From @Jim_F:
I run Audirvana Studio and 3.5 on a Dell XPS 15 laptop. I have two setups that I use.
First is UPnP from Dell to Oppo 203, then HDMI to LG C7P OLED, then HDMI to Bose.
For headphone use, I have UPnP from Dell to Raspberry Pi 4 running RoPieeeXL, then USB to Meridian Prime Power Supply and Headphone Amplifier.
Everything except the Dell is connected by ethernet. The Dell is connected by WIFI (AT&T U-Verse 50/12). I stream from Tidal and Qobuz.
For me AS works without issue in the following scenarios.
Currently using macOS 12.2.1 and AS 1.11. Have used AS since day 2, whilst there have been a few minor bumps in the road, the set-ups work flawlessly with the only issues I have had being solely using UPnP over wireless to the KEF wireless speakers. I had to convert all my ALAC files to FLAC to mitigate some rare truncation issues when streaming to KEF LS50. The sound quality to my ears cannot be matched by any other software offering that I have used. Pure joy.
I have been using Audirvana since 2016. Files are largely ALAC (redbook) and a small part FLAC (HiRes). In addition, nowadays mainly streaming from Qobuz.
Broadly speaking, no problems. Occasionally there are updates that temporarily cause problems. My intention has therefore become not to update within a week after release. And especially not if I have planned an evening with friends to listen to music.
I have always connected the Mac Mini to a DAC via USB. Tried various DACs and Converters over the years. Never had a problem with it.
Occasionally I try UPnP to the Hegel amplifier, functionally USB is my preference.
Last two weeks I went back to V3.5 and actually I don’t miss anything from AS and it works stable. Only thing is that AS in my set sounds a bit better.
Hi,
On my side, two configurations are in place with Audirvana running on a Mac Mini and audio files stored on a Synology Disk station, and UPnP:
No problem in general with the TotalDac, sometimes some issues (Cannot start playing, skipping of tracks) with the Marantz. Usually solved either by a restart or a hard reset of the Marantz.
Audirvana 3.5 AND Audirvana Studio
Before adding files to my local library I always curate the metadata first with MusicBrainz Picard, MP3Tag etc.
The PCM files in my local music library are mostly FLAC (but some WAV and APE and shock, horror, some MP3 files).
The DSD files in my local music library are all converted to DSF (I extract SACD iso files to DSF, because I want metadata in my files).
The above setup works without issue.
Windows 11 PC (HP Pavilion) → iFi Audio Zen DAC v2 via USB. I don’t have any of my local files setup in Audirvana as they’re all MP3 190k+ that I ripped from my old CDs for use in the car. I only stream using Qobuz, and I haven’t had any issues to speak of with the exception of one upgrade which was resolved within 24 hours.
For me, playing only local FLAC or DSF files from 2 USB external pocket size Hard Drives.
MacMini 2018, 4xi3 3.6GHz, SSD, 20Gb memory, macOS 12.2, Audirvana Studio 1.11
Wyred DAC 2 DSD Special Edition > Proceed AMP 2 > Focal Cobalt 826 Signature Series Speakers.
Audirvana Remote to iPhone 11.
If You Got Ears, You Gotta Listen – Captain Beefheart
The setup is very simple here and it works reliably:
Audirvana Studio on a 2018 Mac Mini (16 GB RAM, 1 TB internal SSD)
Ethernet Cat 7a to a Raspberry Pi 4B
Raspberry Pi 4B (8 GB) running GentooPlayer with Mpd/UPmpdCli activated
USB from Raspberry Pi 4B to Devialet Expert 120
Sweet sound!!!
I have 3 setups:
Library: NAS QNap
Common problem to all configurations: Duplicated tracks
Edit:
I forgot to say I play both Local, and Qobuz streaming.
Use Audirvana Studio on a HP Envy Desktop PC (16 GB) running Windows 11.
USB output through an Audioquest FMJ Jitterbug to a Wyred 4 Sound Recovery Reclocker (Small Green Computer Linear Power Supply) to an HRT HD Dac RCA outs to a Marantz Integrated Amplifier.
Play my WAV and FLAC files from an external WD Hardrive, Qobuz Studio Premier and Radio Paradise through Audirvana Studio and Jriver MC28.
This setup plays perfectly for me at this time.
Nice working setups in this thread.
Surprisingly, most of you use a direct USB connection between the computer and the DAC.
Hello Everyone, I removed all of the responses that where out of topic since the topic is about setup that works, please stick to it.
I have installed AS on two systems. Both use a QNAP NAS for local music. Streaming is provided by Qobuz.
MS Surface Pro 7+ (Win 11) > optical USB > Sennheiser HDV820 DAC/headphone amplifier - works flawlessly
QNAP NAS hosting a Win 10 VM with dedicated 4 GB RAM > ethernet (or WiFi) > KEF LS50 wireless - ok but slow (8 GB RAM would be nice), occasional hickups with KEF streamer that require a hard speaker restart.
SW: Windows 11 Pro, AS w/Qobuz, Kernel Streaming, r8Brain Upsampling. Local files on external drive, 16/44 to 24/192 FLAC.
HW: HDPLEX H1 V3 & 400W Combo, i7-11700, 32GB, Elfidelity AXF-100 ULTRA III USB card w/ 5V Studer 900 PS > Schiit Yggdrasil OG > Don Sachs Linestage > Schiit Vidar X 2 > Spatial M3 Triode Master.
I have had no problems running Audirvana Studio on my
iMac Intel i5 8 GB ram Monterey macOS 12.2.1 Wired Ethernet
USB connect to Schiit Audio Gungnir DAC
Balanced Cables to Schiit Audio Mjolnir 2 Amp on to
Hifiman Sundara cans
Music library is stored in Dropbox sync’d folder (mixture of ALAC, AIFF, FLAC) which is also used by my secondary system upstairs running on
MacBook Pro USB-Dac-Amp-Cans WiFi
Also Qobuz streaming through AS.
Both systems also have 3.5 installed which I haven’t used since installing AS.
My system is AS (whatever the latest version is) on a computer with a “wired” Ethernet connection to a microRendu 1.5 (“wired” is in quotes because it is partly optical Ethernet and partly copper, but no wi-fi), from there to a Pro-Ject Pre box S2 Digital DAC. I do not have either Compatibility Mode on the microRendu or “don’t use raw PCM” set; in fact if I try to use Compatibility Mode it doesn’t play at all.
This works well for local files and Qobuz, though I haven’t been able to play radio channels for some reason since the earliest couple of Studio builds.
If anyone else has problems playing radio channels let’s take it to another thread. But I thought the interesting thing about my setup and the reason I posted is because I don’t use Compatibility Mode on the microRendu, whereas it’s my impression for others it’s exactly the opposite (that is, they must have Compatibility Mode checked for things to work).
2017 MacBook Air i5 dual core, 8 gb Ram macOS 12.2.1 Monterey
Audiotrak Prodigy Cube 24/96 USB sound card
Presonus Eris 4.5 BT monitor speakers
Local files stored on an external hard drive
2020 M1 MacBook Pro 8 gb Ram macOS 12.2.1 Monterey
Terratec Aureon 7.1 USB sound card
Philips FR966 receiver
Rank Arena speakers & JVC subwoofer
Local files stored on an SD card
Both systems stream Qobuz and Tidal through AS, stream radio stations and local music.
2016 Asus ROG laptop Win 10, i7 6820HK processor with 32 GB RAM : local files on external Thunderbolt Drive : streams to
Sonore Signature Rendu SE Optical that feeds via USB
Ayre QX-5 Twenty DAC with new USB 2 board.
Other stuff:
Ayre KX-R Twenty preamp
Ayre MX-R Twenty amps
WIlson Alexia II Speakers
I am a headphone-centric audiophile
15" MacBook Pro w/TouchBar (2016)
2.7 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
16 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3
macOS 12.2.1 (21d62)
The MBP feeds a Thunderbolt 3 PCIe expansion chassis via a WireWorld USB 3.1 cable, positioned at the top of the system’s 3.1 bus hierarchy… I use the WireWorld USB3.1 cable instead of Thunderbolt 3/4 cable because of it’s superior design architecture and performance as compared to a standard high-quality TB 3/4 cable… The expansion chassis hosts an ElFidelity AXF-107 “Magician” Max Power Purification PCIe card, for power/noise filtering/conditioning/stabilization, and hosts a Sonnet Technologies four-port USB 3.1 card with four independent controllers, using only one output… the other three are screened with AudioQuest USB caps.
The USB 3.1 output from the Thunderbolt 3/4 PCIe chassis feeds and powers an iGalvanic isolation/filter/re-clocker, via a WireWorld USB3.0 cable… the iGalvanic feeds my TEAC DAC via a WireWorld USB2.0 cable…
The entire system architecture resides on, and star-grounded on, it’s own power ‘island’, being quad-filtered and augmented by an ADD-Power EAU2 harmonic resonator on the mains power, for extreme noise reduction. The power cables to the DAC and my HPA are WireWorld…
I use USB 3.x cables because the signaling-lines are separated from the data-lines in the cable architecture. (no adapters)… The USB2.0 cable is a very short lead to the DAC.
Audirvana Studio 1.11.0 is configured with SoX enabled for modulation of PCM to DSD128 being fed by 112DB’s “Redline Monitor” HTRF audio-units plugin…
My library HDD lives at the top of the hierarchy of the system’s USB3.0 bus architecture… I find that separating the HDD USB3.0 data input feed from the USB3.1 data output feed to the PCIe expansion chassis, provides an audible improvement in sound-quality, most likely due to noise/jitter reduction from various operational interference.
I take great care to remove electro-mechanical interference and RF and EMF interference through a diligent and conscientious approach to noise mitigation/suppression. My cable internet feed passes through a Jensen galvanic isolator…
This works for me in my unique personal system environment…
HP Laptop 2021.
2,3 GHz.
QuadCore.
AMD.
8 GB Ram.
I listen only through Headphones BlueTooth/Wired JBL CLUB ONE.
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit(with latest updates & Drivers updated)
I am very pleased with Audirvana Studio & before that 3.5.
I have a big collection of FLAC 16 & 24 bit+ a lot of 16 bit ALAC files, 168.000 files in total.
I also enjoy to listen to Qobuz Studio & Tidal Hi-Fi Plus.
I thank God & the very gifted Developers at Audirvana for AS, enjoy every update.
Roon is IMHO so far behind, that I think I can hear them cry.