Hmm....

Just as I was ready to try a fresh install with the date 'fake' on an internet-less machine, I get the message that I need .NET Framework 3.5 to launch xxhighend.

Okay, I download that elsewhere and send it over and run it...only to get the message that to run .NET Framework 3.5  I NEED .NET Framework 3.5 .
HUH?
I tried .NET Framework 3.0 and .NET Framework 2 to be sure, but every time Windows 10 wants to DOWNLOAD it's own. I...don't think there's a way around this.....

Old post, and I haven't been on in years. But, I had to put in my two cents.

In my experience, wav always sounds better than flac. I have had this experience with CD and HD going back and forth, with xxhighend and regular players as well, though I find differences easier to discern on xxhighend. I do not know the reason for it, but i have become a purist over the years, taking out links in the chain to make the signal/source as simple as possible. This is why I use "Pure direct" on my Maranz receiver , rather than Audessey corrections. Recently this premise was validated for me once again, when I found that by simply unhooking the HDMI out from my receiver, the sound changed in a subtle way I would say had more dimension to it. I think you really have to have golden ears here, but I always find the pure wav to be better.

CLEAN!  Nice black background sound with no treble harshness, or bass bloom, so volume to the max!!  I'm still playing around, but I like what I'm hearing.  Perhaps a little less fullness than before, but other changes in system must be taken into account- Win 8.

Peter,

If you can apply the hack every time xxhighend is launched that is an excellent idea.  I believe UAC changes require reboot, however. :-( 

What is even better, if possible, is the option to restore UAC when xxhighend closes, so that "metro" apps can be utilized upon reboot.  These apps will become very important to desktop use, and I'm already wanting to play with them but want to play with my xxhighend too.  :-/ 

If you can hack off/hack on UAC you've got a buyer in me.  Even with the great sound Win 8 gives my ASIO driver on WMP, xxhighend does even better, and under Win 8 is the most natural, black background I've heard to date.  I highly recommend everyone jump on board as soon as possible to try it for yourself .

I had the same problem with Windows 7 enterprise 64bit.  Anything over 1ms didn't work.  I think Peter suggested using MinOS as an attempt to override the OS, but I never got that far.  Now using Windows 8 pro 64 with a full 15ms. :-D  It sounds a touch more relaxed to my ears.  I'd say it's not a deal-breaker of a difference, but I like it, and I certainly like having the option!  Windows 8 is turning out to be a real gem, if you can handle disabling metro (turning off UAC in registry disables all Metro apps. lol)

Peter,

The link to the working Windows 8 has of great help.  Administer rights through new user, UAC off, without checking administer for program.  It works!  Not only that, but Windows 8 solves some long standing problems.  Now my ClockRES can go past 1ms, to a full 15ms! I can hear the relaxed difference in sound. Also unattended mode helps a little, but is not so crucial as before; Windows 8 has much better resource management and audio without LAN interference.  My setup is a little different, so can't make proper comparison, but overall I hear a more relaxed sound.  with proper tweaking I think I can get the detail back.  Will be updating over the holidays.

Turned off UAC through registry hack, and had no problems that I can tell until I tried to play when I got this message.

"Necessary Privileges have been set. Reboot to make the effective ! (playback will not start now)"

Of course this is standard, but when I reboot and try to play the message comes up again!!  No matter how many times I try it gives me that message.  Reinstallation did nothing.  Am I missing some step here?

Peter, your cymbals example fits with my Q1/Q1factor settings along with 430 SFS on my current z7-1.  That was one of the big finds, along with bass and note decay.  Wondering now if z7-4 will be even better, or force new settings upon me.  Hmm, sounds like a weekend project!

With the Matrix Mini-i DAC I was able to get this to work, but  it can only get 16/48khz through USB.  Been thinking of getting an Audiophilieo 2 or JK MK3 to get 24/192, but I'm afraid that will affect the synergy I found, and for such a high price!  Anyone have experience using these or know what it would do to the interchange between xxhighend and the DAC?

Thanks Peter for your response.  I do plan to activate and use minOS feature, I just want to try everything and get it right first. Of course, you are implying that sound may change with minOS and other unlocked features maybe for good or bad, and I might need to adjust.  More tweaking goodness and hours lost! lol. 
Update on ClockRes: I can't find any reason or program that locks it to 1ms.  Perhaps minOS will help?  On SFS, I tried going from 2 to 60 like you said.  At 2 it's flat and in my face, extremely detailed but not natural.  At 60 it's more full-bodied, and less harsh, less apparent 'detail'. Then I tried going higher and it seemed maybe better but not until I got to 430 did it truly become 'resonant' that is like the music had room to breathe and expand to fill the natural space.  It also sounds detailed again, but in a different way than 2, not artificial but naturally revealing.  It's worth mentioning again that I'm using Sennheiser 580 headphones not speakers.  I will play with other phones to see if I get similar results.
Just say that SFS adjustment was more like fine tuning while the Q1/Q1factor combination of 2/2 on KS:special was like flipping a switch.

Hello, everyone.  I'm a newb, but I've learned so much in the past month.  If you'd like to get to the MIRACLE I have discovered just skip to the next paragraph.  So I built my new computer a couple months ago for gaming and HTPC with music fidelity in mind.  I'd like to share a few of my findings with you.  First, you guys are totally spot on about how SSD flat out ruins the sound.  Music's on spinning disk now.  The OS is still on the SSD for speed, I don't know if I should be putting it all on the spinning disk or not.  Speaking of the spinning disk, it's SATA2, but I found a discernible difference when I plugged it into the STAT3 port of my motherboard.  Perhaps its a better quality port, or something about the way the bus works?  Dunno.  Also, very important to note for Ivy Bridge users; the new lucid virtu feature allows you to use the onboard video.  I thought saving some wattage by using onboard video would be good for the system, but with SPDIF out (where I thought there'd be no difference) the sound was more muddied when video was routed through Ivy Bridge.  When turned off and using the video card the sound was clear.  I only did brief tests here, and don't know if it applies to USB use.

Now, to the good part.  xxhighend was a favorite in it's last 6c incarnation on my old PC.  But I noticed it was a bit harsh to the sound compared to what I was able to get off jPlay. New PC, new xxhighend, I crown it the king once more, but not without a little work.  Overall, XHE is comparable to jplay with jplay much easier to get the "natural" sound. XHE can still make things harsh if you tweak it that way.  But I tweaked as much as I can with the demo and have discovered something REVOLUTIONARY!  I don't know if anyone else has had this experience, as it's the first time possible(with me) using the new Q1Factor.  Let me start at the beginning:  I decided to move from WASAPI to KS: and then Adaptive to Special after finding the correct buffer size for my DAC (Matrix mini-i through USB).  With Special I had limited options with Q1, able to go from 1 to 3 before distortion set in.  Three "seemed" best, but it wasn't that much better than Adaptive, and I generally liked the more relaxed Adaptive.  And THEN....Then I did something crazy.  I used the Q1Factor.  I could only set the multiple to 2; that didn't really do anything when Q1 was set to 1, and set to 3 there would be distortion.  HOWEVER!!! -- when both Q1Factor and Q1 were set to 2 (2x2=4), I would have expected distortion because I couldn't get Q1 alone to 4 without distortion.  This is not what happened.  What happened was nothing short of a sonic miracle that I have been giddy over for two weeks.  What happened was a new dimension in sound that made me listen to everything I have again and go "So, That's what it's supposed to sound like!"  I nearly cried as I listened to my test track for the first time using the Q1/ Q1Factor settings of 2/2.  There was a richness and naturalness and ....timbre, my God, the harmonics...I didn't even know they were there.  The only downside, which made me think for a little while that I was actually mistaking distortion for richness, is there was a muddiness compared to other settings.  I couldn't mess with my Clockres of 1ms (for my computer it is the highest I can go [WHY?], and 0.5ms destroys the rich sound), so I put SFS to 2 to brighten it.  Not much better, and a little harsher than I wanted.  Then, This week, I made the bold move to go to SFS of 430 (at 450 the sound does indeed start to collapse.  You guys are amazing in your observations)  For reasons I don't understand, SFS of 430 on these settings took the muddiness away and brought everything forward just right and natural, making everything clear for full volume listening.  It was just AMAZING! 

Now let me be clear.  Only KS:Special mode Q1-2, Q1Factor-2, was able to create this sound.  NOTHING came even close, and it was very easy to destroy the quality with ClockRes settings, or using other Q settings, or even other buffer sizes than my 256.  Also I use the Fidelizer program sometimes for other system audio (it's very good for overall tweaking!), but noticed when I did and then played XHE the magic was gone, as if Fidelizer had changed something important to the synergy I was getting.  I really wish I knew what was going on, because only this VERY specific setting creates this sound which I now consider the only true representation of my music and makes jPlay (and other XHE settings) sound like junk.  Have I found the perfect calibration for my DAC, the Matric mini-i through USB?  Or is there some other explanation?
Full disclosure: I use Sennheiser 580 headphones from my Mini-i DAC, so no speaker examples to go by.
Thanks for reading and I hope this proves insightful for somebody.  Peter, I'm sure you're going to be intrigued with the successful use of your new Q1Factor, especially in this unexpected way.