Thanks Peter. I'll just use Attended - of course, it makes no difference in SQ with the NOS1a 

Mani.

Thanks Peter.


I'd like to keep an eye on errors if possible. But Unattended kills the Phasure USB Control Panel. Is there a way of keeping it active, maybe by listing it in the 'Keep this service' box in the XX settings area? If so, what should I put in there?

Mani.

Ah OK Peter. In that case I'll start thinking seriously about how to get the NOS1a back into the room permanently.

The reason I brought the PC up from the basement was because I'm currently using a 3.5m USB cable. 6 months ago when the NOS1 (not "a") was in the room, I was having to use a 5m USB cable (this is the minimum length I can get away with easily).  I was told by Pat (at AR-T) that this is simply too long and that the max I should be using for USB is 3.5m.

In an ideal world, I'd really like to keep the PC in the basement (it really is 'Le Monster') and have only the NOS1a in the room with the speakers. Peter do you have any thoughts on using a 5m USB cable with the NOS1a?

Mani.

OK, I'm pretty certain that the 10m ICs I was using originally have no adverse effect on the LF performance whatsoever.

I have a PurePower 2000i unit - this is an AC regenerator with battery pack (actually a glorified UPS). Working purely in battery mode (input AC cable physically disconnected, so floated earth), the sound is strikingly similar to that with my dedicated AC mains. Certainly there is no obvious increase in LF energy or extension. (Running the system from the house AC mains or the PurePower in 'regenerator mode' adds a little more 'brilliance' and 'shine' to the sound. Although quite pleasing on the ear, this takes the balance between LF and MF/HF even further away from what I want.)

However, I still think there is a slight increase in dynamics overall with the PC and NOS1a in the room (irrespective of how the system is powered). I'm assuming that this can only be down to shorter ICs (2m vs. 10m) and/or room vibrations. I'm going to put everything back in its original place in the basement and take another listen.

Will be back...

Mani.

Yep, in an ideal world I would keep things as consistent as possible and only change one thing at a time. But it's not so easy now.

For example, after deciding that only the speakers would sit in the main room, I only fed two AC cables from my dedicated mains in the basement through to the main room. At the moment they have IEC plugs on each. But I need at least 5 AC cables with IEC plugs now (with the PC and NOS1a in the room). So yes, I could take off an IEC plug from one of the cables and fit a 5-way block instead, but this takes time and I really need to be sure that it's worth the effort before I do this. And I cannot just fed a few more cables up without taking the floorboards up again... not going to happen!

But I've got another idea first...

Mani.

OK, PC and NOS1a back in listening room. I'm using 2m ICs and a 1m USB cable.

I'm not sure if the LF level has increased. But I think the sound overall is slightly cleaner with better dynamics.

But really so much is now different (totally different make of ICs, regular house AC mains vs. dedicated, vibrations from room, etc) that it's hard to make any definitive conclusions. My strong suspicion is that most of the change in sound is down to the change in AC power.

Will be back after I've tried a few things...

Mani.

Nah, it's obvious what this is all about...

Peter has come up with a 'real' Nobel Prize winning formula (the last attempt kind of fizzled out, unless anyone still uses PA?) and is just determining who to offer it to exclusively. Well, that'll be the person who first replied to his OP...

 

Mani.

Hey Peter, I'll bring the PC and NOS1a back into the room and try with short ICs. Should be able to try this today...

Mani.

Hi Peter, I've got something really weird happening if I leave an album to play right to the end. I'm not sure exactly when this started because I've had so many changes recently... sorry.

Ordinarily, when the last track of the playlist finishes, XX comes out of Unattended and everything is OK. But what I'm getting right now is that the PC is totally dead. Nothing responds. I have to do 2 hard reboots (i.e. via the PC power button) to get any response back. After the 2nd hard boot, everything looks OK, but I'm still in 'Minimize OS'. If I try to come out of 'Minimize OS', I get the 'Engine Selection' error (see below). If I try to play a track, I get the 'No Sound Device' message. At some point, I get the 'Check OS' error (can't remember how). Anyway, I restart the PC a couple of times, and then am able to get back out of 'Minimize OS'. Reverting back to 'Minimize OS', everything works fine again.

Sorry, got to run but happy to answer any questions later...

Mani.

Yep, to you too Peter!

Mani.

The rear of the speakers were originally 50-60cm from the wall. I've now moved them closer to the wall (moving further out was just out of the question in my reasonably small room). They are now 30-40cm away from the wall. Surprisingly I can hear no real difference in the LF. I can't go any further back because I have a metal radiator (always switched off, even in winter) immediately behind the left speaker and I don't want the magnets too close to this.

Oh, and the speakers were surprisingly easy to move - the great advantage of felt feet on a wooden floor.


Hey Peter, just a quick thought...

One of the effects of filling the wings with sand was to tighten up the LF considerably... and perhaps lower the overall LF output slightly? I'm assuming you were tuning the speakers with hollow wings. Could it be that my LF output is now too low due to the filled wings?

In any event, something that no-one has yet talked about is the LF DSP. Weren't we going to be exploring all sorts of options and user configurations here?

Anyway, irrespective of your response, I don't intend to do anything for another few weeks at least... need to let the drivers loosen up more.

Mani.

Hey Nick, thanks for chiming in... and for the kind words.

But why is it that you and Paul have such difficulties with the nomenclature of the BD-Design range of speakers? There are only 3 after all!:

1. Orelo MkI (4x 15" bass drivers)
2. Orelino (3x 12" bass drivers) - these are what you listened to at Peter's place
3. Orelo MkII (3x 15" bass drivers)

I think actually, only the last two are commercially available - I remember Bert saying that the Orelo MkI speakers were prototypes really only made for him.

Mani.

Hey Paul, Nick didn't hear the Orelo MkII speakers at Peter's place. He listened to the Orelino speakers. But you're right in that he felt the Orelino speakers, even with their 3x 12" bass drivers (as opposed to the 3x 15" drivers in the Orelos), had no issues with lean LF.

Mani.

Haha. My Orelos are now >150Kg each. Rather than trying to move them, I'd prefer to simply apply some DSP between 40Hz-80Hz. Should be possible with the way the Orelos are designed - easy to apply using a laptop, and much easier on my back...

Mani.

Alain, you mean the recording of Peter playing the drums? No way. I don't care how good the sound quality is... the drumming is cr*p.

Now, a new recording of Paul (Peter's son) playing the drums... oh yes please.

Mani.