Audirvana Plus optimizations

[damien78]

Thanks again for all the useful and constructive feedback on compared sound quality of the latest 1.5 beta & later versions, with detailed explanations on which one gives the best result.

 

I've just released 1.5.3 that brings optimizations in the playback routine (and some bug fixes including for mono files playback).

I have still other ideas for going further (always seeking for the Graal...), but I wanted to already share with you the results so far, by releasing 1.5.3.

 

Happy listening,

Damien

 

PS: I've created this new thread to get your feedback on it, as the "wishlist" one had a misleading title (more related to future features)

[tipunch]

Hello Damien, Audirvana 1.5.2 works perfectly fine, but the bug when a very low resolution/quality track is played (32kb/s) Audirvana always crash ! (since 1.4.9.10 crash, in earlier versions this worked fine)

 

THANKS A LOT DAMIEN !!! Audirvana 1.5.3 works perfectly fine!

Have a nice day !

[tipunch]

MAYDAY, MAYDAY !!!

Audirvana 1.5.3 with "mode integrated into iTunes" do not work any more !!!

[eternaloptimist]

Yep. Just discovered iTunes integrated mode doesn't work.... reverted to 1.5.2.

[Cynic]

Yes, this update breaks the iTunes integrated mode.

[jvlata]

+1

[freddie40]

Tagging along

[pl_svn]

Yep. Just discovered iTunes integrated mode doesn't work.... reverted to 1.5.2.

 

+1

[wgscott]

Version 1.5.4. works for me in iTunes integrated mode. I guess he fixed it quickly.

[Varese2002]

I too spend some time discovering that the iTunes integration in 1.5.3 has disappeared. I missed probably that their is already a version 1.5.4 ? Will look into it. Although rumors have it that sound quality using the iTunes integration is inferior I prefer using iTunes.

 

Added: yes 1.5.4 fixes the iTunes integration, thanks for the quick action.

[damien78]

Version 1.5.4. works for me in iTunes integrated mode. I guess he fixed it quickly.

 

That's the first thing I've done back on my Mac!

 

Damien

[AudioBear]

That's the first thing I've done back on my Mac!

 

Damien

 

Sadly in 1.5.4, setting SysOptimizer hangs playback with 'Optimizing system for audio....' on main screen. Un-tick and it works.

[wwaldmanfan]

Sadly in 1.5.4, setting SysOptimizer hangs playback with 'Optimizing system for audio....' on main screen. Un-tick and it works.

 

@AudioBear-

What OSX version are you running? I have the same bug with all previous versions of A+ on my Snow Leopard (10.6.8) computers. My MacBook Pro running OSX 10.8.3, has no such problems. I'll wait for your response before upgrading to 1.5.4.

MK

[jtm]

Hi,

 

have missed the day with announcements of last two 1.5 updates but still happy with OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.8 and Audirvana+ 1.4.9.7 which gives me best SQ on my system.

 

1.5.2 didn't work for me and I am sorry to hear that the new releases didn't fix the SQ issues yet.

 

Damien, I would like to encourage you to go back to 1.4.9 with all its beta versions and see what / how you changed the code and compare it with the comments here (and maybe other platforms?).

 

I am not an engineer but would appreciate if support for the last generation OS X with true core audio and overall still vital OS X 10.6,8 will not disappear against the beneft of fxxcbook implementation likes 10.7/8.

 

To me the sound character (resolution, depth, width, timbre) of A+ 1.4.9.7 was best balance in my OS X 10.6.8 system - so I would love to see true DSD files.

 

 

Listen to it on a good system - I am positive you will like it ...

 

 

 

@AudioBear-

What OSX version are you running? I have the same bug with all previous versions of A+ on my Snow Leopard (10.6.8) computers. My MacBook Pro running OSX 10.8.3, has no such problems. I'll wait for your response before upgrading to 1.5.4.

MK

[JohanS]

Hi,

 

[snip snip]

 

1.5.2 didn't work for me and I am sorry to hear that the new releases didn't fix the SQ issues yet.

 

Hi jtm,

Where did you read this? I was planning to evaluate 1.5.4 today, but I cannot find another thread that evaluates SQ of 1.5.4. Comments above only point out the fact that iTunes integrated mode didn't work with 1.5.3, which was fixed with 1.5.4.

 

Btw, out of curiosity: I see several members still using 10.6. What's the reason why you didn''t upgrade to 10.7 / 10.8? I'm so naive to think that the later OS is better :-)

[untangle]

I have no problem with 1.5.4. My guess is that I'm in the majority (but most keep silent).

 

But I archive all past versions - just in case.

 

Bob

[AudioBear]

OK I have go to the bottom of this, after reboot this morning I was asked to install SysOptimizer (don't remember this before) and this install routine did not appear on my main music Mac?

Anyway, this option now works and does not hang playback, apologies if I did not see this install pop-up before.

[AudioBear]

wwaldmanfan I'm on OSX 10.8.4 / iTunes 11.0.4 (4)

 

Now fixed after reboot I was asked to install SysOptimizer (don't remember this before) and this install routine did not appear on my main music Mac? Now works.

 

Now to get down to some serious listening...

[mkrzych]

Please give us some feedback about SQ on 1.5.4 in your opinion. BtW, does it mean that now SysOptimizer is something like a daemon working in the background on Mac OSX? Any comments from Damien about this?

[damien78]

Please give us some feedback about SQ on 1.5.4 in your opinion. BtW, does it mean that now SysOptimizer is something like a daemon working in the background on Mac OSX? Any comments from Damien about this?

 

This is not a daemon, but a helper application that needs to have admin credentials to be able to stop/start the services (Spotlight, TimeMachine, iDevices scanning).

It installs itself in /Library/PriviledgedHelperTools

 

Damien

[mkrzych]

Thanks Damien.

[bigbrother52]

MAYDAY, MAYDAY !!!

Audirvana 1.5.3 with "mode integrated into iTunes" do not work any more !!!

 

I won't say that "iTunes Integrated Mode" is completely broken but nor does it work entirely right for me with 1.5.4, let me explain.

 

I'm running a Mac Mini with OS X 10.6.8, mostly I have several thousand tracks of SACD rips allot of those in WAVE the balance in Apple Lossless format from when I was solely running iTunes, of course there are also many 44.1, 96 & 192k tracks in iTunes as well.

Due to A+'s capability of DSD to PCM conversion on the fly with SACD ISO's, now I'm using several hundred SACD ISO's sampled at 176.

 

The problem I'm having is this, if I open A+ to a 176 SACD ISO listed in iTunes it plays fine until it gets to a 44.1 or other differently sampled track. I watch the track load, I see all the info in the A+ screen but it never plays and I'm forced to shut it down and reopen it to that 44.1 or some 96k track.

Again it plays fine until another track with a different sample rate pops up and everything comes to a grinding halt once more and it's shut down, re-open, select and play.

 

I found last night that if I have every sample rate set to up-sample to 176 then it appears that it will probably play continuously all month long.

 

I'm sure the use of up-sampling for a lot of folks out there is just fine but I'd prefer if everything that was in iTunes actually switched to it's native sampling rate. A thing that A+ is supposed to do and one of the major things that attracted me to it, since being the fanatic that I am I'd been going into the MIDI settings and manually switching the sample rate when required.

 

Perhaps I've missed something that should be set differently but I'd sure like to get this thing working properly if at all possible.

[cpvniii]

I also have no problems with 1.5.4. Running 10.8.4/11.04.

[PGRPGRPG]

Among all the releases I've proofed within my system, I do recognize that surprisingly, 1.4.9.7 still remains for me , Sound-wise, "the nearest to GRAAL" , in all cases significantly far from others versions.

 

 

Following Audirvana + releases for a while, and having read the whole bunch of comments in most of A+ dedicated threads, I begin to fix some concepts much more clearer, and this is not to make us happier.

 

 

IMHO There is no absolute truth to make the "out of box" best player :

it is so much related to pure individuals...

 

- Audiophile, Melomane or sometimes purely IT Engineer hobbyist...

- Geek or not Geek

- Music/Sound taste

- Ears education (or "ability")

- Room atmosphere and premises environment

- Mindset at the very moment of listening

- HW Audio infrastructure

- Network/OS configuration/Bandwidth ...

- Recordings quality

- Software parameters

- Audio restitution Workflow/Integration

 

My suggestion for "immediate Quick win enhancements" would probably be :

 

1- Keep releases as releases and Betas as Betas avoiding confusion

 

2- Why not immediately Try to give users the most accurate and "readable" advise based on previous/current versions ? (tutorials?) to get a better understanding about all the parameters fine-tuning (For example, I do not understand why my basic 16/44 recordings up sampling*2 give me a very desirable smooth sound with plenty of air around instruments since I use ... WIFI/AIRFOIL (Means if I've correctly understood the process : 1- Up-sampling 16/44 --> 24/88 / 2- Down-sampling 24/88 --> 16/44 --> AIRFOIL/AIRPLAY transmission) ... But it does...

 

2nd: Based on a huge potential Mass market in a very near future, embed (like AU/VST already available) pre-defined basic room treatments or EQ curves we can choose for if needed because Bit Perfect/Purity is probably GRAAL, but the way to reach it in audio is very demanding and... often very expensive for the Mass...

 

My 2 cents... The GRAAL is perhaps already there within the current versions and we even don't know how to reveal it...

[PGRPGRPG]

To highlights the above post about a quick introduction of my profile and thoughts,

 

Profile :

 

- Audiophile, Melomane or sometimes purely IT Engineer hobbyist... ==> 1/3 - 1/3 - 1/3

- Geek or not Geek ==> Not Geek

- Music/Sound taste ==> Smooth and detailed ( Classical all periods / Contemporary Jazz mostly ) / World

- Ears education (or "ability") ==> 10 classical concert/year - I'm less ease with strings (violins) but am very fond of Piano

- Room atmosphere and premises environment ==> Rather a clear 40m2 room (not dedicate one)

- Mindset at the very moment of listening ==> Mostly Relax. If not I don't listen...

- HW Audio infrastructure ==> IMAC Core I5 8GO /ROSITA PI/GOLDMUND TELOS 390-2/ELIPSON SIGNATURE 201

- Network/OS configuration/Bandwidth ... ==> WIFI via AIRFOIL/OSX 10.8.4/ ITunes 11.04 (4) G/N

- Recordings quality ==> Only Flac 16/44 (higher resolution drives to trouble in Wifi Mode, at least in my environment - Mac far from ROSITA - 10 m)

- Software parameters ==> Audirvana + Itunes integrated mode/ Exclusive, Integer Mode1 & Direct Mode / 3200Mb Memory Allocation / IZOTOPE 64, 150, 1400000, 1,02, 200, 0,65 / Oversampling X2 / VOLUME Software Type 1 Clear 1bit / AU none / Sysoptimizer Full

- Audio restitution Workflow/Integration ==> Very clean Mediums and Hights , Excellent Dynamic, even lat low volume , wide/deep scene . Could be improved on the bass side (surprisingly, I've got the same global feeling with my Headphones B&W P5 ...)

Thoughts :

 

Having tested the Key OSX Reference Music Players on the Market, I'm very fond of Audirvana +, and use it as my sole player.

Itune integration for Library (Proxies for Flac) and remote with Ipad is a must for me.

 

I'm quite sure that except some happy few that are really aware of Audio/sound tuning, most of A+ users are in a total fog about optimization, and that a wide majority of us would take greatest benefits to customize their own settings better than only duplicating other's ones (what I've done...by the way, it brung significant improvements - many thanks to all skilled key advisors of this forum).

 

At the moment , and based on the same above parameters (perhaps these ones might be however wrong ones - who knows...?) Audirvana 1.5.4 is working with no issue but it is unfortunately a nogo for me in my setup and I revert to B 1.4.9.7 .

 

I Would be in love to ensure that my system/Software parameters are at their Best according to my HW, knowing that perfection is a concept outside our (my) world, and spend more time to listen good vibes. Once done, it would be up to me to look forward enhancements or to keep it as it is if I'm confortable with the achieved results.

 

I'm fully open-minded to reconsider totally my position and version preference in case of efficient advise for settings.

To conclude, Graal is an never-ending Quest ... for the Addicted... I do fully respect...

 

Kind regards to readers and Music enthusiasts.