Audirvana Plus 3.5

[Cornell77]

Hi Jud,

 

Thank you.  When you say that you have to wait a while for the track to load into memory, is there a separate setting in this regard?  I set my memory buffer between 2GB and 5.12GB and it doesn't make a difference with respect to the dropouts.  The track starts playing quickly.  I can see the buffer move ahead of playback as well on the lower progress bar.

[Jud]

7 minutes ago, Cornell77 said:

Hi Jud,

 

Thank you.  When you say that you have to wait a while for the track to load into memory, is there a separate setting in this regard?  I set my memory buffer between 2GB and 5.12GB and it doesn't make a difference with respect to the dropouts.  The track starts playing quickly.  I can see the buffer move ahead of playback as well on the lower progress bar.

 

No.  It's just that I have a very old computer, so I pause playback until the "buffer" (track portion converted and loaded into memory) is complete for the entire first track.  This gives my old machine enough time to convert the rest of the tracks while playback is ongoing.

[bnbayer]

On 5/4/2019 at 5:40 PM, bnbayer said:

Several people seem to have had syncing problems solved by 3.5.7 -  that's great! Unfortunately, I didn't have any syncing problems until 3.5.7, but now I'm missing probably 1000 albums.  Quite a number of them were albums I just played yesterday with 3.5.6, but that's probably a coincidence.

 

A very strange thing (to me, at least), is that when I quit 3.5.7 and tried opening 3.2.16, it was now missing the same albums.

 

I have tried quitting and re-syncing, and I've tried throwing away Library files (the database and preferences com.audirvana.Audirvana.plist) but no change. I think I missed something, though, as I didn't have to re-enter my license code. It did say it needed to migrate my database to the new version [again], however if it was taking the 3.2 db, that was missing the same albums.

 

What else do I need to try to get it to sync my whole library?

 

After several more attempts at trashing preferences and reloading my library, I'm still missing 30%-40% of my library. I can see these files in the Finder, and can see and play them through the HEOS app (on my Marantz receiver), which doesn't use Audirvana, but Audirvana refuses to load these files into the library.

 

A+ 3.2.16 also won't load them now, although they played there before the upgrade, and they loaded and played in 3.5.1 through 3.5.6 - it's like some flag has been set to ignore these files that affects both 3.2 and 3.5  

 

The latest attempt at a sync had been running now for about 3 hours, but thermometer is stuck at halfway, and hasn't moved or added any new tracks for about two hours. 

[bnbayer]

1 hour ago, bnbayer said:

The latest attempt at a sync had been running now for about 3 hours, but thermometer is stuck at halfway, and hasn't moved or added any new tracks for about two hours. 

 

Another hour, and the progress bar has moved up to about 3-quarters, but no more of the missing albums or tracks have been accepted into the library by A+

[Cornell77]

With regard to upsampling 44.1k to DSD256 on my 2107 MacBook Pro, I discovered that playback is smooth (without dropouts or pops) if I turn off integer mode.  With integer mode turned on, I experience dropouts and occasional pops.  The CPU load looks to be the same whether integer mode is on or off.  As expected however, the sound is better with integer mode on.

 

Can this be fixed?

 

 

[Druid]

8 hours ago, Cornell77 said:

...

I had been running a 2009 MacBook Pro  and upsampling successfully to DSD128.  I am now using a 2017 MacBook Pro I5 w/ 2.4 KabyLake processor and hoped to be able to upsample to DSD256.  But I have intermittent dropouts and pops. The dropouts are roughly every 30 seconds or so.  I haven't found any settings of Izotope or Sox that solve the problem.  My latest Izotope settings are:

...

When running activity monitor, I see that the CPU is about 63% used and 37% idle. Is my new MacBook still too under-powered for DSD256 upsampling?

 

 

 

I've also been having a bit of problem with dropouts. It seems like Audirvana (3.5.7, but the same was true with 3.2.X) can't upsample faster than playback (44.1KHz to DSD512) on a MacBook Pro 2018 with 2.6 GHz core i7 (yes, DSD512 is possible even on a Mac, just need to stream to a UPnP device that can handle DSD512). 

Actually, it can, if it maintains CPU clock between 2.6 and 3.2 GHz (CPU load is about 20-27% only). That shouldn't be a problem as the fans are barely even turned on if it's running at about 3-3.2 GHz, but the CPU clock randomly drops to about 2 GHz and then upsampling is slower than playback and I start getting dropouts (see capture from Intel's Power Gadget).

I tried taxing the MacBook Pro CPU cores by running them all at 100% with hyper threading on, and the MacBook went up to almost 4 GHz on all cores for over 15 minutes without ever throttling down.

 

Maybe Audirvana isn't using the CPU efficiently when upsampling? Clearly the macbook has more power, but it's as if it decides to drop back down to a lower clock speed since no process is demanding much of it. I tried turning on system optimizer, but the same thing was happening. 

[Borealis]

I too enjoy Audirvana for a fair few years now and the new 3.5 as well.
As previously mentioned in this thread, many UI elements are way too big so that you loose information, but I still can satisfy myself with. However a major bug could make me stick to good (not so) old 3.2, at least for my headphone listening sessions.

There indeed must be something broken in the management of AudioUnits. I generally apply a slight amount of crossfeed when I use headphones (just to ease that sometimes fatiguing "stretched inside your head" feeling and absolutely not to try to emulate real speakers) and cannot use my usual plugin anymore. (A pretty simple BS2B plugin that I found there. BTW, does anyone know a good sounding crossfeed AU that can be used with Audirvana?) The plugin window just doesn't appear and you cannot make any setting.

I experimented a bit to figure out whether the problem was delimited to this specific plugin (it is not) and I even discovered a way to reproducibly crash the whole software!
1. Select "Apple: AUGraphicEQ" and proceed to the settings (I just used it randomly for testing purposes as I was looking for a plugin with a UI).
2. Use the drop down menu to change the 31 bands EQ to the one with only 10 bands and... oh wait, where is everything gone?
It seems that the whole AU section needs a fix...

[bnbayer]

After a couple of days without music, I'm getting cranky... and Audirvana's behaviour is getting even weirder.

 

After multiple start-overs with both 3.5.7 and 3.2.16 - all of which had the sync stall at about 17,683 tracks, I tried a different tack with 3.2.16 (hoping it would migrate to 3.5 -  or at least I could use it while waiting for a fix to 3.5.x) I replaced the Library db and preferences with old ones from backup.This had pretty good results, but was missing some more recent purchases/ I was hoping s sync would pick them up. Ha.

 

A really long synch finally got up to 26,695 tracks - big improvement of 9,000+ lost tracks

The progress bar stayed a long time right at the end, and after another hour finally finished - with 13,488 tracks. It actually THREW OUT 14,207 tracks it had already loaded.

So what are my options now? Start downloading the demo versions of other players and hope Audirvana gets fixed before the demos expire? I know Audirvana is a one man show, but I need some support.

[Kurt]

1 hour ago, Borealis said:

I too enjoy Audirvana for a fair few years now and the new 3.5 as well.
As previously mentioned in this thread, many UI elements are way too big so that you loose information, but I still can satisfy myself with. However a major bug could make me stick to good (not so) old 3.2, at least for my headphone listening sessions.

There indeed must be something broken in the management of AudioUnits. I generally apply a slight amount of crossfeed when I use headphones (just to ease that sometimes fatiguing "stretched inside your head" feeling and absolutely not to try to emulate real speakers) and cannot use my usual plugin anymore. (A pretty simple BS2B plugin that I found there. BTW, does anyone know a good sounding crossfeed AU that can be used with Audirvana?) The plugin window just doesn't appear and you cannot make any setting.

I experimented a bit to figure out whether the problem was delimited to this specific plugin (it is not) and I even discovered a way to reproducibly crash the whole software!
1. Select "Apple: AUGraphicEQ" and proceed to the settings (I just used it randomly for testing purposes as I was looking for a plugin with a UI).
2. Use the drop down menu to change the 31 bands EQ to the one with only 10 bands and... oh wait, where is everything gone?
It seems that the whole AU section needs a fix...

I am also having a problem with Audio Units.  

I cannot get a plugin component  that I purchased to work with version 3.5.  I’ve tried 3.5.5, .6 and now .7  The plugin is  (Voxengo BMS).   It works, great with 3.2.  I've included a link to the plugin, below.  This plugin works in real time.  

 

https://www.voxengo.com/product/bms/

 

I deleted preferences via the terminal window for 3.2 and 3.5 per instructions from Damien that I saw earlier in this thread but it's made no difference.

[6aardvark9]

A couple of weeks ago when I originally upgraded to 3.5, I observed a very strange phenomenon where A+ could not decide whether a USB audio device was attached or not, and was constantly switching between internal audio device and the USB attached Mutec MC3+ (and therefore not playing any music).  I rolled back to 3.2.16, no issues whatsoever...  I recently upgraded again to 3.5.7, and this has been working fine for a few days, until the same issue started again.  Rolling back to 3.2.16 makes the problem disappear.  I don't believe this is a hardware issue, but something related to software communication with the USB output... ideas anyone?

 

On a side note, I had to wait for several iterations of the Mohave OS update before I could use it, the initial Mohave update from High Sierra left me with 'no audio devices detected', including the internal audio device... maybe my MacBook is 'special'??

 

2015 MacBook Pro, 2.something GHz i7 quad core, 16Gb Ram

[damien78]

8 hours ago, Cornell77 said:

With regard to upsampling 44.1k to DSD256 on my 2107 MacBook Pro, I discovered that playback is smooth (without dropouts or pops) if I turn off integer mode.  With integer mode turned on, I experience dropouts and occasional pops.  The CPU load looks to be the same whether integer mode is on or off.  As expected however, the sound is better with integer mode on.

 

Can this be fixed?

 

 

 

This may very well be a USB connection issue. The point with Integer mode is that it is more demanding on the quality of the link to the audio device, and especially that there are no transmission errors. Such error calls for retries and thus kills the timings.

You'll then want to try with another USB cable, and/or use another USB port on the Mac.

BTW, for choosing the USB port on the Mac, the one to pick is the one with least amount of other devices using the bus the port is connected to.

[damien78]

A note on using both 3.5 and 3.2.16.

If you like to switch between the two, be sure to NEVER launch them simultaneously.

Otherwise you'll observe issues like the ones posted above in this page.

You'll then need to delete at least the preferences files to start with clean ones.

For this, enter in Terminal application the following two commands:

defaults delete com.audirvana.Audirvana-Plus
defaults delete com.audirvana.Audirvana

Please note you'll be asked for your license key when you'll relaunch Audirvana for the first time after this.

 

[GrahamH]

Is anybody else having problems maintaining a link with Qobuz within Audirvana over the past couple of days?

 

I've logged out of Qobuz several times then logged in again, and it then works fine for a while before again losing the connection. The Qobuz app has worked fine throughout, so I assume the problem is not there.

 

I'm using 3.5.7 and my Qobuz account is in the UK.

 

TIA

[Don Blas De Lezo]

43 minutes ago, GrahamH said:

Is anybody else having problems maintaining a link with Qobuz within Audirvana over the past couple of days?

 

I've logged out of Qobuz several times then logged in again, and it then works fine for a while before again losing the connection. The Qobuz app has worked fine throughout, so I assume the problem is not there.

 

I'm using 3.5.7 and my Qobuz account is in the UK.

 

TIA

Yes I have same problem ... I have to restart Audirvana after playing an album on Qobuz ... only started happening with 3.5.7 .  After restarting Audirvana I can search and play another album .... then nothing ... cannot search or play next album . I am on German Qobuz.

 

please fix @damien78,  and Merci   Aside from this new bug which is very annoying , I have been very happy with new Audirvana ... its sounds fantastic and looks wonderful .

 

 

[Cornell77]

6 hours ago, damien78 said:

 

This may very well be a USB connection issue. The point with Integer mode is that it is more demanding on the quality of the link to the audio device, and especially that there are no transmission errors. Such error calls for retries and thus kills the timings.

You'll then want to try with another USB cable, and/or use another USB port on the Mac.

BTW, for choosing the USB port on the Mac, the one to pick is the one with least amount of other devices using the bus the port is connected to.

Hi Damien,

 

Thank you for your reply.  In moving from my 2009 MacBook Pro to the 2017 MacBook Pro, the laptops also move from USB A to USB C ports.  I had been using high quality USB A to USB B cables from Audioquest, Oyaide, and Pangea.  Thus, for the 2017 MacBook Pro, I connect these cables with an Aukey USB C to USB A adapter.  Perhaps the adapter is a problem for USB data transmission.  I will order a good quality USB C to USB B cable for testing.  In the meantime, are you able to do a quick test using a Mojave based MAC to confirm that DSD256 upsampling with integer mode works fine?

[bobbmd]

@damien78 or @anyoneelse where is the remote for A+3.5/how do you get it the old remote doesn’t work(on either my iPhone or Pad) and it is the only one in the App Store

[zkeller]

Hi Damien @damien78

 

I have installed A+ On Windows 10 and it is working fine.

 

I installed A+ Remote on my iPad, did the pairing code, and it worked well for a short while but then started to say "Connecting ..." but was unable to establish connection with the PC after that.

 

I have read the forums, including the suggestions on the Audirvana.com website and tried all of them without success.

 

I have tried reinstalling both the Remote app and Audirvana several times. After the Audirvana installation I once got the pairing code again, I managed to get Remote working for a few minutes, but then it returned to "Connecting...".

 

Thanks so much for your help. I believe the Remote app is key to the success of Audirvana.

 

Zane

[Cool_Jeeves]

Hi Damien...will you provide a web page to control from any browser like JRiver Panel page does? it is very useful as I am usually sitting at my PC whereas my phone is getting charged somewhere else etc. Also I can stream the content in my mac mini music server using JRiver panel page into the PC I am working on. This is not such a critical functionality, but a nice touch. I dont like using JRiver otherwise, and much prefer Audirvana, but due to this feature, JRiver is very convenient. A web page for Audirvana would for me, really be nirvana.

[stefano_mbp]

21 minutes ago, bobbmd said:

@damien78 or @anyoneelse where is the remote for A+3.5/how do you get it the old remote doesn’t work(on either my iPhone or Pad) and it is the only one in the App Store

There is no “old” remote app, it is the same and only one

 

Have you already tried to pair it again with A 3.5.x?

[damien78]

2 hours ago, Cornell77 said:

Hi Damien,

 

Thank you for your reply.  In moving from my 2009 MacBook Pro to the 2017 MacBook Pro, the laptops also move from USB A to USB C ports.  I had been using high quality USB A to USB B cables from Audioquest, Oyaide, and Pangea.  Thus, for the 2017 MacBook Pro, I connect these cables with an Aukey USB C to USB A adapter.  Perhaps the adapter is a problem for USB data transmission.  I will order a good quality USB C to USB B cable for testing.  In the meantime, are you able to do a quick test using a Mojave based MAC to confirm that DSD256 upsampling with integer mode works fine?

 

I'm unfortunately not able to do so right now, as the DAC I had capable of DSD256 on macOS has a serious HW issue as it is even not powering up

But I'm sure someone on this thread has such a DAC and will be able to confirm it works fine in Integer mode with his DAC.

[damien78]

I've just released 3.5.8 with few fixes:

• Fix filters view incorrect width moving other views

• Fix iTunes playlists import

• Fix multichannel Audio Unit processing

[bnbayer]

8 hours ago, damien78 said:

A note on using both 3.5 and 3.2.16.

If you like to switch between the two, be sure to NEVER launch them simultaneously.

Otherwise you'll observe issues like the ones posted above in this page.

You'll then need to delete at least the preferences files to start with clean ones.

For this, enter in Terminal application the following two commands:

defaults delete com.audirvana.Audirvana-Plus
defaults delete com.audirvana.Audirvana

Please note you'll be asked for your license key when you'll relaunch Audirvana for the first time after this.

 

@damien78 I'm not sure if this was a reply to my posts, but I have run the Terminal commands several times, as well as dragged the Library and Preferences (and Cache and Cookies) files to the trash. Neither 3.5.7 nor 3.2.16 (running separately!) will load my full library. There are at least 900 missing discs, including ones I played on 3.5.6 just before the update.

 

The program runs fine otherwise and plays the discs it loads. I've also found that it offers a lot more options as to UPnP output devices, including my HEOS speakers (although it claims they are not DSD compatible - that's a couple of years out of date: they're better at DSD than they are at PCM).

[Nico]

22 minutes ago, damien78 said:

Fix iTunes playlists import

@damien78Thanks for 3.5.8

BUT why  Audirvana kicks out multiple tracks from the imported playlists? Good reasons exist to have playlists with multiple tracks inside!! ALL of my iTunes playlists contain multiple tracks and I have hundreds. Thanks for reading and taking care.

[bnbayer]

53 minutes ago, damien78 said:

I've just released 3.5.8 with few fixes:

• Fix filters view incorrect width moving other views

• Fix iTunes playlists import

• Fix multichannel Audio Unit processing

A sync in 3.5.8 does not load my missing 900 albums. Still stops in the same place. 

[Cornell77]

1 hour ago, damien78 said:

 

I'm unfortunately not able to do so right now, as the DAC I had capable of DSD256 on macOS has a serious HW issue as it is even not powering up

But I'm sure someone on this thread has such a DAC and will be able to confirm it works fine in Integer mode with his DAC.

Thanks. Jud confirms that DSD256 upsampling works on El Capitan (I believe) on his 2009 MacBook Pro.  It would be good to know if DSD256 upsampling also works with Mojave.