Normally I involve myself only, when I can input some measurable, objective results. Now, if that Woo Audio WA2 tube headphone amp that I ordered would just get here. To say nothing of the cost of this thing (which I still think is ridiculous).īy the way, has anyone successfully decoupled iTunes and Amarra? Even when I deselect the preferences item to link starting/quitting Amarra & ITunes as well as deselecting the link button in the UI, I cannot stop iTunes without Amarra shutting down as well.ĮDIT - Oh, and I take back the comment about iTunes sounding the same as Amarra - shouldn't have been posting comments and trying to do critical listening on New Years Eve (ahem) :-) I am listening to Alan Jackson's "Like Red On a Rose" and it is the most "musical" I have it sound on this rig - very "un-digital". Unfortunately, I like playlist better - there goes easy iPad control thru the Remote app. I also went back and forth between playlist mode and "iTunes mode". PM certainly sounds more open, but there is something a little off, which is apparent in the cymbals, for instance. I think I am coming around to agree with Kay's comments. I have been listening to Amarra Mini 2.1.1 and PM 1.7 again this morning with tracks from the Diana Krall "Quiet Nights" album (96/24 version from HDTracks).
Maybe if I had something like a Benchmark DAC, silver cables and Grado headphones I would feel different, but Amarra just seems to strip the air and space from the music. My system is Apogee Duet, Ray Samuelson HR-2 headphone amp, Sennheiser HD600's with Cardas cable and interconnects (Golden Cross). I'm pleased with the result since I think the price of Amarra is ridiculous, so I am quite happy with preferring PM at $129 (which I purchased).įrankly, Amarra doesn't sound much different from iTunes in my system with 16/44 content. I am NOT using oversampling in PM, but do have memory playback on as well as HOG mode. Using playlist mode in Amarra doesn't make a huge difference for me. Pure Music has a definite edge in the sense of "room" and air - things sound more alive and 3 dimensional. Amarra (Mini is what I have been demoing since I have no material above 96kHz) sounds closed in and somewhat "dead" compared tp PM 1.65. I hate to rain on everyone's parade, but after multiple comparisons between PM and Amarra in my system, PM clearly wins.