Yep, that'll do it, I'm sure. I've recently gotten into the habit of listening to music (streamed wirelessly to my iPhone with cheap headphones) early in the morning on weekends, while I'm still in bed. I just enjoy these short 15-20 minute sessions so much. Nothing to do with SQ whatsoever, but everything to do with my relaxed state of mind, I suspect.


Hi Bert,

Do you find XX unstable? I've had absolutely no problems whatsoever... apart from the ticks at the beginning of tracks. As for usability, I think XX is actually OK. I mean, compared to something like RME's TotalMix software, XX is a walk in the park. But I can imagine how daunting it must be for someone who's not used to it.

€1300 for a mobo and processor is a lot, of course. But if it leads to a dramatic improvement in SQ, I'll be signing up for one.

Mani.

I want an exclusivity clause for my 'white sheep'.

Mani.

So let me get this straight - my two Zalman TNN300 PCs with top notch components are defunct already? You know, I think this hobby is faster-paced than something like Formula One! And probably just as expensive, relatively speaking.

Anyway, I'm sitting in my office right now listening to the NOS1 connected directly to my old Rotel RHB-10 power amp feeding a pair of 'small' Quad 2805 speakers - while my main room is being finished off. I'm getting a very, very nice sound indeed (with Peter's latest settings). My usual 'criticism' remains though - totally gorgeous bass, but just not enough of it! I'm not sure how I could improve the rest of the sound...

Just for fun, I attach a photo of how out of place the 'standard' NOS1 looks in my office. But I should be getting a brand new, 'off-white' coloured NOS1 for my office system... just as soon as Peter stops taking computer audio to even higher levels. I know, some people just have their priorities all wrong.

Mani.

Happy to wait. Very interested in hearing about your findings.

Meanwhile, my new hifi mains circuit should be coming online this weekend. It's fed right from the mains inlet to the house, is isolated from the inlet with a 15KVA (yes, 15000VA) triple-shielded isolation transformer and has a dedicated ionic grounding system (<5 Ohms impedance). All components will be 'star grounded' to maintain virtually zero potential difference between them. At a total cost of around €7000 (parts + installation), it had better be an improvement over a straight PP2000! I'll let you know...

Mani.

Hi Pedal,

I've actually tried all sorts of combinations, including running my PC from the PP2000. But right now, I have the NOS1 and my power amp connected to the PP2000 (no preamp). I'll experiment more with different combinations once my dedicated mains circuit is completed (hopefully soon, but I've said that many times before).

I just can't help wondering whether some of the issues that we're trying to solve (e.g. a 'forward' sound) are actually problems induced by our mains electricity supplies. But this really is a whole 'can of worms' - no one seems to have any idea on how the mains electricity affects sound. It seems that a perfect sinewave is not sufficient for good sound. Some people have suggested that even snow on the ground (and/or on overhead power cables) seems to improve the sound. Because of temperature? Because an electromagnetic wave is passing through a crystalline structure? Who knows...

But there really does seem to be something weird going on with electricity...

Mani.

Further to my latest post in the PurePower thread: http://www.phasure.com/index.php?topic=1445.msg16281;topicseen#msg16281, I've had a few thoughts about Special vs. Adaptive.

I have a question though: Is Special acting as some kind of 'filter', filtering out the 'edginess' from the sound? I ask this because my PP2000 unit in battery mode seems to be having a very similar affect on the sound. Could it therefore be possible that with Special, we are actually losing resolution? When in fact the root cause of the problem may be something else, e.g. mains supply?

Mani.

UPDATE

I've had my PP2000 for around 4 months, so I thought I'd post my findings to date.

Hmmmm... I'm not sure if I can fully recommend this product.

Although I haven't really tested the direct wall mains AC vs. the PP2000 regenerated AC (I've been waiting for my dedicated mains supply to be installed first), I have compared (quite extensively) the regenerated AC vs. the battery AC. What really, really bothers me is that there is a big difference in sound between these two. And it's not totally obvious which sounds better... it depends.

For example, I've been listening to Special vs. Adaptive in 0.9z-4-1. Now to my ears, Special sounds 'drier' and more 'wooden', Adaptive 'wetter' and more 'metallic'. However, my overall preference very much depends on which mode the PP2000 is set to. If it's in regenerated AC mode, then I prefer Special. If it's in battery mode, then I prefer Adaptive.

What really cheeses me off about the PP2000 is that there is a difference at all between the two modes. PurePower claims that there isn't. But there obviously is! And hence why I can't fully recommend this product.

Mani.

Well, after a short spell with Mixed, I'm back to Straight Contiguous. Mixed is very easy on the ear but there is a loss of 'focus' (a bit like using RAMDisk). Straight Contiguous brings this focus back and the bass becomes more tuneful - but as before, I end up just wanting more of this beautiful bass (with Mixed, I have no desire for extra bass).

SFS=500 in both cases.

Mani.

PS. I haven't tried MC... should I?

I just wanted to clarify that I'm posting on my laptop, and certainly not playing XX on my laptop!

[Remainder of post deleted]

Mani.

OK, I'm sitting writing with my laptop and 0.9z-4-1 playing in the background on my main system. I've literally just heard one track, but I listened to the same track with 0.9z-4-0 just beforehand. I'm using the parameters in Peter's signature for 0.9z-4-0 (i.e. Special, etc), and the identical parameters with 0.9z-4-1, but with SFS=500 and Mixed. All services are off, except LAN, which I need as I use a NAS (which I still like, even though some here don't)... and of course, no RAMDisk.

The difference here is night and day, with 0.9z-4-1 being very much superior. (Of course, 0.9z-4-0 would certainly sound better with RAMDisk, but I can't be bothered to reinstall RAMDisk, and in any case, I doubt it would come close to 0.9z-4-1.) I agree with most of the comments that have already been written in this thread relating to SQ. I will post again with my thoughts on what I would like more/less of. But right now, I'm finding it difficult to identify anything that I would change.






I totally concur.

Mani.

It's interesting, although the sound of the NOS1 has undoubtedly changed in the last couple of months, my sentiments towards it remain pretty much the same.

I think it has become slightly more mellow and perhaps more rounded. However, it's overall sonic character remains: ultra, ultra detailed sound... but one that seems so utterly 'correct'. One thing I'm appreciating more is the sheer quality of its mid-range, but perhaps this has more to do with my new speakers burning-in than the NOS1 burning-in.

I recognise Gerard's comment about becoming accustomed to the sound, almost taking it for granted. However, one thing that still amazes me is the 3-dimensionality of the sound - I hear things coming from way, way back behind the speakers. I've just never heard this from any other source before.

My one gripe? The bass is sooooooo beautiful and tuneful. I just want more of it... lot's more of it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not criticising the NOS1 here - I think it's tonal balance is correct and accurate. But I don't care. I want more of this gorgeous bass. I want to be totally bathed in it. But alas, my speakers don't have crossovers, and I will never partake in EQ of any sorts.

In any event, the ultimate accolade must be that I've ordered a second NOS1 for my office system. Look, I'm certainly no millionaire, but I sure know a bargain when I see one.

Mani.

Hi All,

Unfortunately, I can't share in the fun of evaluating 0.9z-4-1... well not for another few days at least. I'm really looking forward to doing so though.

But Peter must be one of the most non-commercially minded people in the whole of the audio industry. I mean, who on Earth alienates more and more potential customers by increasing the complexity of a product with each iteration? Of course, we all know why Peter does this - the pursuit of better sound. And I for one am so glad that he does.

However, I think the time is nigh where XX should be shared with the masses. The idea here would be to take out all the 'geeky' elements of XX and permanently set the multitude of current parameters to some 'best practice' settings. Also, perhaps work on the GUI to make it ultra easy to use.

If XXLite were to sound even half as good as XXFull, I think it could be a great success...

Mani.

Yep: http://www.ocztechnology.com/ocz-vertex-2-sata-ii-3-5-ssd.html (although mine are housed in the 'discontinued' case).


I don't have any specific software to do this. However, my Windows Index score is 7.2. Looks OK to me, though I doubt it indicates 34/32nm vs. 25nm....

Mani.

I use a Vertex2 90GB drive in each of my two 'music servers'. But these are 3.5" SSDs, not 2.5" ones. Does anyone know if there is a potential issue with these 3.5" drives?

Also, how would I know whether these drives are the 34/32nm or 25nm variety without openning them up? Is it just a case of looking at the formatted capacity? Well, mine are 83.8GB. Does this indicate which variety they are?

Any help most appreciated.

Cheers,
Mani.

Having lived with Peter's settings for a while, I'm now back to pretty much where I started. Ultimately I really missed the dynamics of Adaptive. SC and SFS=100 give me a pretty nice smooth sound.

Mani.