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New OSX Opensource audiophile player : Audirvana


damien78

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"While I agree Audirvana reigns sonically, I can't agree it's "buggy" :)"

 

Sorry for being a bit harsh. Yes, it also works absolutely fine for me except when pushed to the extremes (hog mode, memory playback, upsampling best settings to 192kHz). There are some "beta" symptoms such as cracks and pops, stuttering, and sometimes music just stops. And this is on a brand new dedicated Mac mini with 8GB ram and SSD.

 

In any case it is really great player and Damien did a tremendous job with it.

 

Kudos.

 

 

 

Mac Mini ? Weiss DAC202 ? ML 326s ? ML 532h ? Wilson Sophia3

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I've been going back and forth between Audirvana and "another player" the last month. I can say that I prefer Audirvana by a slight margin between the 2. Detail and extension does it for me.

 

Besides the occasional hiccup of stuttering in the beginning of the first track, I think this might be the player for me. Thanks to Damien...

 

 

 

Lyngdorf MP40..Aurender N200..Panasonic UB9000..SimAudio Titan MCH Amp..Emotiva BasX A4..KEF Ref 1 Meta..Dali Phantom IW..SVS Prime Elevation(4)..JL Audio F112..Shunyata Research Ztron Alpha HC/Wireworld Silver Electra PCs..IsoAcoustics Gaia I and II, Orea Bronze..Billy Bags rack.

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Upsampling, especially using libsamplerate at max quality in non power of two SRC (e.g. 44.1=>192) is very CPU power hungry.

And this can exceed the CPU available power, like the one of a recent Mac Mini that is Core2Duo based.

Changing the SRC algo is the only solution there, or to press pause and wait for load to advance sufficiently. Following tracks should be ok though, thanks to other core background loading.

I'll add a clear warning in the user prefs panel in next release for it.

 

The upsampling algorithms I use are not multithreaded, but, at playback start, both tracks (first and second) are loaded at the same time using both CPU cores.

This ensures the next track load progress is enough to start immediately the next track in case of a user "next track" request.

 

And I want to thank all the script writers, this is very interesting to see how you can enhance the workflow of Audirvana!

Don't hesitate to ask if you need some specific "hooks" for the scripts.

I'd be quite interested to see if full control can be taken using Apple Remote App.

 

BTW, I can upload your scripts in the googlecode repository if you want.

 

Damien

 

MBP 15"/Mac Mini, Audirvana Plus, Audioquest Diamond USB, AMR DP-777, exD DSD DAC (for DSD), Pioneer N-70AE, Audioquest Niagara balanced/Viard Audio Design Silver HD, Accuphase E-560, Cabasse Sumatra MT420

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Implied, but not stated by Damien is to upsample to 176.4k and save a ton of CPU load. It may sound better as well.

 

Forrest:

Win10 i9 9900KS/GTX1060 HQPlayer4>Win10 NAA

DSD>Pavel's DSC2.6>Bent Audio TAP>

Parasound JC1>"Naked" Quad ESL63/Tannoy PS350B subs<100Hz

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@4est Understood. I did tried and can't really tell the difference between max and integer upsampling, so opted for integer. However, CPU load still too excessive.

 

The problem probably compounded because I'm doing 32-bit overkill (rather than 24-bit). I can't limit the bit rate with asynchronous USB to this DAC. (The DAC I'm testing now is the new Calyx Dac with 16x - yes 8x per channel - ESS SABRE 9018 - and 32/192 USB link). That probably also part of the CPU load problem.

 

I also tried Audirvana with 24/96 through Halide bridge. No more hiccups but still CPU running at 100% on both core.

 

Damien, you mentioned libfsrc, that may be a nice solution for quality vs load?

 

 

Mac Mini ? Weiss DAC202 ? ML 326s ? ML 532h ? Wilson Sophia3

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@seta: The decoding/upsampling process is done full speed to be completed ASAP, and thus leave only minimal CPU use during playback.

That's why, whatever the settings, you get 100% CPU usage during tracks loading/decoding/SRC. (Both cores at 100% = 2 tracks loading at the same time). The difference resides in the time the CPU stays at 100%.

 

libfsrc may be the answer, but it is said to be alpha, and development seems to have been stopped since 2009 end.

I'll try it anyway.

 

Damien

 

MBP 15"/Mac Mini, Audirvana Plus, Audioquest Diamond USB, AMR DP-777, exD DSD DAC (for DSD), Pioneer N-70AE, Audioquest Niagara balanced/Viard Audio Design Silver HD, Accuphase E-560, Cabasse Sumatra MT420

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As a cheesy proof of principle, I hacked together an Applescript-based trick that allows me to hijack Apple's remote to select and play an album, playlist, or whatever using Audirvana. It's current limitation is that it only loads up the Audirvana playlist window and starts it playing. I have no further control except to add additional items to the end of the playlist. But at least it gives me some remote control over Audirvana while using the iTunes-based interface with its album art, which for me, is important as I need the visual cues. I can then use the Apple Remote Control device to play/pause and so on.

 

I realize this is half-assed, but if anyone wants it, let me know and I will upload it.

 

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Damien,

 

I stumbled into an album that displays the album art. So far it's the only one out of my 150+ albums. What am I missing with the other 99.9%?

 

 

Thanks...

 

Lyngdorf MP40..Aurender N200..Panasonic UB9000..SimAudio Titan MCH Amp..Emotiva BasX A4..KEF Ref 1 Meta..Dali Phantom IW..SVS Prime Elevation(4)..JL Audio F112..Shunyata Research Ztron Alpha HC/Wireworld Silver Electra PCs..IsoAcoustics Gaia I and II, Orea Bronze..Billy Bags rack.

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JS21: what is the difference between this album and the others?

Are the others having their album art fetched by iTunes ?

in this case, they must stored "the iTunes way", that is neither in the file, nor in a "folder.jpg" file in the album folder, but in a seperate folder dedicated to album art.

But there is a way to retrieve anyway when you drag'n'drop the tracks from iTunes, so that's stuff I'll eventually implement.

 

FYI, Integer Mode is now functional, just need to implement the nice fallbacks in case of device issues before releasing it.

 

Damien

 

MBP 15"/Mac Mini, Audirvana Plus, Audioquest Diamond USB, AMR DP-777, exD DSD DAC (for DSD), Pioneer N-70AE, Audioquest Niagara balanced/Viard Audio Design Silver HD, Accuphase E-560, Cabasse Sumatra MT420

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Damien,

 

Other than it was downloaded from HDTracks, no difference. I got the album art from amazon like a few of my other albums and added as usual. For some reason this is the only one that shows art.

 

Jose.

 

Lyngdorf MP40..Aurender N200..Panasonic UB9000..SimAudio Titan MCH Amp..Emotiva BasX A4..KEF Ref 1 Meta..Dali Phantom IW..SVS Prime Elevation(4)..JL Audio F112..Shunyata Research Ztron Alpha HC/Wireworld Silver Electra PCs..IsoAcoustics Gaia I and II, Orea Bronze..Billy Bags rack.

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I am enjoying Audirvana. It is a little smoother than Decibel on my system. What I really would like though is to have the ability to shuffle as that is the mode I use most often. Also it would be nice if the playlist would follow what is being played. I'm looking forward to the integer mode.

 

Current system: Mac Mini (Bolder PS- Pure Music) -jkeny modified M2tech hiFace - Peachtree Audio Nova - Modified MF X-10 V3 Tube buffer - Wyred 4 Sound amp - Gershman Sonograms

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@Jose: how have you added the album art "as usual" ? Can you elaborate ?

 

@Jim: The track being played (or to be played when "Play" will be pressed) is displayed in bold dark blue, the one loaded (next to be played) in green.

 

Damien

 

MBP 15"/Mac Mini, Audirvana Plus, Audioquest Diamond USB, AMR DP-777, exD DSD DAC (for DSD), Pioneer N-70AE, Audioquest Niagara balanced/Viard Audio Design Silver HD, Accuphase E-560, Cabasse Sumatra MT420

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Sorry Damien it's taken so long to respond to your previous question concerning the Finder's Quick View being locked while Audirvana is open.

 

I'm finding that the Finder's Quick View is locked for any type of audio & video file while Audirvana is open - not just while it's playing the same particular track. The Quick View window opens, but the audio or video does not advance.

 

I often use Quick View to sample a track to see if it's a track I'd like to play in Audirvana.

 

Hope this helps.

 

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When Audirvana is playing with Exclusive access on (=hog mode), it locks the audio device for its exclusive use.

So the Finder has no chance to play any audio (or video with audio) file at the same time.

 

Damien

 

MBP 15"/Mac Mini, Audirvana Plus, Audioquest Diamond USB, AMR DP-777, exD DSD DAC (for DSD), Pioneer N-70AE, Audioquest Niagara balanced/Viard Audio Design Silver HD, Accuphase E-560, Cabasse Sumatra MT420

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I'm having a hard time correlating my understanding of what this feature does with how common its use is. Seems more like it should be a last-ditch compatibility solution for uncommon corner cases...discussion of it, however makes me think some people are (wishful thinking?) expecting it to improve the SQ of Audirvana playback.

 

My understanding is that the ONLY thing it does is prevent other process (such as the System, iTunes, etc.) from accessing your selected audio device (DAC for instance) while Audirvana is running.

 

Other than to play something (a beep, or ostensibly something the user has intentionally attempted to listen to) nothing else is going to mess with your audio device. There wouldn't ever be any kind of "access" going on, right?

 

Either I don't "get" it, or this is a silly feature for most (as in, almost all) people to have turned on. Please educate me.

 

thanks,

jp

 

New guy here - old guy elsewhere...Mac Mini - BitPerfect - USB - Schiit Bifrost DAC - shit cable - Musical Fidelity A3.5 - home-brew speakers designed to prioritize phase and time response (Accuton ceramic dome drivers and first-order crossovers) and a very cheaply but well corrected room...old head, old ears, conventionally connected to an old brain with outdated software.

 

"It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled." -- Mark Twain

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Damien,

 

Downloaded album art(jpeg) from amazon. After adding art for display on itunes, stored it in a seperate folder dedicated to album art, along with more than a few dozen that was stored there from amazon.

 

Lyngdorf MP40..Aurender N200..Panasonic UB9000..SimAudio Titan MCH Amp..Emotiva BasX A4..KEF Ref 1 Meta..Dali Phantom IW..SVS Prime Elevation(4)..JL Audio F112..Shunyata Research Ztron Alpha HC/Wireworld Silver Electra PCs..IsoAcoustics Gaia I and II, Orea Bronze..Billy Bags rack.

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Here comes the Integer Mode with the new release 0.6.0!

 

It is enabled by default (can be disabled in the user prefs), but unfortunately, not all DAC device drivers propose this feature.

The USB DACs/bridges using the Streamlength library (Wavelength, Ayre & Halide) are known to provide it, among others.

 

Hog Mode & Integer Mode:

- Hog Mode enables the player to lock the DAC for its exclusive access. The main advantage is that the driver (if implemented correctly) will use a shorter path for handling the audio stream as it knows it doesn't have to mix several streams. Thus improves SQ.

- Integer Mode goes a step further (Comes on top of Hog Mode) by hacing the player talk to the driver in the DAC native data format (e.g. 24bit signed Integer) instead of using the CoreAudio intermediary standard 32bit float format.

 

@JS21: your album arts are stored in a different folder than the audio tracks, and only iTunes knows the links. I think I have a solution when you drop the files from iTunes into the playlist. I'll look into it soon.

 

Damien

 

MBP 15"/Mac Mini, Audirvana Plus, Audioquest Diamond USB, AMR DP-777, exD DSD DAC (for DSD), Pioneer N-70AE, Audioquest Niagara balanced/Viard Audio Design Silver HD, Accuphase E-560, Cabasse Sumatra MT420

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Many of you may have overlooked a very important feature of Audirvana...

 

Look under the "Audirvana" menu.

The feature is labeled "Make a Donation"

 

...it worked flawlessly for me just now.

 

Thanks Damien! Keep the great stuff coming!

 

New guy here - old guy elsewhere...Mac Mini - BitPerfect - USB - Schiit Bifrost DAC - shit cable - Musical Fidelity A3.5 - home-brew speakers designed to prioritize phase and time response (Accuton ceramic dome drivers and first-order crossovers) and a very cheaply but well corrected room...old head, old ears, conventionally connected to an old brain with outdated software.

 

"It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled." -- Mark Twain

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