigaj]

@bnbayer

I'm relatively new to A+ and A+ Remote.

How do you "VNC in to the Mini from whatever iOS device you're using with A+ Remote."?

 

[rodrigaj]

@Jud @bnbayer

 

Thanks for the clarification. I'll look into VNC Viewer.

 

Anyone else have insights into my original question? :

Is there any advantage to having SYSOPTIMIZER "on" when running A+ 3.2 on a network?

 

[rodrigaj]

I turned SYSOPTIMIZER off.

 

From the Audirvana+ forums it seems to be a buggy "feature".

 

In any case, I've had no interruptions so it will remain off.