Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT
Apple TV, iTunes and Amarra. If I play iTunes using music from my music library via Amarra, I cannot send the music to AppleTV (2)? Even when selecting AppleTV in speakers at bottom right of iTunes? Is this normal?
iMac 24" 2.4Ghz Intel, Mac OS X (10.5.1)
I suspect so.
Check their support here which suggests using Rogue Amoeba's Airfoil to send to an Airport Express which would be similar to Airplay to an AppleTV.
http://www.sonicstudio.com/amarra/amarrafaq.html#6
Never tried Amarra so can't say for sure but the majority of these apps simply use the itunes interface/database to access the media and replace the audio engine with their own with high quality software upsamling, audio volume dithering, memory play etc Some I gather attempt to control USB/FW audio interfaces more directly than core audio allows (eg Integer mode which has been ditched in Lion recently).
As the approach seems to be a combination of high quality software algorithms/higher bit depth processing and more direct hardware control to reduce jitter etc I can't see how they'd manage to directly control AppleTV hardware though resampled audio could presumably be directed to an Airport/Airplay device without the direct hardware control.
In addition any benefits of using Amarra etc might be negated by AppleTV or Airport's own hardware limitations - AppleTV2 apparently resampling stereo audio to 16 bit 48 kHz and Airport Express not able to output above 16 bit 44.1 kHz.
AC
Probably best to try SonicStudio's support channels for this.
How do you find Amarra and what kind of audio do you use with it and what do you output to?
Any particular audio interface?
A couple of more basic (or at least cheaper) apps have appeared on the mac store such as BitPerfect and Fidelia and they certainly offer benefits over iTunes alone.
I've been quite impressed with the open source version of Audirvana, though not tried the full blown commercial version yet.
Not tried PureMusic yet but have it as part of PureVinyl demo though it's not been behaving well last time I tried it. Just started experimenting digitising some old vinyl via an Apogee Duet again.
AC
Hi AC.Thanks for your reply. Very Helpful.
Amarra has drastically improved the sound quality when used with my iMac attached set of speakers (Logitec). The problem starts when I select the AppleTV output from the iTunes AIrPlay selector (bottom right).
If Amarra is on, iTunes continues to feed the iMac’s speakers. If Amarra is off, then it feeds AppleTV, as designed !?!?!?
Here is myset-up:
iMac toAppleTV using Ethernet Cat6 cable.
AppleTV toRega DAC using Optical Digital cable.
Rega DAC toAtoll in100 amp and Paradigm Studio speakers.
Apple TV isalso feeding my Onkyo AV receiver and Panasonic plasma TV for the Audio/Videosection.
I have been told that Channel D Pure Music is also a great option for sound improvement, adding significant soundstage without “colouring” the sound quality as Amarra does. I will download the free trial Demo today and do some testing, hoping that Pure Music does not interferes with iTunes and ATV.
I will re-post once I have something conclusive.
Meanwhile, I will also have a look at the Amarra support , as suggested.
Thanksagain.
P.
I just don't think the audio engine will support Airplay, and there would be additional issues to be honest - the whole idea behing these players is that they try to directly control the playback through attached (not remote) audio hardware either in-built/USB/Firewire audio etc
They could pnly semd a bitstream to AppleTV over Airplay not control it's digital circuitry and AppleTV in any case messes with audio by resampling to 48 kHz 16 bit.
I got frustrated with Pure vinyl which has a bizarre custom GUI - if it worked fine it just seems buggy to me at present. Did not really try Purer Music component.
Also do look at the free and commercial demo versions of Audirvana.
Will definirely do.
Thanks AC
Here's the answer. It worked fine for me, both to an Apple TV and to an Airport Express.
1) Open Audio MIDI Set Up and set AirPlay's source to your Base Station device:
2) Open iTunes, set Speaker output to 'Computer'.
3) Quit iTunes.
4) Launch Amarra. Amarra automatically launches iTunes.
In Amarra, choose File-> Audio Device Preferences... :
5) Move the Master Clock from its current location to AirPlay by clicking and dragging the clock icon:
6) Close Audio Device Preferences by clicking on the red dot.
Amarra is now set to play through your AirPort Base Station Device!
Important notes about AirPort Base Stations:
• Only CD quality, 44.1 kHz/16 bit audio will work with Amarra and AirPort. This is a limitation of the wireless connection format. Playing sample rates above 44.1 kHz will disable Amarra and pass audio through iTunes for downsampling.
• Use Apple's Remote app on your iPad or iPhone to control song/album selection via Home Sharing. We also recommend using a remote screen-sharing app like SplashTop for more complete control.
For best sound, we would recommend enabling Amarra's dither feature at 16 bit resolution
and reducing the volume control in Amarra to -.2dB.
That action ensures that you are passing only 16 bits through to your AirPort Base Station.
AppleTV, iTunes and Amarra.
