Amarra - anyone using it? - Page 32

The price drop is them half responding to the market, half marketing gimmick. They rebranded them. junior, mini, and amarra are now hi-fi, amarra and symphony. The plus side is they upped the sample rate on mini (now amarra) from 96 to 192, and hunior/hi-fi can do 96 instead of topping at 44. So now all you are missing by not getting symphony (formerly amarra regular) is the meters and a peak sample rate of 384. I don't care about 384, but the meters are nice to have. So for most of us, amarra (formerly mini) is the sweet spot. Gapless, 24/192. There's no gapless on hi-fi, which makes it mostly a way to intro amarra to people that would normally dismiss it because of price, and then get them to upgrade when they learn that caching and gapless playlists are key to a pleasant listening experience. 

So instead of their pricing model being 10-15 years out of date, it's only 5-10 years out of date. That's some progress at least. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by AVU 

 

I agree with this completely.  Exactly my experience.  Bugginess and all.  But yes, the richness is the best thing.  I do think A+ is excellent however, as is Fidelia with the proper settings.

 

But dude, they dropped the price of Amarra from $700 to $189?

 

When did that happen?!?  

 

And Amarra Hifi is $49?  What is that?

I would suggest saving your money for now. It won't install on the latest developer preview, meaning either the OS is not ready or (more likely) amarra need code changes to work with Mountain Lion. And given Sonic Studio's past release schedule, we probably won't see an update until after Mountain Lion is released. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silent One 

 

A few times a season, perhaps, I'll log in at Apple's Developer Connection site and peruse a bit. I've downloaded some basic tools in the past, but every time I raise the necessary $99 fee, it gets diverted to tubes or some other audio related purchase. 

 

Soon, I'm just gonna pay it so I can play around some... who doesn't like to play around?

Upgraded. It's the first version that hasn't been a nuisance in some way, at least so far (least I be jinxing myself writing this). I agree, crazy as it may be to some to say it, but it's the best-sounding playback software of all that I've tried, other than using my iPad instead of my MacBook Pro.

I just want to chim in also and say that I have upgraded and it is working better than 2.3.3 which would skip at the end of ACC tracks. I have tried all the players available on Mac OS X and I also feel that Amarra is the best sound wise with my system. YMMV.

Rumble

Quote:

Originally Posted by Currawong 

Upgraded. It's the first version that hasn't been a nuisance in some way, at least so far (least I be jinxing myself writing this). I agree, crazy as it may be to some to say it, but it's the best-sounding playback software of all that I've tried, other than using my iPad instead of my MacBook Pro.

Yeah, I've only one night with it, so fingers crossed. Will return tomorrow night with more play time. It had been extremely difficult to get through each listening session with 2.3.3 without feeling annoyed.

So far after a day with 2.4, I haven't had any bugs.  I used to get the skipping bug at the end of some ALAC tracks and that's why I sought out other players.  Don't think I've used Amarra for over a year since trying again the other day.  Still think it's more of a pain to use than Audirvana but about the same as using Decibel.  

I'm still not sure I like the sound better than Audirvana. Could be that my headphones already have a thick sound and Amarra doesn't help. It gives me more of a closed in feeling than Audirvana does.  But I'm trying to decide which is more natural in my system.  But even then, I'm going to end up using the one I like best, not the one that has the truest sound.

Edit: Funny, now going back to Audrivana, it sounds too thin.  Amarra has more punch and just seems fuller.  Could have been that certain track that sounded too thick.  But switched to another album and Amarra sounds much better.

That's how I felt the other day when I went back and forth between the two. 

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Originally Posted by santacore 

 

That's how I felt the other day when I went back and forth between the two. 

Hey stranger, so you finally got amarra to work for you....Great!

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Originally Posted by dallan 

Hey stranger, so you finally got amarra to work for you....Great!

Hey now. Yeah, I got it working last year. Turns out my USB cable was 1.0, and my DAC wanted 2.0. Once I switched it, things got much better.

I've been really liking the build I have now(late last year), so I'm concerned about installing the latest. Might go for it after hearing some more feedback.

santacore; iamoneagain--

After going back and forth for fun the first 15 minutes to an hour,  I really recommend leaving Amarra in for up 15 days of the trial, 21 days if you own it. And then dig for impressions.

I like the sound of the new version better John.  I have.....2.2 i think that worked fairly well for me but a bug now and then.  The new one so far has had no drawbacks.  Kinda feel burnt though, I  upgraded at a bit of a discount to full Amarra and now the price is way down.  Guess i got to use it for two years though, and before that i had the mini so, yeah, things devaluate and the recession i guess.  Anyway, i kept the old one and the new one on the dock so i can choose, eventually i'll just delete the old i guess.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silent One 

santacore; iamoneagain--

 

After going back and forth for fun the first 15 minutes to an hour,  I really recommend leaving Amarra up for 15 days of the trial, 21 days if you own it. And then dig for impressions.

Yeah, I think I'm going to stick with it.  Now I'm playing around with the playlist mode vs direct play.  I notice the playlist mode is actually bassier. And on a particular track i found the direct play better. It's also a lot easier.  Now if the could only get gapless to work with direct play like the other player do.

I'm glad you guys are digging it. I'm running 2.3.4315 (build 4315) and have been really enjoying it. It sounds so good that I haven't felt the need to upgrade. Of course, this new version seems like a bigger deal, so I might just go for it.

Dallan, I hear ya on the money thing. But as with all things computer related, a few years later, most stuff sells for a fraction of the cost it did when you bought it. Hopefully you got a lot of use out of it, like I did, and it made the investment worth it.

Well with me, I was granted a complimentary license for Amarra HiFi by Sonic Studio over at Computer Audiophile, where I'm a member. Last Friday night, Sonic Studio & CA granted free copies to the first 50 members to leave a comment - I was number 5.  So, in the words of the immortal Ray Charles... "I'm going to make it do what it do, baby!"

Congrats, have always wanted to try out Amarra but have had a really hard time justifying the cost.  Still rocking Audirvana osx side and Foobar windows side.