Amarra vs. ROON

[Alve]

Hi Folks

I got bored last weekend and decided to give a couple of players another go.
I had previously tried Amarra and Audirvana a few years ago but had no end of trouble integrating them into Air.

Now that CI has rendered Air ultra stable (in my system) I thought I'd give them another go.

My reference is ROON with Devialet Air and Tidal (I find the Air embedded ROON a smidge brighter and a tad bass light by comparison - luv the volume control  though...).

Audirvana+/Air
I feel this is the most detailed player I have tried but still find it a tad clinical/precise. In my system it does not seem to let the deep bass develop as much as ROON/Air. iPad Remote is ok but it ain't ROON.

Amarra 4 Luxe
This was always a pain with Air and so I never really got to know it in the past. The new player was a real surprise. By far the 'biggest' sounding player I've tried- width and depth. The layering is definitely better that the others - very 3D with micro-detail and reverb very obvious on even familiar tracks. It has great bass, not in your face but goes very deep and again pops up in familiar tracks. I could describe it as ever so slightly warm overall but that does not really do it justice as it rocks like a mother and has shimmering detail. It has great timing I think. For example, try 'Dare' by Gorrilaz - massive slabs of deep bass, fantastic driving rhythm and detail front, back and sides in a 'bigger than the room' experience (don't let Shaun Ryder get in your head!). So I don't think it is warm - maybe 'musically coloured' is a better way to describe it. When I go back to ROON/Air it sounds as great as ever but just a bit flatter and cooler by comparison to Amarra.

So, the best and most musical digital experience I've had in my room.

Downside....... the Amarra iPad remote works, but is buggy, a bit clunky and freezes when screen goes to sleep.

Trouble is that after ROON every remote/interface is pants!

Anyway, Amarra 4 Luxe is free for a 14 day trial - you've nothing to lose. 

Regards

Kevin

Hi Kevin

I tried Amarra to no avail, as It simply could not find my devialet with the CI in the window where you chose output (I got only HDMI and own output options and no devialet)... how did you connect your amarra? Audirvana does see devialet and sounds good, but man it is horrible as a control app... either my mac mini (late 2014 1,4 4gig) makes it slow and not worcable. The song management is just so bad compared to Lumin app that I'm used to. With lumin everything just works great. I wanted to sell the lumin, but now I'm scratching my head in thoughts... Functionally I do not need it, but what I tried of the players with mac don't work well.... Even roon gave me (the transport is in use) error. even after I reinstalled MAC OS... anyone has an advice? maybe my mac mini is the problem?

regards
Alex