Audirvana Plus 3 (official thread)

[mevdinc]

My personal interest is the best sounding solutions within a reasonable price range. My funds are also limited. The problem with these kind of discussions is that those who find something to expensive or have invested a lot of time and effort in something, automatically have the tendency to protect and defend. That is normal human behaviour. Like I said, I am a long time A+ adept and will stay with the product if it realises the best sounding solution in my chain. At the moment it is not. I am not a Roon fanboy. In fact, I am using the free 2 month trial that came with my mRendu. I am open minded and willing to learn and adjust in this very fast moving digital audio world.

 

I see from your signature that you've got the wonderful Lindemann monitor speakers but not their DAC. I just wondered if you had a chance to hear their new DSD series musicbook DACs at all?

I've recently replaced my ageing Zodiac Gold with Musicbook 20 DSD and I must say I'm very pleased with it.

 

FWIW, I tried the MQA via the TIDAL desktop app but Audirvana sounds better even without the MQA software decoding.

Can't wait to try out the MQA music with Audirvana+ 3!

[skatbelt]

I see from your signature that you've got the wonderful Lindemann monitor speakers but not their DAC. I just wondered if you had a chance to hear their new DSD series musicbook DACs at all?

I've recently replaced my ageing Zodiac Gold with Musicbook 20 DSD and I must say I'm very pleased with it.

 

Actually I am in the market for a new DAC. I auditioned the Chord DAVE, the Aqua La Scala mkII Optologic and the Metrum Pavane so far but there are others I want to listen to before I decide. I read good things about the Lindemann musicbook products but did not consider them yet. I guess because they are to all-in-one for me. Such concepts come with sacrifices. Not having an AES/EBU input for instance. And I really want to make a big step compared to my Chord Hugo.

 

You are right, the Lindemann BL-10 monitors are something! I am sorry for the off topic, back to A+ v3.

[DancingSea]

Obviously we have someone who is part of Roon's market, and someone who is not. But this is aside from A+ v3, which is what we're discussing....

 

I'm very much in Roon's market. Just observing its price, and to my ears comparable yet not superior audio quality, is not going to dominate our market anytime soon - which is good news for A+ and the others. I can afford Roon, just not compelled enough by what it does to pay.

 

As for library management, yes, Roon wins the blue ribbon.

 

 

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[Jud]

My personal interest is the best sounding solutions within a reasonable price range. My funds are also limited. The problem with these kind of discussions is that those who find something to expensive or have invested a lot of time and effort in something, automatically have the tendency to protect and defend. That is normal human behaviour. Like I said, I am a long time A+ adept and will stay with the product if it realises the best sounding solution in my chain. At the moment it is not. I am not a Roon fanboy. In fact, I am using the free 2 month trial that came with my mRendu. I am open minded and willing to learn and adjust in this very fast moving digital audio world.

 

I'm very much in Roon's market. Just observing its price, and to my ears comparable yet not superior audio quality, is not going to dominate our market anytime soon - which is good news for A+ and the others. I can afford Roon, just not compelled enough by what it does to pay.

 

As for library management, yes, Roon wins the blue ribbon.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

 

 

 

For me, wrong on both counts I guess (who is and isn't in Roon's market).

 

 

I tried out Roon for library management, but have never listened to its audio output, since I only ever tried it with HQPlayer. I suppose I am a man of simple tastes ( ), because I already knew most of the information Roon showed me, and I actually much prefer A+'s display of my music. However, I recognize many other people prefer the sort of information and organization Roon can do for them.

 

 

Since software sample rate conversion and filtering is a way for me to get sound on a level meeting or exceeding the filtering and conversion of the best DACs at a much, much lower price, I don't foresee listening without it. However, back in the days when Audirvana wasn't yet "Plus" and didn't incorporate upsampling, I preferred it to other players because of specific steps Damien had taken to ensure good sound quality (something he continues to do today). Even without upsampling, with Roon's emphasis on UI, it is difficult for me to imagine that it would be as light on resources when playing music as A+.

[Gonzbull]

Roon does look good but personally, I don't need all the fluff.

I want the best sounding player and ease of use. I don't want to have to navigate an app and scroll through pages to play a song.

Saying that I do hope A+ V3 includes some UI changes to make it easier on the eyes.

As far as sound goes, A+ wins it for me and that is my 1 criteria.

[skatbelt]

However, back in the days when Audirvana wasn't yet "Plus" and didn't incorporate upsampling, I preferred it to other players because of specific steps Damien had taken to ensure good sound quality (something he continues to do today). Even without upsampling, with Roon's emphasis on UI, it is difficult for me to imagine that it would be as light on resources when playing music as A+.

 

This was a concern for me as well. Roon server acts as a background process on my dedicated Mac mini. Is does not even open a window or has some kind of interface. CPU usage is between 2 - 4% and memory usage approximately 1.5 times wat A+ needs. The more heavy duties like updating and backing up the DB are scheduled for sleeping hours. What I find amazing is that my own collection and all from Tidal co-exists transparently and that I can associate between artists, influencers, labels etc. just like for instance in Tidal's own UI.

[DancingSea]

This was a concern for me as well. Roon server acts as a background process on my dedicated Mac mini. Is does not even open a window or has some kind of interface. CPU usage is between 2 - 4% and memory usage approximately 1.5 times wat A+ needs. The more heavy duties like updating and backing up the DB are scheduled for sleeping hours. What I find amazing is that my own collection and all from Tidal co-exists transparently and that I can associate between artists, influencers, labels etc. just like for instance in Tidal's own UI.

 

That part is cool

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

[emuzaman]

Audirvana 3 has released!! - just saw in my day dream, Damien

[RunHomeSlow]

Audirvana 3 has released!! - just saw in my day dream, Damien

 

How does it sound?

[emuzaman]

How does it sound?

 

I saw in my dream, Damien gave me a Vinyl and that was spinning still in my mind

[MemoryPlayer]

How does it sound?

 

Better than never...

[tipunch]

Audirvana 3 has released!! - just saw in my day dream, Damien

 

Where can I download it?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

[DancingSea]

It's literally a dream [emoji6]

 

 

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[The Computer Audiophile]

I'm using the Beta of 3! it has to be oh so close to release!

[Dreaming Jester]

I'm using the Beta of 3! it has to be oh so close to release!

 

So, any impressions, Chris?

[The Computer Audiophile]

So, any impressions, Chris?

 

I just ran into an issue. Damien and I are working on it. I hope I didn't delay the release :~(

[Jud]

I just ran into an issue. Damien and I are working on it. I hope I didn't delay the release :~(

 

If there's an issue capable of repetition in a user's system, the delay would be worthwhile IMHO.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

[Dreaming Jester]

I just ran into an issue. Damien and I are working on it. I hope I didn't delay the release :~(

 

You're not particularly particular

[The Computer Audiophile]

If there's an issue capable of repetition in a user's system, the delay would be worthwhile IMHO.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

 

You're not particularly particular

 

Damien found the problem and it wasn't related to A+. I told A+ to scan my music by adding the top folder on my NAS share. I totally forgot that I had RoonDB backups in that location as well. This caused some very strange display issues that we all self inflicted.

 

Carry on ...

[pl_svn]

Damien found the problem and it wasn't related to A+. I told A+ to scan my music by adding the top folder on my NAS share. I totally forgot that I had RoonDB backups in that location as well. This caused some very strange display issues that we all self inflicted.

Carry on ...

 

though... an option to exclude sub-directories would be a godsend

[The Computer Audiophile]

though... an option to exclude sub-directories would be a godsend

Yes, good point.

[Dreaming Jester]

Chris, you mentioned nothing of sound quality or GUI improvements. Are there any? (I'm not particularly interested in MQA)

[mazuly]

Hi Damien

 

Again ready and really willing to test Beta..........

[Speed Racer]

All I have heard lately about A+ has to do with streaming. Is A+ going to be focused on streaming content? What is the future of the product? He seems to be betting his future on MQA.

 

I listen to, primarily, local content in 16/44.1 PCM format. What about features that benefit people like me? Better library management is badly needed. Managing manual playlists is a joke.

 

Is there a better more user-friendly player option out there for the Mac that offers equivalent or better SQ when using an upsampling DAC like the Schiit Audio Yggdrasil playing 16/44.1 PCM source material?

[Jud]

All I have heard lately about A+ has to do with streaming. Is A+ going to be focused on streaming content? What is the future of the product? He seems to be betting his future on MQA.

 

I listen to, primarily, local content in 16/44.1 PCM format. What about features that benefit people like me? Better library management is badly needed. Managing manual playlists is a joke.

 

Is there a better more user-friendly player option out there for the Mac that offers equivalent or better SQ when using an upsampling DAC like the Schiit Audio Yggdrasil playing 16/44.1 PCM source material?

 

The "headline feature" for 3.0 is MQA, and for 3.1 is streaming capability. But there is no diminution of the ability to play local files.

 

For me the primary criterion has always been the sound. I've found no better SQ for Mac, and as I've mentioned previously, I've heard a beta (not using one now, waiting for the new release like everyone else) and felt the sound quality to be improved. (More than a little, by the way. I was not told by Damien; I heard the beta and asked if he'd done something to improve the sound.)

 

Sorry to say I don't know what if any library management changes there have been, because I have for a long time had a fairly simple library management process that A+ works with very well, so my testing doesn't really explore those features.