I cross my fingers but so far I´m free from cracks, ticks or plops when I play with Allow Phase Alignment ON with and without the Playback Drive at Attended or Unattended.
The only ticks I have are the ones when I change the volume up or down but those seems to be clear for Peter and he´s going to fix them up.
About the stalls when I play without the Playback Drive I still  have it.

How I got there?, updating my drivers with a little program called Max Drive, it is very simple to use and you can backup or return to the previous drivers very easily. I paid 10€ for one month of use and I can use it in all the computers I have, in fact you can use it in 20 pcs.

I don´t know what is/are the drivers that fixed it up so I print here the screens with the drivers I installed and you can try them to see what happens in your case. There are two drivers that don´t work, the Realtek PCI GBE Family Controller that shoot off my Internet connection and the Renesas Electronics USB 3.0 Host Controller that is a different version than the one that works correctly: the Renesas USB 3.0 Driver 2.0.34.0. So don´t install those two drivers or at least not the Renesas 2.1.36.0

I tested it with different albums and settings and so far so good.

Here is the link to Driver Max: http://www.innovative-sol.com/drivermax/
There is a free version but can install only two drivers/day.

I hope it helps,
Juan
 

Sorry, the crack is there again, I thought that restarting XX it was disappeared but not.

Juan

Thank you Paul, good luck!

Juan

Ok, I was just trying to see differences in SQ.


That happens with this settings: SFS60 an Q1:14 and Qx:32.

I play always as Unattended and if I play a track sometimes , not always, there is crack a little inside the track (a couple of seconds inside) not like before with the other settings (Q1:14, Qx:1, SFS:2) that the crack was at the same time when the track start.
But if I restart XX the crack is never there. Remember this is at SFS60 an Q1:14 and Qx:32.


Juan

Hi Peter,

I looked for my maximum net buffer size and I found that it is at SFS=60 and DBS=4096: Q1:14 and Qx:32

The sound is great also but the delay is big. Now, as you said to phantomax, I have to work the way back but I don´t understand well if I have to downsize the Qx factor or the SFS or both.

I observed that if I restart XX there is no crash at the start of the sound, otherwise the crack is there the same way as it is when I use Q1:14, Qx:1 and SFS:2.0

Juan
 
PS:

-Qx can´t be set at 2, it is impossible, it jumps between 1 and 3.

-The XX screen reappears as minimized when I use Alt+X, that happens once in a while, not always.

Thanks Peter,
I´m going to continue the work with my cracks and ticks. Yesterday night I installed a program called Driver Max to update the drivers, I updated 18 of them, I did it in my working Pc and now I noticed an improvement, it works now faster and smoother. I don´t think that it updated the mb drivers but I´m not sure, I only got one problem with one of the drivers but the Driver Max can reverse it to the previous driver very easily. I´ll try it in the Music Pc before I install the BT dongles, maybe I fix something about my cracks.

Best regards, Juan

Today I´m going to try the BT dongles in a 10.1" laptop, a HP Mini, that I´m going to use as remote, maybe later if that´s not comfortable enough I´ll get a tablet, still I don´t know which one  . You are the first ones I know that are working so far with RDC, besides Peter of course, would you give me a tip or some recommendation before I start with the installation to save me some problems?. With a laptop as remote I don´t need the intermediate pc, right?.


Would you please update your signatures with the complete data?. I´m following you both to know what you are doing with 09z-07  :

Mani, what is you IPhase setting, is it active? and (+/-)?, if nothing, sorry you are right, and your USB Buffer Size in the Phasure Control Panel, is it 4ms or 8ms?

Paul, you have still the old settings, maybe you are waiting to get the definitive ones...


Best regards,
Juan

Sure!, I´ll wait the time you need to solve it, I rather to wait than to start installing mb drivers without knowing if that is going to fix it up. Besides, the sound is great if I forget the crack.


Sorry but no, I have not the clue about the plops. It was not too loud and it wasn´t happening ALL the times when I used Alt+S. What I did lately was to install the Realtek driver that the Device Manager said it was uninstalled and to enable something called X.M.P. (eXtreme Memory Profile) in the Bios, that optimizes the memory frequency (before 1066Mhz, now 1600Mhz), I have no idea if it has anything to do with it. Before at some moment I set up the bios with the default settings. So at the end I´m not sure what could have fixed the plops and not sure either if that it is not going to happen again. If I get more information in the next days about the cracks or plops I´ll let you know.

Hey, thanks for your words of encouragement.

Best regards,
Juan

Thanks Peter,

I haven´t updated the mb drivers yet. In fact I've never done the update because of the potential hazards and the possibility of damaging the mb. If someone knows how to do it without danger please let me know.
On the other hand, I don´t even remember now how to install the Phasure drivers, I´m getting old (that´s a fact)...ok, if I have to do it I´ll do it, but first I have to investigate about the mb drivers, as I say any help on this regard is welcome.
My mb is an Asus X58 Sabertooth. http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1366/SABERTOOTH_X58/#overview


Ok, now let me summarize about the cracks, ticks and plops. 

With Playback Drive:

- Crack at start of the sound, a few seconds after I hit play. Only one time, I mean when the first track starts not in the following tracks.

- Ticks at the moment I change up or down the volume. (Ok, no worries about it).

- No more plops at the end

- No stalls (stops). The music flows until the end of the Play lists.

- No other ticks in any place while music is playing.


Without Playback Drive:

Exactly the same as with the Playback Drive but also the music stalls (stops). Sometimes a few seconds after the start, sometimes after a few minutes (4 minutes or so).


I´d like to add something about the SQ now that I´m changing between Playback Driver and playing directly from the Music drive. Sometimes I have the feeling that the sound is better without Playback Drive. Also, at low volume level the sound seems to be more subtle and detailed.
Well, once in a while I need to enjoy the sound, not all is about cracks, ticks and plops. 

Best regards,
Juan

Here are some considerations to take into account that I learned, still learning, since the 09z-07 has been released. It took me some time to get it all together, even now I´m not sure if all is ok but I summarize it here. I hope that could be of some help for others, save time and avoid hassels. It has nothing to do with the specific settings "inside" XXHighEnd for better sound etc., just some preliminary considerations:


- Use all the time the Playback Drive. That is not mandatory but using it avoids the difference in sound, if any, between FLAC and WAV files. It seems that also avoids some glitches.


- Format the drives differently depending what you are going to use them for. Read first: Block size in A Guide to Glitchless Playback http://www.phasure.com/index.php?topic=2029.0

  1- The Playback Drive: must be formatted (must have the system files as exFAT) following the steps showed in How to let XXHighEnd format a Volume (more advanced) http://www.phasure.com/index.php?topic=2086.0.

or step by step:

a)- Write cmd.exe in the Start menu and then create a shortcut for it on the desktop, go into Properties and set 'run as Administrator'. (Thanks Mani).

b)- In the Control Panel look for Folder Options and make visible all the hidden files and folders.

c)- Go to the drive you are going to use as Playback Drive and open it. There you´ll see one or two of the folders mentioned in How to let XXHighEnd format a Volume (more advanced). In the System Volume Information folder right click and go to Properties > Security > Permissions > Change Permissions > click in "Include Inheritable Permissions..."

d)- Open XXhighEnd and set the PlaybackDrive/Folder where you have the drive you are going to use as Playback Drive, before it name that drive as PlaybackDrive (name without spaces) and put a folder inside the drive and call it as you want (e.g. Folder). Now XX is ready to use that drive as Playback Drive.


  2- Format the Music drive/s as NTFS with block size of 64kb. Right click in the drive > Format > NTFS, 64kb.


Finally (so far) and although perhaps not exclusively related to 09z-07, a Peter advise of general application:

- Do not rip directly your music in the Music drive. Copy to the Music drive the files and let them stay there, don´t erase them.

I hope it helps,
Juan


PS. If anyone wants to add something more it is welcome. If any of this considerations is wrong please correct it. As I said I´m still and always learning.

I use WAV files most of the time, makes no difference on regards to the crack (ticks or plops or whatever we want to call that noise)

I saw in the Device Manager that I need the Realtek driver for some "unknown" device. I updated the drivers and it seems that now the crack is less pronounced, in fact a couple of times there wasn´t any crack at all at the start of the first track.


Well, I was playing all the time without Playback Drive and had that problems with the cracks but also the music stopped after 4 or 5 minutes. With the Playback Drive I can avoid the stops but not the cracks.

It has been tiring, for you and for the other people who are reading this, sorry. I´m going to try other settings and if I can´t solve it or find that the sound is not good I´ll be back to see if we can find a solution.

Regards, Juan

Sorry, I wanted to say SFS: 50ms

Btw, I deactivated the Playback Drive cache and the cracks are still there, much longer time also to write the playlist.

I´ll try other combinations of Q1 x Q1 Factor e.g. 7 x 2

Regards, Juan

I have the "crack" after I hit Play at the moment the first track starts to sound, once the image has disappeared from the monitor. However no more zumbs when I stop the music (maybe the Garbage Collection On fixed it up).

Sorry if I asked before but what´s "net buffer size", the Device Buffer Size or the USB Buffer Size in the Phasure NOS Control Panel?.
With the Device Buffer Size at e.g. 50ms the crack at the start is much less pronounced.


About your latter post: "Also: someone/something..." I´d like to add something also but I can´t, better I´ll wait to someone else find out what causes or eliminates what, so you can make the solution for it and let me know. 

Regards,
Juan

Thanks Peter, I had the Garbage Collection Off but with it On the ticks are a little less louder.

Thanks boleary, yes you are right with higher NOS Device buffer size I have less ticks but I like the sound with 2ms and I want to investigate further to see if I can avoid those ticks

Regards, Juan

PS. I´ve seen while writing this post that the new drivers for the dongles are ready. Too much work, but welcome anyway   

After reading the Block Buster
After I formatted my drives, the way it is explained in the Block Buster section of A Guide to Glitchless Playback, (thanks Peter), and using all the time the PlaybackDrive and Allow Phase Alig. On/ Phase Intensity=1/IPhase On/(+), I´m listening again music. I´m still hearing the ticks in the following situations:

- At the start of the album,only before the first track, quite big tick/ticks.

- When I change volume with Alt+U or Alt+D after a few seconds, smaller ticks than before.

- When I stops the music with Alt+S, I hear a small zump.

Regards,
Juan