Careful here guys.

You can have a 24/96 or a 24/176.4 that has the HDCD flag in it. Of course, such files will not use any of the HDCD processes like 'Peak Extend', but the HDCD flag can still be there.

Is it then legitimate to call it a '24/96 HDCD' or '24/176.4 HDCD'? I don't know and I really don't have a strong view on this. But one thing I do know is that if the HDCD flag is there on the HDTracks 24/96, then it has definitely been created using an HDCD encoder - there is absolutely no other way of imbedding the HDCD flag. Of course, the file could have been created by downsampling from 24/176.4, digitizing directly from analogue at 24/96... or upsampling from 16/44.1. If I had to guess, I'd say that it's probably been downsampled from 24/176.4. If it has the HDCD flag, then this would have been done 'properly' with an HDCD encoder.

Mani.

Of course, everything plays at half-speed!!!

OK, false alarm.

EDIT: Setting the 'DAC is...' to 32 bit 768 and reducing the upsampling to OAP also gives half-speed playback. Peter, is there a bug in the SW with the DAC set to 32 bit 768? If so, is there a possibility that we could get 16x AP to work?

Mani.

WHAT'S GOING ON HERE???

I can get the NOS1 to play at 16x Arc Prediction! I just had to reduce the SFS right down. Peter, I thought the interface wasn't supposed to handle this.

I've only played a 30 sec track thus far but will continue to experiment and report back findings of Octo vs. 16x AP.

Mani.

PS. What's the prefix for 16x?

I've just tried this and indeed native DXD tracks from 2L definitely play at half speed with 0.9z-3... so I won't have to eat my hat

Would be nice to get this sorted in 0.9z-4.

Mani.

Yes, I've tried it. If this is the correct speed, I will eat my hat. Actually, it will be easy to check - I think 2NL have the same Beethoven track at lower res.

Mani

Peter, I'm assuming this is an easy fix, no? I know there are only a handful of native DXD tracks around, but from a marketing point of view, I think it would be good if the the NOS1 could play them back correctly.

And as Telstar intimated in quoted post, they should sound spectacular through the NOS1.

Mani.

Here are my first thoughts on comparing the NOS1 with the Model Two:

I’ve mentioned before that the NOS1 is like taking an x-ray of the music. It is so crystal clear and pure. And yet it is so easy to listen to. It is exciting and yet relaxing at the same time. I’ve never been too bothered about imaging, but I’ll just mention that imaging with the NOS1 is super, super sharp. I think people for whom imaging is a big deal would love this aspect of the NOS1.

In contrast, the Model Two is more full-bodied. It gives the impression of richer harmonic content. What’s interesting (for me) is that it seems to retain much of the NOS1’s detail but loses some of its super sharpness. It’s quite a nice balance. The bottom end is more pronounced and weightier – but then perhaps a little less tuneful.

At this point, it is a hard one to call. My wife actually prefers the Model Two, and I can totally understand why. It is so musically engaging. It just sounds so nice. Is this down to extra distortion? I don’t know. But if it is, then it’s nice distortion that is adding rather than subtracting from the listening experience.

If I had to guess, I’d say that the NOS1 is more accurate. But it sounds a bit thin in comparison. If this sound ‘fleshes out’ a little over time, I think it will be very, very good indeed.

Mani.

Thanks Peter.

As is often the case, in the heat of fixing a major issue, I totally forgot about one of the basics. I'm using KS Adaptive set to 2048 samples... but totally forgot to set the soundcard to the same - it's been on 256 all this time. Anyway, setting it to 2048 has improved things a lot.

I'm really not sure how any aspect of the sound could be further improved now. Don't tell her, but I'm looking forward to my wife, Satty, returning from work - she hasn't heard the NOS1 yet and I want to see her reaction when she hears one of her favourite tunes through it.

I realise that it must seem strange for many people visiting this forum to hear some of us 'wax lyrical' about the NOS1. If so, I'd ask you to just bear with us. The last thing we want to do is to come across as a bunch of sychophants... But it's not everyday that you have the pleasure of listening to a piece of kit that you know is a game-changer. And IMO, that's exactly what the NOS1 is.

Mani.

Well, I'm getting glitch-free playback now. So, I tried the NOS1 directly into my amp. With the low efficiency of my Quads (I had a brand new pair of the larger 2905s delivered only yesterday) and the low output of the NOS1, I can play most things at 0dB attenuation quite comfortably.

This is simply the purest sound I have heard in my system. X-ray detail, and yet at the same time smooth. And all this from 16/44.1 redbook material!!!

I'm still looking for a bit more warmth though - I'm used to hearing more body from instruments and voices. I'm sure this will come with time as the NOS1 and Quads settle down.

This evening, I will begin a formal comparison between the NOS1 (with OAP) and my PM Model Two (with QAP). But I think to do both DACs justice, this comparison will need to extend over many weeks.


Eric told a lovely story. For now, I'd just like to second his quote.

Mani.

Thanks Leo, thanks Gerard.

I'm almost there now. After a BIOS update and a few BIOS tweaks, I haven't had a 'major' issue for >2 hours of listening. But I don't think the issue is fully resolved yet - I still get the odd 'distorted sound' when I begin playback (a bit like taking latency too low with Special). And although I've had no freezes for a while, until I know the issue is fully resolved, my preamp will remain in place.

But I have to say that the sound from the NOS1 is really, really nice. There is no doubt in my mind that I'm hearing the best digital (or any?) sound I've ever heard in my system. I haven't done any detailed comparisons with my PM Model Two yet, but I can't remember hearing this level of 'realism' from the Model Two. This is not really a criticism of the Model Two - because it only has AES inputs, it is totally dependent on the quality of the AES interface that feeds it. I have some emails from people who have heard the Model Two with the Mykerinos card and who say that it is easily the best digital sound they have ever heard. And some of these people have heard pretty much everything available. Haha... but not the NOS1!

Although these are early days, I'm happy to say that I cannot imagine anything bettering the NOS1. It is simply superb. My only wish would be for more low-down 'weight' (I've been spoiled by the Model Two in this regard). Perhaps this is how bass should sound? Perhaps I need to do some more BIOS/OS tweaking? Perhaps the NOS1 just needs a little time? Who cares? I love it.

Mani.

Peter's issues are much more urgent than mine, but I'm having trouble with my NOS1 that I'm hoping new owners might be able to help me with...

Whenever the NOS1 is on and the Juli@ driver has been installed, I'm getting very frequent PC freezes. Each requires a hard re-boot. I have managed to get some sound for a maximum of a few minutes (and how great those few minutes were) but of course, I'd like to get sound indefinitely with no freezes.

Did any of you have any similar issues once you installed the Juli@ drivers? If so, how did you overcome them?

Cheers,
Mani.

PS. The issue exists whether I boot into W7 or W2008SP1.

Well, if you're giving things away for free, make mine a dual-wire AES3 output...

But seriously, if you do provide spdif I/O, what sort of connectors will you use? BNC would seem the best choice, though not many sources or DACs use it.

Mani.

WindowsX,

I believe you. In your experience the best CD players outperform the best computer-based music servers that you've heard.

However, you are obviously open to the possibility that the Mykerinos card, that you have not yet heard, may prove to be CD's equal (or better even). Let me ask you to remain open to another contender.

There is an interface just to be released that some of us feel will be a game-changer for music servers. Yes, it's the interface that is included as part of the whole NOS1 package. Until it is released, I won't disclose any details, but it really seems a revolutionary way of interfacing the DAC to the PC. Unfortunately when mine arrives, I won't be able to use the NOS1 interface with my DAC. But I will be able to compare the NOS1 interface/DAC to my current interface/DAC (using either the RME AES-32 or modified Weiss AFI1 as interface, with DAC-as-master in both cases). If the NOS1 interface/DAC is better than my current interface/DAC, then based on my own experience and that of others who use a Mykerinos card with my DAC, I think that the NOS1 would be worthy of putting up against the best CD transports.

Mani.

OK, I understand you do things (i.e. clocking) well in your home system.

But at the local dealer's showroom, when you were making a comparison between computer/XX and CD transport... were you slaving the computer interface to the DAC? If not, then I have way less confidence in your listening observations. And this would also explain why there was such a variation when the INT202 power supply was changed.

FWIW, I cannot bear to listen to my system unless the computer interface is slaved to my DAC's clock.

Mani.

Hey Nick, you may actually be well on the mark. The only contention I have is that you associate buffer and memory timing challenges to playback only. I'm pretty certain they exist for recording also.

Also, most professional setups would have the computer slaved to the ADC/DAC clock, or to a dedicated external high-quality clock, for both recording and playback.

Actually, Suteetat & WindowsX, when you were using a computer/XX, were you slaving the computer interface to the DAC? I guess not with the INT202 (it doesn't have a w/c input) - how about the RME? In my experience, this is very important.

Mani.