I hate it too when these things happen... I am always afraid of burning something...

I think it comes with the Explorer7 to W8... Not heard when in Minimize OS, but heard in Normal OS mode. I had the surprise too, but my volume was low when it occurred...

Alain

Well, up to now, no more MUTE nor STOP, even at SFS 2, Q1 = 30, Q1x = 3 (could be at 2, even at 1), Device Buffer Size = 512, unattended and MINIMIZE OS.

While requiring to increase the Q1 (at least), the Device Buffer Size seems to be sensitive about these STOPs...

I obviously can't say that there will not be STOPs anymore, but to say the least, they have reduced a lot.

Hope this helps

Alain

I am actually in MINIMIZE OS...

I can have the music play at Q1 = 30, Q1x at 5 and Device Buffer Size at 64... But to be on the safe side, a Device Buffer Size of 128 or 256 would be a minimum (for me)...

I never did that kind of testing in W7, I always adjusted my Device Buffer Size at 4096, played with Q1 between 6 and 30, and leaving Q1x at 1...

Maybe it was time for me to try different adjustements... ? But no STOP yet with the Device Buffer Size much lower than I would have expected...

Is it possible that Windows 8 Audio has such a different architecture that it explains how I can have these results ?

But I repeat: no STOP yet. My SFS is at 60 and I have tried unattended. This of course, with my dac. It could be different for the NOS1 and the latency adjustements that it allows ?

The more I reduce the SFS, the more I have to increase the Device Buffer Size.

I have yet to understand where the Q1 goes in... I can understand that Q1 (and Q1x) helps reduce the Device Buffer Size, but the SFS also has its importance with the Device Buffer Size...

But definitely, in MINIMIZE OS, unattended, all works fine - at least with 3 average songs that were muting while in NORMAL OS mode, attended, with my "usual" adjustments (Q1 = 14, Device Buffer Size = 4096 - sometimes at 3072, SFS = 430).

For me finally, increasing the Q1 and Q1x, reducing the Device Buffer Size has put an end to these MUTES and/or STOPS...

Alain
PS: Now I am trying the same with an SFS = 2 with a 23 minutes song...

Yes, that's what I think too. In my case, it seems more related to a bad Device Size Buffer adjustment...

I tried Q1 = 48 with a Q1x of 3, plus a Device Size Buffer of 256... It's the first time I do this... The first time it works too, without any message...

Now I will test with MINIMIZE OS just to see the difference in behavior...

Alain

Peter,

I don't use PA...

While I understand what you mean (more processes active in NORMAL OS), these stops were also occuring in MINIMIZE OS, but less frequently. I was using an SFS of 430 then. And the behavior was different, since then it was stopping instead of simply muting...

What I like to do when something like this happens is to use the minimal adjustements as possible just to see how it behaves (I am not talking about the SQ of course). So for the moment, no PA, nor Xtweaks (we can't use Xtweaks anyway in NORMAL OS mode).

Alain

It is quite possible that the Xtweaks are to be pointed for some stops, but as of now, I haven't used them yet... Yet I did experience these stops.

On my side, after experimenting a little, it seems that the Device Buffer Size has to be reduced to put an end to those stops...

As for the Q1 adjustments, while I was able to play music at reduces Q1 adjustments (= 3 for instance), now it has trouble working at = 6, but I guess that the reduced Device Buffer Size interaction with this can explain it.

I also tried Q1 = 30, Device Buffer Size = 1024 and it works fine. But at 4096 there will be stops... (for me).

Alain
EDIT: I should have written "MUTE" instead of "STOP", since it was coming back after a few seconds...

Hi Peter,

Since I came back in Normal OS mode, with reduced SFS (60), playing between 5 and 15ms, with 4096 Device buffer size, I have been experiencing intermittent stops. The sound goes away, then comes back (no hiccups, but it simply mutes for a few seconds). At some point, it muted but did not come back.

All this is in Attended mode.

I have been reducing the Q1 slider but it was hopping. Then I reduced the Buffer to 1024 and increased the Q1 to 20... It seems to behave more regularly... The 2-3 stops that I had for the 3 inline songs (averaging between 3-5 minutes) did not occur.

But this has to be taken with some precautions, since I still have my 24/192 dac, plus a USB > SPDIF converter...

I have yet to experiment more...

"Your mileage may vary"...

Alain

Hi Peter,

Just to be sure I understand...
- Normal OS
- Stop Desktop Services = yes
- Stop Remaining Services = no
- Lower SFS
- Lower Q1 and Q1 factor

I got it right ?

Alain

Hi Mani,

I should have added that this "was" how I felt the first times I listened to W8, right after listening to W7... The image I expressed - well, I was ashamed of it after - but now that I am taking some distance with W7, I don't know anymore...

I would not worry about this, since I can see that you have quite a better grasp about audio related situations than I

Alain
 

I would have if I was sure of my aptitude to detect differences that could lead to an understanding of the differences we hear compared to W7... At this point though, I could be misleading...

...And waiting for my NOS1 that should arrive soon Monday or Tuesday Don't forget about what I ask in my last PM

Alain

Peter,

This could sound weird, but has someone tried this with one of the speakers in inverted phase ?

 

Alain

I don't know if it is of importance, but with the Explorer7 (in W8), using RDC through wired network, a little melody plays for a 2 seconds as soon as I log in ? This with internal soundcard disabled... I did not realize this before, since I generally disable the System Volume (mute).

I tried the Windows System Volume, but it does not work, neither in WASAPI nor in KS mode...

Alain

Hi Peter,

No horns here. I leave this to the cavalry

My first feelings about the sound as I recall (compared to W7) was that it sounded "sharper". And while W7 seemed at first more coherent, I also noticed that the sound seemed to come more from the speakers than usual...

As if there was some kind of "inverted differential" mechanism trimming a part of the "common sounds" from the 2 channels.... Just an image of course...

Alain

Edit: As for the updates, I let Windows do its stuff. I installed it right from its arrival at the end of October (when it was officialy launched). While I agree that it could be best not to do so (the security issues would not be needed for those who do not directly connect to the Internet), my thought was that as a "new" version, maybe there could be early bugs that were corrected... I understand that this logic of mine was more driven by "let it be so" instead of "no way"...

Another hint that tells if XXHE is activated: the title "XXHighEnd " with its version (top left corner) will be displayed in blue if not activated and in red when correctly activated.

Hope this help

Alain

Hi Joachim.

Does this remove the Metro UI layer from the system ? I think that the explorer 7 shell is about that... ? Not that it is so annoying, but it was altering SQ...

Alain