I am new to A+, and this is first post on CA although I have been reading threads for some time.
On the weekend, I downloaded the beta version of Aurdirvana with Direct Mode, and WOW, what a difference. Everything I play seems to have added depth and fullness, and the shrill glare, that I thought was just the tweeters of my Focals, is now all but gone. Very Impressive!! I have tried just about every program available for Mac (including Audirvana without Direct mode), and couldn't really say that I heard a difference over Itunes. Now, after reading this thread, I think the reason why I couldn't hear a difference is that both my DACs (W4S DAC-2, and McIntosh C48 built in DAC) do not support Integer mode. So now I am left questioning "if Direct Mode can make such a difference, what would be the additional benefit of Integer mode?... not that I am ready to buy another DAC just yet".
The only issue I have is stability with my McIntosh C48 DAC (which is my preferred DAC due to space limitations). Any program I have tried, that does sample rate switching without a pause or delay, causes problems. I have now seen some very weird behaviour in the two days of playing with Audirvana Beta... track indicator showing playing one song, but another previously selected track actually playing, pressing stop either in Itunes Remote or on Audirvana desktop does not stop play, frequently having to power cycle the preamp in order to reestablish communication, having to close and reopen Audirvana to get it to work. I realize this is a Beta release, but not sure that my problems would be solved without ability to add a delay when changing tracks, especially when changing sample rates. I do notice that if I ALWAYS stop a song (or let it play to end) before selecting another, then things are more stable.
So, my question to Damien, who appears to read and respond to this thread, is: can you implement a selectable delay for changing tracks and/or sample rate. Some of the other products have such an option, but they do not have the incredible sound!!!
Cheers,
Lou