Amarra a worthy investment?

I don't know...I've been going back and forth comparing Amarra (previous version and the current one)with Pure Music, Audirvana, Decibel and something else I can't remember.

Amarra definitely adds it's own flavor and alters the sound significantly.

I use itunes with Amarra 4318/19 with Caching turned on. It sounds slightly better in playlist mode, but not worth the hassles.

There are only two Amarra releases that I like, and the 4318/190 is the best by far.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

I have been using Amarra since '09 and have been mostly happy with it. I am using the current version, I may have to look into Steve's recommended older version that I surely had at one time. Steve, I assume that you are using the Amarra Symphony? I have the non-Symphony version that used to be called Amarra Mini. I probably need to explore the EQ settings further (I understand from Steve's link in one of his posts above that I would need to buy a spectrum analyzer program & possibly a microphone), I currently use one of the preset EQ settings, and use the cache & playlist modes.
I have not compared Amarra with any other players, but in my system it sounds pretty good. I have been wondering if upgrading from Amarra to Amarra Symphony for the additional eq functions would be worthwhile.

Mikey - I use full Amarra EQ on all systems, even at shows, even on TAD reference speakers. Makes a big difference with ALL speakers. This is actually more important that EQ of the room resonances. Its like replacing your speakers with $50K speakers.

Here are some tips on how to do it with an iPad:

http://www.empiricalaudio.com/computer-audio/recommended-systems

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

Thanks Steve, I'll get on this.