Audirvana Plus 3 (official thread)

[audiocanyon]

3 hours ago, Jud said:

 

Yes, very true.  How did you learn about filters in graphics and photography?

 

It is nice that A+ will accommodate both of our very different approaches.

 

Ah yes, diversity and flexibility truly is the spice....  I compared my native Benchmark DAC2 upsampling with Damien's upsampling defaults in A+3.x (using maximum sample rate upsampling).  The native Benchmark placed the soundstage smack dab in the middle and had a nice full sound to it, whereas the A3+ upsampling provided more depth to the soundstage, front-to-back, with a bit more clarity and separation between vocals and instruments.  I tend to like like the A3+ upsampling on my system, but it's nice to have choice depending on the album and recording. So far I haven't run into any performance issues with my mini-mac.

[RunHomeSlow]

5 hours ago, Jud said:

 

Yes, very true.  How did you learn about filters in graphics and photography?

 

 

I meant filters in photoshop menu... or effects applied to a picture  :-)

[Jud]

7 minutes ago, RunHomeSlow said:

 

I meant filters in photoshop menu... or effects applied to a picture  :-)

 

Yep - how did you learn about the right way/time to use these and what they did?

 

[RunHomeSlow]

8 minutes ago, Jud said:

 

Yep - how did you learn about the right way/time to use these and what they did?

 

 

Went to Graphic Design school in '95, if i remember well  :-)

still work for a small newspaper and played since with MAC computers.

 

i'm better with MAC then izotope settings  :-)

[Jud]

6 minutes ago, RunHomeSlow said:

 

Went to Graphic Design school in '95, if i remember well  :-)

still work for a small newspaper and played since with MAC computers.

 

i'm better with MAC then izotope settings  :-)

 

Wish they had a Filter Design School (actually I guess they do, but my last math courses were 45 years ago and they didn't get into the math filters use).  It will be interesting to see whether I make time to try to learn some of these things after I retire, and if I do, whether I'm still capable of learning them.

[dahlberg]

Is there a convolver plugin that will work with Audirvana ?

[colombo riccardo]

On 21/3/2017 at 7:49 PM, damien78 said:

This is the hidden gift from Apple when compiling on Sierra. It breaks the compatibility with Mavericks.

Sorry for this, should not have issue a last version 2 bug fix... I'm applying the workaround, and I issue a 2.6.8 that will then be the last of the 2.x series.

 

Is the release 3 compatible with OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) ?

[RunHomeSlow]

47 minutes ago, colombo riccardo said:

 

Is the release 3 compatible with OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) ?

 

yes i think it was just passing from 2.6.6 to 3 that causing a bug... you better pass from 2.6.8 to 3 if on Maverick to Sierra

 

Audirvana Plus needs at a minimum:

• A 64bit Mac (Core 2 Duo or later)
• OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) or later.
• 2GB RAM as a bare minimum

However, for a best experience, it is recommended to have:

• OS X 10.10 (Yosemite) or later
• 4GB RAM or more

[27Globes]

On 3/23/2017 at 11:09 AM, Innocent Bystander said:

 

I never used A+'s iTunes integration, partly because @Damien78 claimed higher quality sound not using it, and partly because I wasn't impressed by iTunes previously on an iPhone. However, the library manager is A+'s weak point. A real pain if you have less than perfect and consistent metadata (and sometimes still does unexpected things when metadata is correct and consistent, such as doubled up tracks of alternate resolutions if you have more than one version of the same album in different resolutions, and some tracks simply not appearing when others do). It is worst with classical, with its variability in assignment of genre whether on CD or downloads, e.g. different recordings of the same piece of music variously being assigned 'symphony', 'orchestral' or simply 'classical' (likewise when it comes to assigning artist). There are quite a few people waiting in hope for Damien to implement a facility for browsing by file file/folder structure/location to solve these problems, including me!

First, Thanks for picking up the inquiry.  Wasn't using iTunes Integration, but took Damien's 1st recommendation in syncing my music folders.  I consider myself fairly software literate, but trying to figure out how to filter a selected genre/category so that it would stand alone was not possibel. Because I had established playlists in iTunes ( using it as a library interface and not as a player), I then took the alternate preference of where you sync in the playlists that you established in iTunes... and for the life of me can't figure out how to run those playlists within the Library Manager unless I go through each individual track and add them to the qu.  I have the highest regard for this player and what Damien has created, but it seems that the Library Manager is complicated and confusing vs being straight forward.  And it really requires video to illustrate how to use its features... It's not sufficiently straightforward and tries to accomplish too much

[wgscott]

10 hours ago, dahlberg said:

Is there a convolver plugin that will work with Audirvana ?

Anything that has an AU (eg: Dirac [beta]).

[Bob Stern]

15 hours ago, dahlberg said:

Is there a convolver plugin that will work with Audirvana ?

 

Are you asking because you want to use a room EQ program other than Dirac, such as Room EQ Wizard or Uli Brueggemann's Acourate?

 

If so, any AU type convolver plugin should work, but most of them haven’t been updated in years, so you should ask their developers if they are compatible with your version of OS X.

 

SIR2 Reverb is $145 (after their 25% discount) and updated this year, but the website has no reference to OS 10.11 (El Capitan) or 10.12 (Sierra).

 

Liquid Sonic Reverberate Core is $40 but was last updated 9/2015.

 

MellowMuse IR1A is $50 but was last updated 12/2014.

[dahlberg]

3 hours ago, Bob Stern said:

 

Are you asking because you want to use a room EQ program other than Dirac, such as Room EQ Wizard or Uli Brueggemann's Acourate?

 

If so, any AU type convolver plugin should work, but most of them haven’t been updated in years, so you should ask their developers if they are compatible with your version of OS X.

 

SIR2 Reverb is $145 (after their 25% discount) and updated this year, but the website has no reference to OS 10.11 (El Capitan) or 10.12 (Sierra).

 

Liquid Sonic Reverberate Core is $40 but was last updated 9/2015.

 

MellowMuse IR1A is $50 but was last updated 12/2014.

I'm not quite sure what system to try yet, for now I'm just figuring out what's possible. I have a dsp-xo solution today that handles iir filters just fine but for fir filters there are just not enough taps. So to be able to handle impulse and phase response I need to find another solution. All of them you mentioned are interesting, for now at least.

[astrostar59]

Are you sure you need something this complex? It may be more effective to apply physical room corrections such as sound panels, speaker placement etc. Rugs and such work as well. And if you need more LF extension add a decent sub.

 

I was using a very good EQ only plugin till recently called DMG Audio EQ. They make various models and with more features. I did tend to find the simpler effect you apply, the less smearing or flattening of the soundstage will occur. This is my point, if you go with more correction IMO you will loose something in the original data along the way, there is no free lunch.

[dahlberg]

43 minutes ago, astrostar59 said:

Are you sure you need something this complex? It may be more effective to apply physical room corrections such as sound panels, speaker placement etc. Rugs and such work as well. And if you need more LF extension add a decent sub.

 

I was using a very good EQ only plugin till recently called DMG Audio EQ. They make various models and with more features. I did tend to find the simpler effect you apply, the less smearing or flattening of the soundstage will occur. This is my point, if you go with more correction IMO you will loose something in the original data along the way, there is no free lunch.

 

I already have the eq functions in the dsp-xo, what I'm after is impulse and phase response compensation. The frequency response in this room is actually quite good without any eq directed at the room response. I'm only using these functions for dipole roll of compensation. If I'm reading it right Dirac would work right away or ? Only thing missing would be the measuring microphone. I'm running a Mac mini and AU 3.0

[astrostar59]

Nice looking room. My previous music room was into the roof space.

 

I know it is not what you are asking, but may I say something, only trying to offer an different angle?

 

The floor is going to be live as it looks like a 2nd floor level i.e. not a basement or single storey. Correct me if I am wrong. My thought is the floor will energise and become a part of the image. You could go for some damping in the floor, and look at some heavy base plates under the speakers (granite). 

 

A thick rug in front of the sofa will reduce treble reflections and improve focus.

 

No idea on the length of the room behind the sofa, but you can get standing waves in an oblong room, which can mean the bass response will come and go depending on the distance from the speakers.

 

Anyway, I am a lover of room correction first, EQ or other digital effects last (last resort).

 

Good luck.

[wgscott]

29 minutes ago, dahlberg said:

 

I already have the eq functions in the dsp-xo, what I'm after is impulse and phase response compensation. The frequency response in this room is actually quite good without any eq directed at the room response. I'm only using these functions for dipole roll of compensation. If I'm reading it right Dirac would work right away or ? Only thing missing would be the measuring microphone. I'm running a Mac mini and [Audirvana?] 3.0

 

The nice thing about Dirac is it is completely self-contained and relatively user-friendly.  It's main limitation is that it doesn't explicitly do dsp crossovers, so either (a) it isn't for you, or (b) you have to do your dsp-xo first, and then apply Dirac to the output (which should work fine, but you might not want to do things that way).  I use a $100 calibrated USB mic.  You could probably borrow one from someone here or locally, to check out the free trial of Dirac.  We have several threads in the DSP/room correction sub-forum on this, including discussion of the advantages and disadvantages by people who understand this better than I do (including Flavio (flak) from Dirac).

 

[dahlberg]

Thanks for the input. To stay on topic I will ask more Dirac etc questions in the proper forum.

On topic would be a question for Damien though.

Is there any plan to add a convolver engine to the software ?

[HardrockInMiniMac]

If you use a Power DAC with a room correction software embedded then you can use any of the software players out of the box and do the tweaking through the Amp. 

[dahlberg]

11 minutes ago, HardrockInMiniMac said:

If you use a Power DAC with a room correction software embedded then you can use any of the software players out of the box and due the tweaking through the Amp. 

 No, I'm not so....

 

Edit: I'm trying to get rid of the dual avatars, done :-)

[HardrockInMiniMac]

What's that?

[dahlberg]

10 minutes ago, HardrockInMiniMac said:

What's that?

It's a 6 foot neodymium ribbon driver 300-20khz :-)

[HardrockInMiniMac]

Oh, I hear you. Same here: First ramp up then ramp down again ;-))

[astrostar59]

A+ V3 sub bass response

Can I ask if anyone has noticed a slight drop in low bass frequencies after V2.6.6? I am not sure if I am imagining it, but it does seem to have slightly less foundation than before. 

 

I run A+ straight, no EQ or up sampling.

[dahlberg]

1 hour ago, astrostar59 said:

A+ V3 sub bass response

Can I ask if anyone has noticed a slight drop in low bass frequencies after V2.6.6? I am not sure if I am imagining it, but it does seem to have slightly less foundation than before. 

 

I run A+ straight, no EQ or up sampling.

That was my first impression but I have changed it some. A reference for me comes from "Yello-touch", the track "Petro Oleum" has a vibrating decay eminating from the bass drum, it feels like a wave of low frequency on (or under) the floorboards starting at the speakers and settling under the sofa I'm sitting in. Quite spectacular when it works. I haven't a-b compared it but for me the amplitude is there and it's as I hear it a bit "cleaner" then before. Someone with more time to spare might try it out though. The album is a lot of fun anyhow.

[RunHomeSlow]

Just installed released macOS 10.12.4 and done the Direct Mode routine again...

All good, working with A+ 3.0.3