9w-2 does not work help!

[beto]

Hi Peter, I tried your new version and I get these error messages when I try to play:

the path is not of legal form
and
Music file does not exist(1): UnicodeTrack0001.wav

I get this error to on 9w-1a also? however, I can play 09v-7 with no problem at all..

Nice player BTW. Sound wise..

Beto

[PeterSt]

Hi,

Can you make that picture working please ? And since I don't know how informative the picture is, can you please tell me what you are exactly doing with what kind of file and with what settings ?

If you installed XX in the Program Files folder that wil most probably your problem.
And take care that you have uplevelled administrator rights !

Peter

[Gerard]

Peter,

I have that error so now and than when i have downloaded a new version. Playing around a bit solves the problem.

 

[PeterSt]

"That error", but what error ??

[beto]

Peter,

I never install XXHE in the program files, I have a directory specially for this player.
I usually install to C:\XXHE\new_version_dir\, then I setup a shortcut to the desktop and always run it
as administrator.

in the setting tab, I just select my Music directory, the dac I select is 16bit 44.1khz, select engine#3,
set the Volume slider all the way up, then set the Q slider to -2. I do it exactly this way on any new version
you release.

after I do the above, I close HE and open it again then select what I want to listen to, then when I highlight a
track to listen to, I click on play... then 2 error windows show up with the messages I posted on my initial message,
which I have seen other users get the same message..

and as I said, version .9v-7 works great, .9u-14a works great (my favorite sounding thus far). only the latest 2 releases
I am unable to use due to these problems.


Sorry about the pictures, I don't have a site were I can link them from.

Last night I noticed on version .9v-7 that when I play an album in flac format, they get uncompressed to
.wav files in the directory where the data resides.. and it looks like the new version is trying to do the
same and there's where the errors occur. (I think). Otherwise too bad I can not check your latest releases..

[PeterSt]

Ok, I must look into this, but the picture of the error message really would help;

Just press "Additional Options" at the bottom, and then click Browse. From there you can upload the picture from your local drive (or whereever your have it). Please try that ...

[beto]

when I get home I will try the picture again.. this is one of the errors I get...

[PeterSt]

Ok. Whatever you do, please also try it at first clearing the Playlist Area (press the Clear button) and then load track in there.

If this doesn't help, try Attended (press Clear again) and Unattended in that sequence.
Please let me know (and try to keep track of the subsequent activities you applied).
Thanks,
Peter

[Leo]

Hello Peter,

I get this message when I use quad + upsampling + AA. When I switch off the AA , the program works again without a problem. I tried it a couple of times and it is a repeatable error.
I have not tried AA before so I am not sure whether previous versions had this as well.

regards,

Leo

[beto]

Peter, I tried your suggestion above to the T and I still do not get it work on Flac/Mp3 files. but it works fine with Wav files attended and Unattended.

here is the error I get

[Gerard]

"That error", but what error ??

Sorry mist this...

With "that" i meant this one.... But i guess you already figured that out...

 

[PeterSt]

Beto,

the path is not of legal form

I am sorry that I asked for the error, while you just gave it. I just never saw this error (would merely be "Illegal path"), and took it that it was your own interpretation.

At this moment I can only say that this will be a tough one, unless hopefully Gerard can find out what this is about by comparing situations ??

Gerard, please note : I am talking about above quoted message, and *not* about the "Music file does not exist" message. This latter is more general and can emerge for several reasons, like with Leo's example (I must be careful though, because the AA implies conversion as well, see below, and Leo too may mean that he gets the above quoted message just the same).

The message "The path is not of a legal form" obviously is about some path somewhere not being legal, most definitlely because I do something wrong. Think of presenting a path like e:\music\The Who\\Who's Next
It must be related to the conversion of files, but I can't think of what, since I don't have it (and also, the message is a strange one to me).

All together, if anyone can give some more insight, please let it know. Currently I don't know where to start ...

Thanks,
Peter

[beto]

This "path is not of a legal form" error message is either a bug from Visual Studio or maybe there are some old references
in the code? I don't know, just thinking out loud on what could be the cause.. On top of that, That message is just to vague, I wish microsoft would give more detail in their error messages.. Anyway Pete, your application sounds marvelous to me.

On the bright side, I think, and to me, this latest version sound even better. I like the way it sounds so much that I have started converting my flac files to wavs, last night I could not stop listening to it.. the highs seem to have changed and I can hear some instrument more redefined. I'll be doing some heavy listening this weekend..

Cheers

[PeterSt]

Thank you very much for the nice words !
I'll be working on your problem !!


PS: Sadly, Leo's AA example (which indeed goes wrong -> will be solved ASAP as well) does not produce your error beto.

[PeterSt]

Ok, here's an intermediate version which contains more extended error messages (but I don't know what will occur ar your site).
Some things have radically changed, although I can't tell whether it helped, and since I found nothing explicit related to the matter, probably nothing changed as such (but hoping for more clear messages).

When the error "Path is not of a legal form" still occurs, please copy all the messages occurring now, and note that after a first message, another may occur.
Then :

When indeed the error still occurs, switch on Logging (Settings Tab) and please email me the XX-...log file concerned (resides in the TemporaryData subfolder in your XX folder). Best is to do this in Attended mode, because then you will be sure the latest XX (not X3 !) .log file is the one to take (but don't stop/start XX in the mean time again, because there will be newer log files then).
I hope it is clear.

Careful : Many things have been put upside down in this version, mostly concerned about the Anti Alias conversion (which just appeared to be forgotton at all since 0.9w) and the combination with FLAC and MP3 which can occur at the same time. Since this is an intermediate version really, don't be surprised when other things now don't work, but please report them anyway.

Thank you,
Peter


Save your current XXHighEnd.exe, and past the one from the zip below in your XX folder.

[Leo]

Hello Peter,

the AA problem is solved. Playing now!

Thanks,

Leo

[PeterSt]

Guys,

Since I don't get a response so far from beto, is there anyone else who gets the "Path is not of a legal form" error when using FLAC files ?

or the other way around :

Is there anyone besides me who does NOT receive that error and can just plat FLACs ?

I actually want to upload an upgrade because of some annoying bugs solved, but since this one would be the most annoying one (especially when everybody has it) this is of not much use ...

(it is not neccessary to download the zip from my before post in order to give the answer)

Thanks,
Peter

[Gerard]

Guys,

Since I don't get a response so far from beto, is there anyone else who gets the "Path is not of a legal form" error when using FLAC files ?

or the other way around :

Is there anyone besides me who does NOT receive that error and can just plat FLACs ?

I actually want to upload an upgrade because of some annoying bugs solved, but since this one would be the most annoying one (especially when everybody has it) this is of not much use ...




(it is not neccessary to download the zip from my before post in order to give the answer)

Thanks,
Peter

Peter,

I am not sure if i am the right one to answer this... At the moment i do not have such... As i said i have had it sometime's when i upgrade.... I alway's thought it was something i did wrong... And pressing stop and start again solved it. I never had it during normal playback. (meaning the way you describe it.)

At the moment attended playing errorless....

 

[beto]

Hey Peter, sorry I have not been able to get to you any sooner, I downloaded your fix, but unfortunately, I have the same problem, but this time I got a new message with more detail. attached is the log file and the new error message.  I don't know what to tell you. maybe next version I'll have more luck.. also I did try older versions of the program and they work with flac files.

[PeterSt]

Ok thanks. The log file shows it all. What I see is quite unexpected though.

Is it true that you don't have a multi core processor ?

[PeterSt]

Is it true that you don't have a multi core processor ?

Uhhmm ... Is it true that you have a double quad core processor ?? this would be the explanation ...

[beto]

Hi Peter,

Nope, I have a triple core processor, it's the AMD Phenom 8450 Toliman 2.1GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 2MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 95W Triple-Core Processor. which is awesome in my view.... with 2 gigs of ram and Vista 32bit SP1... If that helps.

[beto]

I am thinking in getting a quad core processor.... but it all depends on what Intel comes out with this year...... thanks.

[PeterSt]

Nope, I have a triple core processor

Whaaaat ?!?! So that's why. I never knew that. So I anticipate on 1, 2, 4 and now 8 by treating that as 4.
Note that this influences the Processor Core Assignment (hence sound quality) just the same ! Meaning : currently that won't work for you either and there will be no difference in those settings for you now.

Anyway, problem virtually solved, and apparently a kind of each number should be supported.

Never too old to learn,
Peter

[beto]

hahahaha!... Yeap, it's a new proccessor it multitasks as good as a quad... I don't understand?  you say that, that won't for me either?
what won't work?

when I play wav files it sounds awesome... it just fails with flac and mp3s, or I am not understanding what you mean, I thought the problem may be related to conversion from flac to wav or mp3 to wav?

[PeterSt]

No no no, the problem you have currently indeed is related to the conversion, and is solved here now.
But I tried to warn you for the Processor Core Appointment setting (Settings Area) which won't do anything for you other than "normal". When it works as intended (must fix that now), you will be able choose from 4 appointment settings, one of them being the playback thread (process) dedicated to one core, and all of the other stuff in the PC to the other cores. So, you *can* make the setting, but won't notice any difference in sound, because I don't deal with the 3 core processor (didn't know it exists). When it works you sure will be able to hear the difference, although I can't advise you about the needed settings (differs per setup; I use setting 3).

[beto]

Good to know that you will fix it, (if not already fixed).. and I am also wowed to know that with core appointment I can reach a higher level in sound quality.. wow, I thought the way it is sounded good, now you have got me interested.. Uhmm...

[beto]

Alright Peter, I will test your new version as soon as you put it out... though, I enjoy very much the other version that works.. Definitely your player it is one of the best if not the best player I have used on my PC.. Thank you for doing such a good work and making me enjoy my music that I had not listen to for a long time.. you revived my desire to enjoy audio again in quite a while..

Cheers..

[beto]

FYI- I just played a couple of flac, mp3 and wav files with 09w-3 and they work good on AMD 3x processor!

But still why older versions had no problem at all. though it doesn't matter much, I guess..

Great!   

Thanks.

[PeterSt]

But still why older versions had no problem at all.

Because since 0.9-w the conversions are allowed to run in several "threads" (self containing processes). Each such a thread runs on its own core (otherwise it would be useless). The advantage : with two cores the conversions run twice as fast, with 3, three times as fast, with 4 or more, four times as fast.
Since 3 wasn't recognized as an existing situation, it just went wrong (though with that strange message which indeed normally is dedicated to old Visual Studio References and the like, so Google didn't help me at all on this one ).

[beto]

Great, it makes sense and I am glad you do it this way in order to cut the conversion processing time.
I had been listening to 0.9v-7 for sometime and got used to the way it sounds, which I liked, but then when you released a new version, I decided to try it, because over all, you have been improving your product as time goes by.. when I heard .9w-1a I heard something new immediately, (thought its my own subjective opinion, or maybe I am going crazy! ...) but I think this new version sounds cleaner or with a little less distortion in my moderate system... Diana Krall is even better now.

and being due to the above opinion, it makes me wonder what do you do in your program to improve sound quality, if you don't mind me asking you?  do you use some sort of crossover to adjust the whole audio frequency range, octave by octave or do you do something entirely different.. its just that for those of us who like your application, it's just curiosity to know what's going on inside your processing engine. thanks.

 

[PeterSt]

Hehe those who follow the development somewhat longer know that I have one priority only (apart from improving sound) : keep all as "bit perfect" as it should be. This means nothing of the kind you may think, and no DSP (ever).

I follow the "rule" : let all come out as 1:1 as possible, and from all follows that the only thing which can be influenced is jitter in the traject towards the DAC, but even further, "in" the DAC just the same, or anyway with influencing that, say, control the (digital <-> analogue) accuracy of the DAC. Voodoo, hocus pocus, but I learned how to influence those things by means of software.

But go measure : the bits going in are the same as on your hdd ... which counts for every software player with means of bit perfect playback.
But it is not about that ...

[GerardA]

Good to know that you will fix it, (if not already fixed).. and I am also wowed to know that with core appointment I can reach a higher level in sound quality.. wow, I thought the way it is sounded good, now you have got me interested.. Uhmm...

Somehow I was playing with no appointment for some time, changed it to appointment 3 and the pc halts and restarts.
It is repeatable, maybe because I use a AMD cpu? (same with 9w-2 and 9w-3)

[PeterSt]

Is that only with Scheme-3 ?

(that is a dual core, right ?)

[GerardA]

That's the only one I tried.
(Yes, Dual core)
Now I can not test it anymore, looks like the MB is dead.
No beeps at startup, happens more to Gigabyte boards...

In unattended mode the computer stops and after a long while restarts.
In attended mode the xxhe-window disappears and I get a (Vista) message that the program stopped and I can say OK to end the program or
do a diagnosis, if I remember correctly.
Then I touched the keyboard and pc stops.

[PeterSt]

Ah, that explains ...

Oops. I hope you don't blame me !

[GerardA]

No, of course not.

I already have a lot of scr*p in the scr*pyard, and this one is still in garantee.

Only scared to try the experiment again, any idea what happens?
Maybe other members with AMD have the same problem?
I hope to fix it today and of course I'll try it at least once....

[PeterSt]

any idea what happens?

No, nothing special. Theoretically a process internally may not "want" what XX directs and that (again theoretically) may crash the OS. But since I never heard of it before (and I certainly would if it happened regularly, I'm sure) it is not likely this is the case.
How it could destory the mobo is certainly beyond my comprehension, and it will be the other way around (the mobo is not okay, and makes the OS crash -> note that when appointing more tasks to one core than normal (which is what would happen by means of using XX) certain parts will be stressed more than usual, although the only parts I can imagine is the cpu itself -> did you overclock ?!).

[GerardA]

No overclocking, no, maybe underclocking in the future!

I forgot to tell that the crash happens after a couple of minutes, 3-4,  so maybe some other proces tries to use the cpu and gets upset?
Even the music kept playing, until I hit the keyboard.
The CPU does not do much so I guess it is not overstressed, I even have a passive cooler on it. With heavy 1080i no problems.
I just bought a heavier version of the same MB today so maybe tomorrow I know more.
Hope it is not the CPU.
BTW does a quadcore sound better/worse then dualcore, in theory and or in practice?

[PeterSt]

The CPU does not do much so I guess it is not overstressed

No, but that is not what I meant. It is merely the interrupts towards the cpu (otherwise Core Appointment would be without reason anyway -> nobody plays music with a "stressed" cpu because of other tasks). And it *is* audible (Appointment) so it does matter "somewhere".

I think there is not much experience with the quad core, and the only thing I can say is that it is more prone to problems (software wise), that's all. XXHighEnd only can benefit from it because of the faster conversions (which are rather important of course).

Peter

[GerardA]

Hi Peter,

Better put your W-version in the scr*pyard!

I installed the new MB, everything working OK. XXHE playing in W3, changed to appointment 3, saved it and restarted XXHE: Blue screen and reboot.
Installed v7 over w3 and no problemo. Appointment 3 is playing now and yes, v7 sounds beautifull.
Only problem left is sometimes a song starts distorted and I have to press pause and play to make it sound normal again.

Also in W3 the songtitel in the wallpaper said : unicode track0001, and playing mp3 showed a lot of disk-activity in between songs, but was not finished before the song started...

Noooo, music stopped and pc frozen....
To be continued.

[PeterSt]

Noooo, music stopped and pc frozen....

With v7 you mean ? (during typing of your post ?)

The UnicodeTrack0001 thing I recognize from 0.9v-2a or something (it was an intermediate version).
Please tell me as exact as possible what you play in this case (MP3 etc., AA box ticked or not and whether it's repeatable).

Only problem left is sometimes a song starts distorted

Like completely unrecognizeable ?

[GerardA]

The music froze while I was almost finished typing so I had to delete a big part.
This was v7. I had to restart and even the bios was automatically reset from the backup-bios.

It was a new mp3-musicalbum I never played before.
So now I'm trying a flac-album, after 9 songs with apointment 1, unattended, nothing else ticked, the music stopped and the screen comes up, so I start song 10 and it sounds distorted (recognizable, but unlistenable, like an fm-radio picking up static from an engine).
So pause again and play, now it can not find unicode_track0001(?).wav and vista shuts xxhe down. Restart and start song 10 (now with apointment 3) and everything looks ok again.

The album I'm playing now is quite long with separate flac-songs.
It sounds wonderfull.
BTW the replacement MB has better mosfets, chokes and capacitors. Any Idea this will make it sound better?

Update: 4 more songs in apointment 3 and stops, restart ok, one song more: reboot.
On reboot DMI-table gets updated...

Again XXHE started says: length can not be less then zero, parameter:length.
Then restart: xxdat0002.dao is in use by other program, ignored and plays again 1 song. (but now no apointment)
After that the XXHE-window comes up again. Play one song, stops. Another song, now the next one starts by itself, but distorted.
pause, play,ok.stop,play etc.

Hope this helps!

[beto]

BTW the replacement MB has better mosfets, chokes and capacitors. Any Idea this will make it sound better?

Hi Gerard, do you mind telling us what brand/model motherboard you have, it sounds to me that you have a motherboard
problem, for what you describe, because when you say that your Bios get reset by XXHE, that is really rough..

I replaced my motherboard an Asus P5k with a newer Gigabyte with a better codec, capacitors, it seems to have a better filtering section for the voltage rail too... and it definitely has better sound especially in the lower notes, I am loving this  board, I tell you that..

[GerardA]

Hi beto,

It is a ma78gpm-ds2h and replaces a ma78gm-s2h. That one did not start up anymore, this happens a lot to this board according to the fora.
The new one works perfect (until now..) for everything but XXHE.
If a MB can improve the sound maybe it is interesting to find out which ones are recommendable.
Seems AMD can have a problem, or are other people playing happily with AMD?
And I did not tweak it to death, so maybe it is some process not running for everybody that interferes with XX.

Which powersupply is recommendable, soundqualitywise..?

[PeterSt]

GerardA,

1. I can't judge about problems in earlier versions because ... well ... there are newer versions. That we currently want to listen to an older version is bad luck for a while.

2. Please don't use Core Appointment for a while, so you can prove it is just that (but maybe you already know). But whatever you can prove, I'm afraid I can't help with it, or solve it. Of course, when more people have problems like this I must get cautious.

Peter

[PeterSt]

I was just thinking ...

Core Appointent can not be done for drivers (actually I wish it could -> with registry hacks it can I think). Now what if your system allows for this (one is enough) while it actually "can't" (or conflicts) ...

I don't think you can do much with this information, but it might be a reason.

[beto]

It is a ma78gpm-ds2h and replaces a ma78gm-s2h

GerardA,

Oh my god!  I have the same exact board ma78gpm-ds2h and my son has the other one ma78gm-s2h 
they both run good, and we have no issues with them, we are also overclocking them! and they are stable.
my son uses his to watch bluray movies...

On my PC I have switched back to version 9v-6a... as the gentleman on the other thread had mention it to be better,
which I do indeed I can feel the difference in soundstage and dynamics.

 we are happy with these boards thus far and we are using the phenom processors.

[beto]

Which powersupply is recommendable, soundqualitywise..?

I am not sure about this, being that there are sooo many power supplies to choose from at the store, even within the same wattage ratings, for a certain price range, I usually pick the heaviest I can find within a certain price range, that tells me the heat sinks are beefier and are able to handle current loads better, ussually.. but it does not tell me if the filtering circuits are any better, a chance I have to take. I use a 430w, which seems enough for what I do.

[GerardA]

Beto,

That's good to hear!
I think the DS2H sounds better but with all the changes happening here I try to be cautious in my judgment.
Now I am very curious what core appointment you are using?

Maybe it's time to upgrade to a phenom. But I like the low wattage of the 4850e, it works with a passive cooler, I'm afraid a phenom needs a fan.
And I hate the noise my old XP-pc is making. (5 fans to keep the pentium-D below 80 degrees)

For now I'm listening with no core appointment, like before.
Fairport Convention, lot of detail but Sandy Dennie's voice sounds a bit thin now.

[beto]

Now I am very curious what core appointment you are using?

I am not using core appointment, as that capability is disabled with the free version, I think.. and I don't understand it very well, when I listen to XX I usually don't do much with my PC.. I just tap my feet with the tunes.. ...

The phenom came with a fan and I use it, thou, thus far, it has not bothered yet. but agree, not having fans at all is a plus for what we do...