Amarra - anyone using it?

[AVU]

 
Tried [AyreWave].  Doesn't sound as good to me as PureMusic.  Not as full or rich.  Plus it's not integrated with itunes, so there's really no comparison.
 
EDIT- sorry, this wasn't ayrewave - it was late.  I tried some other large music player/editor that was largely designed for sound editing, not playback. I thought it sounded horrible.  This was not AyreWave, which I tried later, and as I write below, is quite incredible.  Not as good as the full Amarra 2.1, but as a free alternative, can't be beat!

 

[iamoneagain]

I'm back to Amarra.  Needed the integration since I like to use the iPhone Remote app.  Also realized I like the cleaner mids Amarra delivers especially when listening songs with heavy electric guitar.  Now just waiting for that Nov update.

 

[CVG]

Quote:

Well after playing around with AyreWave more, it actually sounds better.  Seems to have bigger soundstage, more liquidy and better flow, and fuller sound.  So I think if I'm going to listen to a full album, I'll probably go with that player.  Hope they find a better way to intergrate it with iTunes.  I know there's a script to load songs you've highlighted in iTunes, but then if you have to go back to the player to start it, might as well just hit the iTunes button in the player itself.  So far I haven't had any bugs yet.  Hopefully Amarra will improve it's sound quality to match with it's Nov update.
 
Can't tell if AyreWave is going to start charging when it's finished with it's Beta release but at least this let's you really try it out.

 
First, AyreWave is designed to be a stand alone player application.  There's already more than one very well done app that's designed for close integration with iTunes.  Of course, iTunes is as close as it gets.
 
Second, the AppleScript you're referring to grabs the selected tracks from iTunes, launches AyreWave, loads the tracks into the AyreWave play queue, and starts playing tracks from the beginning of the queue.  If AyreWave is already running, the tracks are just added to the end of the queue and AyreWave keeps playing whatever it was playing.  If you prefer to use iTunes as the database front end for playback with AyreWave, this approach works pretty well.  It also may be even more convenient to uncheck Playback Options: Remember between launches in the AyreWave Preferences so that each session begins fresh with your selections in iTunes.
 
AyreWave has a pretty good AppleScript dictionary, so you can probably customize almost any interaction with iTunes that you like, or even write your own interface if you're ambitious.
 

 

[iamoneagain]

Well, Amarra 2.1 finally came out today.  I'll have to wait until tonight to try it out. Heard the big difference is using the Cache feature, which AyreWave already had.  I just upgraded to 8gb, so I shouldn't have an memory limitations.
 
For the past few weeks I actually went back to using AyreWave.  It seemed to give a wider, more precise soundstage and had better overall texture.  I wasn't a fan of using the separate player, so I'm hoping Amarra's sound is now on par.  After extended listening, AyreWave's sound just seem right in my system.
 
http://www.sonicstudio.com/amarra/

 

[AVU]

I'm not sure where 2.1 is.  I got the email too, but there's no update on their website.
 
I went back to AyreWave to check it after reading this.  It's better than I remembered - I actually prefer it to Play or Pure Music and maybe even the Amarra Mini.  I don't, however, think it has the authority of the full Amarra, which I prefer above all.  But damn close - and for a FREE program - that's incredible.  

 

[iamoneagain]

Quote:

I'm not sure where 2.1 is.  I got the email too, but there's no update on their website.
 
I went back to AyreWave to check it after reading this.  It's better than I remembered - I actually prefer it to Play or Pure Music and maybe even the Amarra Mini.  I don't, however, think it has the authority of the full Amarra, which I prefer above all.  But damn close - and for a FREE program - that's incredible.  

Did you refresh your browser.  The whole Amarra website is new.  
 
So with what little testing I've done, the Cache mode brings the AyreWave improvements to Amarra while keeping Amarra's slightly cleaner sound.  It seems Cache mode improves soundstage placement and general pace and rhythm.  The few issues I have is you have to turn on Cache mode on each time you reopen.  Should just be a preference to check in addition to the button.  Also if you try to pause and resume, it doesn't work. You have to select another track to start up again.  Would also like them to add a Hog mode so no other system sounds come through.  I'll have to do more testing but it's nice to have iTunes front end back to play music.  
 
The Cache mode is noticeable in my system because while I was testing, I was sure AyreWave sounded better and Amarra was a little dryer sounding.  I then noticed Cache mode was off.  Once back on, I was enjoying Amarra just as much.  Gives more organic sound and better retrieval of background effects.
 
Oh, AyreWave is not really free.  It's a free beta that will expire at the end of the year.  They may release another beta to expire sometime next year.  But at some point they plan to charge for the final release.  I would have said it was worth it if Amarra didn't improve.

 

[Currawong]

The Amarra update saved me from selling my iLok and giving up.  The software has been so buggy for me, despite numerous emails to the developers.  It doesn't play the first 4-8 seconds of tracks unless I now use its playlist and cache. If I don't quit it in between use, attempting to use it after a few hours results in clicks, pops and drop-outs.  Maybe I need a dedicated machine to run it rather than use my main computer, but still, how the hell does a company spend so long developing software that has a gross non-native interface and such glaring bugs?

 

[iamoneagain]

Yeah, I'm shocked by the bugs too .  The other weird thing is I think the way the cache mode with the playlist works, is it tries to load the whole list (up to amount of song and memory set in preference).  Not sure why it can't load one and then preload another as first one is ending.  Pretty sure that how Ayrewave works.  And Ayrewave has perfect gapless playback.  I haven't tested Amarra's updated gapless playlist playback yet but used to have ever so slight gap.  I know just playing songs directly through iTunes has a bigger gap because it stops and loads the cache at the end of every song.  Don't understand why they don't use preload.  Biggest complaint is I can't get a song to play again once it's stopped.  Have to start it back up from beginning.  Seems they had a pre-release of this since Oct and this is the best they can come up and it's late being delivered.  I'd probably stick with Ayrewave is I didn't already own Amarra.
 
On the positive side, I can use iTunes directly to start a song. I can also use the iPhone remote again.  And the biggest plus is I'm pretty sure Amarra now sounds better the Ayrewave when using cache mode. I guess the speed of the memory is the big difference.  Could be why people said they heard improvements with solid state drives.  I'll have to test Ayrewave with memory mode turned off to see if hear a difference there.  I'd assume so.

 

[AVU]

I must be an idiot, but I just can't find the software.  I'm at the site and it has the following.  Can you post the link for 2.1?
 
- sorry found it

 

[AVU]

Sorry - mistaken post.  Finally found the new Amarra website.

 

[dallan]

I can stop and start it anywhere, midsong is no problem, but I haven't upgraded to new software yet...maybe I shouldn't in that I have none of the glitches that u guys seem to have.

 

[iamoneagain]

Quote:

I can stop and start it anywhere, midsong is no problem, but I haven't upgraded to new software yet...maybe I shouldn't in that I have none of the glitches that u guys seem to have.

 
I never had this problem before this update.  Might try to reinstall or ask them if know issue. 
 
But as far as sound goes, you'd really like update once you enable cache mode. Some may think it's subtle but really makes the flow of music the most natural I've heard in my system.  Just gives you that "now this is how music should sound".  I guess I would say there's a more liquidity feel to it.  I know every setup is different, so improvements I hear might be different for someone else.
 
Edit: Got a response the that no start is a known issue.  Not sure how this wasn't caught before release.  Other minor issue are the track names are sometimes not showing up in the player.  Sometimes is showing old track name.  I tried playlist feature and when forward to next track it doesn't automatically start playing, have to hit play.  After finish with playlist, I couldn't it start playing iTunes track again without restarting it.  Heard they are already working on a bug fix update, so that's good. Also nice to get quick response from them.  Need to check site to see if we can submit bugs.  Really would like a bug-free version at some point.  
 
Since Ayrewave is still in beta, could be the reason the are releasing updates so quickly.  They also have auto anonymous feedback.  Seems Amarra might need better beta testers if some of these bugs weren't noticed until released.  Some seem so obvious unless it only happens on select systems.

 

 

[Anilan]

I've been trying the demo for the last day and I've noticed that Amarra doesn't seem to handle long/non-English titles very well. Trying to play any of these tracks will make the light turn orange. However, if I rename the file info in iTunes to English (and with a short name) it works just fine. Also, if it was the same track but from the CD with the correct track names it works as well, but not when imported.

 

[sterling1]

I like the idea of FLAC files on iTunes being possible with Amarra, which would allow hi-res downloads from HDTracks to be importred direct to iTunes. But, I've got iTunes on my PC loaded with Windows 7. Will Amarra work on my computer, I'm interested in their mini version?

 

[Currawong]

Amarra only works in Mac OS X.