Sparkle Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 The Lady Wife (bless her ) downloaded the Pure Music 2 option ($75). It's available for trial for 2 weeks free. Has anyone done the Pure Music 1 vs 2 comparison? I hope to do a comparison soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoggieHowser Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 PM2 feels like a bug fix rather than a new version. And a friend still has the same bugs from 1.89 Amarra 3 was a nice upgrade for me. In part because it also adds room EQ functions as part of the upgrade. Am also waiting for Audirvana Plus 2.0. If you aren't stuck to iTunes, I'd consider the JRiver option. It's also available on the Mac. The price for JRiver and JRemote on the iPad is less than 75 bucks. You can still sync music from Jriver to iPods. Downside to Jriver. It demands Internet connection for JRemote to work. Silly really. I tried to use an old ADSL modem to set up a local network but JRemote was unable to connect to JRiver. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toma Audio Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Audirvana for me. Really good iTunes integration, and the Apple Remote App is really nice and stable. Sound is AA+ as well. JRiver is also very good, but it just had too much for me, if a full blown media suite is what your after it is great, but it has a lot that you don't need for plain vanilla music replay. Sadly I can't answer your question regarding Pure Music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Briz Vegas Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Only problem with Audirvana is that switching off iTunes integration is easily more transparent on my system.. I only use iTunes if I am doing housework, not for critical listening. It's like running on battery instead of on my Paul hynes, it dulls detail and adds that veil that everyone spends lots of money to lift. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toma Audio Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Gee I don't find that in my setup, I'll have to listen and see if I have the same thing happening. I have been using for so long and it has been through a few updates, I'll revisit this and see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoggieHowser Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Only problem with Audirvana is that switching off iTunes integration is easily more transparent on my system.. I only use iTunes if I am doing housework, not for critical listening. It's like running on battery instead of on my Paul hynes, it dulls detail and adds that veil that everyone spends lots of money to lift. Damien said to try to disable iTunes position update and seeking. It should bring it closer to playlist mode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Briz Vegas Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 (edited) Thanks Doggie, I will check my settings again. It's been I while since I played with them. I thought I had disabled that setting but I've been caught by settings before. I will say that the Weiss FireWire interface, Nordost digital interconnect, SSD drive and the Paul Hynes Power supply were all major elements to getting the best out of my computer. Without them I image software changes would make less of a difference. I also use an external USB drive for music and the MacBook sits on anti resonance feet, which I find improved the bass. I know a guy that once swore by pro tools as the best playback software. Clunky, expensive, but transparent. He now uses a Devialet and an Aurender streamer. I wasn't impressed until he had his crossovers rebuilt this year, now it's really really good played loud, although I haven't heard his system at my moderate listening levels. He has well and truly moved on. Edited July 24, 2014 by Briz Vegas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the sound of Tao Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 I originally bought Pure Music 1 and then later trialled and bought Audirvana plus and have stuck with Aud+ ever since. I have been using it direct without iTunes lately and find that in itself more fundamentally like a significant revision than any other changes with either platform. I trialled Pure Music 2 and also thought it seemed more essentially like a minor revision sonically rather than anything really significant. I didn't bother with the upgrade. I still find the spirit of Audirvana essentially a bit more filled with life and ultimately more like music and just less like hifi... fantastically resolved without any of the unnatural hyper detailing of the leading edge that sometimes is passed off as greater resolution. In the end it has to be a reflection of the spirit of the designer, revision after revision with Aud+ has been a clear progression closer to the music and I find Damien Audirvana's designer to possess a great sense of what the shape of natural sound and the experience of music is really like. Looking forward to Audirvana 2. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkle Posted July 25, 2014 Author Share Posted July 25, 2014 Thanks Doggie and Tao .What I expected, but thanks for the detail. It helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Briz Vegas Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 (edited) Gee I don't find that in my setup, I'll have to listen and see if I have the same thing happening. I have been using for so long and it has been through a few updates, I'll revisit this and see.Re Audirvana, just been looking at my settings and I had the iTunes track location thing off unfortunately. That means it wasn't this setting degrading the sound.With iTunes released I also just tried the Audirvana filtering options that let you up-sample. I played my test track for vocals, Estate by Sabine Sciubba on the Naim Label (24 bit 192 audiophile remaster). On this track the up sampling should do nothing. I found that " off" was clearly superior. The guitar and vocals were thickened, less clearly placed and less detailed/emotive with the up sampling enabled. ( Note, this is with my DAC, your experience may differ) I went back to the off setting and it came back into focus. I might have to experiment more over time but it all comes back to less is more ( which seems to apply almost universally, except for preamps). Edited July 27, 2014 by Briz Vegas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts