[erik701]

Audirvana Plus is the best.

 

[Lohb]

I wish A+ could come to Android in some form.
 
Nothing comes close.
 
Nightmare GUIs that force 48k rate ( Neutron).
UAPP just lacks that 'zing' that A+ (2.2.5) has.

 

[Amictus]

I have just obtained Audirvana, having acquired a couple of Macs, but I prefer the sound of JRiver so far... maybe I need to learn to do some tweaking...

 

[Lohb]

I have just obtained Audirvana, having acquired a couple of Macs, but I prefer the sound of JRiver so far... maybe I need to learn to do some tweaking...

What would you say the immediate difference was to what you liked in JRiver ?

 

[Amictus]

 
What would you say the immediate difference was to what you liked in JRiver ?

Well, I haven't done much detailed listening... but, immediately, I noticed a thinner sound on Audirvana, less timbral richness, less bass, less music. It was a more clinical experience. That was on a recent iMac, to a Gungnir MB, and then to either a Lyr or a Lehmann SE. I think that I was using the HD800 at the time. Music was, unusually for me, Miles Davis "Kind of Blue", remastered by pristineclassical.com. It was a .flac file. There was also more soundstage on JRiver, both sideways and depth.
 
Still, just one recording, one evening, and no effort at under-the-hood tweeking...
 
EDIT: I tried Sysoptimizer (?) in Audirvana, this time turning it to 'extreme'. It seemed to improve the sound quite a bit, especially as regards soundstage. JRiver still seems to bring a warmer sound, but, perhaps, a little less precision. It's Sibelius 4th Symphony, movement 1, VPO/Maazel (remastered) ripped to NAS this evening. Audirvana is more controlling, JRiver more liberating. I'm still on iMac - GungnirMB - Lyr (Bugle Boys) - HD800. Perhaps I need to change headphones and amp...

 

[Lohb]

Also, try direct mode and integer mode...
(Integer mode 1 is supposed to be more 'neutral/analytic' than integer mode 2, which is supposed to be 'fuller/warmer' slightly if I remember).
 
Direct and integer bypass OSX file coloring/audio codec processing.

 

[amf123]

My set-up was iMac running Fidelia 1.65 - Naim Dac-V1 - Denon D7000.  I'd gotten a bit used to it all and sort of got a touch of upgrade-itis and was seriously considering swopping out my D7000's for a set of Fostex TH900.  I thought they may give the music a bit of a spark I seemed to be missing.  Anyway, for whatever reason, one day I decided to install Audirvana + instead.  Oh my, what a revelation!  My music came back to life.  Checked Fidelia again and couldn't believe how flat and lifeless it sounded in comparison.  And I'd been just living with it for however long.  The moral of the story is a quick and cheap change in software has saved me £1k in new cans.  Very happy.

 

[Oink1]

Emo has arrived. £88.00 frigging customs charges! Grrr!

 

[joeexp]

Emo has arrived. £88.00 frigging customs charges! Grrr!

Wrong Thread man!

 

[chipbutty]

I found the opposite! Really nothing in it after trialling both and eventually paying for Fidelia. I just found Fidelia to have a slight edge over Audirvana. Which converter were you running on Fidelia? I use Goodhertz. 
 
Quote:

  My set-up was iMac running Fidelia 1.65 - Naim Dac-V1 - Denon D7000.  I'd gotten a bit used to it all and sort of got a touch of upgrade-itis and was seriously considering swopping out my D7000's for a set of Fostex TH900.  I thought they may give the music a bit of a spark I seemed to be missing.  Anyway, for whatever reason, one day I decided to install Audirvana + instead.  Oh my, what a revelation!  My music came back to life.  Checked Fidelia again and couldn't believe how flat and lifeless it sounded in comparison.  And I'd been just living with it for however long.  The moral of the story is a quick and cheap change in software has saved me £1k in new cans.  Very happy.

 

[Oink1]

Wrong Thread man!

Kind of relevant 'man' as I'd previously asked about equipment upgrade in my current computer system AS WELL as Mac software... Whatever though.

 

[Wilderness]

 
Well, I haven't done much detailed listening... but, immediately, I noticed a thinner sound on Audirvana, less timbral richness, less bass, less music. It was a more clinical experience. That was on a recent iMac, to a Gungnir MB, and then to either a Lyr or a Lehmann SE. I think that I was using the HD800 at the time. Music was, unusually for me, Miles Davis "Kind of Blue", remastered by pristineclassical.com. It was a .flac file. There was also more soundstage on JRiver, both sideways and depth.
 
Still, just one recording, one evening, and no effort at under-the-hood tweeking...
 
EDIT: I tried Sysoptimizer (?) in Audirvana, this time turning it to 'extreme'. It seemed to improve the sound quite a bit, especially as regards soundstage. JRiver still seems to bring a warmer sound, but, perhaps, a little less precision. It's Sibelius 4th Symphony, movement 1, VPO/Maazel (remastered) ripped to NAS this evening. Audirvana is more controlling, JRiver more liberating. I'm still on iMac - GungnirMB - Lyr (Bugle Boys) - HD800. Perhaps I need to change headphones and amp...

I agree that JRiver sounds better, and that is why I am using the free Pono music software on my iMac, which is JRiver with a skin and the store.  The Pono version of JRiver looks like it has one of the attractive skins available for JRiver.  It is a richer sound with no noticeable loss in detail compared to Audirvana.
 
I use iTunes for playlist management and syncing, and I copy and paste my playlist into the Pono software on my iMac.  I adjusted the settings in the Pono software on my iMac to get the best sound.  I just got some new speakers and a sub, and I am enjoying listening to music at home more than ever.
 
Pono's software is also handy for converting formats so that everything is compatible on all of my devices, too.

 

[joeexp]

I gave JRIVER another go - but have to say that the MicroDetail retrieval and 3d Imaging is best with Audirvana on my system. YMMV. Perhaps Gear Pairing is important in the whole Scenario. HD 800s might be sounding a bit harsh in some circumstances but that's not Audirvana's fault.
Fidelia isn't even in the same league on my system. … Too sugarcoated and a lack of a lot of things. Again  YMMV.

 

[iamoneagain]

Well I'm finally using HQPlayer.  I bought it about a week ago in anticipation of the Roon integration.  I held off buying before because it seems it's the only player that doesn't play ALAC files.  Before the Roon integration, I had to convert my tracks to AIFF and manually drop them in.  Kind of a pain in the butt but the sound quality was the best I've heard in my AT L3000/DHA3000 headphone setup.  
 
Roon just got updated a few days ago and I can finally play all my ALAC files and Tidal library with the pcm output going thru HQPlayer.  There are still a few minor disconnect bugs to be worked out but, wow, this combo is amazing.  The price is pretty expensive for both but it's like getting a new piece of hardware in terms of sound quality and Roon is one of the best interfaces I've used.
 
As far as the other players, I could never get Audirvana + to sound just right.  It would always sound amazing at first but had a tiring sound.  Never enough warmth no matter what settings.  Amarra had a nice analog type sound but without integer mode and exclusive modes, it never seemed as dynamic or black of background as the others.  HQPlayer just sounds right in my system.  Has the best focus and placement of instruments of all the players.  It's just as dynamic as Audirvana + but somehow more musical.  Never get tired of the sound.  It's a little confusing on what the filters are supposed to be but a quick google search helped.  The interface itself kind of sucks, but paired with Roon, it's amazing since it just runs in the background.

 

[joeexp]

HQPlayer retails for GBP 114.35  - a bit hefty for an amateurish looking product. 
But I will give it a go and see what it sounds like. It has a trial mode.