Thanks to you all :-) Everything is OK now

I have to say that there is a consensus and a very friendly attitude on this website and I appreciate it very much. I hope to be an humble contributor as I get better acquainted with XXHE, but I still have to understand better the relations between the different possibilities. There are things that worked right the first time - this time it turned differently and I yet have to better understand the sequence of things - like the ones that have been kindly suggested :-)

Regards,

Alain
PS: I forgot to thank you also Gerard :-)

Ha ha ha If I do this one time

I run my external disk through Esata...

From what I discovered tbis morning, I can assume that if WASAPi is working after selecting Minimize OS, I can tell that the Min OS did noy work...

Am I correct to think that Min OS can be done only once ?

Alain

Hi Praphan, Hi Coen,

It looks like I did something wrong and I assume that it was in the sequence that I messed... The funny thing is that I reinstalled my OS just the day before it happened.

My XXHE folders are on an external drive and the setup was already adjusted to "Minimize OS"... I should have reinstalled XXHE from fresh instead (maybe).

I would like to revert to a previous state with a restore point, but... I'm and "old fart" and I disable many things (too many it seems)... "restoring point" is one of those things I deactivate, along with other things...

At least I have a backup of my OS partition when it was new, so it takes about an hour to reset things... Well, I hope

Thanks and regards,

Alain

Hi Peter,

About Minimize OS... It does not seem to work anymore. I switched from Minimize OS to normal OS, then switched back to Minimize OS, but I am quite sure it is not working (too many processes and services still running). I switched back and forth, but no change...

Uh... Help ?

Alain

Cool !

Hi Peter,

Sorry if I was misleading... I guess my past as a programmer taught me to reduce the processes already without help from any program or player... I always tend to reduce everything naturally (processes and services), as I like my PC to be fast as possible. One of the first thing I do for all my PCs is disable Defender, the Security Center, all the themes (visuals). I never had any anti-virus on my PC and never got caught with any either (virus - this since 1998)...

I also know that we can ensure that there are not undesirable programs that are started with Windows (ex.: Adobe Reader and such)... With msconfig it is possible to verify this ? I know that Adobe Reader tends to put itself as a program to start with Windows, this each time it updates something... ?

Is there something in the scheduled tasks that could affect also ?

Being a minimalist, this is how I have always worked with my PCs...

Thanks,

Alain

Coen,

I see that you have a Phasure NOS1... I guess that you upsample your music up to X16 ?

Since I only have an 24/192 OS DAC, I cannot go further that X4, so I guess that it could explain the difference ?

Regards,

Alain

Hi Coen,

Is 440 really related to the amount of memory ? I can't say, but when I check with the Task Manager, I see about 3.8 GB of used ram.

I must admit that, in addition to the minimise OS, I also have the priority to the background processes (almost the same path as when you want to change the size of the paging file with W7), eliminate the paging file (no paging file), run a script that puts all the running processes to LOW priority, then I start XXHIGHEND.

I you are interested, I have attached this small script in a zip file.

I am sorry if I did not really answer your question... Maybe there is something about the representation that differs depending on something else ? I pushed it to the limit and could go up to 500, but quickly got some messages about lowering SFS...

Regards,

Alain

[Edit from PeterST : This is NOT to be applied, because XXHighEnd does these things herself upon your own settings, and things will mangle / be mangled with.]

HiPeter,

Yes I have Minimized OS (apart the fact that I have reactivated the ThightVNC service) to allow for control of the PC

I was not expecting such an important change with the modification of the SFS  It really changed the "landscape" in such a way that my ears are still shaking themselves in disbelief (is the head supposed to follow ?) 

Alain

Hi Peter,

I acquired a desktop recently. it was a matter of circumstances, because what I got is not what I expected to get. It does not carry the latest CPUs (it's a G620) and has a somewhat "weak" SMPS (180 watts). On the other hand, it is very quiet and for a dual core, its 2.6GHZ and DDR3 memory makes it quick enough.

This replaces a laptop with an Intel dual core (1.6GHZ) with 4GB of ram. I could already say that despite the lack of power that my new desktop could have compared to more powerful PCs (an I7 for example), the sound was already more "present", less congested.

I added an SSD (yes, I know what you think about this), plus a sata power filter (SOTM), a fan filter (SOTM also).

All in all, a very basic motherboard with not much.

As for the USB that comes from the PC and powers the Audiophilleo 2 (USB -> SPDIF), I added an Aqvox inline USB power supply to "feed" the A2 instead.

For each of those little tweaks, the differences were very subtle.

Then I replaced the original 1 x 2GB memory module with 2 x 4GB and then increased the SFS in XXHIGHEND from 50 to 440...

I use a few songs to check for differences - mostly the same. I don't really have a methodology and guess that I don't do "critical listening".

It took a while before I started wondering what was happening. Something was different, but my vocabulary is quite limited when I try to express those (differences). It seemed that the instruments were more separated, the background was blacker, the fast impulses where more accurate and present. Over all, the sound is much more detailed and clearer.

If I was to put all this in other words, this reveals the quality of the other components. They can't be better than what you feed them with.

From the beginning, I have always wondered if the source (thus, the PC) was fit for the rest of the components. But I certainly admit that XXHIGHEND has a lot to do in reducing the PCs idiosyncratic behaviour...

... Now I really am impatient to hear the next version 

Regards,

Alain
P.S.: I am not even using the unattended mode, because I need the network to control the desktop with TightVNC... No keyboard, no mouse are attached to the desktop (for obvious reasons)...

Peter,

To prevent any confusion:
- Lenovo is the desktop connected to my audio system.
- Asus is my general purpose desktop. It is more powerful than Lenovo.

Yes, Internal DAC has to get 32 bits on Asus.

As for the audio system (Lenovo), outboard DAC has to get 24 bit...

I forgot to mention that I got an Audiophilleo2 USB to SPDIF converter on my audio system... :-( I have corrected my signature a few minutes ago...

I ran some tests...

Lenovo: first, I indicated to XXHE that I would use the integrated soundcard. It works at 24 and 32 bit, but sampling rate is limited to 96khz. Not useful since x4 upsamble 48khz to 192khz.

Lenovo: I switch to the audio system.

Lenovo -> USB -> Audiophilleo (24 bit) -> SPDIF -> Bryston DAC (24 bit). I select "DAC is: 24 bit/192 khz". As for the  "At 16 bit, the DAC needs", I have to choose 24 bit. (pitch is then slower at x4).

Now I turn to my general purpose desktop...

Asus is a little confusing: I can either select "DAC is: 24/192" or "DAC is: 32/192". As for the "At 16 bit, the DAC needs", It has to be 32 bit (pitch is ok at x4). 

I could connect Asus to the audio system to check if it will behave the same as Lenovo... I can do it if it can be of some help ?

As for this situation, there is no rush. I am only worried that I could forget what is happening at x4 for 48khz songs ;-)

I started computer programming at 30 for 15 years. I still do some programming from time to time, but it is not as stressful as it used to be. I know how it can be...

Regards,

Alain

Hi Peter,

I just downloaded an album today (Rodrigo y Gabriela and C.U.B.A: Area 52). It is 24/48... And I use KS, adaptative, 2.5ms, SFS 50 (I am waiting for Lenovo memory banks), Q1 = 7. I have Windows 7 pro SP1, 64 bit, 2 GB of RAM... CPU is Intel G620, 2.6 ghz, 2 cores.

When I use the multiplier (x 4) to get 192 khz, the pitch is slower. At x 2, the pitch is OK...

I don't have a clue. I have tested this with and without Minimize OS. I have tried it with WASAPI and the same symptoms are happening...

It was doing this on my laptop, now on my recent PC... I did try on my main PC and no problem... But the difference is that the laptop and the new PC are connected to my audio chain, while my PC is standalone...

Alain 

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the link. I saw it, but since I use to work with ThightVNC, I was not really in that "remote thing", well not the way it seems to be asked in the link.

But no matter how it will be done, I will be happy to comply when it will be time for it.

And the interface looks exciting too !

Regards,

Alain

Alain

Peter,

I was wondering if it would be possible to use unattended mode - but with reestablishing the network after ?

My problem is that I normally connect to my musical desktop (or laptop) from another place (either a general purpose desktop or an Ipad), but as soon as the unattended mode is on, I have to connect my USB keyboard and/or USB mouse to restart the computer and disengage the unattended mode...

Possible maybe ? Or eventually ?

Alain

...Since I see that there are 3 versions of "Master of Reality" (Black Sabbath) on Qobuz website, I thought it would make more sense to put the link (just in case):

http://www.qobuz.com/album/master-of-reality-black-sabbath/0505074920332?qref=sre_1_14

If you listen to "Sweet Leaf" (where that "buzz" is very present) and compare with the 2 other versions, you will hear what I mean

Alain