Amarra Is Offically A Thing of the Past.....Thanks To Pure Vinyl's New Pure Music for just $99

[bixby]

Like a number of the posters above, I can also discern a difference between ALAC and AIFF. And I much prefer AIFF. To me ALAC loses some detail and leading edge transients.

 

As far as Pure Music goes, I have had no issues at all running on my Intel Macbook. ALAC also plays just fine. I was pleasantly surprised that my touch will allow me to change tracks.

 

I have not done enough tests to say that I favor a particular sample rate and bit depth with my 44.1k 16 bit ripped redbook files.

 

EDIT - I was suffering from some placebo effect. Serious listening confirms that audio midi settings are not touching my redbook file playback. In other words upsampling is not happening like with itunes.

 

[Paul Held]

After having some challenges with my my Mini, 2GB, ALAC set up and the demo software, I persisted to see if I could duplicate the positive experience many of you were having with PM.

 

In the end, I've purchased it at the intro price "just because" and will continue to do my own informal A/B on it.

 

It certainly "works" now and the buggy, schreechy sounds have stopped. The distortion I was hearing was caused by none other than the volume control. Above "zero" in PM caused significant distortion in my system. Keeping it at 0 or using the DIM feature to cap it at zero solved that issue outright (a case of read the manual eventually helped with that).

 

I also ended up downloading the .02 version which helped to clarify the upsampling feature, which also seems to work exactly as advertised with my Toslink 24/96 DAC. My ears are perhaps not golden enough to discern the difference yet between straight PM redbook and upsampled PM redbook but I'll keep trying.

 

In any case, a very minimal investment for the opportunity to further optimize our systems,

 

thx Paul

 

[ma]

Just a note, I believe that today is the last day to take advantage of the special intro price. In case it hasn't been pointed out here before I noticed for the first time yesterday that the regular price is now going to be $129. Either demand is higher than expected, or they are putting a few extra dollars to cover the additional ongoing support costs. Regardless, I am very pleased with the sound of the program, and I was happy to invest what I feel is a reasonable price for a software program.

 

I don't understand what my block is with spending $400 to $1000 on a software program to improve the sound of my overall system when I will drop $500 plus on a power cord and not think twice. Strange but true; the mind is a mysterious thing.

 

[sleger]

Hi,

I do not know if this is due to my setup (I think) but I am not able to make any difference with ITunes (volume max) and Amarra or PM.

My suspicion is that it is due to the system I use, ie Mac Mini (or Macbook pro 13) feeding into a Meridian sound processor via firewire and Meridian DSP8000 speakers. They integrate a lot of technology already, digital sound processing, reclock... so it probably annihilates any effect that these softwares add to itunes, does that make sense ? (from what I can read, nobody clearly knows what these softwares are doing...)

Let me know what you think, but I just did extensive testing with PM, with the mac mini and macbook pro, with itunes alone, and with amarra (demo version)

 

[machinehead]

I second the lack of Tiger support lament. I wanted to compare it to Amarra, but it won't launch on Tiger.

 

Maybe they will Patch it???????

 

[Audio_ELF]

Machinehead ... i suspect that you will be out of luck with a Tiger version - remember Tiger is 2 generations old. In same way we're starting to get software which doesn't run on Windows XP.

 

Eloise

 

[cfmsp]

 

"from what I can read, nobody clearly knows what these softwares are doing..."

 

you are correct.

 

we could put all we know (for certain) about the whys and wherefores of software players sounding different (despite all outputting the same bit perfect files) into a thimble, and have room left over for all we know (for sure) about the source of sonic impacts of USB cables being used (to transmit files) asynchronously.

 

clay

 

 

 

 

[Forehaven]

It was said earlier: "Additionally, if streaming wirelessly with AE, all files are sent as Apple Lossless, so once again you are dealing with processing the files on the fly."

 

Is that the same for using a time capsule/router?...that's it's limited to Apple Lossless?

 

Chris

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

"Is that the same for using a time capsule/router?...that's it's limited to Apple Lossless?"

 

Hi Chris - No, the Airport Express is a different animal altogether. It accepts a stream of music sent from iTunes whereas a router is sending a digital file to a computer to be "processed" by iTunes. A Time Capsule or router is not limited al all.

 

[machinehead]

For me Pure Music needs to work with Tiger to replace Amarra, otherwise it would mean rebuilding my music server.

 

[Paul R]

I should have followed up on this before, but being lazy...

 

Everything in PM is working great right now, sans a tiny bit of delay between PM and iTunes. And that I understand, will be fixable real soon now.

 

In regards to AirFoil - it all just works now. No problems whatever. NetSend is even better.

 

Those guys are cranking out releases quickly - and each one is just a bit better than the previous version.

 

Just wanted to close that communications loop.

 

-Paul

 

 

[Forehaven]

"Hi Chris - No, the Airport Express is a different animal altogether. It accepts a stream of music sent from iTunes whereas a router is sending a digital file to a computer to be "processed" by iTunes. A Time Capsule or router is not limited al all."

 

Ah, Thanks Chris for that info. Btw, have you tried this program yet, or compared it to Amarro? Plans to review it perhaps?

 

( I didn't get my Lynx card for Xmas so I'm still saving away lol I'm going to get it eventually for my G5. I'm bummed I haven't gotten a server setup since the Symposium. But it's nice to see other competitors in software, like Pure Music, and the field is growing so fast.)

 

Chris

 

[dgad]

I tried it with Memory play configured using my Mac Mini (I have the free demo now for about a week), w. 4GB of RAM (it is dedicated as a music server). EAch time it will play 3-4 tracks and then stop. Need to be restarted again. Sound is very good but I don't know if is necessarily better. I have upsampling turned on to 24/176.4. Anyone else having the same issues w. 4 GB of ram. Anyone not having issues using Memory play & over sampling. My system is listed below. Trying to decide if to buy or not but the bugs are holding me back.

 

[sidssp]

I had experienced the same problem in earlier builds but the latest build 1.12 is very stable. I have not had any problem with it so far. If you are not using the latest, I suggest you give it a try.

 

 

[coot]

same as dgad. Stops playing between tracks, has to be manually restarted once, then plays until I shut down hours later.

Also has tiny, almost imperceptible blips intermittently that don't repeat if the track is replayed.

All using memory play. Upsampling to 24/96.

 

AIFF > MacMini 4gb, SSD, 10.6.2 > USB > Benchmark HDR

 

Just noticed 1.12. Will upgrade and try again.

 

[Dave Clark]

Also have 1.1... sometimes will play for hours and then stops, other times for an hour or less...and then stops. Choose a song and hit play and it is fine, no need to restart.

 

[indirstr8s]

... as what coot refers to. But I noticed them with version 1.12. Rare, intermittent, and not repeatable.

Alac, 44.1->96 up-sampling and hog mode enabled.

 

[dgad]

I had them often but less. Need to check my version to get back to everyone. I used to have the blips but my DAC had a Snow Leopard firmware update and blips w. itunes alone are gone. But very soft ones that are low in volume w. PM. I just feel the sound might be a bit better if all is going well. Seems to be a touch more open. They are close & I believe in long term listening rather than short term a/b tests. It really isn't the money it is a question of if it is worth the hassle. With Classical it can be very annoying. Actually most of my music is either concerts or classical and having it pause hurts the flow.

 

[dgad]

I downloaded PM 1.12 as indicated above. Big difference in performance. No more random pauses on playing gapless albums from Memory Play or just regular albums. Did some sonic comparisons as well and the PM player using upsampling is a touch more liquid and laid back than the iTunes direct. I wouldn't say better but I do prefer it for most of my recordings. But it is that slight. I was not able to activate HOG mode for my player (it was indicated as not available) and once I set what player I am using and sampling rate it wouldn't allow me to adjust my oversampling. I then removed the check for managing directly my player and restarted the program and all was good. Not sure why I had issues w. PV and not PM is they are supposed to be the same. I looked at the memory footprint and basically my Mac is using 2.5GBs of memory if loading into memory and the album is not gapless tagged. If it is tagged gapless, then I go to about 3.2GBs which sounds about right. CPU processes are about 82% free. I like many of the features of PM especially the large banner on top. Wish I could make it bigger so I can see it from across the room. I am still testing and the program can hang if you move from Gapless album to gapless album right after loading and playing one for a tiny bit. But I expected that. I have tried Amarra and while impressed with the sound on high res native tracks I wasn't on redbook resolution rips. In fact I found it made the music have an overlaying sound. If I get the time I will compare PM to iTunes to CD via my EMM CDSA. That should be fun but then I am using my preamp and right now I have bypassed it going direct from the Prism Orpheus to the VTL amps.

 

[sidssp]

To use HOG mode, you need to first go into Audio Midi Setup and make Build-in Output the sound output (not your DAC). Than go back to Pure Music and select your DAC and check HOG mode.

 

 

[dgad]

Thank you. Just downloaded the Pure Music 1.2 and your advise helped w. Hog Mode. The instructions are very detailed and seems a lot of good features are on the horizon.

 

[deho]

Mac Mini, 4 Go, internal SSD, 2 To external Firewire storage for my library, Memory Play, hybrid on or off (doesn't make any difference) : I still encounter pause after playing one, two or several tracks. I very rarely can listen a complete album without interruption. I have then to reset PM and it goes again but for a while ... until next pause. Like if PM was sometime not able to find the following track and blocked at the end of the current one ! I tried to change the allocated memory to low or high sizes, but no change.

 

I tried also the latest version or Pure Vinyl : same problem !

 

Besides that, it sounds great !

 

[johnwilk]

It might interest a few if I report on my forced comparison between Amarra and Pure. A malfunctioning iLok (light showing, identified in system profiler, but unfindable by the iLok web application and by Amarra) drove me to download Pure Music and I've spent a few days with it before Jon at Amarra restored service (this afternoon – what a service!) by reinstalling remotely with a licence rather than iLok.

 

With Pure at first I was just pleased to be playing through my Weiss with the convenience that iTunes can't offer on its own. There's no doubt too that the clarity of presentation is superior to iTunes on its own – all that people say about the enhanced soundstage is true. But from the start I found it too bright. Then I discovered the Memory function, and playing from memory noticeably mitigated the harshness. (I would add that if anything at all was open on the computer other than Pure and ITunes, I experienced clicking – using 3MB RAM – the maximum for the MacBook Pro model I have dedicated to music.)

 

Even so, playing Amarra again I immediately find the sound more satisfying – it is more rounded, warmer, and voices are more convincingly present. True, I have Naim amps which can be a little on the hard and forward side for some tastes, so this may just be a case of what suits my system. And I do miss the easy gapless playback on Pure Music. But I'm no longer listening for the accuracy of what's coming over, but wholly relaxed into the music. Amarra is a joy, and the expense and frustration fall away. I've finished marking all the student papers piled up for the weekend and don't feel inclined to go far from Cassandra Wilson...

 

Incidentally, I have the new beta version, and according to Jon the Apple Lossless code is completely rewritten, and all my CDs are in Lossless. But as I didn't keep the old version I can't specify what improvement I find. Sounds terrific to me.

 

Best

John

 

[Dave Clark]

John,

Which version of Amarra is this now? You mentioned it being a beta. I have the last official (?) release - 1.2.3203

 

[atomheart]

I come to the same conclusion between these two s/w players as you. I find the presentation with Amarra to just sound more organic and lifelike. Percussion instruments have a more tactile feel to them. There's an almost omni-directional, "share the air" of the performance quality that I don't get with PM, even though PM does sound "clear" and is an improvement over naked iTunes.

 

Still, Amarra-mini (mignon) does have a few bugs to work out, e.g., no remote control function while in Playlist mode, limit on the number of songs that can be loaded into Playlist, the songs have to bit of the same bit-rate, etc. Interestingly I can use Force Quit to shut down iTunes while playing a song in Playlist mode, but as soon as the next songs comes up in the Playlist iTunes also re-opens (in the background).