I think this is the second time I have jumped in and given my opinion on a question you asked Peter.  Will have to stop doing that....

But as long as I'm here, my thoughts:

- I've always been able to use the less expensive MS "upgrades" to do a clean install.  I hope this one is no different.  I have not done more research into this, because like you, Mani, I like the sound on W7.  If Peter keeps talking about better sound, though, I may have to upgrade though it goes against my instincts.

- I tried an "upgrade" install of a Win OS exactly once.  Blecch!  I would always do a clean install unless someone gives me an absolutely unarguable reason to do otherwise (and I can't think of any such reason at the moment).

Mani -

Yes, this is the diagram I've seen, and it matches stuff I've read also.  But are the conversion from DSD to PCM in A/D on the chart that you've described as "killer," and the one available in DSD mixing of which Peter says "let's say this is harmless" the same (type of) process?

I'm trying to get a start on figuring out if there is a devil in the details here....

Thought I read Cookie M. saying somewhere there's now the means to do mixing in DSD format, but I don't know nearly enough about the process to (1) understand whether or not that was what she was actually saying, and (2) know whether this makes sense as something that would keep a DSD recording in "native" format through the mixing process, or whether it is some sort of "DSD-wide" thing.

I'm also a little confused about what actually happens on the D/A end, i.e., whether 1-bit/DSD is truly the "native language" of most DACs out there (not the NOS1, right?), or whether this is as usual something oversimplified for non-engineers like me.

Maybe a situation in which longer term listening to one mode rather than A/Bing may give a truer picture.  If one is bright, no matter whether correct or due to distortion, the other will surely sound dull in a rapid comparison.  Try each for a while on its own merits, and pay no attention to "audiophile" stuff.  (I always express this as "No one ever came out of a Pavarotti recital raving about the bass response and soundstage.")  See what you like better then.

Interesting how he didn't get the key, that it is not the DAC which oversamples to 768k, but the software, with the DAC not oversampling at all.  (He didn't stop to think, "Now hold on a minute, it says 'NOS DAC' but it upsamples to 768?")

The above snippets show perfectly why I am reluctant to adopt new Windows versions.  (Though since many applications were withdrawing support for Win2000 by the time of the Win7 betas, I did try them and liked them enough to buy the release when it first came out.  In contrast, I also tried Vista in beta and knew I would never be comfortable with any version of that pig.  I think it was a big reason for the ascendancy of Apple, just as Win98 gave a boost to Linux.)  It takes many versions that all the little fiefdoms in Microsoft see as an opportunity to load up with their pet functionality before they get to a point where someone at the top cries "Enough!" and they put out a version that is aimed at cleaning out all the cr*p more than adding on a million great new things.

I tend to stay with a Win OS I like for a long time because the quality of the various releases is so variable IMHO.  I stayed with Win2000 until Win 7.  So far I've seen nothing in Win 8 to make me want to move, though if better sound quality is possible that is certainly a factor in favor.  I've got no liking at all for what I've experienced of the new UI.  (They were trying out Surface tablets on airport passers-by when my wife and I were traveling this fall.  Pah!)  So I hope you don't leave us W7 users behind too quickly.

*Much* better now.  Others say it lacks hardness, I say with my little rig it lacks the merest edge of "fuzz" or "sizzle" that was still hanging around with -8c.  (It was there I first heard its real potential, though, with SFS=2).  On "Dream of the Drowned Submariner" (beautiful song) from Mark Knopfler's latest, Privateering, the cymbals, bass, and acoustic guitar are now perfectly in time and complementing each other.  Before it was difficult to tell at low volume whether that was cymbals or sizzle.

Also, the very good Lindsey Geyer cables from the Dragonfly to my amp have now been replaced with better 20 year vintage Omega Mikros (since I got a new pair of Omega Mikros for the main rig), which allows the very welcome clean clear sound to come through, even with things turned down so my wife can sleep.

I used to get a message like that about the SFS, and can't precisely remember any longer what I did to make it go away.  Maybe the buffer size?  Mine is 512.  On the other hand, others are using 4096 along with SFS of 2 and Q1 multiplier >1, so I don't know....

No problem at all, Nick, I will likely have a second spare pair by the time you want them.

If they would wind up being helpful and you would like to keep them, I am sure we could work out something satisfactory that isn't nearly in the stratospheric range these cables now apparently command.  I hope they do help, but if they don't, then just send them back and all's fine.

Well, the Lindsay-Geyer cables are still "available," if you consider that adjective to apply to $650 for a 1 meter pair.  I will lend you my spare pair gratis if you'd like, to see if they work in your environment.

My thought about one way the feet could work is by altering self-vibration of the DAC.  The internal cabling and circuitry throws EM fields; vibration causes those fields to vibrate through each other, the cabling, and the circuitry.  Changing the vibration could change the character of noise produced by these interactions.  Effective draining of this self-vibration might help reduce such noise.

There are cables I own that are made of mu metal, if I recall correctly.  They are the best sounding ones I have, other than the Mapleshade/Omega Mikro.  They were called Lindsey-Geyer when I bought them decades ago - don't know if they are still available.

If they are not available, I have one set of spares (set of analog interlinks, I think 2m, maybe 1.5) and likely another set will become spare soon.  If you're interested, PM me and I could send them along.

Translating your latest message a little further, I'm guessing what you are saying is that nothing you did in -8c01 should have affected the sound, other than removing ticks (at least from RedBook).  So it's possible I was just in the right frame of mind to hear -8 with what are still a relatively new group of settings, or my new desktop speakers, still in their first hours of operation, are rounding into form.

Whatever the cause might be, the result is that I'm pleased with the sound of -8 right now.  Good luck with the hunt for the source of the ticks!

Happy 2013!  

Getting improved sound but ticking with SFS=2, I installed -8c01.

So first: Thank you for bringing back "my" XXHE.  Yes, with -8 there was improved sound, and when I tried SFS=2, aside from the ticking it was as good as I've heard this version.  With the XTweaks, though, there was always a sense of too much changing with adjusted levels of the tweaks, practically like tone controls, and that could never be right.  From the first moment when sound came out of the speakers with -8c01 it was right.  Yes, I'm sure it can be tweaked and "dialed in," but now there is a good solid base to work from.  (Music was "Delilah" and "Tell Me What You Want" from Teddy Thompson's - Richard's son - album "Bella."  Have a glass of wine and a dance with the wife over these tunes, is my New Year's recommendation.)

As I said, I was getting ticks with -8a, so I installed -8c01.  No more ticks on RedBook rips.  But switching to a 24/96 HDTracks download ("Dawned on Me" from Wilco's "The Whole Love") brought horrible distortion - volume fluctuating back and forth from normal to way too loud, and washes of distorted music, as if from ripped speaker cones.  Restarted XXHE and no more of that distortion, thank goodness, but light tick sounds on the 24/96 track, one say every 10 seconds or so.  No matter how often I restarted XXHE or rebooted the computer, no ticks on Redbook rips (which I have XXHE convert to 24/88.2), but always ticks with that 24/96 track.

By the way, played with the Q1 factor and a multiplier of 2 sounds better than 1 or 3 to me.  Q1 setting = 14.