1/18/2024 0 Comments Audirvana review 2018![]() This time, I put my own tracks to the test and I chose a few albums in Hi-Res, that I personally found well-arranged: Justice – Audio Video Disco, Eagles – Hotel California, and Daft Punk – Random Access Memories.Īgain, 10 out of 10, I could spot which was which, and this time the sound difference became much more obvious. Next, I did the same test with the xDuoo TA-30 and my mighty Audeze LCD-X. But, going back to Qobuz, or even Plex for my local files, really felt like a drawback. Going back and forth wasn’t easy, as exclusive audio access takes a few seconds each time to activate/deactivate. Bass hit deeper, highs are sharper and voices sound more natural. At the same exact volume settings, switching from Qobuz native player to Audirvana significantly improved the dynamic range. I picked a track that I listened to at least one time a day – More Than Just the Same from Infected Mushrooms – and did some back and forth between Qobuz and Qobuz + Audirvana.Īnd to my surprise, Audirvana came up as the clear winner here. Of course, the difference isn’t as obvious as if you were to replace your DAC for a better one, but head to head, on the same system, the player made a clear difference.įirst, I did a simple comparison with the Sennheiser HD800S + HDVD800. I’ve seen a lot of snake oil over the years, but this time, the hyper is real: Audirvana Studio really made a difference and I could hear it right from the start. So, did Audirvana really improve my system? Short answer, yes. All files were either streamed from Qobuz or my own library. ![]() Out of curiosity, I also tried Audirvana on my PC, connected to my KEF LS50 Wireless. My headphones? The Sennheiser HD-800S and Audeze LCD-X. Just get a decent computer, that's all.For this review, I mostly used my MacBook Air paired to the Sennheiser HDVD820 and xDuoo TA-30. All of those Fidelizer-type apps sound like audiofoolery to me. You just need to make sure nothing is obviously fucking with your signal (like windows sound enhancements or unwarranted resampling), and everything should be fine. So in essence, I'm completely baffled by claims that the software used to play music can make a difference, or that there is some kind of system-wide optimization that can make digital sound better. But this is a general problem with USB connections, and no optimizing software can make a computer completely fail of glitch proof (whoever invents that will make a ton of money…). The only trouble comes once in a blue moon when either the Schiit Modi or the Focusrite Scarlet 2i2 decide to suddenly disconnect, and then I have to pull the USB out and back in again, and everything works. There is no such thing with the current machine. That’s the only instance in which I actually heard any form of digital sound degrading quality. My previous cheap Lenovo laptop worked fine with playing music, but during intensive real time effects processing in Audition I could clearly hear the pops and glitches as it was failing to process them in real time. It can process all the DSP in the world without breaking a sweat. The current computer is a beefy Windows 10 editing workstation with i7 7700k inside. By default, I ran everything through the windows mixer, and I configured the Schiit modi 3 DAC to play at 44.1khz, which is the sample rate of all the music I listen to. As long as it runs smooth without data errors (and playing the same file of course), it all sounds the same. I use Winamp for many years now, and compared to Tidal desktop app, Deezer app, playback straight from Audacity or Adobe Audition, I don't notice any difference. I use only my computer to play music because everything is stored there and it's completely reliable. ![]() This all sounds to me like much ado about nothing.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |