Amarra "Mini" -- $395

[The Monkey]

I really want the EQ capability. But that gets a bit pricey. I guess I could start out with Mini and upgrade later.

[randerson3024]

I really want the EQ capability. But that gets a bit pricey. I guess I could start out with Mini and upgrade later.

Don't Law Monkeys have lots of cash to burn? Look at me, I saved all my audio money from being the jizz mopper at a peep show.....

[Hopstretch]

I heard you revolutionized the industry by doing away with the mop and bucket altogether. Slurp slurp.

[manaox2]

I heard you revolutionized the industry by doing away with the mop and bucket altogether. Slurp slurp.

Clean up needed in the toy aisle.

[mypasswordis]

Look at me, I saved all my audio money from being the jizz mopper at a peep show.....

Are you sure you weren't the cause of all the jizz? *points at your avatar*

Btw, the internet is a wonderful thing...

[randerson3024]

Are you sure you weren't the cause of all the jizz? *points at your avatar*

Btw, the internet is a wonderful thing...

My avatar is a bit sticky.

[jp11801]

Just to bump this up a bit, has anyone that has amarra tried the playlist feature? It stops Itunes from playing the track along side amarra, I swear it sounds better but I could be delusional. The playlist also makes playing things like the abbey road medley listenable as there are no more gaps.

[The Monkey]

Amarra reviewed in The Absolute Sound this month. Bottom line: indispensable provided that your equipment is high-end enough.

[The Monkey]

Review attached.

amarra..pdf

[Hopstretch]

Gahhh! Don't know what's changed recently, but Amarra is now crashing iTunes on my rig with a regularity that is actually not at all monotonous. More like spontaneously maddening.

[jp11801]

Stretch if you recently updated Itunes then you'll need to go to the amarra site and download the plug in for Itunes 9

[VPI]

Yeah I was glad that Al told me about that update as I got no communication at all about it from SS. Seemed to fix all my problems.

[Hopstretch]

This I will do. Thanks, men!

[Augsburger]

We must discuss this further at CanJam.

[Voltron]

We must discuss this further at CanJam.

If you update iTunes on your Mini connected to the Amarra box, you have to go the the Sonic site and download some new version/plugin or something.

[digger945]

Somebody else try Minimalist Audio Player

and tell me what ya think. I never tried the minimalist one, just the Stealthplayer. I think it's the latest one. I been listening for couple of days now going back and forth between stealth and foobar.

[rogue]

Somebody else try Minimalist Audio Player

and tell me what ya think. I never tried the minimalist one, just the Stealthplayer. I think it's the latest one. I been listening for couple of days now going back and forth between stealth and foobar.

No GUI and you have to install FLAC/APE/etc. support yourself? I was curious, but not that much.

I don't know what to think of this 'minimalist player' craze. As a software engineer, I'm highly dubious as to any change that could actually be audible. However, the audiofool in me won't dismiss it outright. I think to really do it right, you need to create a custom micro-kernel linux distro optimized for audio. Still, way too much work - I'll stick with foobar for the foreseeable future.

[mypasswordis]

Somebody else try Minimalist Audio Player

and tell me what ya think. I never tried the minimalist one, just the Stealthplayer. I think it's the latest one. I been listening for couple of days now going back and forth between stealth and foobar.

Cool, I think I'll try it for a week and see how it goes.

Reason I checked this thread out is I randomly remembered that I heard JP's AD2K rig at CJ and was confused as to what I was hearing, especially since there was another AD2K rig right next to it (ironbut's?) that didn't sound that funky. Thought it might have been Amarra but was too stupid to figure out how to disable the EQ thing so I set it to flat which is what I think it was on before anyway and it was still funky sounding. Might not even have been Amarra, all I know is what I was hearing was bizarre.

[Augsburger]

Well John has eclectic musical leanings so perhaps...........................

[Smeggy]

I tried the mini on trial, didn't hear any difference so either my gear is crap, my ears are crap or they're full of crap... the jury is still out.

[grawk]

Did you get the dropouts? I thought it was working the first time I did it, but didn't hear a difference. Turns out I was doing something wrong, and so amarra was never engaging.

[Smeggy]

yep, got the dropouts and made sure it was working.. no diff to me.

However, my ears aren't tuned to these microscopic differences. My ears are more 'big picture' ears and don't concentrate on many of the little things.

[Dusty Chalk]

And you don't post much.

So let me get this straight: you really do enjoy the beautiful beautiful music?

[Smeggy]

Trees? sorry, all I can see is a lovely forest

[Ridleyguy]

I have owned Amarra Mini for a week now. The price incidentally is now $295- plus $50 for the USB dongle - for use with multiple computers. Version 2.0 also just came out, and it supports MP3s and has FLAC conversion capabilities although I am still using Max..

I found it very difficult to audition Amarra Mini with the silences every 40 seconds or so, but with the reduced price, plus the fact that I am more or less committed to my Macbook Pro and iTunes, any enhancement is probably worth that investment. To Smeggy's points though, it is not necessarily an immediately noticeable improvement. So far, it seems to me that it tightens up the bass somewhat and overall is now more neutral sounding to me compared with Apple's Core Audio/ iTunes. Of course hearing an improvement with Amarra Mini may just be my imagination, as obviously I would like to hear an improvement after buying it.