Well, I get the 'Device Allocated but cannot play, check your dac settings, sample rate etc' error.
I checked and changed a lot of settings, but only going from engine 4 to engine 3 solved the problem.

I would like to get engine 4 working again.

But while using engine 3 I was wondering if this engine is really (still) worse than engine 4. As it is now I can not A-B between them.

Today I decided to tackle XXHE to get it to play again.
For some reason I did not use it much and was still using z6.
This gave me the device not allocated error.
Luckily I found this this thread and installed z6-1c and played around.
After going back from engine 4 to 3 I got music again.
I wonder if it is the HiFace-drivers or XXHE is making problems?

On the other hand it sounds very good now even with simple settings, attended, services on,
that I wonder if engine 3 is still inferior to 4?
And if so in what way?
Because a lot has happened and I think Kernel Streaming is Passé for MS...

What can I try to get engine 4 working again?

I agree with all of you that Peter has done and still is doing a wonderfull job.

But what a strange thing to decide that everybody has to pay extra because some of you feel guilty for getting so much for so little!

If you feel you have to pay extra don't hold back or hide behind the rest. But don't force others to do that too!

The biggest part of your enjoyment is thanks to the NOS1 DAC, so maybe pay a little extra for that!

Peter no offence but you know how we Dutch are. 

Doe mij ook maar een paar.
Oh sorry english: Me too.

Same problem here, with Nordost unshielded cable I get some noise, RFI, hum through the gainclones, especially when the preamp is not ready for connection because the relay is open.
With shielded cables no problem and dead silent.
The pity is the Nordost sound more open.
Maybe A DIY-cable has to be made.

To get back to the Bybee..
On a quantum level I was thinking, if you look at the electrons moving in the direction of the cable, backwards and forwards, they can bump into other electrons and go in different directions like billiard balls. This will give some non-music related noise.
If it is possible to filter this out by only allowing electrons to pass if they go in the perfect direction which then is only the music and some basic noise it could be a (big?) enhancement.
If such a device exists it looks to me comparable to a polarizing filter for light. Only let the light through in one direction.
But how to do this for electonics?
Maybe a lot of very thin (nano)wires that can let through only one electron at a time?
Or is it just an other implementation of oxygen free copper with very large crystals or a carboncable a la van den Hull?

Very nice, a big improvement but at what cost?
I'm convinced the sound quality is depending on the weakest part in the link, but adding something can not remove the weakest part. I'm sure it sounds as a big improvement, but so oes changing my crossover in the speakers with just one part.
Reflections, resonances, EMF anything can happen and they are all on the electron level. So using the term Quantum mechanics sounds to me as marketing bullsh*t. And then making a big buck because it is so labor intensive ... If it is really something new then why not explain the details? They can put a patent and their money income is safe. But no, they like to hide in clouds of semi scientific blabla. Sorry just my feeling.
But if we proceed on this road we need more convincing scientific evidence. I don't say there is no difference, only I feel we are ripped of by mister Bybee.

Yes, Higher voltage with 4 ohm is a little waste of money, but I think the protection will keep it save. Or not?

Hi Nick,

I read in DIYaudio.com that the higher the suplly voltage the more dynamic they sound. Think Peter Daniels uses 2x22V -> 2x32V to get a relaxed comfortable sound but people who prefer more action can go till 2x28V -> 2x38V max. (trafo AC/ rectified DC). So that's a lot of batteries!
If it's working out big time then I'll try it too, but not for now!
(Already have a car battery for my single tube preamp, if I forget to turn it off and charge it the battery is dead....)

BTW, for midd/high I shorted the inputcap since there is one already in the speaker and the preamp. So only one resiator and the chip.

@Gerard: These are the ones I bought, but directly from China. It seems now they are in stock in the UK, so that makes it even more easy. http://www.ebay.nl/itm/LM3886-Hi-End-AMP-Amplifier-DIY-KIT-68W-component-SET-/260836152041?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_Amplifiers&hash=item3cbb0bd2e9

You could also try the Peter Daniels made gainclone, should even sound better but more euros, and not pre-built I think.
(See DIYaudio.com chipamps section)

Hi Quint,

Yes the're from ebay, including the powersupply which I did not use yet.
Just replaced the old Hypex amps with the new amplifierboard and connected the wires. Added a second one in the metal box and screwed it to the side for cooling. Really simple!

Later I'll put them in a small box on the back of the speakers to save a lot of space.
BTW. No hum at all.

Well I won't show such a beautifull amp, but the sound is amazing! I replaced my Hypex UCD180 and Stoetkit 300B with double chinese Gainclones and it is really an improvement!
Thanks for the tip!
It's like the music fits in the environment like a picture photoshopped into another picture without seeing where one starts and the other stops.

For information about TT's:
http://www.vinylengine.com/turntable_forum/index.php

I won't recommend my own TT because that way the prices only will go up.. (And I don't intend to sell it).
Be warned though, for a transfer to digital that will keep you happy when playing through XX/NOS1 you'll need to do some serious investments. If you go for the cheap ones all your music will have the same soundsignature and in the end that starts to annoy. But of course vinyl is a nice hobby on it's own with always room for improvement.

Yes, that's how I did it.
But maybe it's nice to try some alternatives and compare them.
I'm happy with the way it's now but if somebody can find an improvement then that would be nice too!
BTW, all speakers/amps are different so everyone is a little bit on his own. I tried thinner and thicker wire and they sounded different. Also it did not sound good with a too low number of wires. The combination I made is a bit based on intuition so ...

And then it would be best to connect directly to the woofer/tweeter. I did not do this because inside the speakers it's not so easy for the stiff wire, but maybe one day...

FWIW I think the plastic is responsible for the memoryeffect and colouration like a bad capacitor. (Even teflon does not give the best capacitors). The resonance gets less if the cable is stiff and when you twist some bare cables together they get more stiff.
It's good to hear the enamel does not alter the sound.
I did not try really bare wire since this is going to be oxidized to quickely!

Well, why not these ones:
http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/sblocks1e.html