I don't understand what this product does exactly

[mgittler]

This is a puzzling product. I can’t understand exactly what it does. I thought it would be a music player like VLC or such, but it doesn’t seem to be like that.

I see that it has accessed my library of ripped CDs and also it links to Tidal, which I have a subscription to. However the interfaces lose a lot of information. EG when I look at my CD library, I have them organized on my PC in folders by classical, pop, opera etc. But in Audirvana they’re all lumped in one big page seemingly at random - even two CDs in a set aren’t necessarily next to each other. I can’t figure out how to organize them better. There are “genre” filters but that doesn’t work so well.
Also with Tidal, I can only browse what’s already been prepared. I can’t seem to access their categories to find new music.

My questions are:

1. How do I get it to replicate the file system I have for my CDs on my PC?
2. If I access Tidal through the Tidal app directly and not through Audirvana, will Tidal play through Audirvana anyway?
3. What about other music sources? EG I like to watch opera through Met Online in my browser. Will that play through Audirvana?

In other words, is Audirvana processing all the sound that comes through my PC speakers, or only the sound that I access through the Audirvana app directly?

[Antoine]

@mgittler

1. How do I get it to replicate the file system I have for my CDs on my PC?

Audirvana by default use the metadata of the tracks, not the folder structure you have, this is why you see your albums and tracks differently. We had feedback about it and we understand them, we need to improve Audirvana capabilities to give you flexibility and we are looking for the best way to do it.

@mgittler

If I access Tidal through the Tidal app directly and not through Audirvana, will Tidal play through Audirvana anyway?

Short answer, no. Audirvana rely on a exclusive access of your device and you need to play the track in Audirvana to get the unfold of MQA tracks for example.

@mgittler

What about other music sources? EG I like to watch opera through Met Online in my browser. Will that play through Audirvana?

You can’t do that, you can play tracks from your computer or from the integrated streaming services in Audirvana but not from audio coming from your computer.

[mgittler]

Thank you! This is very helpful.

[PasDeDeux]

In addition, you can create smart playlists using the folder name as part of the criteria to replicate your folders/artists.