Amarra vs. ROON

[KIBM]

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

[ogs]

Thanks!
This must feel like a red herring to the 'bits are bits' crowd! Imagine! No A/B/X testing, just listening!
I have not tried another player for a while, but it is probably about time... I'm all on Linux these days so the choice is rather narrow

[KIBM]

Thanks!
This must feel like a red herring to the 'bits are bits' crowd! Imagine! No A/B/X testing, just listening!
I have not tried another player for a while, but it is probably about time... I'm all on Linux these days so the choice is rather narrow

Yes, as a scientist these are deeply disturbing results! 
But we all know these players are all slightly different when it comes to musical presentation.
Worth a go, although not sure there is a Linux version.....

K

[KIBM]

Further to above I have found that Amarra plays MQA files. Details below.
Obviously the Devialet is not MQA-enabled but the details regarding 'unfolding' are interesting.
I listened to 'Morph the Cat' by Donald Fagen on Tidal last nite. The 44k rip sounds great anyway but the 'MQA' rip sounded different - damn good, perhaps less attack but a noticeably richer bass. I guess it is just a consequence of higher sampling rate. However, is this a free way to get higher res material?
Other MQAs were less impressive or notably quieter and I gave up after Air started crashing everytime I changed sample rate.

All this made me think - has anyone actually heard an MQA file through an enabled DAC in their own system?

K 

From Amarra (Sonic Studio) website

Without an MQA-enabled DAC

• TIDAL Streaming MQA Support
  
• Amarra 4 Luxe performs MQA Core Decoding: unfolds the MQA file to deliver higher than CD-quality sound
  
• Results in 2x sample rates (88.2kHz or 96kHz), 24 bit
  

With an MQA-enabled DAC

• MQA DAC Support
  
• DAC performs MQA Rendering: completes the final unfold to the original sample rate of the master
  
• Platform-specific DAC compensation and management
  
• Results up to 8x sample rates (352kHz or 384kHz), 24 bit
  

[petrik]

All this made me think - has anyone actually heard and MQA file through and enabled DAC in their own system?

Yes I have, I have the Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital. I bought this little DAC to my office hifi-system, mainly because it supports DSD512, 768k kHz, and has nice measurements. Obviously it supports also MQA.

MQA sounds ok with this DAC, but I personally prefer good old 44.1 kHz and high res. I typically upsample 44.1 kHz to 768 kHz or convert to DSD512 with HQPlayer. It sounds great. I wouldn't worry too much about MQA.

[maxijazz]

Effective bit resolution of MQA is 15 to 17 bits as confessed by BS. The second unfold (the one that only DAC can do) is just upsampling with slow slope filter.
Better sounding MQA is most likely due to better mastering.
See Computer Audiophile for more details.

[KIBM]

Now had a couple of weeks with Amarra Luxe 4, so last night I switched back to ROON for comparison.

Sonically, for me at least, Amarra is the better player in my system. Roon, by comparison sounds flatter, leaner and is less engaging over a few tracks. Going back to Amarra the sound has more impact and body, and soundstage depth and width.

The downside is that you are cruelly reminded of how good the Roon interface and user experience is compared to everything else.

Getting a demo DCS Network Bridge sent to me this week and so with Tidal I should be able to eliminate the computer - should be interesting.

K

[samsoum]

Now had a couple of weeks with Amarra Luxe 4, so last night I switched back to ROON for comparison.

Sonically, for me at least, Amarra is the better player in my system. Roon, by comparison sounds flatter, leaner and is less engaging over a few tracks. Going back to Amarra the sound has more impact and body, and soundstage depth and width.

The downside is that you are cruelly reminded of how good the Roon interface and user experience is compared to everything else.

Getting a demo DCS Network Bridge sent to me this week and so with Tidal I should be able to eliminate the computer - should be interesting.

K

I will follow your replies regarding the dcs.
The network bridge is still in my radar, cause, all reviews and all users claim it s fantastic natural undigital sound.
I decided for my self, to buy my first tt, and explore analogue sound , impressions soon.
Thks


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[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

[petrik]

Even roon gave me (the transport is in use) error.

This is a know issue in Roon & Devialet and both companies are currently working on this. The only way to solve this issue now is to unplug the power cord from the Devialet.