Hi Peter, just tried your suggestion and unfortunately it doesn't work.

I still can't see the NOS1 as a WASAPI device either in W7's 'Manage Audio Devices' or in HQPlayer. But it's listed in W7's Device Manager as a WDM audio device.

Strange uh? Any more ideas?

Mani.

Excellent.

I'm saving my pennies for the speakers right now.

Mani.

Peter, the setup looks really great (apart from the old guy sitting in the middle). But what did it sound like? Were you happy with it? How did it compare to what you're used to at home?

Mani.

Ah, I can't wait to get back home this weekend and give it a go.

Mani.

Well maybe this sheds some light on the situation. The audio devices are there, but are not being detected by WASAPI?

Mani.

OK thanks.

But it still doesn't find the NOS1. I think I may have set something in the BIOS that is stopping audio devices being detected. I'll explore when I have more time.

Mani.

Sorry Peter, where is 'Show disabled devices'?

Mani.

Right, WASAPI services work in Minimize OS mode no problem. But neither W7 nor HQPlayer recognize the NOS1 as a WASAPI device. XX recognizes the NOS1 OK, but only as a KS device, not a WASAPI device.

Am I being really thick somewhere?

Mani.

CORRECTION:

I'm not sure if it's the WASAPI services themselves cannot be restarted or if it's just the NOS1 that cannot be used in WASAPI mode.

I currently don't have any other audio devices active in my 'new' 3770K PC. I'll activate the onboard audio device and see if I can use it in WASAPI mode.

Mani.

Here's my understanding. If 'Stop WASAPI Services' is engaged in the Settings Area, then there will be no WASAPI services available during 'Minimize OS' mode... However, these WASAPI services should restart when XX takes the OS back to normal.

But WASAPI services do not come back in normal OS mode.

Why am I even bothered about this when KS is clearly superior. Well, I'd like to try feeding the NOS1 from HQPlayer. In order to do this, I need WASAPI services.

Am I doing something wrong or is there a bug in XX?

Mani.

In my case, PA(-) sounds flatter and duller than without PA - just as you describe. But PA(+) gives me a better sound than I've ever had before.

Try both - and + before making a judgement on PA. If after that you still prefer the sound without PA, then cool.

Interestingly, my single-ended 300B amp shows an identical behaviour pattern - reversing the polarity of the speaker terminals makes it sound way, way more life-like. I've always thought that maybe its inherent harmonic distortion is cancelling that of the speakers' in some way.... but I have no real evidence for this, other than the improvement in sound.

Mani.

If what I've been listening to for the last few weeks is not PA, then I will 'eat my hat', get some mp3 downloads and give up on audio altogether... (But somehow I think I'm safe.)

Mani.

B, I don't recall having loaded any drivers from the CD myself. But I doubt there's anything untoward going on even if you did. I sometimes (but rarely) get very, very faint ticks at the beginning of tracks, but absolutely no plops or anything when I Alt-X and stop a track. I suspect ultimately this is all down to raw CPU horse-power... and XX settings of course.

Mani.

Well I'm giving up for today...

I can't use the Mytek in 'Minimize OS' mode. In normal OS mode it shows up as a KS device no problem and everything seems to work OK. But as soon as I go into 'Minimize OS' mode, it disappears. I can still see the Mytek through its USB control panel, but XX just doesn't see it. It doesn't matter if 'Keep WASAPI services' has been activated or not before minimizing the OS.

I just don't think it's worth pursuing unless I can use both DACs in Minimize OS mode.

For another day...

Mani.

I'm currently sitting with both the NOS1 and Mytek in my office. I want to optimise XX settings before I make any comparisons. The NOS1 is no problem, but the Mytek I'm not too sure about. In the Mytek's USB control panel, the 'Streaming Buffer Size' is set in milliseconds - between 1ms and 16ms. In the XX's settings panel, it's set in samples. So a few questions:

1) How do figure out the optimum settings?
2) What Q setting should I choose?
3) Should I go Adaptive or Special?

Any really quick answers would be appreciated. Meanwhile, I'll just do a bit of experimenting...

Mani.