[GlenAppleton]

I've read a lot of posts on the Audirvana community stating they think the sound quality of 3.5 is better than the new Studio version.
Audirvana Community studio vs 3.5

I've read those as well, but I've also seen a trend in that community as each new version of Studio is released that the sound quality in Studio is now as good as or better than v3.5. I didn't use Audirvana 3.5 or early versions of Studio, so I can't speak to it first-hand, so I'm just reading the trends in the threads.

 

[Gorf]

I've read a lot of posts on the Audirvana community stating they think the sound quality of 3.5 is better than the new Studio version.
Audirvana Community studio vs 3.5

A lot of arguing on there! Generally they seem to say that the old version is warmer. That has to be to do with what people are used to hearing & the chain of kit. Maybe also if they use mqa. I'm connected via usb & using wasapi. Pretty happy with AS & flac off my pc.

 

[al210]

I've read those as well, but I've also seen a trend in that community as each new version of Studio is released that the sound quality in Studio is now as good as or better than v3.5. I didn't use Audirvana 3.5 or early versions of Studio, so I can't speak to it first-hand, so I'm just reading the trends in the threads.

A lot of arguing on there! Generally they seem to say that the old version is warmer. That has to be to do with what people are used to hearing & the chain of kit. Maybe also if they use mqa. I'm connected via usb & using wasapi. Pretty happy with AS & flac off my pc.

I have no comparison since I'm still running 3.5 on my mac mini. My mini feeds my Microrendu via ethernet. USB out of Microrendu to my Chord DAC. SQ has been fantastic from RB to DSD files.

 

[fablestruck]

Can someone elaborate briefly on the ASIO/WASAPI/KERNEL STREAMING difference?

 

[Gorf]

Can someone elaborate briefly on the ASIO/WASAPI/KERNEL STREAMING difference?

Its pretty complex & i believe determined my your chain. I use wasapi as i find it more reliable in my system.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-wasapi-and-music-players-foobar-jriver.7412/

 

[GlenAppleton]

Can someone elaborate briefly on the ASIO/WASAPI/KERNEL STREAMING difference?

I believe Kernel Streaming was the original "low level" audio interface for Windows, then ASIO came along, then finally WASAPI (if I remember correctly). In any case, I agree with @Gorf in that the best method most likely depends on your gear / and signal chain. I found ASIO works best for my setup, and KS (Kernel Streaming) would be about the same with the exception of some random noise between tracks. They're all good interfaces to use, so give each a try in your setup and let your ears be the judge.

 

[fablestruck]

I believe Kernel Streaming was the original "low level" audio interface for Windows, then ASIO came along, then finally WASAPI (if I remember correctly). In any case, I agree with @Gorf in that the best method most likely depends on your gear / and signal chain. I found ASIO works best for my setup, and KS (Kernel Streaming) would be about the same with the exception of some random noise between tracks. They're all good interfaces to use, so give each a try in your setup and let your ears be the judge.

Thanx.
My laptop setting is Cord Mojo on a USB port.

 

[Chianti]

Just moved from Audirvana 3.5 to Studio 1.8.1 (both Mac Mini M1). Bugs are limited to the extent that 99% of the time I can just enjoy the music ... I am very satisfied with the sound quality overall, Studio equal or better than 3.5. I will subscribe for sure, to keep Audirvana going. Tangential to the actual software, I don't care much for the new "fancy" rebranding, including the Audirvana accent thing -- looks like they got lost/confused and spent way too much effort on that vs. their core priorities - water under the bridge, I hope they are now in a good position to move forward. E.g. trade-off to no longer provide a product manual (sorely needed, took me 20 minutes to figure out how to add plug-ins) vs. the new redesign -- not customer friendly.

 

[ThomasHK]

Anyone know if there's any easy 1 click way to bypass audio effects you have in the signal chain. As far as I understand, now every time I have to pause music, unlock audio chain, go into the audio settings and finally there you can do it. Would be awesome for A/B ing or switching settings for other headphones.

 

[Chianti]

Anyone know if there's any easy 1 click way to bypass audio effects you have in the signal chain. As far as I understand, now every time I have to pause music, unlock audio chain, go into the audio settings and finally there you can do it. Would be awesome for A/B ing or switching settings for other headphones.

Closest thing is to flip the "Realtime control (not for DSD playback)" switch in the Audio Units configuration dialog. Then you can individually turn AUs on/off. If you *need* one click, you can utilize a VST/AU wrapper plug-in as a container for the other ones (I don't have a recommendation as that is not a use case for me; this would also allow you to overcome the 4 plug-in limitation in Audirvana; examples include https://ddmf.eu/metaplugin-chainer-vst-au-rtas-aax-wrapper/ ).

 

[Gorf]

After using (& paying for) Audirvarna Studio for several months, I noticed the chance that my old trusty Winamp is getting some updating soon. This got me to open my old Winamp & noticed that the Winamp WASAPI output wasn't working. Some browsing & I found that an update had broken it & that's why in my Winamp vs Audirvarna Studio tests, that Winamp was very noticeable as worse quality playback. I tried the "Not so YASAPI" output & it's a transformation. I spent the whole of yesterday a-b testing & I'm not sure that the difference is noticeable betoween the two players. Putting the great UI of Winamp against the buggy mess of Audirvarna Studio makes Winamp a win for me.

 

[GlenAppleton]

After using (& paying for) Audirvarna Studio for several months, I noticed the chance that my old trusty Winamp is getting some updating soon. This got me to open my old Winamp & noticed that the Winamp WASAPI output wasn't working. Some browsing & I found that an update had broken it & that's why in my Winamp vs Audirvarna Studio tests, that Winamp was very noticeable as worse quality playback. I tried the "Not so YASAPI" output & it's a transformation. I spent the whole of yesterday a-b testing & I'm not sure that the difference is noticeable betoween the two players. Putting the great UI of Winamp against the buggy mess of Audirvarna Studio makes Winamp a win for me.

I was a big fan of WinAmp years ago, and I'm sure it's still a great player. If you don't need the integrated streaming features of Audirvana, there are other great alternatives for playing local files that might meet your needs, and without a monthly subscription cost. For me, I exclusively use it for Qobuz as I don't have any quality music files (only ~256kbps MP3), and Audirvana just seems to sound better than the Qobuz app, so I didn't mind paying the yearly sub to see how things progress with the platform.

 

[Gorf]

I was a big fan of WinAmp years ago, and I'm sure it's still a great player. If you don't need the integrated streaming features of Audirvana, there are other great alternatives for playing local files that might meet your needs, and without a monthly subscription cost. For me, I exclusively use it for Qobuz as I don't have any quality music files (only ~256kbps MP3), and Audirvana just seems to sound better than the Qobuz app, so I didn't mind paying the yearly sub to see how things progress with the platform.

Thanks

I use local Flac files only.

 

[firehammer]

Hi, I have an active subscription on Audirvana Studio & on both Tidal Hi-Fi & Qobuz.
I have had both Roon & Audirvana 3.5, but the new version of Audirvana made me skip both, could not be more satisfied.

 

[dcguy73]

Meh. I have no qualms against the sound quality of Audirvana Studio, but it is very sensitive to particular characters in filenames, and thus will not recognize my full NAS library of music. I've had this problem since version 3.5. I have posted questions on the forum about this, but it has never really been resolved.

Also, a spinning beachball (Mac) when Studio 1.8.1 starts up, every time. Lots of waiting of the program to start.

I will not be renewing my subscription to Studio.