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Pure Music or Audirvana Plus?

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Posted on May 1, 2015 at 19:25:13
learsfool
Audiophile

Posts: 1001
Joined: August 4, 2008
 Hi folks - I am a computer audio newbie, and am debating between these two software packages. All of the threads I have searched on here are quite old. Has anyone compared the two current versions of these recently, and if so, what are the pros and cons of each? Thanks!

 

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RE: Pure Music or Audirvana Plus?, posted on May 2, 2015 at 13:35:36
PaulN
Audiophile

Posts: 1412
Joined: January 13, 2000
 Pure music has some flexibility that AV+ does not such as PEQ and playthrough mode which allows you to use other apps such as Pandora One, Spotify, TIDAL, etc. with the engine. Most people tend to prefer the interface of AV+ as it is simple and strealined. AV+ also provides izotope, which many think is the best sounding DSP. As a beginner, you may find AV+ much easier to start with.

 

RE: Pure Music or Audirvana Plus?, posted on May 3, 2015 at 19:24:45
flatmap
 Both of these are very nice, sonically. I believe that the one you prefer, will depend on your system and musical preferences. There's much to like about both.

In addition to the very nice points from PaulN, another difference in the UI is that Pure Music requires iTunes to be up and running. It relies on iTunes for library management as well. In Audirvana, you can use an integrated playback mode so that it works with iTunes -- or you can use Audirvana's own library manager and ditch iTunes completely.

I think it took me a bit longer to get my preferences set up in Pure Music -- there are many options and settings -- but there hasn't been any need to change them once selected. If you ever want to integrate your vinyl setup with your digital output (applying RIAA digitally, recording from LP) then Channel D's Pure Vinyl software might be of interest to you.

Will you have mixed formats such as AIFF, FLAC, & DSD. Or will your entire library be, for example, in AIFF (or ALAC)?

 

RE: Pure Music or Audirvana Plus?, posted on May 3, 2015 at 20:44:46
learsfool
Audiophile

Posts: 1001
Joined: August 4, 2008
 Hi flatmap - I think I am going to use the AIFF format, as it is uncompressed, and I only have around 500 CDs to rip. I am definitely not interested in mixing my vinyl with digital. I actually do most of my listening to vinyl, and much prefer it to digital. However, I am a professional musician, and there is so much stuff out there I need to listen to that is digital, so I am setting up a computer-based digital system. So far the recommendations are heavily in favor of Audirvana. I used to use a Rega Apollo CD player, which I enjoyed for its warmer, more realistic sound. I think the rest of my system is posted here somewhere, if that gives you an idea of my preferences.

 

RE: Pure Music or Audirvana Plus?, posted on May 4, 2015 at 17:15:18
flatmap
 Well, I don't think you can go wrong with either player. And, as I recall, both of them offer free trial periods. If you get Audirvana+ on trial, spend some time getting used to it, and if you don't fall in love with it, then take the demo tour of Pure Music before you commit.

With everything in AIFF, you can keep everything in iTunes and interoperate with either player just fine.

Your system looks lovely. I like the idea of the Cornwalls driven by the PrimaLuna. I auditioned the Rega Apollo at one point and thought it was very involving. I still use my Rega P3 (with a Dynavector 20XL) to play my (thousands) of LPs and I've always had a good impression of their gear overall. I may move up one of these days

Will you be getting a DAC? Strongly recommended compared to just using the DAC in your computer, although you can get started that way as well.

 

RE: Pure Music or Audirvana Plus?, posted on May 4, 2015 at 23:18:31
learsfool
Audiophile

Posts: 1001
Joined: August 4, 2008
 Hi flatmap - yes, I have already purchased a DAC, I bought that little Audioquest Dragonfly thing - works great!

I didn't realize that those programs offered a free trial, I hope that is indeed the case, that would be very helpful!

I am about to get a new Exact 2 on my P5 next week, actually - I was thinking of trying the Dynavector, but despite having more output than the typical moving coil, it is still too low for my Bellari, and I am not ready to get a new phono stage at this point. That little Bellari works great with the P5 and the Exact cartridge.

Thanks again for the advice!

 

RE: Pure Music or Audirvana Plus?, posted on May 5, 2015 at 13:36:28
flatmap
 Oh right, the free demo is a great thing. Both companies offer a 15 day free trial.

For Pure Music click the "Demo" button at http://channld.com/puremusic/ .
For Audirvana+, agree to the terms (en francais) and then download at http://audirvana.com/?page_id=3397

I do recommend trying both if you have the time and inclination.

I have both installed and have no problems running them -- of course, one at a time! I'm also using the Audioquest Dragonfly on my MacBook Pro Retina with 8 Gb of RAM. The Dragonfly can handle the 'native integer mode' streaming mode option, which I always use on both of these players. You'll find Audirvana preferences also give you the choice of "Integer mode 1" and "integer mode 2". You'll want to try both to see what works best for your system and ears. I went with mode 1.

On the Rega, I chose the Dynavector strictly on the dealers recommendation and have enjoyed it from the get-go. I use it with the Dynavector P-75 phono stage in 'phono enhancer' mode to account for the cartridge's output level. Really quite sweet for the price. In the evenings, when I'm at leisure, I listen to records and all is right with the world.

 

Neither, posted on May 15, 2015 at 17:04:59
PaulF70
Audiophile

Posts: 1403
Location: Midwest
Joined: June 30, 2006
 On a Mac, at least, HQ Player is superior to both by a good margin. I have all three.

P.S. Flatmap - you're an FP guy?

 

RE: Neither, posted on May 16, 2015 at 22:01:30
learsfool
Audiophile

Posts: 1001
Joined: August 4, 2008
 Hi Paul - as far as I can determine from a Google search, the HQ Player seems to be specifically for a network set-up, which I am not going to be doing. My set-up will be hard wired. But thanks for the suggestion anyway!

In a few days I'm going to see about downloading trial versions of both the Audirvana and Pure Music software. Too busy at work to do it at the moment.

 

RE: Pure Music or Audirvana Plus?, posted on June 18, 2015 at 13:37:49
sbank
Audiophile

Posts: 364
Location: Austin City Limits
Joined: January 21, 2002
 Regarding Audirvana+, the recent upgrade to versions 2.x and the choice to run it in iTunes integrated mode vs. not make a big difference in the user experience. If you are reading threads on computeraudiophile.com etc. comments referring to version 1.x won't be as relevant now.

One of the big changes in A+ is that in integrated mode you used to be able to trick iTunes into playing file formats that it normally doesn't accept(e.g. DSD and FLAC). The newer version 2.x is much more ambitious about the database management side of things and encourages use without iTunes integration. The good news is that all file formats play natively in 2.0 without any trouble or extra steps needed.

If you rip CDs to AIFF(good choice!), I suggest using free XLD software for bitperfect ripping. If you later acquire DSD or FLACs via download etc. if you are using A+ without iTunes you will not need to change your routine and all the music will easily assimilate into your library. cheers,
Spencer

 

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