- Windows 11 on all 3 computers
– 1.5 year old Alienware laptop, connected to network via Ethernet over Copper connection
– 1.5 year old customer-built mid-tower, connected directly to router (primary machine on network)
– 1 week old new Windows Surface Pro tablet; unmodified in all aspects; only Audirvana installed
PLUS
– 3 year old Apple iPad, running the Lumin app and the Linn app (don’t laugh - it actually works with other brands)
What does the 3 Windows machines have in common? They ALL will not stream more than 2 songs to my Lumin T1, connected to my network via Ethernet over copper, via Audirvana without stopping.
However, Apple ITunes (via Airplay) and Mediamonkey (over Ethernet) will play 24/7 without hiccupping or stopping. So does the Lumin app and the Linn app via the wireless iPad.
Why is this?
I have had issues with Audirvana since day 1 - the only reason I’ve purchased 2 versions of Audirvana thus far (3.x and Studio) is I could hear a tangible sound quality improvement when it did play a song. It is the most maddening software I’ve ever used - this is saying a lot, since I’ve been with computers since dBase II and MsDos 2.x and written 100+ database apps in my lifetime, combined with 15 years in the SysAdmin and computer forensics worlds. I know my way around a computer box.
My new $550 tablet was my ‘last ditch effort’ with Audirvana. Not one Windows 11 setting was modified; an absolute fresh Windows 11 install; fresh unmolested Audirvana installs (3.5 and Studio, freshly downloaded). Again - 2 songs and then playback stopped. The tablet nearly got thrown out the patio door. Maddening. Frustrating. Unnecessary.
Suggestion 1 - FIX THE ENGINE that drives the Audirvana Windows version train, as it is broke. Three different Windows machines, using high-end equipment, can’t get the job done with Audirvana, but an open source antiquidated app and a shareware app can stream to my Lumin with zero playback problems via Windows? The problem isn’t the network (100MBPS, 7-month old router) or the 3 machines. It is clearly the engine.
Suggestion 2 - Ensure the Audirvana default settings actually work on Windows machines instead of having customer chase their tails with cache settings (yep - I went down that rabbit hole also; one afternoon I spent all day adjusting that cache and the results were the same - failure). Default settings should be bulletproof; sure, let people tweak settings to satisfy curiosity, but when they break it they should be able to perform a reset and play music again.
Suggestion 3 - the new Windows Surface Tablet experiment shows the Audirvana UI does not work well at all with a Windows tablet. Why? Every control in the UI is too small to accurately activate with a finger. Try it. Its super frustrating. Try setting a filter with your finger on a tablet… you’ll give up after a few moments
Suggestion 4 - fix the UI, which is very user hostile. The 3.x UI was actually better in a LOT of ways that the Studio revamp, which is cluttered with very small controls and panels that inefficiently display features/settings/filters. There is a very good reason why the iTunes column browser method became the defacto standard for music players - because their engineers tested different UI designs and decided upon this one that an 80 year old grandmother can use as easily as a 22 year old computer wiz. How many other music catalogers/players use column browsers to display data based upon MP3 tags? Nearly all of them. Don’t reinvent the wheel, because the wheel works extremely well.
Let’s recap - I’ve purchased two versions of Audirvana (roughly $250) and a new Windows tablet ($550) that the combination still can’t stream 10 minutes of sound to a $5k streamer on a high speed network. Again - if it weren’t for the noticeable sound quality improvement that Audirvana creates I would have thrown in the towel 5 minutes after the streaming stopped/stuttered. I am still hoping for at least ONE stable version of Audirvana to be released - I’d even put up with its unintuititive UI if it could play some music. Please implement better beta testing for Windows - go back to the basics on your DLNA/UpNP engine so it will stream music the same way a freeware 22 year old music app can achieve right out of the box - and rethink the user interface, which has been disharmoniously pieced together. Meanwhile, my Studio license expires in 2 days - and I have a decision to make. My gut tells me that the team is a Mac crowd, and perhaps the Mac version works flawlessly… there is a massive difference between Mac and Windows in every aspect, and you can’t force a Mac box into a Windows hole.
PS - I would have REALLY preferred to have shared the thoughts above via a private message to the Audirvana team vs a forum, but your web site doesn’t provide any contact infromation that would have enabled me to do so.
v/r,
Scott
