Ahhhh, it makes me want to give up on computer audio altogether. I'm half serious too.

But the guys who like W8 in Normal OS are right - the sound is way more relaxed and listenable than in Min OS.

I also just compared W7 (with my old settings, which I was quite happy with) to W8 and I prefer W8 in Normal OS. The latter seems at least as detailed as W7, but more natural and less annoying.

So is the conclusion that stripping an OS down to a bare minimum is detrimental to SQ (because noise is not as well randomized)?



Mani.

Firstly, I just can't replicate anything approaching what Joachim and Alain are describing. I'm getting perfect stereo panning and a generally very wide sound stage.

As to Peter's Yahoo! moment, I'll go for WASAPI still working with KS - kind of interleaving. Well Peter did say "start shouting the most ridiculous".

Mani.

OK, I'm activated.

I replaced the Wallpaper.bmp file in the XX Folder (my Windows wallpaper) with a bmp of the album is was playing. I played in Attended, and still exactly the same thing - no album wallpaper. I looked in the XX Folder, et voilà, here's what I got.

Thanks for all the help guys.

Mani

Yes, but how can I do this when I get no (edit: album-related) wallpaper in Attended?

I checked the bmp files, and there was only one there which was Wallpaper.bmp - my Windows wallpaper. No album-related bmp files. So, when I go into Attended, I get my Windows wallpaper showing. Unfortunately, I always use a solid black colour for my wallpaper, which is where the confusion stemmed from I think. So Attended is showing Wallpaper.bmp for every album.

I think the yellow wallpaper I saw immediately after activation was indeed an old wallpaper.

Confusing...

Mani.

Thanks Joachim. But I no longer get any wallpaper in Attended. Could you check to see if you're still getting one in Attended please?

Mani.

I don't have any wallpaper in Attended any more. It worked before activating and once after activating (but was still yellow), but hasn't since then. The background just goes black and all the desktop icons disappear. XX remains and seems to work just fine.

Hence my earlier question as to whether there was another sure fire way of knowing that activation was OK. I've attached a few screen shots - are these enough to be sure?

Mani.

Brian, I'm a little surprised about this. Our setups aren't vastly different and yet I've been playing whole albums after each other with no issues whatsoever. Of course, with such high SFS settings, I'm having to wait 20 secs or so for XX to respond to any command (Alt-U for example), and I get a repeat of about 5 secs of the last track of an album right at the end... but absolutely no tracks have stopped of their own accord here, after 4 hours or so of playing.

What really amazes me is that amount of detail there is at these high SFS settings. Not at all like things were in W7 - in W7 I wouldn't have lasted more than 20 secs through the first track because everything would have sounded like a thick woollen blanket had been placed on it. But for 4 hours, I was pretty much mesmerized. I don't really know how to describe it. The detail is there without being pushed in your face.

I get what you say about the midrange though. But I like it. It's got the same sort of bite as when you're standing next to a real instrument being played. No rounded transients, just as straight as it comes.

Mani.

I've just spent a few hours listening in total bliss, with not a care about SQ whatsoever (almost). It's been a very, very long time since this has happened. Something is definitely 'right' about W8. And I agree 100% with Peter's observations - a super high SFS is the way to go. I'm on 430/30/20 and it's going to stay this way. I reverted back to phase strength = 0 before my listening session and again this is going to stay.

I think things are very system-dependent. Having followed 'Nick's Tweaks' religiously, I'm getting loads and loads of detail coming through with these high SFS settings. But I'm not sure this would have been the case otherwise.

I've updated my sig.

Mani.

Thanks Alain. Most of the signs are indicating that I'm properly activated. The only thing that I didn't get was a red wallpaper boarder in Attended mode immediately after I'd activated (and played another track and then closed/opened XX). It was still yellow, hence my concern. But I really think I'm OK.

Mani.

Sorry if this has been answered already...

What's a sure fire way of knowing that XX activation has been successful in W8? Red-bordered wallpaper isn't possible, right? Is a red 'Minimize OS' button enough? I recall that the ability to appoint cores was not enough to be totally sure.

Any thoughts?

Mani.

OK, I've given up on this for now. Will get back to it another day. Have reverted to using RDC via LAN - worked first time...

Mani.

I'm finding that I'm continuously wanting to increase the volume as I listen... always a very good sign in my experience. (Really nice deep bass.)

Mani.

OK, it's my use of the word 'install' that is confusing.

Of course I can run the inst.exe and it 'installs'. Everything is as is should be. The Widdcomm folder is there in Program File(x86), etc. But when I then connect the BT dongle, W8 selects/installs the Microsoft driver and not the Broadcomm driver.

On the W7 remote PC, I did exactly the same, and when I inserted the dongle it said "installing device driver". A few seconds later it said "device is ready to use". In Device Manager it's clear that the Broadcomm driver is indeed being used.

None of the above happens in W8 when the BT dongle is inserted. The BT icon appears in the taskbar instantaneously (using the Microsoft driver).

A question: Might the W7 Shell be interfering in the install in some way?

Mani.

Nah, doesn't work. (Oh and BTW, I used inst.exe and not setup.exe.)

???

Mani.

I'm having problems installing the Broadcomm driver. It seems to have installed perfectly on my W7 remote PC, but not on the W8 audio PC. I say this because when I check which BT drivers are being used, the remote PC says Broadcomm and the audio PC says Generic Bluetooth Adapter (Microsoft driver).

I've uninstalling all BT drivers from the audio PC and have tried reinstalling the Broadcomm. However, whenever I connect the BT dongle, the Microsoft driver is selected by default. It won't let me change the driver manually because it believes it already has the best driver.

Having said all this, I haven't even tried to make a BT connection - I just can't see how it's going to work. Will try anyway though and report back.

Mani.