Thanks @Ddude003 & @Agoldnear, that’s really useful info.
I’ve been under the impression all this time that the uBACCH plug-in doesn’t work at all over UPnP (i.e.) has no effect on the sound, if RealTime is enabled.
From what @Ddude003 explained that’s not the case. It’s just that you can’t configure it while outputting over UPnP.
So the only remaining problem is that if anyone does disable RealTime for this plug-in, it doesn’t work correctly, and has the problems I described of a long silent cut-off, followed by distorted sound (some of the time).
When @Antoine stated it didn’t work over UPnP, with RealTime enabled, I thought he meant, doesn’t work at all.
The other player I tested doesn’t have a switch to disable RealTime, and behaves similarly to Audirvana with RealTime disabled when it’s outputting over UPnP.
Audirvana has that problem with RealTime disabled with this plug-in whether outputting over UPnP or directly to an audio device.
The problem is worse with the other player though, because it always exhibits this problem over UPnP. So the plug-in is unusable with that player over UPnP.
When I tested briefly with Audirvana and RealTime enabled, I couldn’t tell by listening if the plug-in was having any effect on the sound.
The effect of the plug-in is very dependant on the type of speaker, whether the room is treated or not. With the right type of speaker, the effect can be dramatic and would probably be even better in a physically treated room.
It is also very dependant on the recording being played.
The folks behind the plug-in already mentioned that with Omni speakers there won’t be much of an effect. I think that’s also the case with any speaker with a relatively diffuse sound though. Whether the room is physically treated and/or digitally corrected.
With Avantgarde Horns, which are quite focused and directive, I’ve had some spectacular results.
When configuring the plug-in to set the angle of the speakers you drag a slider from a middling position ( I started with an angle of 40). With the Avantgarde’s testing the left speaker the generated pink noise was clearly emanating from the left speaker. When I moved the slider to reduce the angle, I got to the point where the “blob” of pink noise was clearly outside and further to the left of the left speaker. I repeated with the Right speaker, with the same result. The value was slightly different for the right speaker, so I split the difference.
With the Avantgardes, if I moved the slider too far, the sound moved along the left wall; but it became less focused and diffuse. So I moved it back to just outside the left speaker, where it remained focused and “clean”. Then I repeated the exercise for the right speaker.
With my Martin Logans, it was difficult to pinpoint this blob of pink noise. I could get it to correspond to each speakers location; but it was already quite diffuse and spread out. Moving the slider it became even more diffuse and harder to locate.
So yes, I think the Martin Logans are already spreading the sound out to both sides and doing some of what the plug-in can do, by themselves.
I won’t be able to re-test with the Avantgardes until the weekend. Then I can be sure the plug-in is really working well for me over UPnP with RealTime enabled.