XXHighEnd

Since the last 2 hours I have been listening with XX on RAMdisk; my impression of the SQ is that the top end has significantly improved, especially the cymbals. Overall sound is a bit laid back(less aggressive) which is good in my setup & less fatiguing to the ears.

Arvind

So, last night did setup RAMDISK on my W7. Did compare both - XX from HDD and XX from RAMDISK. Well, the latter is a bit aggressive, smoother, space is a bit more. Overall, it is good for me so far. Maybe will not go Vista/RAMDISK, because I think I might experience to much laid back sounding as Peter described. Will see.

Ivo

Will listen a lot more this week but indeed i am on the idear isn't it a bit too laid back....  :scratching:

If XX/Ramdisk sounds too laid back, you might want to lower your SFS by about a third. SFS changes are much more subtle, or they have less effect in Ramdisk, but, to my ears, its not (yet?) completely irrelevant. Overall, on my system, Ramdisk is as significant an improvement as the switch from wasapi to kernel streaming.

Ok thanx! I will try the SFS setting this week.

 :)

Here's another angle for you all to consider (especially if you find to much bass coming from Vista) :

Low Latency KS Special Mode -for me- has always been a mode where there's less "mess" in the music. So, apart from far (!) more resolution, everything is more separated. However, it will depend on your system what it can take for this low latency. Now :

My former system, which just was so so , couldn't bear too well with the low latency stuff; it would tick on track part boundaries, or otherwise wouldn't excel with more normal material. Now (more on par) it will;

Less messy, far more resolution (and crispy), better defined bass (hence less bassy), and in the end just far better.
I started out with 512 for the Device Buffer and 64 for Q1, but since no anomalies are to be heard from that I guess it can be (way) lower.
IOW, KS Adaptive Mode doesn't cut it anymore.

If your system is fast enough (but keep in mind : Vista/RAMDisk), listen to two tracks of an album with your "used to" Adaptive Mode, and for the third track switch to Special Mode; You won't recognize that album anymore ...

Just my findings, so far. :)
Peter

For me, 'Adaptive' still rules (with device buffer set to 1024 and Q1=1). Special does sound more resolving, but sounds too thin here on my system.

Right now, I don't want to change a thing...

Mani.

Welcome to the wonderful auditory world of low samples KS Special mode :)

I've been using 2 samples for quite some time now. Most of the time I could stick with 1, but ocassionally I would get a glitch so I've raised it to 2. I'm also only using 2X AP resample. CPU useage for the engine averages at about 30% with 2 samples.

Using a Ramdisk has brought a noticeable improvement to the transient response and clarity, especially the percussion side, and I would like to thank you guys that had the epiphany.

Cheers,

Russ

going from w7 to Vista/ramdisk was improvement, bit very small one compared to what I have now, you wouldn't believe. I'll be back later, work...

This afternoon I played Klaus Schultz's "Mental Door" track from his Picture Music album, and it is the first time I can truly say it sounded as I remember when I first heard it in my youth 35 years ago. Back then my hearing was a lot better, and I recall the cymbals and triangle's being very distinct. Well they did the same today :) Beginning at around the 9:00 minute mark through to 17:30, this percussion work is most prominent around the 12:50 mark. The clarity is very intoxicating! This track was eerily surround sound in nature, even though it is only stereo. I'm sure there is some phasing trickery employed by Klaus to give that illusion, and hasn't been very noticeable until today.

For those that have the album, give it a spin again.

Cheers,

Russ

That was something i nodiced right away and don't like. But SM is a no go here. Maybe it will with the new DAC.

 :)