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Amarra - anyone using it? - Page 7

post #91 of 643
6/19/09 at 6:06pm
I still think we want to see a nice software in the level of a PRO for PC
I mean, why not ?!
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post #92 of 643
6/19/09 at 7:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wavelength View Post
What ever Amarra does is more correct than straight iTunes.
that's prolly the most technical explanation we're ever going to get...so thank you for that!
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post #93 of 643
6/21/09 at 11:26pm
I've heard this software now on two occasions in a great system and it is a break through.

Next paycheck I'll be picking it up as to me it improves the sound akin to stepping up from a $1000 CDP to a $3000 cdp. The folks over at Amarra/Sonic Studios are great people and very highly regarded in the pro world. All I can say is listen to it and decide prior to dismissing it.
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post #94 of 643
6/22/09 at 2:31am
I've installed the demo, converted a few tracks back to AIFF and had a listen. First impression is that some hiss in the background of tracks seems to not be there, allowing a bit more clarity of the instruments. The difference isn't huge for me though.

What kind of improvements are you getting jp?
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post #95 of 643
6/22/09 at 2:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Currawong View Post
I've installed the demo, converted a few tracks back to AIFF and had a listen. First impression is that some hiss in the background of tracks seems to not be there, allowing a bit more clarity of the instruments. The difference isn't huge for me though.

What kind of improvements are you getting jp?
greater sense of space around the instruments, take the drum solo on Dave Brubeck's Take Five, the cymbals shimmer a bit more and the drum shells have more depth to them for example. I'm not picking up more hiss but that may be possible based on the source material.
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post #96 of 643
6/22/09 at 10:16am
Sounds similar to what I was getting. It was as if the hiss in the background of some tracks had gone, and like a fog or veil lifted slightly from the sound. More space around the instruments would describe it well also. I am thinking to try with a couple of different DACs to see if that affects the degree of improvement, as a thought in the back of my head is that Amarra is intended to process the digital in some way in order to improve the D/A conversion, when it happens.
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post #97 of 643
6/22/09 at 11:08am
I'm honestly not entirely sure exactly what is being done but I am using a Sonic Studio 302 DAC/ADC with it (it is the Metric Halo ULN-2) with it and alone the dac is wonderful.
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post #98 of 643
6/22/09 at 6:26pm
I just found out that there is an Amarra dealer nearby. I've scheduled an audition later today with my Berkeley Alpha DAC.

I've been quite ambivalent about it myself. On the one hand, it's getting raves across the board from those that have tried it but on the other hand, I know literally nothing about how it works. I can't wait to hear it for myself.
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post #99 of 643
6/23/09 at 5:39pm
sweet where Quad?
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post #100 of 643
6/26/09 at 6:16pm
This thread has repeated itself all over the net - here, on Audio Asylum's PC forum, and on Computer Audiophile. In all cases, Amarra has been unable to explain how it can be at once identical (bit perfect) and better. In at least two of those discussions, Gordon has pointed out audioengnr's rather shocking lack of understanding of what he sells very expensive solutions to -- jitter. Thanks for that. And in every case it seems that those who hear Amarra hear something...

But no one seems to know what. Not even Amarra. As Gordon says, in audio, sometimes things sound different and there just isn't any explanation for it. The thing is, though, when those "things" can be differentiated in proper listening tests, they are almost always measurable. I'm not sure I've ever come across an exception.

So where are the measurements? Where are the (blind, independent, statistically significant) listening tests? If Sonic Studios has really built a better mousetrap, I would think they would be biting at the bit to demonstrate that fact. I'm still listening, and given the opportunity, I'd love to hear this, too. But I'm not in a big hurry to put my money where their mouth is. YMMV. Not when iTunes lossless files sound this good.

P
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post #101 of 643
6/27/09 at 3:28am
i totally agree, it is software after all with slight unexplained feature. more info would help sway some possibly.
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post #102 of 643
6/27/09 at 5:40am
I think there can be only one explanation...they are manipulating the data that is being sent to your sound card. If they aren't...it is a ridiculous rip off (and ridiculously over-hyped). If they are...good for them, they found something that seems to appeal to a lot of people (it's still a rip off, IMHO, and I'm sure there's something that comes close that's available as a Foobar2000 plug-in, although you might have to mess around to find the right combination of DSPs and settings for them).
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post #103 of 643
6/27/09 at 5:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scrith View Post
I think there can be only one explanation...they are manipulating the data that is being sent to your sound card. If they aren't...it is a ridiculous rip off. If they are...good for them, they found something that seems to appeal to a lot of people
you, my friend, are not a magical thinking believer...this can't be good in the audio business.
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post #104 of 643
6/27/09 at 5:54am
This is ridiculous. Bit-perfect is bit-perfect, period.
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post #105 of 643
6/27/09 at 6:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scrith View Post
I think there can be only one explanation...they are manipulating the data that is being sent to your sound card.
Of course; they have almost said so, though they haven't done so plainly. I think someone there understands that this is an audiophile market killer. It shouldn't be, as long as you can turn it off, but it is. Given the descriptions of the effects of Amarra, Almost identical to descriptions that have been attributed to the subtlest (and often psychoacoustic) tweaks, its price should be the market killer. But I'd still love to hear it.

P
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