New OSX Opensource audiophile player : Audirvana

[Lars]

Don't know what the "integer mode" involves. I thought transfer via Firewire was in integer mode anyway, but maybe his integer mode is something else. I suggest to try the new player versions with the DAC2 and see what happens.

I do not see what should be gained with "integer mode". If a player is bit-transparent from file to DAC then it can't get "more transparent".

 

Regards,

Daniel"

 

iTunes is bit perfect also when used properly for sampling rates.

 

Integer playback results in sonic improvements such as a larger soundstage and smoother, less hard sounding high end. This is what I heard with the early beta versions of AyreWave that were true integer.

 

I will revisit Auirvana this weekend as I only had a short listening session with 24/96 files. I was impressed at that time with what I heard.

 

[4est]

"This is what I heard with the early beta versions of AyreWave that were true integer. "

 

Was that way back in beta, or a beta of a forthcoming release in Decibel. Not that it will do me any good just yet...

 

[Lars]

The early betas of AyreWave were true integer. Latter versions of AyreWave and Decibel use 32 bit float conversions to allow use of the firewire dacs.

 

[J.N.]

Hi Damien,

 

I'm using a TeraDAC USB to SPDIF converter off an iMac, which feeds a Lavry DA10 DAC.

 

With the recent, latest version of Audirvana, I hear faint spitting/popping noises on quiet passages. This was not happening with the previous version. I've tried changing all available settings, to no avail.

 

Straight iTunes sounds inferior, but no spitting noises.

 

Any ideas?

 

John.

 

[damien78]

Small update fixing the integer mode wrongly selecting a 32bit float stream on some DACs that still publish float streams

More verbose errors when playback does not start. => @leo311: can you send me (by PM), the debug info, and the error message you get ?

 

Damien

 

[SidHo]

I thought I'd give Audirvana another try and downloaded the latest version. Actually I ran an older vers. I had first (i think it was 1c) and found it was clicking and dropping out when I glanced at my monitor I saw the red warning "CPU over" so then I downloaded the latest version. The same issue persists. The particular track I was listening to was a long one - the first track of Extended Play by Dave Holland which is 21 minutes if that matters. Audirvana is set up pretty much as it was when downloaded with exclusive and integer play selected with no up sampling and using the max amount of memory selection. I use the new mini with 2 gigs of ram. I did a search of the forum and didn't see any other pertinent references. Any one else or is this just me?

By the way the file in question is flac 16/44 and no other programs running on computer apart from what ever may be going on automatically in the background.

 

[wgscott]

[idiotic observation deleted]

 

[J.N.]

I've installed the latest 0.6c version and the quiet spitting noises persist on playback. Straight iTunes does not do this.

 

Thanks.

 

John.

 

[MyDoppelganger]

I've just installed the latest version, and the 1 channel thing still occurs...

This is with Integer mode off.

 

[damien78]

@SidHo: can you try decreasing the amount of RAM you allocate to the buffers? With 2GB RAM, you have little amount free for applications.

Decreasing the buffer size will lessen the chances to have mem swap to disk (giving CPU overload), but will mean long tracks will be loaded in several chunks (fortunately transparently to the user).

 

@J.N.: Can you try plugging your DAC on a different USB port ? There have been cases where plugging the DAC on shared USB port (e.g. keyboard, mouse, ...) causes this type of issues.

 

@MyDoppelganger: 1 channel issue under investigation... I sent you a PM on this topic.

 

Damien

 

[peterlin]

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[seta]

With the latest release I am having the same problems.

 

The weird thing is that it does not happen every time, about 3 out of 5 times.

When it works, it is great.

 

I can confirm that with the Calyx DAC I can do integer mode at 32/192.

 

Listening to it now (works this time) at upsampled 32/176.4 integer via USB to the Calyx.

 

Best sound I can ever squeeze from this DAC, better than firewire to Weiss DAC202 (floating). Soundstage is super wide and deep!

 

 

[bulmanxxi]

Damien,

 

Volume does not seem to work - slider moves but shows -7db and that remains unchanged. Current playlist still does not save on exit. A simpler UI built directly into the playlist window option, like Decibel, might be nice. A link to iTunes library, like Fidelia, would be very nice as well. Thank you.

 

What is the relationship between max i/o buffer size and latency? Checked or unchecked gives better SQ?

 

Stuttering seems to have been resolved as of 0.6b version. Also, volume at 0db seems to have been resolved, it is not as loud as before for some reason. The uDac-2 channel imbalance seems to have been exaggerated with one of the units I had, but with a different unit while still there, it is not as pronounced.

 

 

 

[Ajax]

 

Hi Damien,

 

You are getting a lot of issues to deal with, which is very understandable in light of the monumental task you have set yourself.

 

I just wanted to reinfoce all the positive comments you have received and make sure you understand how much your hard work and creativity is appreciated.

 

Audirvana is a stunning piece of design, which fits my needs perfectly, and you should be extremely proud of what you have achieved to date.

 

Please give yourself a pat on the back and try not to get too overwhelmed with all the issues - remember to prioritise and then know them off one at a time mate.

 

Action speak louder than words so I have decided to double my donation as a show of appreciation .... you will receive this next week.

 

Nearly there!

 

[bulmanxxi]

This may be the same issue already mentioned but the version seems to force my uDac-2 into 1ch-16bit output mode. Only manual reset through midi seems to fix it for now.

 

Further, it keeps crashing when importing a mix of FLAC and AIFF 16 and 24 bits. Thank you.

 

[audiozorro]

on the Audirvana screen two or three times. If this is a feature of Audirvana to indicate that things are not optimum then it's a great feature. Perhaps we need more similar feedback indicators to display when Audirvana determines some limit or that playback is not optimum.

 

Suggestions for optimized playback are always welcome and perhaps when you get to a stable version you can implement the help feature.

 

[wgscott]

Is there a way to log those events? I seem to see this whenever a track just starts to play now.

 

[damien78]

Yes, CPU overload is a warning for drop out in the audio signal.

It can be down a single sample, so barely audible to larger dropouts that are clearly audible.

Technically, it means the audio I/O buffer has not been filled quickly enough.

 

Increasing this buffer size (the Use Max I/O buffer in prefs) decreases the stress on the CPU, and thus has two benefits:

1) Lessens the risk of drop outs

2) Decreases the synchronous CPU load, and thus improves SQ

 

Damien

 

[Bob Stern]

While no one really understands why different audio player software sounds different, one factor may be that greater CPU usage creates more RF noise, some of which is transferred to the DAC. If so, options such as SRC that increase CPU usage would impair sound quality. If you nevertheless want to use SRC, this argues in favor of the Core Audio method which uses less CPU power than the Secret Rabbit Code method.

 

[damien78]

@Bob: My current best guess is that it is the synchronous CPU usage (the one performed in realtime to feed the DAC) that impacts the most the SQ.

 

Operations such as SRC are performed in the background, asynchronously to the audio stream operations. Thus they have less impact.

And that's why I designed Audirvana to perform every possible processing (loading, decoding, SRC, integer formatting, ...) before playback.

 

Damien

 

[damien78]

I've just released 0.6.3 that now ensures the audio stream format it chooses is at least stereo.

Please tell me if this fixes the one channel issue.

 

In addition, if you continue to hear clicks, continue to send me as detailed reports as you can to characterize it as precisely as possible and the exact circumstances where it happens (and the others that reduce or suppress the issue).

Not having the issue/a DAC with the issue, I'm close to face the limits of remote debugging...

 

Damien

 

[Gav]

It's a great project that you are working on here Damien.

 

I have an ongoing issue though with "Use Max I/O buffer" across all of the audirvana versions I have used. With this checked the sound is a 'chattery' 'stuttery' mess. Uncheck it and it's great. Playing around with the other pref settings does not seem to solve it. I can see that this has been discussed earlier in the thread but I can't work out whether an answer was found.

 

I am using a mid 2009 macbookpro with latest up to date OSX feeding a Weiss INT202 FW to spdif interface. If I disconnect the INT202 and select built-in output then there is no problem using Max I/O buffer.

 

Gav.

 

[Cherrington]

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

 

[chilest]

Gav.

I had the same problem with INT202 feeding a Bryston BDA-1 DAC. I actually solved the problem by going into the Weiss INT202 control panel on my MacBook Pro, under "operation mode" in Global Settings, there are 4 settings: normal and safe mode(s) I, II, and III. I have found that is safe mode III or II is checked, I get the same problem you note. I have set the mode to normal operation, which solved the problem.

 

tom

 

[chilest]

Gav.

In the Weiss INT202 manual I found the following information:

 

Global Settings / Bus:

Master: Is the device which is sync master on the virtual

bus in case multiple devices (“INT202s”) are connected.

 

Sync Source: The clock to which the INT202 should sync

to. Usually this is the INT202’s internal clock generator.

 

Sampling Rate: The sampling rate of the device when

internally clocked.

 

Operation Mode: determines the stability of the system.

Try other modes if there are clicks in the music.

 

Global Settings / Info: Information about the driver

version.

 

So apparently, operational mode regulates stability of the "system" and you can try different settings, as I did.

 

Tom