Audirvana's marketing and upgrades and some other comments

Audirvana really needs to review their marketing. I had no idea that there was an entirely new generation of the app until trying to troubleshoot a problem. I regularly check to see if there is a new version in the App Store (Mac, obviously) and upgrade when there’s something there. But now I find out that my version is out of date, being series 2.x. There is a series 3 now and I never had any idea. Other companies who’s software I’ve purchased send out emails to all customers announcing every upgrade, no matter how small or major, whether a free or paid one. Audirvana needs to do the same.
It’s also difficult to find information, for example, on compatibility. I upgraded Audirvana Remote, only to find out it won’t work properly with series 2.x. (Every version of Remote that I’ve had has been a bit buggy.)
The website is flashy but not very easy to glean useful information from. Someone should go through it and cut the fat and fix things. Audirvana is the best sounding digital music software I’ve tried and it’s far less expensive than many others and these things should be prominent.
Lastly, Audirvana really needs to have some tech support. Other small companies I deal with have at least some persons available to help with payment problems, version compatibility problems, etc. Currently, it’s not even possible to email these guys. Bad business! It needs to be fixed.

Très bonne analyse. Il y a quelques années le concepteur était joignable facilement et répondait même aux mails personnels. Audirvana est devenu trop gros après son élargissement au monde Windows ; le contact est de moins en moins facile. On peut même ne jamais avoir de réponses aux questions posées.

It’s sad because with a little work, this software could be much much better. Even with the problems it’s the best sounding.

Yes, yes, yes! Support is very, but very bad. You could say it’s not here at all.

There is much to praise about Audirvana but just as much to criticize.

Why is there still no manual for windows months after the release of Audirvana?
This is completely unacceptable!

Why is there no full Audirvana installer for windows 10 customers available for download? I need first to check a test version?
The download link via: https://audirvana.com/delivery/windows/index.html
does not work in many cases, at least on my systems.

The support meanwhile leaves a lot to be desired!
Several popular vst3 plugins don’t work in Audirvana:
-RoomEQ
-BlueCats Patchwork
etc.
When threads are opened in the forum, audirvana remains silent. No one responds directly by e-mail. The contact form is removed on the audirvana webpage.
I imagine support to be fundamentally different. Have a look at Roon! They react fast to every bug.

Why are only vst3 plugins supported?
This decision completely misses the reality, because many manufacturers do not recognize the added value of vst3, except higher costs for them and the customer. Therfore they do not develop vst3 versions.

Many good convolver plugins for win are “only” available as vst2. So they will not work in Audirvana.
This includes Fog Convolver and Convology XT . Both are very intuitive to use and sound excellent.
If I then use a plugin chainer like Blucats Patchwork to bypass these restrictions, I have to realize that Patchwork can be selected in Audirvana, but the GUI doesn’t open.

Patchwork is able to pass on vst2 effects via Patchwork as vst3.
In all relevant Windows programs RoomEQ and Patchwork work. Only in Audirvana they don’t work.
So it is obvious that these are bugs in Audirvana.
The corresponding thread in the forum sees no reaction from the Audirvana team.

If I know which plugins are used in Audirvana, I’m sure that room correction is at the top of the list.
There are plugins like dirac, RoomEQ(which doesn’t work in Audirvana/Windows since months) etc. but also convolver plugins which I can feed with filters from REW.
So for me as a developer of Audirvana, convolver&room correction plugins are at the top of my list of priorities.
I suspect that Audirvana is not yet aware of this relevance. A glance at the forums is enough to see how important room correction and corresponding plug-ins are today. Word has got around that increasing the sound quality of a stereo system through room correction can have a much higher effect than, for example, changing USB cables etc…
I would expect at least on the website of Audirvana, that it will be called a selection of such plugins, which will work together with Audirvana.
Of course this information is missing.
If there are any questions in the forum, the Audirvana page is radio silent.
This is annoying.

Why does Audirvana refuse a folder structure view in cover mode?
There’s no good reason for that, but there’s a lot to be said for it.
For years users have wanted this view. Damien doesn’t want it.
The customer is king. This does not apply to Audirvana.

The folder structure view in cover mode could only help to avoid some bugs in the cover view.
A really annoying bug in Audirvana/mac is that two completely different albums, other artists, different album titles, are moved into one album.
The tags of both albums are correct.
Then an album will not be found anymore.
Audirvana often doesn’t recognize the difference between cover, front, back. Again and again Audirvana chooses back as cover.
I could go on writing forever about only the bugs in cover mode.

But it is irrelevant at the latest at the point when the manufacturer does not react to bugs, or reacts only to a few bugs.
If a forum is installed, you have to react to submitted bugs and problems, especially if the contact form on their webpage is removed.
It gets really abstruse when plugin vendors try to contact Audirvana because of bugs and audirvana also keeps silent here.
For me this means, RoomEQ e.g. will not run on Windows so fast. From this decisions are derived for me.

For my part, I will part with all three licenses. In Roon I also found a program that works extremely well across platforms, is extremely well documented and the support deserves its name.
If Roon serves as core on one pc and is connected to the DAC as player on another pc, Roon sounds much better than Audirvana.

Now all Audirvana has to do is, explain how the license transfer works.

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Comparing Audirvana to Roon is a bit like comparing apples to oranges. Audirvana is client software and Roon is more intended to be run on a server or NAS. We’re talking also about a substantial cost for the Roon license.

I disagree that there is no support. There is quite a bit here in the community and the developer is also quite active. You can’t realistically expect them to work on every system related issue people have. Number of variables is just huge. Have you ever tried to call Microsoft or Apple for a software related issue?

Bugs are also part of life when we’re talking about a software product. Surely they prioritise on which bugs they work and you may be more or less impacted with those.

The software vendor support is mainly for installation and product issues and license management. Beyond that it’s likely you’ll get a better support from the community. How well the Roon support works you’ll know when you run into first issues, but they also have lively community so you’re good there too.

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Support is nearly nonexistent. I have been trying for over a month now to get loading issues resolved. The recommended solutions do not work. It will takes 5 days to get a response at times. Where do you go to get a refund when you are having these issues.?
The forum if full of complaints from users on various issues. This appears to be a shoe string operation, and will go extinct as soon as a competitor arrives with support.
It is to bad. I sympathize with startups and growing pains (If that is the problem).
I’m an audiophile not a computer geek. The last thing I need is to be F…ing with another
software issue beside the ones Microsoft and Mac give you on a regular basis.
The worst thing you can do to your costumers is to leave them swingin

We’re all audiophiles, some of us are also computer geeks. The fact is you’re using a computer to play music, so some level of proficiency to operate the computer is required.

If you’re not using the remote app, UPnP or the plugins you’re on the safe side. The remaining issues are operating system issues that require some level of IT knowledge to resolve.

If you’re not willing to deal with the complexity of a computer system, you’ll be better off with Roon running on a preconfigured appliance like Nucleus. You have to accept also the additional cost associated with it.

I use Audirvana for a desktop setup, streaming from a NAS and listening through headphones. I don’t need plugins, I don’t upsample, I don’t do UPnP. For me Audirvana has been a flawless experience so far.

Depending on your setup, your experience could well be totally different. Definitely Audirvana is not the best solution for every scenario. Maybe your needs changed over time. You need to re-evaluate your needs and make a decision if Audirvana is still the right tool for the job.

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Here’s the thing… there is no support for Audiavana to speak of!
I operate a small recording studio running UA interfaces into Logics Pro X and Protools.
The people that created those programs, and hardware understand their clients don’t want to be F…ing around with interface issues .

When there is an issue (and it is rarely). YOU GET SUPPORT.
Those recording interfaces have 10 times the complexity of Audiavana,

I have had Audivana for about 4 month Two of which it actually worked.
I’ve been asking to have my computer cleared from their data base so I can reload.
When I download now, it will not open.It will not let me install my license.
Programs like Audiavana have to be install and forget to be successful.
When your dealing with recording software and hardware interfaces, you accept there will be occasional bugs during upgrades…but then you can get support if needed
I have no issues downloading or running other apps on this computer.

Nuff Said.
P.S. Still waiting for support.

I checked your posts and it looks like you have a system issue. Short of connecting to your system remotely and troubleshooting it with you, I don’t see how Audirvana support can help you. They’re just not equipped for that in terms of resources and time.

You’ll need to either troubleshoot it yourself, find somebody who can do it for you or in the worst case, do a clean system install and start over.

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@bitracer
To compare Roon and Audirvana is correct in every respect. Roon is client software just like Audirvana.
In this respect your argumentation does not work here.
The missing support I describe concretely.
Well, to claim that there is support from Audirvana doesn’t help, because the support doesn’t take place in the mentioned examples.
Support in the first place means to react!
An important component would be to provide a reasonable manual. What is that?

For example, if a bug in the DAW Reaper becomes obvious, an update is usually released a few days later. Before that, the developer answers in the forum. He reacts.
This does not happen here.

If vst plugins of different vendors work cross-platform, but not in Audirvana, then the error of all probability must be caused by Audirvana.
There is no reaction here. I find this behavior completely unacceptable.

I have been waiting for an answer on how the sale of Audirvana licenses works for a week.
Is this the support you are talking about?
Lol

5 days and counting since last contact with the entity reputed to be Support.

Well, not really. The Roon client software is like a remote that controls the “server” called Roon core and directs it to which endpoint to stream. Now both the server and the endpoint can be the same system too, but it’s more of a special case than common use scenario.

You get best value out of Roon if you run it on a server, control it from one or more devices and stream to Roon-ready endpoint(s).

This stream of communication is a bit scary to me… I just want to listen to flac files from my computer through my stereo system (currently this happens through Pono, which seems to work smoothly though it’s no longer supported out there)… and all my research indicates Audirvana is the best-sounding software to help me do that…but I’m not very tech savvy with computers – don’t know what plugins are, don’t know what UPnP is is etc… maybe this software isn’t for me? Trying to decide before I buy my new Mac…any guidance is appreciated.

i don’t stream, i don’t connect with ethernet… i don’t upsample… i don’t use plugins…
i don’t use iTunes or Music now, just my DAC connect in USB to macmini… all is playing always without stopping or bugs. Songs load in a second, .flac or .dsf from external hardrive.

My tagging is all done and perfect, all my smart playlists are always working…
macOS Catalina 10.15.1, macmini late 2012.

Simpler the better, let Audirvana drive your DAC and have fun :slight_smile:

Then it’s unlikely you’ll have problems. Users usually have issues when those topics are involved.

But don’t take my word for it, download a trial and test it yourself.

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simpler the better… that’s for me. Thanks for suggesting an alternative I can look into

UPDATE:

Thanks Damien3
I will try changing my DSD setting.
Thanks for the reset.
I have been down over 4 weeks.
It appears that the reset did the trick, so why could we not have tried that earlier?
That was the fix the last time this happened.
Hope if it happens in the future we can try this early on.

Thanks again
billd

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