Audirvana Plus settings with AIR

[GuillaumeB]

Hi guys I'm creating a new thread to address Audirvana Plus settings with AIR.

Judging from a number of posts on different threads asking about Audirvana settings it appears that there is some confusion as to which low level playback options actually work in conjunction with AIR.

In my Audirvana setup I am selecting Direct Mode. When I have tried selecting other options (Exclusive access mode and Integer mode) I haven't been able to get A+ to work.

Also... there have been questions re iTunes integration too. At the moment I am dragging and dropping FLAC folders from my desktop onto the Audirvana playlist window.

In addition in the AIR app itself I am having to manually adjust the bit rate/sampling rate otherwise either the music doesn't play at all or I get a visit from the chipmunks.

If all A+ users could share their settings and experience (and theories!) this would be much appreciated.

I use:

A+ 1.5.12
OS X 10.9.4
AIR 2.1.2

Guillaume

[PhilP]

Hi guys I'm creating a new thread to address Audirvana Plus settings with AIR.

Judging from a number of posts on different threads asking about Audirvana settings it appears that there is some confusion as to which low level playback options actually work in conjunction with AIR.

In my Audirvana setup I am selecting Direct Mode. When I have tried selecting other options (Exclusive access mode and Integer mode) I haven't been able to get A+ to work.

Also... there have been questions re iTunes integration too. At the moment I am dragging and dropping FLAC folders from my desktop onto the Audirvana playlist window.

In addition in the AIR app itself I am having to manually adjust the bit rate/sampling rate otherwise either the music doesn't play at all or I get a visit from the chipmunks.

If all A+ users could share their settings and experience (and theories!) this would be much appreciated.

Guillaume

An excellent idea Guillaume! I've spent a lot of time trawling the internet trying to find definitive information on this and there doesn't seem to be any... My guess is that A+ was developed to work with USB, AES/EBU and S/PDIF with little if any thought given to UPnP and probably none at all given to compatibility with AIR. We can also only guess at what AIR does in combination with A+.

My suggestion would be that the answers/questions should be pooled and then a single direct approach made to Devialet and Audirvana to get their comments. Then we wont have to guess any more

It would great if people could include details of the operating system that they're using as well. I use:

AIR 2.1.2
iMac OSX 10.6.8
Audirvana Plus 1.5.12

The only "low level playback option" that I can select is 'Use max I/O buffer size'. If I select anything else I don't get any sound. I find that its safer to re-start the computer after changing parameters to make sure the changes take effect. I don't know if this is necessary for all parameters/combinations of parameters as it's a pain to check but I did notice that I could select 'Direct Mode' and the music would continue but after restart there was no sound and I had to de-select it for the playback system to work again.

I have the AIR buffer set to 2000 ms and 24-bit 96khz set as the default for wi-fi AIR. Bit rate/sampling changes seem to work automatically for me (using Devialet control panel to check).

I'm just using an A+ trial license at them moment with only two days to go. Given that I can't get the major features to work with AIR and I don't like the drag and drop approach to playlist creation I will probably let the license lapse. I'm sure A+ is a great product if you use a direct computer interface but via AIR I don't think its worth the effort.

[Rufus McDufus]

OS 10.9.4 on 2011 MacBook Air
AIR 2.1.2 & FW 7.1.1 on Devialet
Audivarna Plus 1.5.12 (trial) - in drag'n'drop mode, no iTunes

Initially I couldn't get it to work with the default settings. I found AIR greyed out a fair bit too and had to do a bit of a dance restarting AV+ and AIR. Guillaume mentioned he'd got it working by unticking some of the general settings - e.g Exclusive Mode, Direct Mode, Integer Mode (I think he mentioned all 3, apols if misunderstood) and things did indeed work for me then. Later I tried ticking them all again and mysteriously it still continued working. Whether there was any sound quality difference I'm not sure (and I didn't notice any difference in particular), as I think I was just pleased it was working again with those settings all enabled! So I'm baffled how it worked for me, but then again I don't know if they were having any effect.
My trial licence has expired and I can't re-check sadly. I liked the sound quality very much and felt it was the best I'd heard with AIR but the usability put me off.

Oh by the way, Audivarna 2.0 is due in the next few days apparently! Features a library manager so perhaps I'll give it another go.
http://audirvana.com/?p=444

[Eddye]

I've posted my findings here a while back:
http://devialetchat.com/Thread-Which-str...800#pid800

checked the boxes "Exclusive access mode" and "Use Max I/O buffer size" and unchecked "Direct mode" and "Integer Mode". Checking either of the last two resulted in no playback.

As far as I know, Audirvana was made to work with a DAC, since AIR isn't a DAC but a virtual sound card, those settings can't be used.

I use OS/X Mavericks.
Audirvana 1.5.12
AIR 2.12
And sometimes I create a RAMdisk, and directly work from memory, no iTunes integration.

Looking forward to A+2 though it cost a small fee to upgrade.

[PhilP]

I've posted my findings here a while back:
http://devialetchat.com/Thread-Which-str...800#pid800

checked the boxes "Exclusive access mode" and "Use Max I/O buffer size" and unchecked "Direct mode" and "Integer Mode". Checking either of the last two resulted in no playback.

As far as I know, Audirvana was made to work with a DAC, since AIR isn't a DAC but a virtual sound card, those settings can't be used.

I use OS/X Mavericks.
Audirvana 1.5.12
AIR 2.12
And sometimes I create a RAMdisk, and directly work from memory, no iTunes integration.

Looking forward to A+2 though it cost a small fee to upgrade.

Hi Eddye,

did you ever compare the sound of A+/AIR directly against iTunes/AIR? I just wondered whether you think A+ sounds better or you don't like iTunes (like many other people) .

Thanks,

Philip

[Eddye]

I've posted my findings here a while back:
http://devialetchat.com/Thread-Which-str...800#pid800

checked the boxes "Exclusive access mode" and "Use Max I/O buffer size" and unchecked "Direct mode" and "Integer Mode". Checking either of the last two resulted in no playback.

As far as I know, Audirvana was made to work with a DAC, since AIR isn't a DAC but a virtual sound card, those settings can't be used.

I use OS/X Mavericks.
Audirvana 1.5.12
AIR 2.12
And sometimes I create a RAMdisk, and directly work from memory, no iTunes integration.

Looking forward to A+2 though it cost a small fee to upgrade.

Hi Eddye,

did you ever compare the sound of A+/AIR directly against iTunes/AIR? I just wondered whether you think A+ sounds better or you don't like iTunes (like many other people) .

Thanks,

Philip

I like iTunes because of the library functionality, which A+2 should solve
When comparing A+ with iTunes or just A+, I prefer just A+, it's a bit more 'airy' and a bit better defined. Especially when you create a RAMdisk and copy the files to the RAMdisk and create a A+ playlist from that.

[PhilP]

I've posted my findings here a while back:
http://devialetchat.com/Thread-Which-str...800#pid800

checked the boxes "Exclusive access mode" and "Use Max I/O buffer size" and unchecked "Direct mode" and "Integer Mode". Checking either of the last two resulted in no playback.

As far as I know, Audirvana was made to work with a DAC, since AIR isn't a DAC but a virtual sound card, those settings can't be used.

I use OS/X Mavericks.
Audirvana 1.5.12
AIR 2.12
And sometimes I create a RAMdisk, and directly work from memory, no iTunes integration.

Looking forward to A+2 though it cost a small fee to upgrade.

Hi Eddye,

did you ever compare the sound of A+/AIR directly against iTunes/AIR? I just wondered whether you think A+ sounds better or you don't like iTunes (like many other people) .

Thanks,

Philip

I like iTunes because of the library functionality, which A+2 should solve
When comparing A+ with iTunes or just A+, I prefer just A+, it's a bit more 'airy' and a bit better defined. Especially when you create a RAMdisk and copy the files to the RAMdisk and create a A+ playlist from that.

OK, thanks! I read somewhere that one of the reasons that A+ sounds better than iTunes is that it uses fewer processes and thus generates less processor 'noise'. When running with AIR that may be the only advantage it has? I assume that its possible to create a RAMdisk and then point iTunes to it - is that the case?

From what I've read A+2 is certainly an interesting prospect but my guess is that the code will take some time to settle down so I'll probably wait until 2.1 before trying it

[thumb5]

I read somewhere that one of the reasons that A+ sounds better than iTunes is that it uses fewer processes and thus generates less processor 'noise'. When running with AIR that may be the only advantage it has?

Phil,

Given what we understand about how AIR works, I'd expect it to be completely immune from such effects since there's no mechanism for such "noise" to affect the rate at which data is clocked on the Devialet itself. Which is nice - one less thing to worry about.

Ian

[GuillaumeB]

I read somewhere that one of the reasons that A+ sounds better than iTunes is that it uses fewer processes and thus generates less processor 'noise'. When running with AIR that may be the only advantage it has?

Phil,

Given what we understand about how AIR works, I'd expect it to be completely immune from such effects since there's no mechanism for such "noise" to affect the rate at which data is clocked on the Devialet itself. Which is nice - one less thing to worry about.

Ian

Ian, any ideas/thoughts on what the differences might be then? I know you're doing a lot of research into AIR at the moment..

Guillaume

[PhilP]

I read somewhere that one of the reasons that A+ sounds better than iTunes is that it uses fewer processes and thus generates less processor 'noise'. When running with AIR that may be the only advantage it has?

Phil,

Given what we understand about how AIR works, I'd expect it to be completely immune from such effects since there's no mechanism for such "noise" to affect the rate at which data is clocked on the Devialet itself. Which is nice - one less thing to worry about.

Ian

Yes, if the info about AIR is correct then of course you are right! And I am thick