Is Audirvana good but buggy?

[ajuvignesh]

Hi all,

I am using Qobuz to stream music. I use Upnp to stream from my phone to my minidsp shd studio.
Initially, I used volumio that is bundled with the device. It was slow and not nice to use. Then I bought the paid version of mconnect. It was good but sluggish too.
Now I am introduced with Jplay and started using the trial version and I was throughly impressed. As the trial ended, I started the trial of Audirvana and currently I am still in the trial version.

I run audirvana in my Macbook pro and control it using the audirvana official remote on my ios device. The streaming was through upnp and I think, it sounded better than anything I tried before. But, as far as the interface go, Jplay is miles better.

The problem started today. Audirvana started to slow down. The startup time exceeds 3 minutes on my mac. Also, upnp isn't that smooth anymore. I wanted to try USB connection to my minidsp and it wasn't that great either. so many dropouts, lag and what not. It slowed down my computer too.
is there any audirvana users here? is the software really buggy or is it just me and my computer the issue? how good is a windows version of audirvana running in nuc? I can add a DDC later sometime for even better quality.
is there any third party control app for audirvana?

Sorry for so many questions.

HQplayer is out of question as my minidsp doesn't support anything above 192 khz.
Roon! I liked to try it and tried to subscribe to it. But all my credit cards failed because of RBI restrictions. I don't want to pay the full amount as to me it is damn expensive.

 

[rwnano]

What's your operating system? Windows or Linux?

 

[ajuvignesh]

What's your operating system? Windows or Linux?

MacOS

 

[rwnano]

Okay. I use Linux Ubuntu Linux and run Spotify on it controlled by my smartphone as a remote control for the streaming

 

[ajuvignesh]

Okay. I use Linux Ubuntu Linux and run Spotify on it controlled by my smartphone as a remote control for the streaming

Thanks. I unsubscribed to spotify after getting Qobuz. Native Qobuz app for ios is not available in India and hence the workaround.

Anyone using audirvana here?

 

[rwnano]

I suggest you use Linux sir. Industry standard server infrastructure

 

[chander]

Not using it currently - but I remember having this issue on my Mac Mini 2021 - Audirvana for some reason, randomly becomes slow. I had this issue with both tidal & qobuz. This link helped (if you haven't already gone through it) - Qobuz seems to be more of an issue with Audirvana -

AS load times got worse?

Has anyone else experienced that on occasion, when Audirvana is launched (on Windows), it seems to take 30 to 40 seconds to load the first track after hitting play? This only seems to be happening since the latest update, so curious if anyone else is seeing this.

community.audirvana.com

 

[ajuvignesh]

I suggest you use Linux sir. Industry standard server infrastructure

Thanks sir. Audirvana is not available natively for linux but on server. I am not a techie to work on it and also I don't want to install linux on my mac right now. The native player is available for only windows and macos machines .

Not using it currently - but I remember having this issue on my Mac Mini 2021 - Audirvana for some reason, randomly becomes slow. I had this issue with both tidal & qobuz. This link helped (if you haven't already gone through it) - Qobuz seems to be more of an issue with Audirvana -

AS load times got worse?

Has anyone else experienced that on occasion, when Audirvana is launched (on Windows), it seems to take 30 to 40 seconds to load the first track after hitting play? This only seems to be happening since the latest update, so curious if anyone else is seeing this.

community.audirvana.com

Thank you sir. I will go through it.
Sorry for offtopic but what replaced audirvana in your case?

 

[chander]

Thank you sir. I will go through it.
Sorry for offtopic but what replaced audirvana in your case?

I have simplified my setup quite drastically since. I am currently using the following configs -

1 - Macbook -> DAC -> to Actives - for all day listening & music discovery via Spotify. - Weekday Setup - non critical/mostly background/mostly new music discovery.
2 - Ipad -> DAC -> to Actives - for critical listening/ listening to whole albums or synced playlists via Apple Music. - Weekend Setup
3 - A Wiim Pro -> DAC -> for other members of the family/friends who use my office but do not have access to either of my systems.

Soon setup 3 will go as I am planning to just hook up a used iPad mini, locked in Kiosk mode with apple music on. so anyone can use it.

Thanks!

 

[ajuvignesh]

I have simplified my setup quite drastically since. I am currently using the following configs -

1 - Macbook -> DAC -> to Actives - for all day listening & music discovery via Spotify. - Weekday Setup - non critical/mostly background/mostly new music discovery.
2 - Ipad -> DAC -> to Actives - for critical listening/ listening to whole albums or synced playlists via Apple Music. - Weekend Setup
3 - A Wiim Pro -> DAC -> for other members of the family/friends who use my office but do not have access to either of my systems.

Soon setup 3 will go as I am planning to just hook up a used iPad mini, locked in Kiosk mode with apple music on. so anyone can use it.

Thanks!

Thats amazing.

 

[global rhythms]

I am unsure if your issue is still unresolved. I have used Audrivana on Mac extensively and currently using it on Windows but have never encountered any slowness or startup issues. I prefer Audirvana to Roon as I find Audirvana's SQ to be noticeably better for local playback of music files (although I do not use any streaming services like Qobuz/Tidal or do any upsampling).

Have you tried the following already?

• Reinstall Audirvana.
• Check for network issues as these can cause problems with UPnP.

 

[himadri]

I have used audirvana on windows with qobuz through usb dac (directly without upnp) for many years without any problems.At present I have moved to a lumin with its native software for more silent background.

 

[ajuvignesh]

I am unsure if your issue is still unresolved. I have used Audrivana on Mac extensively and currently using it on Windows but have never encountered any slowness or startup issues. I prefer Audirvana to Roon as I find Audirvana's SQ to be noticeably better for local playback of music files (although I do not use any streaming services like Qobuz/Tidal or do any upsampling).

Have you tried the following already?

• Reinstall Audirvana.
• Check for network issues as these can cause problems with UPnP.

Im still using the trial version on my mac. The minidsp is connected to my mac via usb. I have also tried a windows laptop with usb out and to my ears mac sounded superior both via upnp and usb.

I stopped using the remote. I just use my mac to play music.


Did you find any sound quality difference between windows and mac?

 

[ajuvignesh]

I have used audirvana on windows with qobuz through usb dac (directly without upnp) for many years without any problems.At present I have moved to a lumin with its native software for more silent background.

Thanks. Not sure adding a ddc or move to a dedicated streamer gives better sound quality.

 

[global rhythms]

The minidsp is connected to my mac via usb. I have also tried a windows laptop with usb out and to my ears mac sounded superior both via upnp and usb.

From my understanding, the quality of the USB ports on Mac and Windows laptops can affect performance i.e., how good or noisy they are.

Did you find any sound quality difference between windows and mac?

I use an iFi Zen Stream as a dedicated streamer. Audirvana streams to the Zen Stream using UPnP. Since the streaming is wireless, I haven't noticed any difference between Mac and Windows.

 

[global rhythms]

Thanks. Not sure adding a ddc or move to a dedicated streamer gives better sound quality.

Or a USB cleaner (iFi has few options).

For your implementation, investing in any of the above, will benefit the SQ positively.

 

[ajuvignesh]

From my understanding, the quality of the USB ports on Mac and Windows laptops can affect performance i.e., how good or noisy they are.


I use an iFi Zen Stream as a dedicated streamer. Audirvana streams to the Zen Stream using UPnP. Since the streaming is wireless, I haven't noticed any difference between Mac and Windows.

Thank you. Do you think Upnp is better than USB without any ddc or USB cleaner?

 

[global rhythms]

Do you think Upnp is better than USB without any ddc or USB cleaner?

What is your source if using UPnP?

 

[ajuvignesh]

What is your source if using UPnP?

minidsp shd studio. It is a streamer cum dirac live device.

 

[global rhythms]

As per my logical understanding and preference, going wireless using UPnP would be better than a physical connection between a computer/mobile device and the rest of the chain.