Amarra a worthy investment?

I experienced the same thing with Puremusic that you are with Amarra. Did the trial and wasn't impressed with the SQ difference it made.

in fact i think that color the music in a way i dont like or enjoy cause I am vinyl lover that hate tech changes on original recordings and pressings,
i am not buying Amarra. Itunes AIFF via DAC good enough for digital. never will sound analog anyway

I remember before digital was invented, vinyls were criticized for being "colored". In fact all audio reproductions are colored in one way or the other. The essence of this hobby is to pursue the kind of coloration that one enjoys most. It is 100% subjective. If you like it, you like it; if you don't, you don't. I personally listen to both vinyl and digital and I enjoy them both.

Back to your Amarra question. Since you don't like its sound, it will not be a worthwhile investment for you. Personally I like Audirvana plus best. The latest Puremusic v1.88 just came out is quite good too but its UI is a bit ugly and complex to use. IMHO of course.

The thing to understand, particularly with USB interfaces, that music software all sounds different, even different revisions of the same player software.

I have used Amarra for years and won more than one best of show with it, but I am really picky about which versions I use. It is still the best sounding IMO, but you must use version 4318/19.

Purchase the latest Amarra, and then go to Amarra "extras" folder and run the "delete Amarra Preferences" command.

Then install and use this version: http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=105236.0

Use it with iTunes with Cache turned on.

If your system is not truly resolving, then you may not hear a big difference. The way to tell is the system should have pinpoint imaging with serious depth and width well beyond the speaker boundaries. If you have more of a 2-D presentation then you probable will not get the benefit.

If your USB interface has relatively high jitter, then you may not get the benefit.

One thing that I use in Amarra both at home at at shows is the EQ. Its worth it just for this. Very transparent and elevates the system to new levels. Here is how to do EQ:

http://www.empiricalaudio.com/computer-audio/recommended-systems

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

Steve, thanks for the Amarra tips...

Mountainsong, I've used Amarra for years, I can hear it's benefits even on modest setups. First this is to make sure it's set up and being used right...do you have the Amarra and Cache buttons turned on? They change colors if so...

I don't know...I've been going back and forth comparing Amarra (previous version and the current one)with Pure Music, Audirvana, Decibel and something else I can't remember.

Amarra definitely adds it's own flavor and alters the sound significantly.

I use itunes with Amarra 4318/19 with Caching turned on. It sounds slightly better in playlist mode, but not worth the hassles.

There are only two Amarra releases that I like, and the 4318/190 is the best by far.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

I have been using Amarra since '09 and have been mostly happy with it. I am using the current version, I may have to look into Steve's recommended older version that I surely had at one time. Steve, I assume that you are using the Amarra Symphony? I have the non-Symphony version that used to be called Amarra Mini. I probably need to explore the EQ settings further (I understand from Steve's link in one of his posts above that I would need to buy a spectrum analyzer program & possibly a microphone), I currently use one of the preset EQ settings, and use the cache & playlist modes.
I have not compared Amarra with any other players, but in my system it sounds pretty good. I have been wondering if upgrading from Amarra to Amarra Symphony for the additional eq functions would be worthwhile.

Mikey - I use full Amarra EQ on all systems, even at shows, even on TAD reference speakers. Makes a big difference with ALL speakers. This is actually more important that EQ of the room resonances. Its like replacing your speakers with $50K speakers.

Here are some tips on how to do it with an iPad:

http://www.empiricalaudio.com/computer-audio/recommended-systems

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

Thanks Steve, I'll get on this.

I have Amarra and the latest Audirvana+ with exclusive access and integer mode. In my system, with Mountain Lion, I find that Audirvana+ is a bit less colored, more transparent and offers a bigger window into the soundstage.

I'm using Amarra and Decibel. To be honest, I don't hear a lot of difference between them. Amarra has the interesting EQ functionality that's fun to play around with. I like the clean uncluttered interface of Decibel, so I seem to be using that more. Decibel is also a lot cheaper.