Here is an album during play in light mode…
… and here the large cover view launched by clicking on the small album thumb nail in the lower left corner [see above].
Finally the new iMac with Audirvana Origin in situ next to my listening chair. A LHY Audio network switch on the RJ45 input preconditions incoming cloud files while a Singxer SU-6 USB bridge on super-cap power follows the USB output as all outgoing signal's post-conditioner and precision reclocker before it ever sees the DAC.
Obviously the main Origin window can be sized as we wish to float anywhere on our desktop. It's easy to manually split a screen and share it with my Qobuz Sublime subscription should the mood strike. Certain few obscure features excepted, Origin needs no live Internet connection. Unlike Audirvana Studio, it only serves/streams local files. Being offline beyond the untiring eye in the sky is one of the privileges of playing back music we've actually bought.
With plenty of small icons embedded in Origin's upper task bar, lower status bar and left menu, a mouse hover brings up short explanatory text as to what pressing any icon does. No tutorial is necessary. As someone who came to PCfi with an iMac and PureMusic working behind iTunes, my subsequent Audirvana install all the way to the last 3.2xxx legacy version also used iTunes as the GUI skin to work its sound optimizing magic behind it. With iTunes dead, Origin now runs its own GUI, indexing and signal routing. In use it's fundamentally no different from iTunes to follow the same general conventions. It's also of clearly compact footprint to not tax the host's computational resources. Unlike iTunes, it's simply been built with premium sound as a priority. With 10+ years of experience, Audirvana are a real pro in this specialized sector of player software. I'm very pleased to now use Origin as my library's new user interface on the most current macOS. It's exactly what my anti-WiFi doctor ordered. It's exactly what my not-Roon but reared-on-iTunes habits feel right at home with. Even better, the very same Origin license also runs a music folder with ~200 albums on my Windows 10/64 work PC should I want some background music whilst doing more tedious PC chores. The obvious proviso is not running both Origin installs simultaneously off the same license. But with just two ears, how would I? Easy really does it.
PS: A potential avenue of exploration given my now running the most current macOS is trialing other software players which don't mandate Apple's own M-range silicon. For example, Marcin Ostapowicz of JPlay contacted me a while back about a new player app he's authored with better sound quality in mind. There's Euphony. There could be others I've not paid attention to since I didn't have the right hardware. If/when I come across alternate player software that gives Audirvana Origin a run for its money either on GUI slick or sound quality, I'll pen another feature. Otherwise my own server/streamer situation is probably locked in now for very many years to come. That obviously excludes my external helpers of network switch/reclocker and USB bridge/reclocker. 'Audiophile' servers build those in to be fixed. In my scheme they're offboard. They're easily swapped. Going forward, I could come across hardware like the below Soundaware PA-1Ref perhaps that might outperform what I currently use. Being free to upgrade 'off brand' is more reason why I favor my iMac-based three-piece scheme with 3rd-party player. Even Audirvana is being constantly updated with new features and other improvements.
