Hi there, hoping someone can help me out here. I use Audirvana with a Focal Arche via USB, what I’ve noticed is, when I select the Arche as the output in Audirvana, music will play fine, but in the Audio MIDI Setup application, the device which is ‘playing’ is the Built-In-Output which limits the output to 24/96. If I try to select the Arche in Audirvana and as the Output Device on the Mac, I get no audio, as Audirvana will not load the track (I’m solely using Qobuz btw). I would expect to see the Arche playing as the Output Device in the Audio MIDI Setup application, but I don’t. Am I doing something wrong or is this expected behavior?
Hello @nick2413,
Can you send me a copy of the “Debug Info” while you have selected your Arche in Audirvana? You can get it in Audirvana Settings>General>Debug Info
Note: By clicking on the Debug Info button, Audirvana automatically copies all its content, all you have to do is paste it in response to this message
Thank you as always Damien, pasting below:
Audirvana Mac Version 3.5.43 (3573)
macOS 10.15.7 with 8192MB RAM
Registered to Nick Little
SIGNAL PROCESSING:
Polarity Inversion:
Globally: OFF
Per track: OFF
Effects plugins NOT ACTIVE
UPSAMPLING:
SoX not in use
SoX filter parameters
Bandwidth at 0dB = 99.5
Filter max length = 30000
Anti-aliasing = 100
Phase = 66
AUDIO VOLUME:
Max allowed volume: 100
Replay Gain: None
SW volume control: OFF
LIBRARY SETTINGS:
Sync list: 1 folders
AUTO: /Users/nickspersonalmac/Downloads
iTunes/Music library synchronization: not synchronized
Library database path: /Users/nickspersonalmac/Library/Application Support/Audirvana/AudirvanaPlusDatabaseV2.sqlite
ACTIVE STREAMING SERVICES
Qobuz: Connected as Qobuz Studio
=================== AUDIO DEVICE ========================
CoreAudio audio path, buffer I/O frame size: 512
Max. memory for audio buffers: 5120MB
Local Audio Engine:
Exclusive access: Enabled
Integer mode: Enabled
Preferred device:
FOCAL ARCHE Audio 2.0
Model UID:FOCAL ARCHE Audio 2.0:152A:87A0
UID:AppleUSBAudioEngine:FOCAL:FOCAL ARCHE Audio 2.0:14100000:1
Currently playing in Integer Mode:
Device: 2ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24bits little endian Signed Integer, 8 bytes per frame 44.1kHz
Active Sample Rate: 44.1kHz
Hog Mode is on
Bridge settings:
Sample rate limitation: none
Sample rate switching latency: none
Limit bitdepth to 24bit: OFF
Mute during sample rate change: OFF
Selected device:
Local audio device
ID 0x3a FOCAL ARCHE Audio 2.0 Manufacturer:FOCAL
Model UID:FOCAL ARCHE Audio 2.0:152A:87A0 UID:AppleUSBAudioEngine:FOCAL:FOCAL ARCHE Audio 2.0:14200000:1
10 available sample rates up to 768000Hz
44100
48000
88200
96000
176400
192000
352800
384000
705600
768000
Audio buffer frame size : 15 to 4096 frames
Current I/O buffer frame size : 512
Volume Control
Physical: Yes
Virtual: Yes
MQA capability
Auto-detect MQA devices: No
Not a MQA device, user set to not MQA
DSD capability: Unhandled
Device audio channels
Preferred stereo channels L:1 R:2
Channel bitmap: Ox3, layout:
Channel 0 mapped to 0
Channel 1 mapped to 1
Audio channels in use
Number of channels: 2
Use as stereo device only: No
Simple stereo device: Yes
1 output streams:
Number of active channels: 2, in 1 stream(s)
Channel #0 :Stream 0 channel 0
Channel #1 :Stream 0 channel 1
Stream ID 0x3b 2 channels starting at 1
30 virtual formats:
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 768kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 705.6kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 384kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 352.8kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 192kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 176.4kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 96kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 88.2kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 48kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 44.1kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 768kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 705.6kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 384kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 352.8kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 192kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 176.4kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 88.2kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 44.1kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 768kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 705.6kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 384kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 352.8kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 192kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 176.4kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 88.2kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
40 physical formats
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 768kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 705.6kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 384kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 352.8kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 192kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 176.4kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 96kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 88.2kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 48kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 44.1kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 768kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 705.6kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 384kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 352.8kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 192kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 176.4kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 88.2kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 768kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 705.6kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 384kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 352.8kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 192kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 176.4kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 88.2kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 44.1kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 768kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 705.6kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 384kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 352.8kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 192kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 176.4kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 88.2kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
Local devices found : 2
Device #0: ID 0x30 Built-in Output Manufacturer: Apple Inc. Model UID: AppleHDA:93 UID: AppleHDAEngineOutput:1B,0,1,1:0
Device #1: ID 0x3a FOCAL ARCHE Audio 2.0 Manufacturer: FOCAL Model UID: FOCAL ARCHE Audio 2.0:152A:87A0 UID: AppleUSBAudioEngine:FOCAL:FOCAL ARCHE Audio 2.0:14200000:1
UPnP devices found : 1
Device #0: ID 0x0 Super-9CC9 UID: uuid:5F9EC1B3-ED59-79BB-4530-0011F6A89CC9 Location: http://192.168.86.65:8080/description.xml
Have you tried to enable DSD over PCM in the audio output settings?
macOS is not able to send raw DSD streams. That’s why the DSD over PCM standard has been developed: to send raw DSD in a fake PCM stream.
To identify it as such, there are 8 bit markers in it.
And the presence of these markers doubles the need of bandwidth, thus explaining why on a mac only half of the max DSD rate is available.
Thanks as always for the reply Damien, I’m not sure we’re on the same page though, changing DSD to over PSM hasn’t made a difference. See the screenshot below, music is playing through the Arche, but in Audio MIDI settings there is a small speaker next to the Built in Output, which suggests the audio is being routed through that limited to 24/48:
This is normal, Audirvana takes exclusive access to the audio device (i.e. your DAC) during playback to be able to implement its sound signal optimizations.
Audirvana takes exclusive access to the audio device (usually your DAC) to be able to apply its advanced optimizations during playback. MacOs then tries to find another available audio device.
When playback stops, Audirvana restores access to the audio device, and any other application can then use it.