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In Reply to: RE: No difference in SQ from A+ 1.5 to 2? posted by andy evans on December 20, 2016 at 06:19:41
well, when 2 appeared i asked Damien what should be the difference in SQ, and he said: try by yourself, it's free;
so i downloaded the trial version and after a few days i didn't notice any difference, so i didn't buy the upgrade
later on i did the same... again, yesterday i tried 2.6.2 but was unable to find any interesting difference;
just now, a few minutes ago, i compared again 1.5.12 with 2.6.2 by using my touchstone: classical violin;
this time i used a few of the most challenging allegros from Mozart's Complete String Quartets,
by Quartetto Italiano (especially CDs 1 and 2), and didn't find any reason to buy the upgrade either
since i don't care about DSD, streaming, library manager, and the like, i'll continue with 1.5.12
until i find a convincing reason to pay for an upgrade
curiously enough, the marketing of the last version says: improved SQ,
but they don't say what particular sonic parameters are improved!
Follow Ups:
I followed your advice and downloaded 2.6.2 trial version on my Mac Pro, which I intend to use as my main system. I have 1.5.12 on my other Mac Mini, in the same room for now so I can switch. While I'm just demo-ing this I don't want to disturb my iTunes setup on the Mac Pro. Thing is the instructions really don't help setting this up.
1. I can play tracks in iTunes but I don't know if they are going through A+ or not - how can I check this?
2. When I open the A+ window and try to load up tracks manually I can't seem to drag or drop them in Finder, and I don't know how to import a track period. This should be straightforward!
and check your settings for your dac, and new up sampling choices, etc.
first you shoud see the player on your screen, like in the pic here
second you should open audirvana preferences on the audirvana plus menu (up, left), click on the right last icon (iTunes), then deactivate everything (3 checks)
finally open itunes, then whatever track you double click on will open in audirvana
for more doubts and full details open the user manual, included on your download
once this works, you should go to the rest of icons on the preferences menu and adjust everything...
Thanks for the tips, paco. I went into Preferences > Library and loaded in some tracks, then compared them with the 1.5.12 on my Mac Mini. I can certainly hear a difference in sound quality. The vocals are smoother, more like HQP. Nice string sound too - smoother. The general sound is more airy and less boxy. And also the detail and instrumental timbre that I like in Audirvana in general is enhanced in the new version - I can hear more going on in the mix. Altogether it has a somewhat wider and more pleasant soundscape - easier on the ear. Probably 5% better, but that's audible.I like it....!! I do think it's a step further. And leaving HQP further behind, as I've configured HQP, which is without DSD since my present DAC doesn't support it. I'd call this a result.
Edits: 12/20/16
you're welcome indeed!
yep, 5%... perhaps...i can more or less agree now; but for your comparison to be fair, you should play both versions of A+ on the same computer!! no problem in doing this, just close one version then open the other, and viceversa; Audivarna allows you to use the same player on 2 different computers, just not at the same time...
also, you should make totally sure that you configured the 2 versions exactly with the same values for each parameter on the preferences menu...
It looks like I'll be committing to A+ and buying a new license unless something else comes along. So next question is whether the sound quality is better in native Audirvana rather than using iTunes for the playlists? I have to say that the A+ front end looks pretty similar to iTunes anyway.The better sound quality I'm getting is with the Audirvana front end. So is there any general consensus that A+ sounds better in native mode?
Edits: 12/20/16
as a former user of A, you have the right to upgrade to the last version for less money than new users; ask Damien for any doubts, he will be responsive and kind, as always... ;)
since you desativated iTunes on the A preferences, it should have no effect at all on your A playing; make sure you configurated everything else OK; also, remember that the tracks you play, go to the computer RAM before playing
i've got a huge iTunes library, and are not planning at all to import it to A; iTunes has a much easier library manager
i've got a huge iTunes library, and are not planning at all to import it to A; iTunes has a much easier library managerAgree. I love the way AV+ sounds and I hear no difference using it in "Integrated Mode" with iTunes managing my library vs letting AV+ do it. There shouldn't be any audible difference because either way, AV+ is bypassing Apple's CoreAudio.
I had AV+ many years ago and when they first came out with their own library management, it was horrible. It is much improved now, and I'm still seeing bug fixes in recent releases, but I still prefer iTunes for managing my library and letting AV+ handle the audio. I'm on AV+ 2.6.2 which I believe is the latest release.
I run mostly Roon these days but still fire up AV+.
Edits: 12/21/16
I agree. BUT. . . I've done a lot of "manual overrides" to the metadata of my music files, and, every so often, an upgrade to iTunes or the Mac OS itself will result in the loss of many of these overrides. It's as if the system and/or iTunes has some kind of distant memory of the old (unedited) metadata, and certain upgrades will cause the metadata to revert back to its old (unedited) form. I'm still digging out from the latest iTunes upgrade (where iTunes can no longer find my files on certain albums and I have to lead it by the hand to show where they are), and it's getting VERY frustrating. :-(
Just in the last couple of days, Bloomberg (I think) had an article about how the Mac has become the ugly step-sister over at Apple, with some engineers being pulled off Mac projects to work on iPhone projects, etc., and other engineers resigning and moving to other companies because they see that Apple no longer seems excited about investing their money in a platform which now brings in only about 10% of their profits. Very sad for those of us with Mac histories going back to the mid-80's and who stuck with Apple even during the darkest days of the 90's.
I haven't noticed the loss of manually input metadata in my iTunes library but I have to admit that I haven't used iTunes a lot since playing with Roon. The cool thing with Roon was that it discovered my iTunes library with no user intervention at all and built it's own database to manage. I believe it also pulls in a lot of metadata from it's own service over the internet. For example, missing album art in my iTunes library magically appears in Roon. ;-)
I read a recent stat that mostly agrees with what you said about Mac revenue being fairly small in the grand scheme of things for Apple, but I also read (and have a chart somewhere) that shows MacBook Pro sales far exceeding other laptops in the past few quarters. But, laptop sales are probably a fraction of what we see for smartphones and tablets these days across the board.
I'm happy with my 13" 2012 MacBook Pro. My wife has a newer 2015. We see no reason to upgrade at the moment as they both work perfectly, like the day we bought them.
My son had a Macbook which went wrong 4 times. Each time he had to wait in a queue for hours to see somebody at an Apple store. Despite all this it was never replaced. That's just wretched. The store staff didn't give a damn.
On the other hand, whenever I've had technical problems the geeks at Apple have been great. But that's undoubtedly a couples of levels up in intellect and culture from store staff. Still - the edict "don't replace" clearly comes from the top.
That may be a UK thing, I don't really know.If one requires technical service at an Apple store, setting up an appointment online is recommended and very easy to do. When you arrive at the store you check-in and either walk right up or wait just a few minutes for a tech. Of course, the stores are always packed with people especially around the holidays. Microsoft launched their own store in the local shopping mall just upstairs and across from the Apple Store. They're never busy so I have to assume their service is better. ;-)
A friend bought a MacBook Pro laptop last year. The bluetooth on it was DOA when he received it. He took it back to the store, a tech looked at it, and they replaced it on the spot. It took him about 10 minutes. Of course that was a brand new unit under warranty. I'm not sure how HP, Dell, Lenovo, ASUS, Samsung would have handled it. They don't have local stores that I am aware of.
Edits: 12/23/16
The old one gave up the ghost after 6 years and 2 months. (I was hoping to wait until the new iMacs came out, but c'est la vie!) The configuration of the new one is shown below.
p.s.: Concerning album covers, I like to disassemble some of my CD's back into their LP components using the LP album covers when I rip the CD's to iTunes. The LP covers often differ significantly from the CD booklet covers when the same albums are reissued. Somehow, I think iTunes doesn't like it when I do this.
Wow! That's the top of the line configuration.
I've been wanting a 21" iMac with 4K display for my office but I just use my 2012 laptop with an outboard HP monitor.
Both USB ports are on their last legs, only one is usable for music now plus the battery is about dead with about 1 hour run time on a charge.
It's the low end unit with only 4 GB memory with 128 SSD (near full) so I certainly deserve and upgrade.
That said, it's still working and sounds SO much better when streaming QOBUZ than streaming using the SONOS connect into the same Audio-GD DAC/Headphone amp.
Andy,
I found a positive difference in doing just that - getting rid of the iTunes interface and using the latest A+ without upgrading Mac OS so that direct mode is still enabled..
From memory, our systems are more similar than different...
Shane
. . . Are you sure your levels were matched when you were comparing all this stuff? That in itself could make A LOT of difference in one's subjective impressions.
Good point about levels - I try to match them but don't go as far as a decibel meter. But the sound is just different, and in a good way fortunately. Just starting on Youtube, and even in mp3 it's better. Not hugely but audibly.
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