To make good use of the Schemes, here's an attempt to make clear which Scheme does what (undemoed version only !).

No Appointment

Nothing is changed to a just booted system.
When one of the other Schemes have been active during this (boot) session, things might be different from before, because appointed other processes (i.e. by the OS) are explicitly set to "No Appointment". Chances that appointments have been performed by the OS are zero (I did not see them).

Other processes interfere with Audio playback, but the system as a whole performs best.
Note that for Audio playback not only the Audio processes are needed, but also various drivers; if they (the concerned) don't get the power they need, your Audio playback is in trouble just the same. Note that without tweaking drivers cannot be appointed. Keep this in mind for the below too.
Tweaking wasn't done.

Scheme-1

The most important Audio processes are appointed to core-2.
All of the other processes are appointed to core-1.
Nothing can interfere with the Audio processes.
If Audio processes run short of cpu power ... problem.
If supporting processes (think of driving SPDIF etc.) run short of cpu power ... problem.

For a 4-core system, the other processes are appointed to core-3 and core-4 as well.

Scheme-2

The most important Audio processes run on core-2, but can go to core-1 as well.
All of the other processes are appointed to core-1.
Theoretically, when the Audio processes run short of cpu power, they have more air now because of they can swap to core-1 as well. The disadvantage might be that at that particular moment other processes interfere.

For a 4-core system, the other processes are appointed to core-3 and core-4 as well.

Scheme-3

The most important Audio processes are appointed to core-2.
All of the other processes run on core-1, but when they are short of cpu power they can go to core-2.
When glitches, pops, etc. are supposedly caused by supporting processes running short of cpu power, now you're better of. But when this really is needed, it interferes with the Audio processes.

For a 4-core system all of the other processes will not go to core-2, but to core-3 and core-4 when needed.

Scheme-4

The Audio processes run on core-2, but can go to core-1 when needed.
All of the other processes run on core-1, but can go to core-2 when needed.
A system with crackles, glitches, pops, etc. may benefit most from this setting.
Apart from No Appointment it will also be the setting which is the most prone to have the SQ influenced by other processes.

For a 4-core system all of the other processes will not go to core-2, but to core-3 and core-4 when needed (note this is still different from Scheme-3).

Gerard,

I don't see anything special ... (the peak in the NoAppoint is from loading SnagIT).
Btw, don't look too long to below pictures, or you'll need a doctor soon.

Interesting ...
I did not look myself, but I can imagine it (or something); I think I can even reason out why this happens *and* that SQ will differ in either situation.
Maybe you just found another dimenstion for SQ settings ?

Tonight I'll try to see whether I can make something of it (for directions). I think I already know that it can't be changed. But I'll look into that too.

Thank you Gerard,
Peter

Although I never tried to change anything (want to see where a good laugh ends in misery ) all should be incurred by the Low Thread Priority (or is it Player Priority ?, I forgot ... EDIT : Yes, it is the PlayerPrio to change from Low to one step higher). If you start to have real problems, go from Low to one step higher and see whether that helps.

Of course it could have been just something else.

May I assume that this is during Attended Playback ?

I'd say I have tested sufficiently the Unattended Playback to kind of "know" that just works okay ... (and *that* did not work at all in the before version).

Note that with Unattended Playback you should bring up XXHighEnd, click Next (if you want of course, hehe), and *not* : bring it up, wait a track or two and then click Next ...

Oh yes Chris. You are 100% right. But didn't you guess I started this project only to let you out there find the proper settings for *me* ?


But seriously, for one I can't cope with it. If I change something I can only listen to it for a week before I have a conclusion. No mr. A-B here. That's no time-spending (for me).
I can imagine though, that us audio pioneers are able to define some definite settings for the most important parameters (the piority parameters are prone to that IMO).

That's pioneering. But in the end, personally I love it;
Just woke up on the couche from listening, with the idea - somewhere sometime - that even mcHammer is able to produce sprankling straight tight-bass MUSIC, no matter may it be hiphop/rappish/techno or whatver, that becomes less important when it sounds so good. Well, that's what was in my mind 5.5 hours ago when my wife said good bye and I told here that sure I wasn't sleeping, but concentrating with eyes closed. 

For the next 1.5 hour I'll be officially sleeping.

Well, Gerard, that's the big difficulty ...
If you can't prove to yourself Processor Appointment was working for you with 0.9s-1 (and I don't think you could), then you now should select No Appointment and it's the same.

If you think it worked afterall, just select Scheme-3 again (like you did with 0.9-s1. And I know about the PMs Gerard ... sadly all is rather confusing right now. Just let your heart/ears speak ... Also, I am thinking about the explanation of the PM subject ...)

Edit : But suppose a kind of placebo thing has been happening, and your selection of Scheme-3 actually did not do anything (which I do not believe in your situation Gerard), then still Scheme-3 should be the best because with me all the time it just *was* (is) working out the best. Careful though, because I operate with just one Q1 setting, *not* Invert, and with my DAC ...

Gerard,

2, 3 and 4 just approach another strategy of spreading/dedicating tasks to cores. The Affinity can be checked by means of Windows properties, the other things just can't. Just try what works best for you, although the differences may be delicate.

If you can't find SQ differences between No Appointment and Scheme-1, the others probably won't show differences either. BUT :

Just those others (2, 3, 4) then might help with avoiding crackles.
Nothing different from what was mentioned in the release notes of 0.9s-0, but (so) sadly I made a programming mistake in that version. Thus, not only all could not help removing crackles, but at the same time they just re-occurred while the latest XX versions took them away.

Hi Pedal,

According to your "EDIT", you're okay I think. But, according to your earlier descriptions of SQ and your picture above, it seems that you were okay already.
If you are not sure, or you think SQ has degraded with 0.9-s2, set the Scheme to No Appointment and you should (no, may in your case) have the same as before (0.9s-1).

This version solves - if all is right - all the bugs or not completed features - as introduced with/for for Unattended Playback.

• Processor Core Appointment.
  
  Also see The Good and the Bad ...
  This time it should work for you too (and not only for me )
  Since the outlay in above link, do not triple over the Affinity just showing all cores; the 4 schemes act differently. But Scheme-1 should indeed show the Affinity appointed to one core. So you can check for it to work.
  
  
• Various errors could showe up (could not be copied at will) at clicking Play with Unattended Playback.
  
  Important : The means to solve this, implied that during the process of loading the tracks, nothing can be interrupted (stopped); For normal WAVs this won't bother you, but with FLAC/MP3 the time for loading can be lengthy, and it is just that which could make you feel sorry to have pressed the buttons ... which is just the situation which can't be stopped (ok, Taskmanager). In a future version maybe (IOW, it takes too much time to make something really decent from the way it was otherwise).
  
  
• Contrary to the above, the loading of normal WAVs at Unattended Playback is much faster now.
  
  
• Scheme-3 showed up twice at the combobox for Processor Core Appointment Schemes. The second one now shows 4 as intended.
  
  
• The checkbox for Unattended Playback has been moved from the Settings Area to the Playlist Area.
  
  As it turnes out, it comes handy when switching between Attended and Unattended is near by. So now it is.
  
  
• Clicking Play did not work the first time after changing from Attended to Unattended.
  
  
• Albums/Tracks loaded from the Library Area also loaded the tracks currently in !CurrentlyPlaying.PLXX.
  
  
• Track Titles in Cue data without quotes dropped the first and last character.
  
  
• At Unattended Playback, just clicking Play now is allowed.
  
  When bringing up XXHighEnd in order to select another track for playback, first clicking Stop is not necessary anymore.
  
  
• At Unattended Playback, select a Track and press Play is allowed.
  
  It already was, but before Release Notes told it was not.
  Here too, now just clicking Play (without Stop) is allowed.
  
  
• Similarly clicking Next is allowed to let the next track play as if it were Attended Playback.
  
  Note that with this action, as with the above, the tracks in the Playlist Area above the selected track will be removed from the current Playlist. Obviously this is not visible at the time of doing it, and what it comes to is that they are not saved in !CurrentlyPlaying.PLXX.
  Btw, all is for your own convenience, which comes down to being able to bring up XXHighEnd again, and just press Next for the next track (you'll understand at doing it).
  
  

A last note :
Just as selecting more tracks in the Playlist Area currently does not work anymore (already for a longer time), similarly this does not work for Unattended Playback. However, when attempted there, XXHighEnd will hang for a few seconds. Just that you know it ...

Is it really ? or was it just a funny remark ? 

Gerard, Leo,

Most probably your "sudden noise with 0.9s-1" is caused by what I just described here : The Good and the Bad ....
It would be back to the situation from before 0.9m ...

Gerard, you mean at the first install of a 0.9s version ? (so, probably last Sunday)

Uhohh, your answer came by itself : The Good and the Bad ...
People only have to confirm that they did not have "it". That's easy ...

Oh my. I have made a kind of terrible mistake in the 0.9s-0/-1 versions ...

First the bad news about this :

99% sure in your versions, the Processor Appointment Schemes did not work.
The 1% is about the possibility that your settings weren't renewed at the first startup of 0.9s-0 (or -1 when you skipped -0), which is about that message you receive "Set your settings !" at startup. Of course nobody recalls whether he had that message or not, but when everything is normal, you should.
Anyway, today you can check things, by choosing Scheme-1 (not the others !), start Playback, and look for the Processor Affinity for a few random processes (Taskmanager, Processes tab, rightclick on a process, choose Set Affinity -> is only there when you have more cores !). When only one core is ticked (not by you), you have it working.

Then the good news :

When you don't have it, there's always the opportunity to improve sound again with the upcoming version (most probably today) by means of changing the schemes.


How did this happen ?

The "Set your settings" message, hence the resetting of it, occurs after a certain number of days (3 or so) *and* a new version. So for me, at a kind of continues change of (trial) verions, this never occurs. Now, in the 0.9r version there was a checkbox for Core Appointment, and in 0.9s this was changed into a combobox for the Schemes. But, the checkbox was still active under the hood, had a "ticked" situation stored in the "settings" (on hdd), and in the program the fact to change Affinity or not kept on working with this checkbox. So for me it just worked ... (as well as for everybody who did not receive the "Change your settings !" message who also had the checkbox ticked before running 0.9s for the first time).

As said, most probably you don't have it active, with the factual result of having chosen "No Appointment" in the combobox.
I think you *must* check it out, just to get to know what you have been listening to in the past week; is it ok then you don't have to start finding the best SQ for Schemes in the next version, and is it not ok, then you may have wasted your time on finding "no differences", and you'd have to do it again with the next version (for the good cause ).

I am *very* sorry for the inconvenience.
Peter


PS: If you don't have it running but found the SQ to be improved over 0.9r, then your observations can/will still be correct because of the priority schemes changed, Unattended Playback (when applicable to you), *OR* (so careful here) without Core Appointment it works out better for SQ.
On the last matter, please remember that I said that Scheme-1 was the same as the checkbox from before, and that to my findings Scheme-1 is not good and instead Scheme-3 does the job. So what actually happened in your systems is that you switched off the checkbox from 0.9r.
Add to this, that I said (elsewhere) that I expect Scheme-3 to be rather similar to "No Appointment".