Audirvana Plus 3.5

[DancingSea]

On 3/23/2019 at 6:51 AM, Jud said:

 

DACs don't upsample DSD, so if you send DSD256, the DAC won't touch it with any upsampling filters, just convert it to analog at the final analog filter stage.  (In some sense this is "upsampling," since analog has an infinite number of "samples."  But it's not what people mean when they talk about upsampling.)

 

Edit: There is also a filter to remove the ultrasonic DSD noise.

 

I have a DirectStream Junior DAC which, to my understanding, upsamples everything to DSD 1024.  I asked Ted Smith this question, and maybe I misunderstood the answer, but to my knowledge he said that the DSJ (and DirectStream Senior) do what they do regardless of what is sent to them DSD or PCM.  I was asking in reference to HQPlayer.

[DancingSea]

3 hours ago, matthias said:

 

The DS upsamples all PCM or DSD to 28,224 MHz.

The maximum DSD input is DSD128.

IMO, it is not a good match for software upsampling (A+ or HQP).

https://www.psaudio.com/directstream-dac/

 

Matt

 

I just like the way HQPlayer sounds on the DSJ as the back end for Roon. Much better than Roon by itself 👍

[DancingSea]

Is it possible to get a 3.5 trial for 2.6.8 users?  Have emailed and PM’d Damien several times, but no response.  Thanks. 

[DancingSea]

Any comments on the 3.5 sound signature?  Any changes from previous versions?

[DancingSea]

7 hours ago, Jud said:

 

The comments I've seen here are from people thinking it sounds better. I agree.  (First thing I noticed, actually.)

 

Edit: Though some people have said they miss iZotope, which Damien is bringing back for those with a 3.2 license.

 

Is it more smooth than previous versions?  That’s always been my struggle with A+, no matter how much I adjusted the settings, it leans a bit bright compared to Amarra or HQPlayer. 

[DancingSea]

1 hour ago, Jud said:

 

In my system I hear that as a more open top end vs. HQP (I don't have Amarra), so to me it's not a defect. (Don't have measurements, so no way to be sure which is correct, or even if what we're hearing is real.) In my subjective listening that characteristic is still there.

 

If you listen and it's too bright you can change it by reducing SoX bandwidth so the filter cut happens at a lower frequency.  Damien has also suggested lowering the filter phase setting. You can see if one or both of those has the desired effect.

 

Thanks for the advice. What are the exact settings in Sox to reduce brightness?  I don't understand the settings language very well, so its helpful to be told exactly what to set.

 

Also, I have a 3.2 license and have been using Izotope.  I've yet to try the 3.5 beta because of its restriction to Sox.  Does the current 3.5 beta allow for Izotope yet?  Just prefer to have the option of both before I dive into 3.5.

[DancingSea]

16 minutes ago, greyscale said:

 

 

Thanks.  Yes, I saw that from Damien.  Forgive me for not understanding the lingo so well, but when I went to the Sox settings, I couldn’t quite figure out precisely what Jud and Damien were suggesting to set because the terms are a little different in the settings.  For a simple creature like myself, it’s helpful to have the exact settings spelled out for Sox to reduce brightness.  Like the post of Jud’s two different Izotope setting recipes, one for fullness, the other for completeness.

[DancingSea]

6 minutes ago, pl_svn said:

 

Izotope is there since beta 19 (... or maybe 18).We’re at 20 now  

 

Where are the various beta releases posted?  I looked through several pages of this thread and see references to the releases, but not a link to download them.  Thanks.

[DancingSea]

1 hour ago, pl_svn said:

 

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/55844-audirvana-plus-35/page/2/?tab=comments#comment-944854

 

 

3.5 has launched and migrated the library.  Where do you do the Izotype, VST plugins setting, etc?  When I select “Preferences” from the drop down menu bar, nothing happens.  And in the “Settings” on the new version, I don’t see those particular settings.  Thx

[DancingSea]

Thanks. 

 

By any chance, in either playlist or album view, is there a “play favorites” feature?

 

Thats a feature I enjoy in Roon. For instance, I may anoint (heart) 8 out of 12 tracks on an album, by hitting “play favorites” it only plays those anointed tracks. 

 

I used that feature a lot before canceling Roon. 

[DancingSea]

Good suggestions. 

 

Roon’s “Play Favorites” feature found at the top of every playlist or album is very handy.  Might be an idea for a future A+ update...

[DancingSea]

Just tried 3.5 version 20 for the first time.  

 

Issue #1:

I get no sound if either Audio Units or Upsampling is enabled (Izotope or Sox), or any combination of the two.  If I disable both Audio Units and Upsampling, music plays.

 

I have quite a few Audio Unit plugins I use, though only one at a time.  Not being able to use them would be a deal breaker.

 

The same plugins work perfectly in 3.2, just tested it.  So does the upsampling scheme, no issue.

 

Issue #2

Beta 20 jumbles the track list order in my iTunes playlists.  3.2 displays them correctly.

 

I see that version 21 has been released, but when I go to the A+ website, version 20 remains the one that downloads.

 

Help would be appreciated!

[DancingSea]

14 minutes ago, DancingSea said:

Just tried 3.5 version 20 for the first time.  

 

Issue #1:

I get no sound if either Audio Units or Upsampling is enabled (Izotope or Sox), or any combination of the two.  If I disable both Audio Units and Upsampling, music plays.

 

I have quite a few Audio Unit plugins I use, though only one at a time.  Not being able to use them would be a deal breaker.

 

The same plugins work perfectly in 3.2, just tested it.  So does the upsampling scheme, no issue.

 

Issue #2

Beta 20 jumbles the track list order in my iTunes playlists.  3.2 displays them correctly.

 

I see that version 21 has been released, but when I go to the A+ website, version 20 remains the one that downloads.

 

Help would be appreciated!

 

I got upsampling to work with "x2 only" but not with "Power of 2".

 

Audio Units still don't work.  I primarily use Wave Arts Tube Saturator, both the free vintage and the one I paid $70 for...  but not of the Voxengo or Tokyo Dawn Audio Units work either in 3.5 beta 20.

[DancingSea]

4 minutes ago, RunHomeSlow said:

 

Check update in application menu

 

Thanks.  Updated to the beta 21.  But same issues. 

 

1) Audio Units do not work.  I tried 8 of them.  Must disable Audio Units entirely to get any sound to pass through to DAC.

 

2) iTunes playlists are not displayed in proper order.  The same lists display fine in 3.2.

 

 

[DancingSea]

1 hour ago, damien78 said:

 

1. Can you send me a copy of the "Debug Info"? You can get it using the "Debug Info" command of the “General” section in the settings page.
When the "Debug Info" window is open, its contents are automatically copied in the clipboard. Then make a Paste (Cmd V) in an email or PM to paste the text of the Debug info.
This will give me more details about your setup, and especially your DAC.

 

2. Do you have the "sort manual playlists" option checked in the sort criteria section of the settings page?

 

Just sent the Debug Info via PM.

 

I had not had the "Sort Manual Playlists" option checked.  So I checked it.  Playlists are still not in the right order, but now shifted from being random to being in alphabetical order by artist.  Once again, all of this behaves normally in 3.2 using the same iTunes database.

 

The various sort option like by Track, Album and Artist do nothing when I click on them.  The triangle changes the direction it points, but the lists themselves remain unaffected.

[DancingSea]

4 minutes ago, damien78 said:

I've reproduced the iTunes playlist order issue.

I'm on it.

 

Cool!  Hopefully the AU issue can be fixed as well.  I'm heavily dependent upon those in my A+ usage.....

[DancingSea]

Do Audio Units work on DSD files?  I realize there's no real time usage with DSD, but do the AU's otherwise work with DSD?

[DancingSea]

1) Another issue is that if I click on an album in my library, it shows the correct number of tracks for that album.  If I click on the album name in a imported itunes play list, it takes me to the album, but there are always twice as many tracks as there ought to be.  There are 2 copies of each track.  If I go to that same album in the library, and not via a play list link, the same album shows the correct number of tracks.

 

2)  DSD and X2 upsampling work.  If I select any other upsampling, power of 2, etc, when I play a track, A+ immediately crashes...

[DancingSea]

7 hours ago, matthias said:

 

Wave Arts Tube Saturator for example is extremely CPU intensive and works up to 192kHz depending on the CPU you use.

When combining Audirvana with WATS you have two softwares which are CPU intensive, not sure if this is a good idea.

 

Matt

 

I haven’t noticed any ill effect from using Wave Arts Tube Saturator.  I like how it softens the sound.  Roon with HQP pushed my cpu to the max, but A+ with WATS work great. 

 

I’m still not clear if it works with DSD on A+

[DancingSea]

6 hours ago, mevdinc said:

@DancingSea,
I had problems with Audio Units with earlier versions of 3.5 Beta but it all works fine for me after updating my macOS to the latest Mojave 10.14.4, hope this helps.

 

Damien helped me.  I turned off real time adjustments and the audio units began to work. And continued to work after I turn real time back on. Go figure. 

 

Still not sure about dsd. 

[DancingSea]

Is A+ 3.5 able to send native DSD to the DAC?  If so, how do I arrange it?

 

Or is it only DSD via DoP?

[DancingSea]

4 minutes ago, jimdukey said:

Where is the Booklet explaining things?

 

https://audirvana.com/delivery/Audirvana Plus User Manual.pdf

 

https://audirvana.com/en/support/

[DancingSea]

50 minutes ago, matthias said:

 

Audirvana 3.0?

 

Matt

 

I think so. But the basics of getting started are the same. 

[DancingSea]

7 minutes ago, the_bat said:

 

I'm still getting the "Audirvana Plus 3.4.99.21 is currently the newest version available" message.

 

You have to actually go to Audirvana.com and download the official 3.5 release.  Select the free version, enter your license key, and away you go. 

[DancingSea]

I have 3.5 installed.  It mostly works well.  I’m still unable, in either Sox or Izotope, to upsample to anything other than X2.  The other PCM settings cause an immediate crash.  DSD upsampling doesn’t cause a crash, but just a pop with no sound.  The track shows as playing, but no sound.