New OSX Opensource audiophile player : Audirvana

[Cherrington]

I've been listening to Audirvana for a couple of weeks now, and I really, really like it. I also have Pure Music and Decibel, and when I first got Audirvana, I went back and forth between those programs and iTunes to see what the differences were and to decide which one I liked best. I wasn't that sure about Audirvana at first, as I wasn't hearing dramatic differences between it and iTunes or it and Decibel, but over time I realized that I was listening for the wrong thing. The difference isn't in how the programs make music sound; they're in how they make music work. What I've found over time is that Audirvana makes my music more engaging. Listening to anything at all with Audirvana and headphones makes it quite impossible to pay attention to anything else, and listening over the main system just makes the music more effective. I can't help singing along, or dancing or whatever the music is intended to provoke. And in the end, that's much, much more important to me than how music sounds. (My system is all about that, with horn speakers and a single-ended 845 amp.) This is the same effect I find with Pure Music, and although the sound through Audirvana is a little different, it's not a meaningful difference. So nice work, Audirvana!

 

One other thing I changed recently is I started operating my MacBook Pro in 64-bit mode, and I think that, too, has had a significant effect on the sound. To do that yourself, just hold down the 6 and 4 keys on startup (you can check whether it worked by going to About This Mac>More info and then clicking on Software--the heading in the information window that says "64-bit kernel and extensions" will have a "yes" after it).

 

[Cherrington]

I just downloaded the new 0.6.0 version, and it's doing some very strange things. At first it was stuttering continuously. Then the stuttering stopped and it played the song, but at half speed (or at least much slower in tempo and pitch). I quit the program and started it up again, and this time it worked fine, at least for the first song I played, but when I added another song to the playlist (a different one, this time), it, too, played at half speed.

 

I'm using it on a MacBook Pro (2009), with 4 GB and 2.53 GHz and running it via USB into a Blue Circle Thingee DAC. I've got Audirvana set to Exclusive Access Mode and Integer Mode and 4 or 2x oversampling only. And the quality is set to "best."

 

The 0.5.0 version has never given me any trouble, so I was surprised to find this problem with the newer version. Anybody have any guesses as to what might be happening? Have I got it set up wrong?

 

[Cherrington]

The new fix in 0.6.1 settled the stuttering and speed issues, and this morning I got my first chance to listen properly to the results. I put on the first cut of Lucidarium by Steve Colemen and nearly jumped out of my chair when his sax came in at the beginning: it was the most live-sounding, natural-sounding, real-sounding saxophone I've ever heard come out of any system. It was absolutely spooky, almost disturbing, how real, how tactile it was. That impression has now carried forward through all kinds of music, from wind ensembles to finger-picked guitars to vocals to drum solos. The main thing that's just knocking me out is that tactile sense, that feeling of fingernails on steel strings, breath over a reed, lips and tongues forming words, and sticks hitting drum skins. And I'm getting this without any apparent increase in treble or etching or edge at all. It seems to be coming entirely from increased resolution. Really quite remarkable. It's elevated my system to a whole new level and made music even more engaging than before. If Damien runs for president, I'm voting for him.

 

[Cherrington]

I'm having a strange problem with the 0.6.1 version. When I'm using it, the Audio Midi Setup on my MacBook Pro tells me (and my ears confirm) that I'm getting one channel 16-bit, and it won't let me choose the two-channel 16-bit setting. On the 0.5 version I don't have this problem. I've got the Integer Mode turned off, as my DAC doesn't seem to like it (I'm playing through a Blue Circle USB DAC). Any ideas as to what I'm doing wrong? Is anybody else having this problem?

 

[Cherrington]

Thanks, Damien. 0.6.3 now is working in two channels. All is happy in stereoland.

 

[Cherrington]

I'm having the strangest problem. I've selected my DAC in my MacBook Pro's sound preferences; it's showing up in the Audio Midi Setup; and it's showing up in Audirvana preferences, but the sound is coming out through the laptop's speakers. This is only happening with Audirvana. When I listen to iTunes or a movie or anything else, the sound comes through the DAC without a problem. To make it even weirder, this just started happening; Audirvana was working just fine all day yesterday. Any ideas what's going on?

 

[Cherrington]

Thanks, Blu, for the suggestion. I tried your idea of selecting built-in output as the choice in System Preferences, but I'm afraid it is still refusing to come out through the DAC. So I also tried making built-in output the choice in Audio/Midi Setup and then making the DAC the choice in Audirvana under exclusive access, but still no luck. It's quite baffling, especially since it was working just fine the day before. Everything else, including lesser audio programs, are working fine through the DAC.

 

[Cherrington]

Thanks, Damien! That was the problem. I registered the DAC and now I'm very happily listening to Audirvana again.

 

[Cherrington]

You can add the Burson 160D to the list of integer-mode-compatible DACs (confirmed by both debug data and lit-up integer-mode symbol in the player interface window). Yippee!

 

[Cherrington]

You can also add the Blue Circle Thingee to the list of DACs that work with integer mode (confirmed by both debug data and player window icon).