I've never been called 'an x99 with clock PC' before

Looking forward to coming over Nick... should be a very interesting day.

Mani.

Wow!

How are the new speakers coming on?

Mani.

This worked perfectly. Thanks Anthony.

Mani.

Hi Michael, welcome! Look forward to hearing your thoughts on the Mach III. I think all of us are very intrigued.

For my own part, I can't imagine how the sound could possibly improve over what I have here right now. I recorded my 8 year-old practising his piano the other day. Playing the digital files back on the system, it was like the piano had been transported into my listening room (apart from the obvious noise from the mic preamps).

But somehow the sound always seems to go up another level when Peter comes up with something.

Mani.

I thought Peter might have been becoming a part-time priest

But good to know his Sundays will be taken up not servicing a congregation, but... well... us!

Mani.

Is there something we don't know?

Mani.

I think we're very much on the same wavelength Nick.

I find the extra "sparkle and clarity" of 2.10 really, really nice. There's so much going on in the music that I'd never noticed before - a cliché perhaps, but true in this case, I think.

Also, the mid and high dynamics are now utterly 'real'. My eldest son is currently practising for his grade 2 piano exam. I am constantly asking him to play more gently - even with his 8-year-old fingers, the initial transient attack of struck keys is quite forceful even a good distance away from the piano. For me, this is where virtually all replay systems fall down - they can get the 'macro dynamics' right, but not the immediate transient attacks of instruments (including vocals). With 2.10, my system now sounds utterly real to me. I listen to my son playing the piano, I go and listen to a piano track on the system, and the illusion of a piano sitting before me is so real. I listen to my younger son playing drums up in the loft, I go and listen to a drum test track on the system, and the cymbals, toms-toms, etc are for the first time as powerful as they are in reality. Only the kick drum doesn't quite cut it - the speed and tone is there, but the sheer air-moving volume isn't.

My speakers drop off rapidly below 40Hz or so in my room, so I don't have the ability to hear whether very deep bass is different between 2.09 and 2.10. On my system, I suspect the level of the bass is probably the same, but because the mids and highs are now more dynamic, the impression is that the bass is shyer that it was before, though tighter and more tuneful, I'd say.

Overall, I'm really enjoying 2.10. I just have to figure out how to get the low-end to sound as dynamic and life-like as the mid/high is. A good problem to have...

Mani.

I stayed up late last night listening to all sorts of music. 2.10 with Peter's XX settings is just crazily good sound. Is it down to 2.10 or the new settings? Who knows?

For me, it's the sheer detail that's coming through now that's a bit of a shock. And it's 'real' detail and not fake 'sheen' or anything like that.

I listened to loads of old jazz recordings. The tape hiss is very prominent at the beginning, but as soon as the music starts, it's as though XX is now extracting details below the level of the hiss.

This is a milestone in XX playback IMO.

(Oh, and all my 2.10 listening has been on an old Altmann 16-bit DAC (long story) with spdif input - no USB anywhere. I'll switch back to the NOS1 at some point of course, but am currently really enjoying this sound.)

Mani.

Well, a bit more would't hurt, would it?

Anyway, I should revise my 'sibilance' statement earlier. I don't think there's any issue with sibilance actually. I think it's just the extreme clarity that was a bit of a shock to me.

I simply cannot fault the mids and highs I'm now getting. The lows are excellent in quality - I just need a bit more quantity.

Mani.

Wow, what a difference in sound to 2.09! Here are my thoughts, for what they're worth:

Supreme clarity. Almost holographic now.

HF seems more prominent now. Lots of 'sparkle'. Can be a tad problematic with sibilance on some vocals.

Bottom end doesn't seem to have as much weight as 2.09. It sounds tighter and more tuneful though.

I was never convinced of high Q1 settings and an SFS>1.00 before - the sound always seemed a bit muffled. But with Peter's settings, the sound of 2.10 is anything but muffled.

Overall, I prefer 2.10 to 2.09. A bit more weight low-down would be nice though.

Mani.

Thanks Peter. That seems to have done the trick.

Now all good!

Cheers, Mani.

'All Passed'. But the 1a and 2a errors still remain when I go to Unattended play.

Really not a big deal, seeing as it's my office system...

Mani.

Three posts up Peter...

Mani.

Thanks Peter. Yes, unblocking all the .exes has certainly helped. Roon->HQP seems to be working fine in MinOS.

The only outstanding issue is that when I attempt to play XX in Unattended, I still get the two 'conversion 1a and 2a' errors before playback starts. Clicking 'OK' both times seems to do the job and Unattended play works as normal (with screen going blank).

Other than that, all good!

Mani.

A couple of 'conversion' errors in MinOS may give some clues. Here, I've simply pressed Play, with Unattended selected. Clicking 'OK' to these errors, Unattended play starts... but the desktop remains throughout (doesn't go blank).

Mani.