[Crimson]

After having listened to Pure Vinyl for the past week, I feel I can now write a comparison between it and Amarra (I was an Amarra 'early adopter' in May of last year). All listening was done via an (dedicated and tweaked) iMac Core Duo running 10.6.2 feeding either a Wavelength Cosecant v3 or an RME Fireface 400. All tracks were either 16/44.1 AIFF or 24/96 WAV. The rest of the audio chain: AVA T-7ECR > Bryston 10B > ASL Hurricane DT/Bryston 7B-ST > Magnepan MG-3.6/Vandersteen 2Wq. The following comments are, obviously, all subjective observations:

GUI: Amarra's interface is pretty straightforward and intuitive, as is PV's. I prefer the cleaner look of Amarra, its metering, and the fact that it displays elapsed track time (PV does not). PV's GUI is a little cheesy, IMO, lacks track forward and reverse buttons, and it's a good thing the animated spinning record defaults to off.

SRC: I'm not really a fan of SRC and prefer to listen to all tracks in their native resolution. That said, Pure Vinyl's SRC functionality is quick and easy: set the desired sample rate in AudioMidi and then start PV. Click on Upsample and all tracks will subsequently be played back with the appropriate up/down-sampling. Amarra's SRC, OTOH, is performed offline and I cannot get it to work.

Memory Play: Pure Vinyl's ease of setting up memory play is outstanding: simply click on the Memory Play button.  Amarra requires setting up playlists.

P-EQ: I use the parametric eq in Amarra for a few room anomalies and find it indispensable. PV does not have this feature.

Sound: My overall impressions:
iTunes direct: flat soundstage, lifeless, and a slight hole in the mid-range.
Pure Vinyl: Deep soundstage, good dynamics, clear defined bass, a bold mid-range, and clean extended highs. Good PRAT. 
Amarra: Wide soundstage, good dynamics, articulate fleshed-out bass, juicy mid-range, pristine highs. Good PRAT.

Conclusions: I prefer Amarra ever so slightly over PV, but I still ended up buying a registration code for PV (not only for it's playback, but also for starting the process of archiving my LPs via the RME). If I had to describe each with a single word, I'd say PV is spirited while Amarra is passionate. To each his/her own, YMMV, etc., etc.

[jaywills]

Thank you for undertaking this comparison.  A question, if you don't mind.

While I agree that both programs (in their crippled, evaluation form) sound better than just bare iTunes, have you been able to compare them with another playback regime, specifically Squeeze Server?  I ask because I've been comparing them with the music out of my unmodded Squeezebox (with a Wellborne power supply) and have had some difficulty distinguishing among the three (I can always tell when iTunes is the playback format). My inability to reliably distinguish among them may also be a function of 57 year-old ears, I suspect.

I run the wired Squeezebox digital output (S/PDIF) through a TacT DAC (the same DAC I use for all).  I run the optical out from my Mac using Amarra, Pure Vinyl and a freeware program, "Play," and a USB out through a HiFace USB converter via S/PDIF with all three as well.  The digital selection option on my TacT 2.2x allows me to compare each software playback with that coming from the Squeezebox.  I run all files natively at 16/44.1, no upconverting.  I can easily distinguish playback through all formats from the bare iTunes output, but I'm having a difficult time reliably hearing much difference between Amarra, PV and Play, either via optical or via s/pdif, and the sound I'm getting from Squeeze Server.  All software is the latest iteration of each.  Playback chain, in addition to the above-mentioned variations, is TacT>Melos SHA Gold Maestro>UcD 400 amp>Quad 63's supplemented by a Vandersteen 2Wq sub.

My inability to reliably distinguish the software playback from the Squeezebox playback prompts my question.  Have you tried any comparisons with the Squeeze Server output?  If so, do you have any observations/comments?  Thanks very much for you time.  Cordially,

[Crimson]

My only experience with Squeeze Server is during the days of the original Squeeze Box which was 4 (or 5?) years ago, and wasn't comparable at the time to straight SPDIF out from a computer. I will say, however, that over the course of that time I progressed from direct SPDIF out from the computer, to USB-SPDIF converters, to direct USB dacs, and finally to direct async USB and firewire dacs. During this progression, I noticed that differences in playback software (I used to use Play quite extensively, although hated it's interface) became more and more apparent as I moved away from the SPDIF method of data transfer when used in conjunction with a computer.

[jaywills]

"differences in playback software...became more and more apparent as I moved away from the SPDIF method of data transfer"

Appreciate the info.  I'l try limiting my software comparisons to the optical out path.  Cordially,

[Crimson]

Just an FYI: The SPDIF protocol includes both coax and optical (or toslink) connections. 

[jaywills]

Ah, thanks, I was unaware of that.  Cordially,