Anyone successfully using the bridge II with Audirvana on the Mac Platform?

There are numerous reports on this board and others that Audirvana which meets upnp/dlna standards should work with the Bridge II, but unfortunately doesn’t. Reported problems include not being able to navigate easily between tracks, no movement on the progress bar indicating where in the duration of a track the music actually is and other problems. When this issue is raised on the Audirvana site, Damien offers the following (below). ANYONE?

Re: Issues with A+ UPnP functionality
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Unread post by damien » Fri Jul 20, 2018 8:23 am

Unfortunately the answer can come only from the network player manufacturers, with a firmware update fixing their bugs/compatibility issues in their implementation of UPnP in “Media Renderer” mode.
Some have just not tested thoroughly the “Media Renderer” mode, just being happy when it works with their own proprietary app.

First you can check if there is not already a firmware update available for your network player.

If this does not fix this, you can then contact the manufacturer of the network player. Having numerous users requesting them to fix their bugs will help them get the right priorities…

FYI, I’ve already helped manufacturers to fix their bugs by pointing them the place in their firmware they need to fix.
I’ve even worked with the supplier of the UPnP network electronic board for high-end to ultra high-end audio manufacturers.

Damien

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A+ v3 does not work properly with the Bridge II in my system. I spent many frustrating hours trying to get them to work together … life is too short, so I gave up.

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I sometimes use it for Qobuz, but it’s always a major struggle to get it playing a playlist.
Not Recommended for use with the Bridge II, at least not yet.
Perhaps a new version of BII firmware might address this.

I also tried listening to Bridge 2 via Audirvana (last version) today. The sound is better than through the Mconnect Control from my smartphone, but each track has to be manually turned on, does not play tracks in a row, stops after each track. It would be great if this bug was fixed in the next versions of Bridge 2.

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You should be able to play entire albums if you hit the play button just below the album art in the app. You can also add tracks to a queue if you hit the 3 dots to the right of the track title.

Thanks Jamesh, but it still doesn’t work. All tracks on the album are added to the “Play Queue” but are not played in a row.

Can you tell if it is in shuffle mode? The shuffle icon is displayed just to the right of the sample a bit rate on the app, and looks like two crossing arrows.

It doesn’t matter what mode it is in - for some reason, starting a playlist to Bridge II in A3+ will usually play one track (without any movement of the track-progress bar) and then stop. About one time in ten it works as expected and continues playing the playlist.
Oh yeah, and despite several other programs that work fine with the Bridge II, this one doesn’t, and the owner insists it is not his problem, but is on the DAC vendor.
Could he fix A3+? Well, others have managed. Meanwhile, don’t waste your money on it.

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One way to successfully use Audirvana with either of the direct streams is to use a microRendu in front of it connected to your network via Ethernet. Then run the microRendu via USB or spdif (you’ll need yet another device to convert usb to spdif) then to the DAC.

Right - I’ll do all that to get a $75 program to work. No, thanks.

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Still doesn’t work with the Bridge II.
I’ve given up on fooling with PC and Android players, and Ordered an Auralic Aries G1.

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I am a new Audirvana user. I have a Bridge II and have used it for several months. Upon a recommendation from forum member “Speed Racer” I purchased a UltraRendu, connected it to my DSD DAC via USB and then removed the Bridge II card.

I have to say, for more than one reason, I am very happy I made this move. I have better sound, more reliable streaming of both Tidal and Qobuz, and an exponentially better UI experience of Tidal and Qobuz through the Audirvana Remote app.

I have been plagued with shoddy streaming reliability of both Tidal and Qobuz. At one point I only had Tidal. I wrote off the stuttering/skips as being a Tidal problem. I then got Qobuz (via VPN registration) and experienced the same damn thing. I then formed a suspicion it was at the hands of the Bridge II and the debacle of an app, MConnect Control. I am sorry, but what a piece of crap that app is in all regards.

The Audirvana Remote app is brilliant! The GUI is not even in the same universe at Control app. BubbleUp, or any other app I have used to get Internet streams to the Bridge II. The search actually works like a robust search engine on the Audirvana Remote app. Plus I can quickly switch between Tidal, Qobuz and my library of 35,000+ hi-res audio files. I cannot even begin to explain the euphoria I am experiencing now compared to the months of anguish trying to get a reliable, user friendly streaming experience with Mconnect and the Bridge II. My only regret is not doing it sooner. Oh well, better late than never.

In my opinion, Audirvana is a better keep than the Bridge II. If I was to get rid of one (which I did) it would be the Bridge II.

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Sure sounds like you have poor quality internet, given your bad experience with two programs known to work with the Bridge.
I’m streaming Qobuz and my library to Bridge right now with BubbleUPnP, and it is stable enough to run for days without issues.

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Are you running a Mac or Windows? The windows version is new and I assume buggy…maybe not??

I am using Mac.

Ive got a 300 mbps connection and getting line speed results. Maybe my Internet is not up to snuff, but can’t argue the fact that with the same Internet connection, Mconnect/Bridge II combo sucks in my environment and Audirvana/Ultrarendu combo works brilliantly.

And, there are plenty of documented complaints on the forum with skipping/stuttering (Tidal in particular) using Mconnect via Bridge II.

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Have you swapped out the router?

I sure have, several. From consumer to commercial. Currently running a Cisco Meraki setup which includes the firewall/router and access point appliances. I have spent a good majority of my life, from the mid-90’s to 2014 in the computer/networking industry.

My intent is not to bash the Bridge II. I am certain it works great for many users’ needs. Unfortunately for me, it fell short. Equally important for me, coming off MConnect/BubbleUp, was the much improved user experience with Audirvana when it comes to streaming my vast hi-res library along with my Tidal and Qobuz subscriptions.

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Jeff,

Are you able to add a track to a saved playlist from the remote app? For example, I keep a favorites playlist that has a couple thousand songs I randomly shuffle on occasion (another feature I’d like to know if it exists). When I come across a new song I’d like to add to the favorites playlist, I swipe and tell the app to add that song to the list. I went through the manual quickly and didn’t see any mention.

BTW: Current JRiver Music Center user.

Thanks!

Quick question… Are you referring to finding a song in your music files library, Tidal, Qobuz? Just want to make sure I understand exactly what you would like to do.