"10-03-10: Njp Agear - I also stream music wirelessly from my Apple iMac to an Airport Express in another room and then via a Genesis Digital Lens to my DAC. Did you figure out a solution to streaming music through Pure Vinyl without Airfoil? Many thanks in advance for your advice."
PM has a "netsend" feature that allows you to stream a Hi Rez audio stream to another (or several other) computer(s). This is an alternative to using an airport that should yield higher sound quality, but it requires another computer, and DAC at the receiving end. An older mac could be used for this.
Yeah, it does sound better (to my surprise). There was better body (or saturation) along with slightly better detail. Try the demo (you can demo Airfoil as well)....
Hi Agear - many, many thanks for the information. I'll be updating my iMac soon (currently an old G5) and will certainly give it a try once I have my new computer up and running.
Do you find that Pure Vinyl + Airfoil sounds a lot better on redbook tracks than just streaming from iTunes? What improvements do you hear?
Hi Neville. Nope, still need Airfoil. Its only a $25 program so don't hesitate. Amarra used to have the same requirement. I know they are working on it but was told it won't happen any time soon....
Agear - I also stream music wirelessly from my Apple iMac to an Airport Express in another room and then via a Genesis Digital Lens to my DAC. Did you figure out a solution to streaming music through Pure Vinyl without Airfoil? Many thanks in advance for your advice.
PM fan here. I agree that the decision is system dependent. But for me PM makes the music I listen to sound less digital - fuller and more lush. I think 1.63 is really good, they seem to have ironed out most of the kinks.
Yes - I've run into that problem with PM and always wonder if I've perhaps hit something on the keyboard that might have caused that. Kind of annoying, I agree with you. Perhaps Channel D will address the problem in another version.
One source of irritation I have with PM (which I purchased) is that after being on for a while it will stop playing after a given track. Using my Iphone as a remote, I then have to click play on the next track. Is anyone else having this issue?
I'm experimenting with both Pure Music and Amarra. One thing I have noticed is that PM maintains a gapless album perfectly - no annoying breaks between tracks. Amarra, on the other hand, seems to put just a very brief break in between "gapless" tracks. Perhaps I'm doing something wrong, not sure. In PM, the gapless tracks are all loaded into memory before playing. I'll see if Amarra maybe does the same.
Amarra 2.0 and Pure Music 1.6 have a similar tonal balance. Pure Music gets my sonic nod due to memory playback and Hog. Amarra 2.1 will have memory playback. The differences in sound between the two programs my diminish. But functionally, the programs are quite different.
I made the leap to a mac mini music server. After getting all of the hardware and laboriously ripping a dozen disks with XLD I hooked it us to my music system using Pure Music. I have a very revealing Meridian based system that had been mainly HT via an Oppo BDP-83.
After tweaking the PM repeatedly, I just couldn't get the level of sound quality that I had through the Oppo with apodising in the Meridian system. It was nice but it fell short in many aspects. I was really upset that I had spent $$ on a system that I would not use.
I had initially rejected Amarra based on reviews and the price differential with Pure Music. Since they also offered a demo I downloaded the Amarra Mini. Whoa, what an improvement. Whatever their special sauce is, in my system, it is well worth the extra couple of hundred dollars. I am so thankful that they are both available for trial.
To Liz, and others who agree with her: The OP asked for "any thoughts on the two". (Pure Vinyl vs Amarra). If someone reading that had no clue whatsoever what Pure Vinyl or Amarra were, then I guess they wouldn't have any thoughts on the two.
Glory's question was aimed at people with experience listening to both. Don't attack Glory because you don't know what the question means. Sit back, read the responses that follow and maybe you will learn something.
Gary, since I am a WiFi man, PV requires Airfoil (hijacks airtunes) to play via my modded Airport Express. Apple has some encryption at the AE interface that the channel D guys have not worked around yet (in the works). Amarra piggybacks some of the Apple code and thus does not need Airfoil. Anyway, when I tried Airfoil with PV it sounded constricted. I may be missing something with AF and will contact them....
Gary, I am glad you are enjoying PV. Is its effect most noticeable on hi rez or does redbook benefit as well? I am a steamer (WiFi) and had always thought that the computer player itself (Itunes, etc) did not have an effect. Steve Nugent at Empirical Audio told me otherwise. I will be investigating these things further.
Current Pure Music is 1.45 and very stable in my system and revisions have slowed down a lot. I find it a worthwhile addition for the price. Amarra has released a redbook only edition for $79 usd. Unless I hear that Amarra really trounces PM, I'll stay put- cheaper (hi res = $150ish vs 1k) and can be on multiple computers.
I tried Pure Music a few ago and found it very bug ridden. It didn't seem like a finished product. It was hard to determine whether it was a real improvement over iTunes at Redbook resolution or not. Does Amarra still require a dongle?
That either is truly better is open for discussion. The ability to automatically adjust sample rate is the big value, but the sound is more subject to what sample rate you are using ,what DAC you are using and your computer configuration. I have been trying to determine if either is better than iTunes but instead have determined that Pure Music is different, not bad mind you but different. And Amarra, well this has me stuck. I would say it can be better but more often it can be worse. But my impressions is from the demo version. Someone will chime in and say you need to pay $1000 to find out but a demo version should let you hear a positive difference. Not a negative difference. In my case, images were bloated and unnatural in size for 16/44.1 recordings. And on high resolution it was very similar to iTunes, maybe better. I would definitely let your ears decide. And if my PC Audio setup sounded thin and digital then I would investigate Amarra.
Pure Music functionality is pretty nice. For the money it is worth it if it functioned perfectly. It is getting there. Only stuck on high resolution / Memory playback. The visual interface is very nice as well.
Yes, Pure Music and Amarra seem to be the main competitors for audiophile music playback programs. There have been numerous readilysearchable threads on these products, and I bet the names are familiar to a majority of audiogoners who are working on computer audio.
Just goes to show, one person's obvious is another's obscure.
FWIW, PM seems to generate detectable sonic improvement over iTunes (that's the music program that comes with MAC computers!) in my system, and (IMO) represents a bargain at 80 bucks. But I have found the version I use (I think 1.03) to be twitchy, and prone to freezing and the like. Anyone have better luck with more recent versions?
Amarra and Pure Vinyl/Pure Music are software players that integrate with iTunes and offer upgraded sonics and functionality. If you haven't tried one, I highly recommend it.
I have been meaning to try Amarra, but have shied due to the cost. There are two "lesser" versions. One starting at something like US $79 for redbook only. I am curious to see the outcome of this thread. I do own Pure Music and really like it...
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