Audirvana Plus: Direct Mode

[a.dent]

Am finding the same thing with Snow Leopard. Takes 20-40 secs to initialize the device if track is changed, not just different album but also skipping track, almost unusable except it sounds great.

 

This seems to be a consistent problem with Lion as well. It takes at least 20 secs to start playing after selecting the track, if it starts at all.

I've tried restarting the Mac and closing iTunes and re-opening before playing but it is still SLOW.

It does seem to sound a bit better than the previous version though!

[AudioBear]

I'm getting a consistant Stutter/Pause every few seconds, there are errors in Mac Log

(10.7.4 - 2.3Ghz Intel Core i5 - 8GB 1333Mhz Memory - iTunes 10.6.1)

Repeated but slightly different each time...

 

May 30 11:02:21 MediaMac kernel[0]: IOAudioStream[0xffffff801240e200]::clipIfNecessary() - Error: attempting to clip to a position more than one buffer ahead of last clip position (5a6,246)->(5a7,19c0).

May 30 11:02:21 MediaMac kernel[0]: IOAudioStream[0xffffff801240e200]::clipIfNecessary() - adjusting clipped position to (5a7,246)

May 30 11:05:50 MediaMac kernel[0]: IOAudioStream[0xffffff801240e200]::clipIfNecessary() - Error: attempting to clip to a position more than one buffer ahead of last clip position (4c,62)->(4d,19e2).

May 30 11:05:50 MediaMac kernel[0]: IOAudioStream[0xffffff801240e200]::clipIfNecessary() - adjusting clipped position to (4d,62)

May 30 11:06:31 MediaMac kernel[0]: IOAudioStream[0xffffff801240e200]::clipIfNecessary() - Error: attempting to clip to a position more than one buffer ahead of last clip position (18b,252)->(18c,12ec).

May 30 11:06:31 MediaMac kernel[0]: IOAudioStream[0xffffff801240e200]::clipIfNecessary() - adjusting clipped position to (18c,252)

May 30 11:07:07 MediaMac kernel[0]: IOAudioStream[0xffffff801240e200]::clipIfNecessary() - Error: attempting to clip to a position more than one buffer ahead of last clip position (2a2,72)->(2a3,15ae).

May 30 11:07:07 MediaMac kernel[0]: IOAudioStream[0xffffff801240e200]::clipIfNecessary() - adjusting clipped position to (2a3,72)

May 30 11:07:42 MediaMac kernel[0]: IOAudioStream[0xffffff801240e200]::clipIfNecessary() - Error: attempting to clip to a position more than one buffer ahead of last clip position (3b9,cc)->(3ba,1864).

 

-------------------------------------

Audirvana Plus rev. 1.3.9.1 debug information:

running on Mac OS X 10.7.4

 

User preferences:

Remote control: IR: off, Media Keys: on (with volume control: on)

 

Playlists:

Use UTF-8 for all: on

Start playback at launch with audio file: on

Remember playlist: on

Volume knob control in vertical direction

 

Sample rate converter used: iZotope 64bit SRC

Polarity inversion: global=off, per track=on

 

Volume control: SW only

Max volume limit = 100.0%

 

SysOptimizer enabled:

Spotlight: on

TimeMachine: on

iDevices USB: on

 

iTunes settings:

Completely deactivate iTunes playback: on

iTunes volume control: off

iTunes play position control: off

 

Audio settings:

Use Max I/O buffersize: on

Max Mem for audio buffers: 4736MB

Max Sample rate limit: None

Sample rate switching latency: None

 

Direct Mode audio path

 

Currently playing in standard 32bit float mode

Device: 2ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32bits little endian Float, 8 bytes per frame @96.0kHz

 

Active Sample Rate: 96.0kHz

Hog Mode is on

Devices found : 1

 

List of devices:

Device #0: ID 0x22 Built-in Output Manufacturer:Apple Inc. Model UID:AppleHDA:33 UID:AppleHDAEngineOutput:1B,0,1,2:0

 

Preferred device: Built-in Output Model UID:AppleHDA:33 UID:AppleHDAEngineOutput:1B,0,1,2:0

 

Selected device:

ID 0x22 Built-in Output Manufacturer:Apple Inc.

Model UID:AppleHDA:33 UID:AppleHDAEngineOutput:1B,0,1,2:0

 

5 available sample rates up to 96000.0Hz

32000.0

44100.0

48000.0

88200.0

96000.0

 

Audio buffer frame size : 512 to 12288 frames

Current I/O buffer frame size : 512

Physical (analog) volume control: No

Virtual (digital) volume control: No

Preferred stereo channels L:1 R:2

DSD capability: Unhandled

Simple stereo device: yes

Channel mapping: L:Stream 0 channel 0 R:Stream 0 channel 1

 

1 output streams:

Stream ID 0x0 2 channels starting at 1

23 virtual formats:

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32bits little endian Float @32.0kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32bits little endian Float @44.1kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32bits little endian Float @48.0kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32bits little endian Float @88.2kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32bits little endian Float @96.0kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32bits little endian Float @32.0kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32bits little endian Float @44.1kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32bits little endian Float @48.0kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32bits little endian Float @88.2kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32bits little endian Float @96.0kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32bits little endian Float @32.0kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32bits little endian Float @44.1kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32bits little endian Float @48.0kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32bits little endian Float @88.2kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32bits little endian Float @96.0kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32bits little endian Float @32.0kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32bits little endian Float @44.1kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32bits little endian Float @48.0kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32bits little endian Float @88.2kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32bits little endian Float @96.0kHz

Non-PCM format: cac3

Non-PCM format: cac3

Non-PCM format: cac3

 

23 physical formats

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16bits little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 16bit @32.0kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16bits little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 16bit @44.1kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16bits little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 16bit @48.0kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16bits little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 16bit @88.2kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16bits little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 16bit @96.0kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 20bits little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit @32.0kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 20bits little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit @44.1kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 20bits little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit @48.0kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 20bits little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit @88.2kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 20bits little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit @96.0kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24bits little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit @32.0kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24bits little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit @44.1kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24bits little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit @48.0kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24bits little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit @88.2kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24bits little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit @96.0kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32bits little endian Float aligned low in 32bit @32.0kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32bits little endian Float aligned low in 32bit @44.1kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32bits little endian Float aligned low in 32bit @48.0kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32bits little endian Float aligned low in 32bit @88.2kHz

Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32bits little endian Float aligned low in 32bit @96.0kHz

Non-PCM format: cac3

Non-PCM format: cac3

Non-PCM format: cac3

 

Any ideas?

[orgel]

I have to say that with Direct Mode enabled, A+ is sounding great! Prior to this release, I'd always given the edge to Pure Music when playing PCM-based material. Last night and this morning, I spent a couple of hours comparing PM and A+ on the same 24/192 album (Helge Lien Trio, Natsukashii). The two applications still sound different, but at this point I have to put A+ on a par with PM in terms of overall sound quality.

 

Enough compliments. A couple of intermittent issues I've encountered:

 

-- Occasionally, something goes haywire and I get a sort of rhythmic, somewhat subdued popping over the music. So far it seems that quitting and restarting A+ gets rid of this. I should emphasize that this seems to happen infrequently and randomly, sometimes at the beginning of a track and sometimes partway through.

 

-- I've also heard a couple of dropouts. Music stops for significantly less than a second, then resumes with a slight crackle. (The dropout is definitely not in the track itself.)

 

Both of these issues were observed when playing 24/192 ALAC. Debug info attached.

 

One more minor cosmetic issue: It seems that A+ does not remember the position of the Prefs window between restarts. Not a big deal, but great if it could be fixed.

 

(As an aside, I'd read that DACs that use DICE drivers, as does my Mytek, don't support integer mode. I'd never been able to test that since I've always run Lion on my dedicated music server, but now I have confirmation.)

 

--David

A+DebugLog_orgel.txt

[Mercman]

This seems to be a consistent problem with Lion as well. It takes at least 20 secs to start playing after selecting the track, if it starts at all.

I've tried restarting the Mac and closing iTunes and re-opening before playing but it is still SLOW.

It does seem to sound a bit better than the previous version though!

 

I haven't experienced this with my Wavelength HS Crimson running in Lion.

[ted_b]

I haven't experienced this with my Wavelength HS Crimson running in Lion.

 

Nor have I, running Meitner MA-1 in Lion. Also, debug shows integer support (if we are keeping score).

[jhwalker]

Nor have I, running Meitner MA-1 in Lion. Also, debug shows integer support (if we are keeping score).

 

No pause at startup or when switching tracks on Schiit Bifrost, USB. Confirmed playing in integer mode.

[ted_b]

What are the differences between Direct Mode and Integer Mode?

 

Damien,

I too would like to know a little more. As posted above, my Meitner MA-1 supports integer mode (lion), so this Direct Mode/Integer Mode playback works flawlessly so far (tested DSD in non-itunes setup). My other DAC, the Mytek Stereo-192 DSD DAC, has been pointed out as not being integer-capable (and it is on loan to a buddy or I'd test myself). So.....does this mean Direct mode has no effect? Or are these modes cumulative? Or is Direct mode simply a pre-requisite for integer mode, and without integer mode DM is moot?

[sidssp]

I only have a couple of hours with it but it sounds amazing!!!

 

The first thing I notice is in transparency and micro dynamic. I was listening to The Artistry of Teresa Perez. I can hear so much more bowing details in cello play. Direct Mode is really impressive!

 

Damien, you did it again, congrats.

 

BTW, I did find a bug. In iTunes Integrated Mode, after playing a few tracks in an album, it will suddenly stop playing. I even click on a different track and different album and I can see the name of the track shows up in Audirvana but it just won't play. This problem doesn't happen if I uncheck the iTunes Integrated Mode.

[damien78]

Damien,

I too would like to know a little more. As posted above, my Meitner MA-1 supports integer mode (lion), so this Direct Mode/Integer Mode playback works flawlessly so far (tested DSD in non-itunes setup). My other DAC, the Mytek Stereo-192 DSD DAC, has been pointed out as not being integer-capable (and it is on loan to a buddy or I'd test myself). So.....does this mean Direct mode has no effect? Or are these modes cumulative? Or is Direct mode simply a pre-requisite for integer mode, and without integer mode DM is moot?

 

Direct Mode is a pre-req for Integer Mode on Lion and later.

DM already brings benefits by itself by shortening the audio path, and that's what you get with the Mytek.

 

But of course, the best SQ is achieved with the cumulative benefits of DM + IM.

 

BTW, the Integer Mode return could be a good incentive to get the manufacturers to update their drivers (e.g. Dice for Mytek) to offer non-mixable integer streams as well as the standard mixable 32bit float ones. Or make a USB driverless implementation...

 

Damien

[AudioBear]

Further to my previous post above Damien, the pause/blip only seems to happen when playing 24/88 and above e.g. 24/96 etc. This does not happen with my normal version of A+

Let me know if you need anything else as sound quality even in 16/44 seems very good and I'd like to get the higher bit rates working.

 

Russ

[Musicophile]

Damien, I noticed that the regular skipping seems to occur only when I use the iPhone Remote, when I switch the app off Audirvana plays smoothly. You may want to investigate this.

[smazur]

DM already brings benefits by itself by shortening the audio path, and that's what you get with the Mytek.

 

BTW, the Integer Mode return could be a good incentive to get the manufacturers to update their drivers (e.g. Dice for Mytek) to offer non-mixable integer streams as well as the standard mixable 32bit float ones. Or make a USB driverless implementation...

 

FYI, it's easily overlooked, but the Mytek actually does have a USB driverless implementation, and is Integer Mode-capable for PCM up to 96k when using the USB 1.0 connection. Have been running it this way on a Mac Mini running SL and A+ for a couple months now. The introduction of Direct Mode is great news, and now we all get the pleasure of going through a whole new round of SQ comparisons. Kudos to you, Damien, for another great and timely update. I continue to be impressed with A+ and with the expediency you've shown in implementing updates and improvements to your product. And if I may quickly make a selfish off topic feature request, I'd like to bump a request for DSD128 support that someone made on the main thread several weeks back--if I can get that happening, I'll have little reason to use any player other than A+ for all my music files (DSD128 on the Mytek currently only seems to work on a 32-bit Windows platform, and I'm at a loss as to whether it's driver, firmware or player updates that are needed to get it working on Mac via USB or Firewire). Thanks again.

[Esprit]

As posted above, my Meitner MA-1 supports integer mode (lion),

Lion?

[orgel]

FYI, it's easily overlooked, but the Mytek actually does have a USB driverless implementation, and is Integer Mode-capable for PCM up to 96k when using the USB 1.0 connection.

 

Not overlooked, but also not completely useful (depending on one's needs), since the USB 1.0 connection doesn't allow for sample rates greater than 96 or, more significantly, IMO, direct DSD playback. For me, the trade-off between being able to activate integer mode and being able to listen to DSD and 192 inclines heavily toward sticking with FireWire ... although I guess I could hook up the USB 1.0 and see what all the integer-mode fuss is about.

 

I think Damien's point about getting DICE to support "non-mixable integer streams" in the FW (and USB) drivers would be the optimal solution. (I can dream, can't I?)

 

--David

[slowdown5646]

Hey Damien, I would very much appreciate if you could renew my license as well. I tried A+ when the iTunes version came out but I was having a lot of issues with it so I ended up not purchasing it, but I'd love to try this new version and see how it works. Congrats on making this work! I was also wondering (maybe a dumb question) will this work with Mountain Lion when it comes out?

[ted_b]

Lion?

 

Esprit, yes, I am running OSX Lion, and I get integer support via Direct Mode.

[Esprit]

We just hope that Mytek releases new driver for firewire...

[juliocat]

Integer Mode does not exist in Lion.

 

This is the past, Audirnava+ Makes Integer Mode in Lion Possible now.

 

i'm hearing Direct Mode and Integer Mode thru the USB Input of my DAC.

[orgel]

Integer Mode does not exist in Lion.

 

Except that now with A+ and the right DAC/driver, it does. Re-read what Damien wrote upthread.

 

--David

[Esprit]

This is the past,

I had already corrected my post

[ted_b]

Delete post. History, and reason for response, was edited/deleted (very confusing when that is done).

[bottlerocket]

Need a reminder, Does integer mode only work via USB?

[Esprit]

I've read.

He wrote that the Direct Mode allows you to use "also" Integer Mode.

So: I can use Direct Mode with the Mytek but I cannot activate ALSO the Integer Mode (not supported...).

 

Am I wrong?

[ted_b]

I've read.

He wrote that the Direct Mode allows you to use "also" Integer Mode.

So: I can use Direct Mode with the Mytek but I cannot activate ALSO the Integer Mode (not supported...).

 

Am I wrong?

 

No

[wgscott]

I had some sort of momentary playback anomaly while listening to a ripped CD that was very short-lived. It sounded like an error in ripping, but I went back and it played through fine the second time. I had pretty much every option turned on.