Peter,

No. Have not tried. Will do so tonight as well as will compare SQ in both cases. Just wanted to elicit some info from others who might done so already.

Ivo

Hey guys,

Has anyone compared SQ between Z6 unattended and Z6 unattended with Minimize OS = ON?

The PC where my Z6 runs is used also by others for other tasks, so wondering if on daily basis going without Minimize OS is sufficient. At lest my observation show that number of services, processes left in RAM is very similar in both cases.

Ivo

OK. Yesterday, got Z6 on my W7 32-bit and it works! Minimize OS works great, no single problem.

But for better understanding:

When I was listening to music in MinOS mode, I got in RAM still 20 processes and 13 services. Question: Is it still necessary to use "KeepThisService" and "KeepThisProcess" like in Z52? I actually have not tried runnning Z6 leaving those empty, just used settings from Z52 regarding this.

Although listened yesterday just over headphones, seems that sound has really progressed!!! Thank you Peter indeed!!!

Ivo

OK, so yesterday night uninstalled all updates from my W7, so at the end have some 3 KBs on top of vanilla W7 that are not possible to remove. At least from UI.
Besides, removed all unneeded SW and antivirus as well.

Launched XX Z52 with the same settings like before and:

1) SQ has improved, that is true.
2) Frequent gaps occur during playback for 2-3 seconds every minute or so. Maybe need to change some settings. Will see tonight. Or maybe a switch to Z6 will resolve that.

Ivo

Yes, I run still E6300. Q1=1, QAP, buffer @ 1024. 3 GBs of RAM. CPU remains cool and underutilized.

Thanks for comments.

Ivo

Peter,

Got it. Thanks.

Will remove, listen to Z5 and then put Z6 to feel the DIFFERENCE

Ivo

Hey guys,

I am getting more and more curious to try out Z6, but am a bit cautious about the requirements.
1) So, I have 32-bit W7 with SP1 RTM and few updates running on 5 year old Core 2 Duo CPU (not laptop). Do I better remove SP1 before I run Z6?
2) Wasn't it so, that W7 without SP1 (RC or RTM) sounded somehow wrong and then we all moved to Vista. I assume then that Z6 does something different if it needs W7 without SP1.

Regards,
Ivo

Yes. I saw that message few days ago. I panic and uninstalled SP1 RC. Was no problem. Then installed SP1 RTM + all those updates. Runs OK, but not sure about the sound, have no listened yet. Just wanted my PC up before it locks down, cause use it also for web and other minor stuff.

Hi Peter,

OK found time today. After series of reboots got it OK. Before was using XX with stopped desktop (39 proc and 40 services), but when stopped remaining then got 28 proc run and 18 services. Great! SQ improved. I am running know the latest code.

2 things:
 - when I was re-booting to find the guilty process, noticed that in first 2 reboots log file has know info about processes, only services. Once is OK with services, only then appears info on processes. And when all worked, log file contained info like how many processes stopped, etc. I thought maybe this info is needed from the very start, like with services.
 - LAN ON in my box does not bring back network. Used W7's net troubleshooter to get it ON. I have a wifi pci card.

Otherwise, great is XX. Thank you for your work.

Ivo

Yes, it is clear to me what I must do. It is so that currently I have no time at all to finish this. Will get back later and then proceed. Thanks.

Ivo

OK, it starts killing me....

I read the topic you provided, tested 2 hours and still no sound just hangs.
I will not upload log now, but can say that I excluded 7 services from stopping and got '0 services could not stop' in the log, but still all just stops and nothing. Message (Waiting...) still looks at me and that is all. I ended up with 18 services still ON and 26 processes still ON. And yes, the XXHighEnd process was eating my CPU for 60% constantly after a little while after hitting PLAY.

Question: should I also exclude respective processes for those 7 services? It seems that not because antivirus stopped just by excluding service names. BTW, I did not notice 'Processes stopped' section in the log file.

I am running the latest XX code and music still both from RAMDISK.

Ivo (going to seep it is late here)

Problem:

If I tick also "Stop remaining services" then my PC hangs with no playback. Pop-up tells to wait while services stop, but it lasts forever. Only hard reset helps. Stopping desktop services and LAN works ok. I am using W7 RC1.

Ivo

Hello all,

I have been out of here for some time, now back again.
Moved from z3 to z5:
z5: agree it is more detailed and blacker at my system. Bass is more cloudy I guess, but in specific cases only. This all is WITHOUT ramdisk. Compared z3 on RAMDISK vs z5 on SATA drive. Almost no difference. I would say SATA case is more lively?

One problem: whenever I change dev buffer, Q1 jumps to 14 always? I set it to any other value, but next time I launch XX it is again 14. I am running w7 RC.

Ivo

So, I did look for RF attenuators and did not find anything here where I live.
Then I searched in ebay - got only expensive ones, the cheap ones just not shipping to my place, so currently no attenuators.
Will look for them sometimes later again...

Regarding the DAC volume - after various experiments I ended up with my DAC's volume at 15:00, which is around 75% of max in my case.

Ivo

So, my DAC's Dynamic Range is 123 dB from here http://www.audiotrack.net/products/DRDAC2DX/spec/
My amp's S/N at high level is 105 dB from here http://www.marantz.com/new/index.cfm?fuseaction=Products.ArchProd_Specs&cont=eu&bus=hf&prod_id=2599&type=amp&arch=1

So, I guess if I decrease a little the DAC's volume I will move down from 123 dB at its output to amp AND if I increase amp's volume I will be moving up to 105 dB? Maybe I am wrong, just thinking....

Anyway, if I listen music over my headphones (plugged into amp) I hear more 3D, the soundstage is deeper and it is clearer, no harsh at high levels....

I guess all will change when I try those RCA inline attenuators

Thanks you guys for clarifying...

Ivo