It would be funny to put you all a real face (down with the myths!) and so you could see my grey in person

Juan

Yes, Q5=5 seems smoother than Q5=3 but just a few observations:

- The bass, mostly the upper bass, seems to have less definition than with Q5=3

- The voices are a little backward with respect to Q5=3

- The soundstage is wider, I´d say super wide, in a way that sometimes reminds me of when it is out of phase

As a general observation there is a slightly different placement of sounds, and I wonder if that is what produce the sense of smoothness.

Best regards,
Juan

I have some SACD ISO files and I´d like to know how can be played by XXHighEnd without having to burn it previously to a CD or DVD.

Best regards,
Juan

Great post Alain, and thanks so much for sharing your findings, I´m sure you can hear more of you say and you say many useful things. Reading your post I remembered that I had in some place the Aqvox that I used some time ago, I´ll look for it to see if I can use it again. About Teddy Pardo I took a look to his power supplies and they look very interesting. Please let us know your experience with the Teddy Pardo when you have some more time with it.

Kind regards,
Juan

As I get more time listening it seems more evident that the sound is clearer and the details can be better perceived with C1E and E1ST disabled. I think it's a step forward but I´m not sure if at the long run this sound so clean can tire the ear.

Best regards,
Juan

A quick test tells me that the sound seems a bit clearer with C1E and E1ST disabled but it it hard to tell the differences having to reboot and enter in the Bios to make the changes, it takes time enough to make difficult to retain in the memory the differences. In any case they are subtle differences but this is what this business is about...

Regards,
Juan

Ok I get it. It is under Intel PPM Configuration in the Advanced tab. And yes it is Intel (R) SpeedStep (TM) Tech and Intel (R) C-State Tech. I´ll report about SQ changes. Thanks Nick.

Juan

I can´t find E1ST in my Sabertooth Bios, could be instead Intel (R) SpeedStep (TM) Tech?

Regards,
Juan

Hi Joachim,

Take a look here: http://www.phasure.com/index.php?topic=2629.0

Regards,
Juan

Ok, I will think back on all of this with ease, now I'm away from home for a few days and when I return I will do some tests about the booting disk.

Anyway Peter, as far as I understand, you have a configuration with all the hard drives outside the PC, regardless of any hardware/software special that you have (?), I would like to know what is the goal you pursue with this configuration.
What I can imagine is that the less work the PC power supply the less electric contamination and the better the SQ. For example, if the OS and XXHE are in an external drive with an eSATA connection with a separate power supply connected to a power conditioner, I guess that it would avoid some contamination of the electrical connection (although all contaminates, including the power conditioner). If at the same time the other disks, the Playback Drive and the disc with music, are on one external dock with only a single power supply (also connected to the power conditioner) I imagine it would be better, even the Playback Drive also could be placed in memory (ImDisk) .. . In summary, the key is if we take the hard drive with the OS/XXHE outside the PC or not (and the other hdd) and if we take it out what are the advantages and disadvantages.

Regards,
Juan

Hi Alain,

I can find the dock for only 90€, that web site was only for information. About vibrations yes you are right but the fans can be shut off. The case carries both eSata and USB 3.0. The power supply?, well that is still something to solve in a better way but the individual cases have also one each.

Could you tell me please about my question if the OS could be in one of those hdd placed in the dock?.

Best regards,
Juan

While I wait for my upgraded NOS1 (thanks, Peter) I´m thinking about how to configure my hdds in an external way. The advantage would be, compared to an external USB hub and several external hdds with its own cases, to have only one power supply and only one USB 3.0 cable. I have some doubts and maybe someone could help on this regard.

I´m considering a dock station for four hdd like this one:

http://www.startech.com/HDD/Docking/4-Bay-eSATA-USB-3-to-SATA-Hard-Drive-Docking-Station-for-25-35-HDD~SATDOCK4U3E.

This dock station can be connected to the Music PC through one USB 3.0 or eSata port and it can deal with all the four hdds at the same time, so I could have there one hdd with the OS and XXHE, one hdd as Playback Drive and two hdd with music that I could change whenever I´d want. What I don´t know is if would be possible to have the hdd with the OS in the dock together with all the other drives or if this hdd with the OS have to go to other different port like one eSata port (or USB 3.0) in the motherboard.

Best regards,
Juan

Me too, triple blade, and SQ (Shaving Quality) is sharp and smooth 

Juan

This upgrade has killed the itch momentarily while I wait my turn to update the NOS1 

Thanks Nick.

Juan

Is it really a coincidence, but while I'm away from home for a few days, the power company has changed cables throughout the building where I live to follow the rules of the European Community that requires a change every 10 years. Changed cables are the common ones to the entire apartment building, from the taking of the street to the entrance to each home, including grounding. Changed cables are thicker and have a better insulation than the previous ones. So I'm looking forward to coming home to see if I have as much luck as Nick.

Juan