New Amarra 4

[DancingSea]

Just now, ddalmas said:

ah ah ah i was joking!!! an provocating....a little!

 

Thanks for the clarification.  In that case, I'm right and you're wrong - about everything.  I welcome your praise and thanks for being in my presence.  Ciao Aloha!

[ddalmas]

what do u intend ? please explain better

[ddalmas]

ah you talked bout amarra SQ,that i have, but its sound is not even nearly comparable to that of A4...unluckily i mean  ,because in that case every questioning would be resolved in a while!! why don't you suggest i to SS too release A4 SQ?

[DancingSea]

6 minutes ago, ddalmas said:

what do u intend ? please explain better

 

I was joking..... 

[mneveux]

15 minutes ago, ddalmas said:

ah you talked bout amarra SQ,that i have, but its sound is not even nearly comparable to that of A4...unluckily i mean  ,because in that case every questioning would be resolved in a while!! why don't you suggest i to SS too release A4 SQ?

sQ+ is very close to A4 for me. Perhaps you don't have it tweaked just right. I start with the Rock setting and make minor adjustments to it.

[DancingSea]

I did just do a quick comparison between iTunes using Amarra HiFi and Amara SQ+.  HiFi sounds better in that SQ+ dropped the iTunes output levels for some reason, reducing volume by 25%.  SQ+ sounds great with Tidal.  I also already own HiFi, which gives it an advantage.

 

My main issue with Amarra HiFi is that it often lags between tracks.  As an experiment, I created a separate iTunes library on a Thunderbolt external HD.  Instead of my usual 35K tracks, I only imported 800.  So far, Amarra HiFi moves between tracks fairly quickly - the large library issue seeming to be genetic.

 

Adding to "play next" or "play later" work well.  The ratings didn't make it, but that's ok as I'll only import high rated songs. Easy playlist creation/ editing.  Multi disc sets appear normally, and no pile of mysterious "various artists".

 

A4 sounds a tad better, but HiFi still sounds pretty good and is oddly a smidgen more lush.  A4 trained me in the art of smaller libraries, thus perhaps I'll use the HiFi/ iTunes combo as a respite from the rigorous demands of A4 mental hygiene. Will try libraries under 5000 tracks to keep from confusing and overwhelming our idiot savant.

 

The HiFi EQ settings appear to do precisely nothing to alter the sound.

[ddalmas]

Maybe ,after long thinking and wondering how, i have reached an acceptable compromise!! this i have done: i went too user  library/ app support /sonic studio and i have deleted all the A4 entries i found,resetting that way A4, then opened the A4 player an i have netted the choose folder option  to my music folder so done DO NOT execute any library  scan but simply choose the add music option and then navigate amongst your music albums folders to choose the album you want too know in that moment push add and all s done!! 1 album only is loaded. then, if you want ,when listening is completed you can clear it taping clear songs or, alternatively ,load other albums in the same way but  since you can stay safe from the confusion that A4 manager permits to you ,,,et voilà the game is done!a bit complicated and not so easy to do but probably you could avoid the many crashes and the wasting time effects of A4!

this way you keep your music folder as a third party lib manager, just as i did with A3! ah maybe it would be better after a certain period of use to repeat the resetting procedure

tomorrow i will try if it works  this way and i will be back to you for a more accurate report.....but anyway one more time  ...it is a so easy option and above all already fitted in A4 ,even if in very a rudimental way,that i wonder why SS engineers still wait so long to fit it, properly revised, in the program ...maybe in more easy and simple way to execute it??a simple option that would lead A4 in the leader position!! Only 2 more buttons in the main screen 1 for  loading  and 1 for resetting...SS...do i ask too much?and consider that you developers could do these minor changes with a most refined interaction than what i can do

ciaociao

[AudioDoctor]

I just want to point out that Sonic Studio is currently charging more for Ver. 3 than for Ver. 4, by double...

 

Ver. 3, that can barely load a 24/96 album in memory.  Don't bother with anything higher, won't work.  Want to know why?  It is a 32 bit program and can only address 3GB of RAM.

[DancingSea]

7 minutes ago, ddalmas said:

Maybe ,after long thinking and wondering how, i have reached an acceptable compromise!! this i have done: i went too user  library/ app support /sonic studio and i have deleted all the A4 entries i found,resetting that way A4, then opened the A4 player an i have netted the choose folder option  to my music folder so done DO NOT execute any library  scan but simply choose the add music option and then navigate amongst your music albums folders to choose the album you want too know in that moment push add and all s done!! 1 album only is loaded. then, if you want ,when listening is completed you can clear it taping clear songs or, alternatively ,load other albums in the same way but  since you can stay safe from the confusion that A4 manager permits to you ,,,et voilà the game is done!a bit complicated and not so easy to do but probably you could avoid the many crashes and the wasting time effects of A4!

this way you keep your music folder as a third party lib manager, just as i did with A3! ah maybe it would be better after a certain period of use to repeat the resetting procedure

tomorrow i will try if it works  this way and i will be back to you for a more accurate report.....but anyway one more time  ...it is a so easy option and above all already fitted in A4 ,even if in very a rudimental way,that i wonder why SS engineers still wait so long to fit it, properly revised, in the program ...maybe in more easy and simple way to execute it??a simple option that would lead A4 in the leader position!! Only 2 more buttons in the main screen 1 for  loading  and 1 for resetting...SS...do i ask too much?and consider that you developers could do these minor changes with a most refined interaction than what i can do

ciaociao

 

Bravo!  Another soul brought back from the brink of an Amarra 4 induced leap off the ledge.  Rest assured your suggestions to the developers have been categorically ignored.  Amarra is the soup nazi of 3rd party players, just smile and get through the line.  

 

(Soup nazi is Seinfeld reference, not sure if you've personally watched that in Italy).

[ddalmas]

explain more clearly please

[DancingSea]

8 minutes ago, ddalmas said:

explain more clearly please

 

Well, Soup Nazi is a cultural reference that is much more funny if it doesn't have to be explained.  I'm using it to chide Sonic Studios about their way of not being customer friendly by ignoring the years of complaints.  They seem to have an attitude of this is what we provide, don't like it, then no soup for you!

 

You can see a clip here.

 

All joking aside, Ralph at Sonic Studio, their customer relations man, is very nice and helpful.  His amenability does not seem to translate into meaningful changes.  

 

But for old time sake, hey Ralph, now that you no longer sell HiFi, please tell the boys to include an iTunes integration mode in Luxe so that we have the option for A4 sound without the library morass.   Ah yes, feels great to be ignored again.

[ddalmas]

no there is not in italy! but i can give an interpretation as well ! i have to to say that i agree with you about the behavior of SS...anyway it sounds so nice that i am a little less angry knowing i can use A4 anyway even if in a sacrificed way!i will continue to use A+ for usual listening and A4 for meditation listening.

[GregWormald]

6 minutes ago, DancingSea said:

Soup Nazi

 

HA!

This is an almost perfect analogy.

Greg

[DancingSea]

Upon further experimentation, SQ+ is similar to HiFi in terms of sound quality.  SQ+ does have perhaps a 10% - 15% decrease in volume which makes sound less full at first glance.  But both offer functional library management via iTunes, and thus are a reasonable compromise to A4's library issues.

 

I plan to use both HiFi, A4 and maybe SQ+ going forward.  This is Sonic Studio's masterful marketing at work, sell more product via inflicted suffering

[ddalmas]

ahhh yeah perfectly fitting comparing!! and very amusing i say! soup nazi! ah ah ah . i wonder why in life always people wh has  good legs won't run and and who has thin legs would..there's no justice in this world my friend...and remember  her in Italy we say this : only stupid people DO NOT CHANGE his point of view   ...tell them, an italian expression

ciao

[foodfiend]

5 hours ago, ddalmas said:

Maybe ,after long thinking and wondering how, i have reached an acceptable compromise!!

Congratulations on reaching your zen with the idiot savant!

[ddalmas]

hi guy ..i ìm not sure to have completely understood what you mean to say ,above all with the term "idiot savant"but this i can say :

1) A4 sounds nice, maybe the best ave all the others, and that's a reality

2) I have , unfortunately ,already bought and payed Amarra ,good or bad business it could be,since A3 times plus the nowadays upgrade, and that's another unequivocal reality!!

3) I firmly hate, in my life , every kind of wasting...and A4 thrown in the WC,as i was attempted to do, is a simple waste of money ,time and good sound quality!so i always  prefer to save what could be still savable! that's not a Zen nether it is a reality, but it is a pure philosophy of life

well after this considerations of mine .... please tell me more about it 

thks

ciao

[ddalmas]

now i am back to you after 2 hours of trials with the descriptor abefore method to use Amarra 4 and i must say it works fine at last without any crash,( obvious.....loading 1 album at any time it would be the maximum of the incredible if it'd crashes!)it takes only some more time, but not so much ,to search &  load  the album you have chosen and  et voilà it plays with the very high quality that A4 inequivocabilly has!

Well ...since ,as i have understood, it'd be too exaggerate the  expectation that such an upgrade possibility enters and, above all ,does not exit again ,in the ears of SS developers, who wants the  A4 sound could use the program in that way! it works and crashes less than A3 used in a similar way

[foodfiend]

ddalmas: "idiot savant" is kind of related to the Dustin Hoffman character in the movie Rain Man. Not sure if you caught the movie. It is analogy, since Amarra does something very well (in the movie, Dustin Hoffman's character is a human calculator-autistic savant), but can be a real pain to live with (I am sure you understand this part).

[ddalmas]

thks ...rain man i saw ss translated in Italian  so some phrases have  not the same meaning as in the original version, this is the reason why i started to look at movies in original language ....but it is anyway very hard to capture all what is said in the deep and hidden meanings

now i understand that the compare is perfectly fitting...idiot savant ...yes this they are! what a pity

[foodfiend]

5 minutes ago, ddalmas said:

thks ...rain man i saw ss translated in Italian  so some phrases have  not the same meaning as in the original version, this is the reason why i started to look at movies in original language ....but it is anyway very hard to capture all what is said in the deep and hidden meanings

now i understand that the compare is perfectly fitting...idiot savant ...yes this they are! what a pity

Oh! And I forgot to mention that you often have to interact with them on their own terms, no matter how uncomfortable it is for you (reference to their not responding to user feedback).

[mneveux]

13 hours ago, DancingSea said:

Upon further experimentation, SQ+ is similar to HiFi in terms of sound quality.  SQ+ does have perhaps a 10% - 15% decrease in volume which makes sound less full at first glance.  But both offer functional library management via iTunes, and thus are a reasonable compromise to A4's library issues.

 

I plan to use both HiFi, A4 and maybe SQ+ going forward.  This is Sonic Studio's masterful marketing at work, sell more product via inflicted suffering

The gain can be adjusted. You want the peaks to hit about 0 dB, if you go too much higher, it will clip. Just try to keep the peaks out of the red.

[der_bothaus]

You have to make sure you launch the sQ+ with your volume maxed. If it is lower, it stays lower. Bone heads. And you have to make sure all your Applications and hardware are on and connected prior or it shits the bed as well. There is no SS product free from these amazing bugs. I am glad I found this thread. So much solace in collected pain. 

[DancingSea]

9 hours ago, ddalmas said:

thks ...rain man i saw ss translated in Italian  so some phrases have  not the same meaning as in the original version, this is the reason why i started to look at movies in original language ....but it is anyway very hard to capture all what is said in the deep and hidden meanings

now i understand that the compare is perfectly fitting...idiot savant ...yes this they are! what a pity

 

An idiot savant is a mentally challenged person who may be genius at a skill like playing piano, feats of memory, or mathematics (like Rain Man who could blackjack count cards) - but who otherwise may not know their own name, or what day of the week it is.  Amarra is a sonic savant, but otherwise is a Mr. Magoo (yes ddalmas, yet another American cultural TV reference just for fun) - who is clueless about anything beyond sound.

[DancingSea]

2 hours ago, mneveux said:

The gain can be adjusted. You want the peaks to hit about 0 dB, if you go too much higher, it will clip. Just try to keep the peaks out of the red.

 

53 minutes ago, der_bothaus said:

You have to make sure you launch the sQ+ with your volume maxed. If it is lower, it stays lower. Bone heads. And you have to make sure all your Applications and hardware are on and connected prior or it shits the bed as well. There is no SS product free from these amazing bugs. I am glad I found this thread. So much solace in collected pain. 

 

This is good to know. mneveux, my issue has been with the volume being too low.  If I adjust the gain to be out of the red, the volume would really be too low.  I'll try der_bothaus' solution.  A4 and HiFi do not have this issue.

 

I did compare all 3 last night.  I freely admit the results may be attributed to the audiophile disease of the grass being greener - the act of looking for improvements & creating that image in my mind, and my mind finding results that itself created rather than there actually being anything better.  SS made no reference about A4 being an improved sound engine, thus it may be the same as it always has.  The difference being SQ+ and HiFi were tested with iTunes, and A4 on its own.

 

 I liked the sound across the board.  However, A4 seemed to provide a touch more detail with a better sense of space within that detail.  The holographic effects were a bit more pronounced as well.  That said, it was a relief to back in iTunes' library management world for awhile.

 

What does the Audio Conditioner do?