grokit

I have both Amarra SQ and Amarra HiFi, so which should I use when streaming music through iTunes? To make it a bit more complicated, there seems to be two ways to stream through iTunes, by direct URL that will show up like a song in iTunes, or by using iTunes' proprietary radio stations (or whatever they're called these days).

Yes it was an email, advising me to upgrade. To follow up with my issue, it was an error with the download file they sent me. They sent another and that did not work either, until I ran the uninstaller first to remove the old program, and probably more importantly the licensing stuff which required an additional permission within the uninstaller. After that I was able to register the new licensing code they sent, as iLok is out of the picture now. I like the new version, it's a much more attractive and simpler interface. I am playing with the parametric equalizer settings for the first time and while I am thrilled that they have custom presets for my two top headphones (ps1000 and lcd2), I really like the classical preset for other types of music so far. Now that the new licensing hooha is over I am very pleased with both the sound and the new look, as well as the licensing because now it's under the same umbrella as my amarra hifi license. I can see why some full amarra users might want more control from this new interface, but I am not one of those people. Yet :-)

I recently purchased and installed amarra sq; today amarra emailed me with a download and new activation code for their 2.0 version. It doesn't use ilok, now it uses softworkz dna or something for authentication/licensing. I downloaded the upgraded version, and it directed me to enter my code and email and make up a new password as it should per their instructions. Then it stops working, the "authorize" button does nothing, and I have no more amarra sq to use. So far this upgrade is full of suck! I requested an evaluation code and that does not work either. Amarra has not gotten back to me yet.

I'm pretty sure you have to use a powered hub at this point. After one of Apple's iOS upgrades they changed the amount of power that could be drawn out of the Camera Connection Kit. I passed my iPad on before that but I have read that it works with DACs that use their own power source or an external power source, but not with the USB powered ones unless a hub is used.

about the Cosecant or the Ayre for that matter, I was just commenting in general about my feelings regarding the benefit of combining the benefits of tubed and solid state gear in the same chain as I am somewhat familiar with the DAC-2 and the Havana. I haven't read much about the balanced Music Streamer either but I like its form factor. I did try the Emotiva XDA-1 briefly and had to send it back because I couldn't get a good enough level out of it. If you are going to put it through a preamp or even a tube stage it would be fine, but it only has a 1 volt output level and it wouldn't give me anything I could work with straight into my power amp. Most DACs put out twice that (2 volts), I have not had any problems with three other DACs that I have tried with that same power amp. A strong tube stage may be a good option with the XDA-1 but if you want to go balanced that would be more expensive, along with the Halide Bridge your $300 DAC may end up costing close to a cool grand.

My thought is that I like tubes somewhere in the chain, but not everywhere. I would love to try a balanced Havana with my balanced solid state speaker amp (to replace my Devilsound and tube stage), but with my WA22 I would rather have the W4S DAC2. bumpity bump lol...

I gave one a go but had to send it back because it wouldn't give me a decent output level into my amplifier with either the SE or balanced outputs. A guy named Vince I think at Emotiva said it was because my amp was made for pro audio use and the XDA-1 was for Audiophile use but my Devilsound (using the SE inputs) and Mini-i (both SE and balanced in fixed DAC mode) work just fine with that amp and they have a fixed output level as well. Looking closer at the specs of the XDA-1 it says, "Nominal Output Voltage: 1V RMS", most source devices have a little over twice that. I also noticed that Emotiva's only stereo preamp didn't have balanced inputs so in their lineup the XDA-1 would have to go straight into a power amp (like my Alesis RA-150, made for passive near-field monitors). So it wasn't loud enough for my amplifier, Emotiva's explanation didn't make any sense to me, and that's my experience with the XDA-1. I never got a chance to hear how it sounds because I was never able to get a good enough level from it. Other than that at 17" square with wires plugged into the back it's larger than I thought it would be, and the remote is petty substantial as well. The XDA-1 looks cool and is nicely put together, it seemed like a quality piece of gear so too bad it didn't work out. It cost about $80 to give it a round-trip ride though.

Well I've been on the list for over a month now, when I signed up it was $299 but now it says $349 on the product page so hopefully when I reserved my unit I reserved the price too. But that's good to know that they will ship next month, I am really looking forward to it regardless. I have read that the first batch had a very loud balanced output stage, I hope they have added some adjustment or toned it down. I have a Mini-i and love it. It's got great functionality and I have improved it with an external re-clocking USB to s/pdif converter, the Firestone Bravo/Supplier. Now I get bit-perfect 44.1 redbook out of my computer with it, where it used to up-sample through the USB input to 48kHz. There are some people doing serious mods to the Mini-i on the Head-fi thread, they have some ESL issues but there are plenty of pics. I too look forward to upgrading mine someday, with a sell/replace though as I don't have those kind of DIY skills. Codifus, do you know what the difference is between these blue and black label editions? But I want an XDA-1 for a different system. I have a HiFiMAN HE-6 headphone that requires a lot of juice and am building a small rig around that and a balanced speaker amp. It sounds pretty good already with the Devilsound V2 that I picked up on fleaBay, but the XDA-1 has the balanced outputs and the remote, plus I can use the Devilsound elsewhere.

Any new news on this? It's 2011 and still months away?

iTunes won't change existing media, but it will make a copy of the files you add to it if you have the "Copy files to iTunes media folder" option selected in the advanced preferences. Otherwise it makes a database file directory in XML with all the file names and metadata, and manipulates the resulting XML data to suit iTunes, leaving the original files unaffected. And to show your duplicates, select file > display duplicates. But last I checked iTunes will treat any song with the same title/file name as a duplicate, even if the metadata is different. So you could delete the live version or an alternate take or whatever extra version you may have of the same song if you are not careful.

I don't let iTunes sort out compilations at all. There used to be a checkbox in preferences to opt out globally, now I believe compilations are on an individual opt in basis in the get info dialog box for the song/album (whatever is selected).

When you let iTunes group your compilations it takes any album with more than one artist or group and puts it in a subcategory so it is not listed with the rest of your albums. I never liked it. But now that I am looking for where the option to turn it on and off is I can't find it. Maybe Apple changed it in version 10.

I do, but I don't let it separate out the "compilations", because that is one deep rabbit hole in a large library.

Yeah, that's the combo I tried, a red uDac and red e-Q7, sounds and looks great. Next up are the Phiaton MS 300 headphones, in the spirit of the same aesthetics.