[tgdinamo]

 
No,I don't restar my mac.Never heard that this can be important

 
I think only need to restart if your dac does not get recognized and assigned to the software player although I read somewhere that if you switch between Amarra and Audirvana it is recommended to restart. I like Amarra SQ so much more than Audirvana that I don't use Audirvana any longer.
However, I will certainly try Vox after what you reported (also thanks for posting your hardware details).

 

[Zoom25]

Restarting Mac is important if you optimize any settings via the script. Some changes only apply after the restart.

 

[zxathlon]

Amarra is more revealing and detailed than A+. The graininess might come from digital recordings. A+ sounds like doing smoothing in the midrange. Also, switching from A+ to Amarra, the improvement on soundstage is really obvious.
BTW, don't convert FLAC into AIFF/ALAC and use the itunes integrate mode. In my experience both Amarra and A+ sound better when playing the original FLAC files.

 

[bussola]

  Amarra is more revealing and detailed than A+. The graininess might come from digital recordings. A+ sounds like doing smoothing in the midrange. Also, switching from A+ to Amarra, the improvement on soundstage is really obvious.
BTW, don't convert FLAC into AIFF/ALAC and use the itunes integrate mode. In my experience both Amarra and A+ sound better when playing the original FLAC files.

Audirvana is smoother in the high midrange ,that is true, but it has the best soundstage of all.If you're listening through headphones,it takes your head inside the music.It completely opens up the soundstage.

 

[bpcans]

Audirvana is smoother in the high midrange ,that is true, but it has the best soundstage of all.If you're listening through headphones,it takes your head inside the music.It completely opens up the soundstage.

+1 Totally agree.

 

[tgdinamo]

  amarra symphony and vox(free player) sound ******* IDENTICAL.cannot believe my ear

 
Thanks for heads up about Vox.
I have now downloaded vox as well and agree - very hard to tell the SQ difference between vox and amarra (3.0.3), with exception that amarra seems to be louder (when both are set to 100% output and the exact same volume output is set on my DAC and monitors).
Actually vox seems to have all features I like between Amarra and Audirvana! It is actually able to display all info from wav files I purchased from HDTracks (like Audirvana) - Amarra only displays song names but not album or artist.
Given this Vox is probably going to be my new default music player (since I much prefer vox and amarra SQ to audirvana).
By the way, my system is macbook pro (2014 with 16GB ram and 1TB SSD, Nordost Blue Heaven USB cable into Hegel HD12 DAC, and also using Shunyata power distribution and conditioning bundle). Hegel DAC output is balanced (XLR) into Focal CMS-40 monitors.

 

[bussola]

   
Thanks for heads up about Vox.
I have now downloaded vox as well and agree - very hard to tell the SQ difference between vox and amarra (3.0.3), with exception that amarra seems to be louder (when both are set to 100% output and the exact same volume output is set on my DAC and monitors).
Actually vox seems to have all features I like between Amarra and Audirvana! It is actually able to display all info from wav files I purchased from HDTracks (like Audirvana) - Amarra only displays song names but not album or artist.
Given this Vox is probably going to be my new default music player (since I much prefer vox and amarra SQ to audirvana).
By the way, my system is macbook pro (2014 with 16GB ram and 1TB SSD, Nordost Blue Heaven USB cable into Hegel HD12 DAC, and also using Shunyata power distribution and conditioning bundle). Hegel DAC output is balanced (XLR) into Focal CMS-40 monitors.

Vox is great!
Listening and listening again (I actually prefer to enjoy the music, but sometimes I'm a nerd) I found out that Vox has a little sparkling high midrange.Again,very subtle differences.
The volume difference is probably because Vox is using a -0.5dB sort of limiter,I'm guessing,but this is also a feature on amarra(3.0.3).

+1 Totally agree.

Thank God,I'm not the only one.I am not dreaming!

 

[huggs2]

  amarra symphony and vox(free player) sound ******* IDENTICAL.cannot believe my ear

Thanks for the heads up. In the last 2 months i was checking out all the players and had chosen Amarra as the best to go with my macbook + ME2 + Grado SR220i. This Vox player has a sound i have been looking for. As you say the voice is great.Thanks again.

 

[tunes]

Does Vox auto-select the bit depth and sample rates in AudioMidi when a file type is changed? This was an annoying feature of iTunes.

 

[bussola]

Does Vox auto-select the bit depth and sample rates in AudioMidi when a file type is changed? This was an annoying feature of iTunes.

y e s , only the sample rate . you choose the bit depth in the audiomidisett.

 

[esteboune]

i've been using A+ for the past year, recently moved to Amarra 3.03, sound quality is a bit better, but the interface of A+ is IMHO better

 

[shak85]

Sorry to bump this thread but i'm wondering which one player to buy . Cost is not an issue.
 
Can someone tell me the differences between latest version of Vox, Amarra, Audirvana Plus and HQPlayer
(mentioned in a couple of posts back) ?

 

[tgdinamo]

  Sorry to bump this thread but i'm wondering which one player to buy . Cost is not an issue.
 
Can someone tell me the differences between latest version of Vox, Amarra, Audirvana Plus and HQPlayer
(mentioned in a couple of posts back) ?

 
I have Amarra 3.0, Audirvana Plus, and Vox and slightly prefer Vox over Amarra. SQ of Vox is very similar to Amarra 3.0 and both are better than Audirvana Plus (IMHO).
However Audirvana does have the best user interface if that's important to you. Amarra is the least stable of the three (which is why I use Vox more than Amarra).

 

[Mediahound]

   
I have Amarra 3.0, Audirvana Plus, and Vox and slightly prefer Vox over Amarra. SQ of Vox is very similar to Amarra 3.0 and both are better than Audirvana Plus (IMHO).
However Audirvana does have the best user interface if that's important to you. Amarra is the least stable of the three (which is why I use Vox more than Amarra).

I tried Vox and could never get it to work well with iTunes. I bought Amarra and like the SQ, I think it's probably the best SQ, but it's true, the interface is sorta kludgey indeed. 

 

[tgdinamo]

 
I tried Vox and could never get it to work well with iTunes. I bought Amarra and like the SQ, I think it's probably the best SQ, but it's true, the interface is sorta kludgey indeed. 

 
I don't use iTunes any longer (since I started buying HD music) so at this point I prefer apps that don't try to interact with iTunes at all.