I do have the other pc and it does the same things, but I will put it in play tomorrow to see because it has not been used in a while.  As far as I know the XXHE settings on both AudioPC's are exactly the same as in your signature.

Most albums play fine at 0.05 for me...but some of them don't.

I think it has always been happening with 2.05 in some way.  Before I sorted out the correct setting for "Balanced Load" and/or "Nervous Rate" (I cannot remember exactly which setting I had wrong, but when it was changed to the current values in my sig it was like I had a whole new XXHE) those same tracks that used to stutter at their start now just pause, or at least that is how it seems to me, I might be wrong.  It is the same albums misbehaving.

Hi Peter,

I have a recurring situation where some albums will stop playing part way through the playlist.  This happens on both hi-res and redbook.  XXHE may get through say three songs and then fail to start the fourth.  The fix is easy, I just go to click Alt-P on the shortcuts menu and the next song usually starts up.  After that sometimes the rest of the album will play out and sometimes XXHE will get stuck on another song or songs.  All tracks are played (eventually) and none are missed during the stop starting.

It ALWAYS happens on the same albums and for the same tracks in those albums.  For example, if I start playback from Track 1 and it pauses after playing Track 4, I can duplicate it by restarting playback from Track 4 (or Track 3 or Track 2 for that matter) and I will still get the "pause" even though the previous tracks have not been played this time.

Changing SFS to a high value (greater than 2) does seem to change the behaviour of the albums, but considering most will play happily at 0.10 or even 0.05 I am hoping for another solution.

Any thoughts?

Regards,

Anthony

I don't have the "playlist repeating automatically" problem, but sometimes the "Play" button is still activated after the playlist is finished and XXHE has come back up from unattended.  I just click the "Stop" button even though no music is still playing.

XXHE has been doing this for a couple of years and I have never seen it as a problem in itself even though it usually happens after XXHE fails to play the entire playlist and finishes early, but sometimes it happens after playing the entire playlist as well.

I did link Juan to your instructions to do so earlier in the this thread.  Here they are...


That is exactly what I did to get 2.05 working and it worked first time!

Cheers,

Anthony

Juan,

The Music Server never has to be connected to the NOS1...only the AudioPC is connected when you want to play music.  For best results the Music Server should have a direct ethernet connection to the AudioPC so the chain looks as follows...

Music Server >> ethernet cable >> AudioPC >> Clairixa >> Intona >> Clairixa >> NOS1a.

If you plan to run everything from a tablet such as an iPad then the Music Server will need to be connected to your network which means that you will probably need a second ethernet port on your Music Server so the AudioPC is kept separate from the rest of the network.

Just to be clear, the Music Server does not need to have XXHE configured to play music or even connect to a dac.  We just want to run Remote Desktop and XXHE (for Tidal only), so W10 updates won't matter at all to SQ or anything else.

From where you are, I would activate XXHE (but not worry about setting up a dac driver or anything like that), make sure you have a direct ethernet connection between the two PC's, and then bother with the Tidal stuff last of all.  The network stuff may be a little tricky to get setup properly.

Cheers,

Anthony

I had internet that frequently dropped out...right out...and Tidal was dropping songs as a result. 

Regarding which version of XXHE, if you use RAM-OS you can use 2.05 by following the instructions Peter gives here.

Cheers,

Anthony

Juan,

If you go into "Getting Started and Further Tutorials" and have a look down near the bottom at "Streaming Services" I believe that you will find the information that you seek.

So you just instal XXHE on your Music Server computer as normal, get it activated, but don't necessarily set it up to play music if you don't want to.  Then you login into Tidal as Peter describes in one of those tutorials and it should all work as intended.  Be careful to set the locations of the Tidal Temp and Streaming folders in XXHE setting of both the Music Server and AudioPC so that they are both looking at the same directories.

Since I finally got fast internet a week ago I am using Tidal daily and it is really a much loved part of XXHE for me now.  Before when the internet was flakey....not so much fun...but that is the internet not XXHE.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Anthony

Excellent question.  In my situation the B'ass will be driving 6 channel valve amplifiers with passive line level crossovers in front, so really it will be driving the electronic filters which I imagine will be quite a variable impedance load for the B'ass perhaps as low as 5k.

Peter, I am not exactly sure what you mean here.  In my situation, and I believe in yours as well with the Orelo's, the amplifiers for left channel are completely separate to the amplifiers for the right channel...true monoblocs...although they are in your case 4 amps per side and in my case six.  The only common ground between them is via the main socket into which they are plugged.

Or do you mean that this is setting things up for a nice big ground loop?

Anthony

PS:  Wow...you are already going on the Muses chip!  I feel quite guilty that I have caused all this extra work for you now...and I do apologise...but I also know that you would not be investigating this without consideration of its potential merit.  If you get a good result I think it will probably be a more saleable product especially to those not in the Phasure ecosystem.  Are you thinking of actually having two products if it works out?  For example B'Ass and B'Ass VC.

Well I hope it can work well Peter...I really do.  Thanks for even considering the VC as an option.

Well, two of my ideas are still left.  I had thought of the auto former (Intact Audio would be my choice) but I would have needed convincing that its varying output impedance, non-constant resistance and the tendency of magnetics for inductance for LF changing to capacitance for HF could work in this situation.  That would have been a long shot I reckon.

The problem with any passive attenuator is that it is basically a voltage divider, whether that be discrete resistor based on a switch or relays, LDR type, or magnetics.  They all act as high pass filters and LF suffers plus they are incapable of driving any length of cable or wire. For them to work best they should be used right before the gain stage with as little pcb trace or wire following them as possible...think in centimetres rather than metres. What is the B'ass?  My understanding is that it is a gain stage or an active buffer to my way of thinking, so we have an opportunity for the best possible results from a passive attenuator if it is jammed in nice and snug before the unity gain stage.

How would I do a passive attenuator in this position?  Well, I would use sealed relays rather than switch.  These relays would of course be powered from a completely separate power source.  On top of this, this power source would only be active when the volume is being changed...for the moment of changing a relay...then shut down.  I would use Vishay VAR precision trimmed resistors and have an attenuator step of about 1.5dB just like XXHE, plus a mute function.  Note that as far as I am aware this is not like the Tent Labs attenuator (I admit that I did not look at it too hard) that you linked to Peter, and I am not sure how you used that device when you tried it, but it may well work differently immediately before the gain stage in the B'ass.  That is impossible for me to find out.

My other, and prefered option is the Muses 72320 chip.  Have you noticed them before Peter?  They also make some very good  opamps by all accounts.

Regards,

Anthony

Peter,

I will send you an email with the attenuators that I am contemplating.  There are three that I would try at this stage...depending on how they would be used.

Cheers,

Anthony

PS:  Thanks for even humouring me with this stuff...it is very much appreciated!


hahaha...no I will not complain.

Sorry Peter...I hope you understand that I am just asking for what will suit my situation...and that this seems to be the time to do it.  If I can get the basis for a two input - one output B'Ass with or without volume control I can modify it to suit my purposes...but a single input B'Ass does not work for me because I want to listen to FM as well as my NOS1.




I think I understand your position.  I also think that I can get a good sounding passive or active volume control sorted for myself if you are not willing to do it, so that is not an end game.  But two inputs for the B'ass would be so, so convenient in my situation...




Two input would be fantastic...two BNC and I could change the output of the FM Tuner to BNC also.



1200 euros works just fine for me.  A used version of the active buffer I am searching for (they seem very rare used) will go for more than that, and it does just the same thing as your B'Ass box...current...but with multiple inputs and a fantastic passive attenuator.




That solution sounds excellent, if you can pull it off.




Much appreciated Peter.  Perhaps two versions:  one as you propose just for single analogue input systems;  a second unit for multiple analogue inputs, perhaps with remote volume control.



I can't think of anything else.

Hi Peter,

My concern, whether founded or not, is more to do with the current for the left channel being sourced from the same power supply as the current for the right channel, and they being effectively "joined".  Whether that power supply can keep up or not is really beside the point (my point anyway), but the pre-amps and buffers that I have heard that I have liked have been dual mono designs from input to output...which may be a coincidence...but that is what I have liked.

Regards,

Anthony