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Any Audirvana Plus enthusiasts out there?

Last September I bought an Audioquest Dragonfly. In my quest to feed it the best sampling rates to get the best sound, I also downloaded and bought Audirvana Plus. After messing around with the system for awhile I concluded I was getting more benefit from Audirvana than the Dragonfly, so I took the Dragonfly back. So lately I'm reading the reviews of the new Meridian Explorer and I'm thinking that maybe it'll give me the extra level of musical satisfaction that I didn't quite get from the Dragonfly.

But wait! the next time I open Audirvana I find that I haven't updated for awhile. I do an update and jump from 1.4.6 to 1.5.2, and now I'm at 1.5.4. Is it just me or did something special happen with 1.5.x, because I'm enjoying computer audio as I never have before. Just since upgrading to 1.5.4 I've already downloaded 5 new 24/96 or 24/88.2 files from HDTracks. Where before computer-based audio mostly served as background music, and I reserved involved listening to the turntable, now when I'm cleaning up the kitchen with Audirvana playing 24-bit files, the musical truth draws me out of the kitchen to sit or stand in the sweet spot and take it all in, just like when I first got a turntable to break free from mass market CD players and redbook CDs.

I'm not saying that LPs and 24/96 digital are identical, and I still like good analog a bit better, but the 24-bit files through Audirvana 1.5.x files really draw me into the music. There may be an asynchronous 24/192Khz USB DAC in my future, but for now the improvements to Audirvana are making me pretty happy with computer audio.

Anybody else have any opinions on this?
johnnyb53
smoffatt
205 posts
 
Got it myself the other day. Using Macbook Pro with Snow Leopard 10.6.8 feeding a Wavelength Wavelink HS converter and into a modded ARC DAC7.

My only issue is the constant ticking sound it does. This is very annoying and would rather listen to vinyl than this. When i switch to the other USB port on the Mac, the ticking is MUCH worst. When i revert to Itunes playback only (no Audirvana running) there is not ticking at all but very unsatisfying sonically.

Is there something i did not set correctly within "Audirvana Preferences" that is causing this although i went through this process several times and i think i got it right. Is it my OSX that need upgrading to Mountain Lion?

When i play music no other apps is running in the background. Only Itunes and Audirvana are on. I play a combo of 24/96 and 16/44 music files in AIFF.
Anyone can offer some insight?
Thanks
mgattmch
573 posts
 
Must be something to do with your setup, my Aurdirvana Plaus playback is absolutely dead quite, definately no clicks.
duomike
76 posts
 
Just recently started using my mini with Audirvana as a music transport. One thing that surprised me is that although I clicked the option disable spotlight, time machine etc all these things still work when playing music. Is that normal?

Another question. What other settings do I need to adjust for best sound in the mini's settings?
gregfisk
118 posts
 
I too recently downloaded the latest version and wow does it soung good. Best digital I have heard to date. I waited for a two or three versions before upgrading and the difference was amazing. Can't wait for the next one!
johnnyb53 OP
3,510 posts
 
Good to know it's not just me--the 1.5.x versions are noticeably audibly better. Like I said, the jump from 1.4.6 to 1.5.2 was about as much improvement as I might have expected by buying a <$1K DAC. Still, I guess I can't get the benefit of Integer Mode without a compatible DAC. Is that right?
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