one more try:

so that did not work...

I pressed the "insert Image" button and inserted the file name including path.
It is a JPG file.
Shouldn't it work that way?

I am working on it...

I am tried to post a screenshot here (graphics file) and failed to do that with my iPad. So I loged in again with my notebook to do that.

Let's see, if it works...



I try to post this now ans see if the image appears.

Hi folks,

it was this June when we, Willi, the sysadmin guy in my software company and me found a very good way to prevent Windows 10 from do updates, even when the PC is fully connected to your home network.

In this configuration the audio PC is directly connected to the LAN/Wifi router with a LAN cable and loads the music files directly from my Synology NAS.
So there is no peer2peer LAN cable needed between the music PC and the audio PC. Actually there is not even a music PC needed! The Microsoft Surface notebook, which I use in this setup, is just working as a control with Remote Desktop for XXHE, which runs on the audio PC.
Since almost 2 month this notebook is doing its job even through Wifi, so there is not even a LAN cable needed for the control PC.

So the point to do it this way is to make sure for 100%, that the audio PC will not do any Windows updating, what would bring it into the known troubles.

As all is running perfectly that eay for month now, I want to share it to the community. It is pretty easy to do it, as you will see in my next post. (I don't want to make this one too long).

Kind regards
Richard

Hi Peter,

concerning the Blaxius interlinks: very interesting to read about that.
All my devices I use unbalanced. So that would be fine.
But you wrote that changing to BNC only would make sence without a preamplifier.
So, I am using one, actually a good one (Ayon Polaris) for several reasons:

With my pretty new SE tube monoblocks I would have to put XXHE to almost full volume to get enough out of the speakers. I wrote you about it in an email a few month ago.

I also have got a nice turntable for my vinyl disks. Some of them sound very nice and it's interesting to compare it with digital sources played with NOS1a.
Then I also own a Lamizator DSD DAC, it's DSD only, what it does very well.
These devices are also connected to the preamp.

With my former amplifier, also a single ended tube one, but with double input impedance, I had the NOS1a connected directly to it, what gave very good results. But as new Ayon Crossfire Evo monoblock amplifiers are much better than the previous one, it was quite a big step up in SQ, even when the NOS1a is connected to the preamp most of the time.
But I will try again to connect it directly to the amp to compare SQ.

So I probably should try the Blaxius BNC interlinks, but I don't know if it would make sense in my setup.

Best regards
Richard

Hi Peter and all others interested in this issue,

I had been in downtown Vienna, when I wrote these posts yesterday. Today I am back home and did some more testing using my MS Surface notebook as a control like usually. I also did some tries with my iPAD as a control for the audio PC.

The only time when I got the blue screen again, was when I was doing it with my iPAD, playing in unattended mode and switching to other tasks on my iPAD to do something else. When I moved back to the RDC task on my iPAD, I got the blue screen. It's seems to be that RD on the audio server falls asleep in this situation, as Peter described it. And the iPAD does not really do multitasking. So RD get frozen, which ends in the blue screen.

With the notebook it is working fine, no problem anymore, what ever I do during unattended playback. And I am still using Wifi 2.4 GHz, did not move to 5 GHz yet.
So it is mainly solved. The point is: It's important that the RDC does not get interrupted especially during unattended mode.

I like the way it works now again, but I will keep on doing some testing with my iPAD too, because until one week ago I could use it well to directly control the audio PC. We will see...

Kind regards
Richard

Concernings Peter's reply above:
In my case most likely it was RD on the audio PC what got stuck (blue screen with the clock turning). What ever client I was using, the notebook or the iPAD, there was the same behaviour.
Kind regards
Richard

Hi folks,

a few days ago a had similar issues: When playing with XXHE in unattended mode I got stuck, not always, sometimes it was doing ok. Then again I got stuck almost every time I played in unattended mode.

But I should start from the beginning:
Since almost half a year I am using XXHE on the audio PC, which I bought from Peter with my Synology NAS. So the audio PC loads the music files directly from my Synology NAS, what I really like, becaused I am used doing this that way for years with various DACs and network players. And there is a way to have the audio PC in the home network without running into the Windows 10 update trap. I will put the infos, how do that into another post soon.

Now back to the RDC issue in this post:
As the RDC frontend, it's a Microsoft Surface Pro 3 notebook, is only used as control, because the music files are directly loaded from the Synology NAS to the audio PC, I started to use RDC via Wifi for the MS Surface notebook about three weeks ago.
And... bingo! That worked perfectly! I always was playing in unattended mode - no pronlems at all. I did not get stuck even once with RDC.
Then I tried to use my iPAD for RDC instead of the Microsoft Surface: The same result: Controlling thr audio PC directly with my iPAD worked the same way without one single problem.
For me that was a big improvement of usability: no notebook needed, no LAN cable across my living room, just great...
All the time I was using XXHE version 2.05.

Then the days came, when I suddenly ran into severe RDC problems. Unluckilly, what happened was a time conincidence of several changes during the same hours and days:

1) I installed the update of XXHE version 2.06a. After some minor problems it worked the same way with RDC over Wifi, but the stability was gone, as I described above in the beginning of this post. RDC got stuck frequently, but only when playing in unattended mode. So I thought, that this must be a XXHE 2.06 issue (now I know, I was wrong)
A dozen and more of emails were transmitted between Peter and me (a big, big thank you to Peter for this great and so fast support!).

2) The same day, right after the upgrading to XXHE on the audio PC, I installed XXHE on my MS Surface notebook for the first time, to be able to use Tidal in future. So we thought that this could also have caused the RDC troubles in some way.

3) The same days, when we were doing all these installations and trouble shooting there was somehing else different in my home network, what I did not take into account:
I had new IT stuff installed into my home network, like a new TV set, Google cromecast and so on. My house was full with guest, some of them using the home network intensivly. Imagine two boys in the age of 14 doing video games through the internet all day (and night).

First we found out, that changing back to the LAN cable worked. No interruptions of RDC any more. So I was using it that way again and I could enjoy music played in unattended mode again.

Then I thought about all that a bit and found the most simple sollution:
I switched off all the devices connected to my home network, switch off all the internet devices, firewall, routers, hubs and started the network from new.
And bingo again! Everying is working now again the same way. I can use RDC over Wifi again without any poblems.

So what is the experience of all this long story:
Using RDC in unattended mode needs proper and fast network connections. When it is used only as a control for the audio PC, it also works over Wifi. But Wifi must be stable and fast responding!

Learning about this issue, I will have one more change to my home network: I will install a 5 GHz Wifi router in my living room area. It works well now again with the 2.4 GHz router, I am using now. But 5 GHz will probably make it even more stable.

Best regards
Richard

Hi Peter,

I read the post about the G3 option right now and it's a very interesting option for me, as it looks like that SQ is better again that way and there are no extra interlinks needed.
A few month ago I had an remarkable experience concernring different RCA interlinks I am using:
One more time I was compairing SQ of the NOS1a with my Linn Klimax 20k€ network player, what I had done before a couple of times. The NOS1a always had been far better than the Linn Klimax, although my NOS1a and XXHE configuration has not been really good thst time, as I was pretty new in the business.
But this time SQ of both was in about the same level. What was going on? I easily found out that it was just the interlinks. The NOS1a was connected with "normal" RCA interlinks (price 150€ a pair) and the Linn had the advantage of beeing connected with my 1000€ siver ones. I new that this would make a diffenrence in SQ but I did not expect such a big one.
I am on the list for B'ASS since April and I already was planning to invest another 1000€ in good RCA interlinks to connect it. So the 3G option will be a perfect solution, because I sure that the best interlinks are NO interlinks.
Peter, would it be possible that I send you my NOS1a in the beginning of January for that upgrade? I will be in Panama for vacation that month and so I could have it back upgraded right after my vacation.

One question about B'ASS in an extra casing: Will this product be still available? I am asking this, because this way there would be other options for using it like connecting it in between other device, to test if it would have a big influence of SQ there too.

Anyway... I will go for the upgrade of my NOS1a. Your price for that is a very good one and will save me the 1000€ for good interlinks.

Kind regards
Richard

Hi Peter,

thanks a lot for all these infos.
Yes, the tolerance you emailed me is 1mV and not 0.1. I was confusing that somehow.
So I will messure and set the DC offset every time I switch on the NOS1a and will not worry about it any more when it is in that range.
Btw, I listened a lot to highres music the last days and no bad noise any more since I always take care about the DC offset. Therefore I believe, the far off DC offset probably was the reason for the bad noise.

And I will keep the Audio PC on the same 230V phase as the other Hifi equipment.

Kind regards
Richard

Hi Peter,

as I watch the DC offset more frequently now, I could see that the values change a bit more when the NOS1a is warmed up.

The values you messured and sent me in an email are: +01.5/-01.2mV
When starting the NOS1a from cold I get about these values, maybe 0.2 mV off.

When NOS1a is warmed up I got these values today : +0.5/-1.7mV. So there is a shift there a bit more than just 0.1 or 0.2mV.
The closer the values are towards 0 the better, would be my opinion about it. But the second value moves 0.5mV more away from 0.
Is it still ok like this?

To leave everything switch on always is not really practicable for me because I have got to much hifi gear, e.g. 3 DACs and so on...
And everything is fed by two 230V regenerators from PS Audio plugged together serially. For all that I have reserved one phase of the 230V power supply in my house. Due to this extensive setup I switch off everything, including the PS Audio regenerators when I don't listen music for more than a few hours.
I could plug the audio PC into another 230V phase and let it run for ever.
That could work without loss of SQ, because there is galvanic separation in the USB port of the NOS1a as I read in the forum.
But I would not do that with the NOS1a because I believe that clean power is very important for DACs.
What do you think about it?

Kind regards
Richard

Hi Peter,

this morning I had a different kinds of strange DC offset messurements on my NOS1a: both values shown were about 150, like e.g. 149.5 or so.
Therefore I had to switch off and on my NOS1a a couple of times until it showed the correct values. There was no -1 today.
So will always check the DC offset right after switching on the NOS1a.

So my question is: Is there a maybe serious hardware problem coming up inside my NOS1a?

I was playing a lot highres files these days. No problem any more with horrible noise instead of music. All is fine now. But I don't play with full loadness, -7.5 or -9 instead.

When this happend the last time a few days ago, it was not a part of the previous song play what was played, it was just a very loud high frequency noise for about one second and then nothing more.

Kind regards
Richard

Hi Peter,

I have got a few highres music files which I often played with various network players without any problems, but with XXHE and NOS1a a very loud highfrequency noice is produced for about 1 sec and then it stops. Do you have an idea, what the reason could be for that?

Before sending you one of the few music files which did not play any more, because they produced horrible sound, I played again the one, which had this bad behaviour two days ago.
The result: Today everything is ok. Nice music is produced...

I had this problem a few times only and until today I avoided to to play these files again with XXHE.
It only happend with highres files like 96/24, not with RB files yet.

What could be the reason for this?

a) Maybe the loudness set on XXHE? I believe it was set to max, when this happend last time? Today I played it with -9.
I remember bad SQ once when I played a not well recorded RB files. It was kind of a pretty strong "knistern" (in German, english maybe:  "cracking" every second or so) when playing it with full volume on XXHE (it was easier to compare it to my Linn Klimax network player this way). With less volume there were no cracks any more.
What loudness would you suggest on XXHE when used with a preamp?

b) Could it be a hardware related problem, e.g. USB cable?

One more point:
Yesterday I again checked the DC offset of the NOS1a. When switching on this switch, one of the displays often shows -1 (on the very left), what's probably an error indication.
So I tried a couple of times to swich the NOS1a and the DC messurements off and on again until both displays showed appropriate values. And these values were good (only .1V off the values you emailed me).
Could this (-1 in the display after the first switching on) be an indication for some kind of hardware instability?

Kind regards
Richard

Peter, please put me on the list for B'ASS #2.
As I am probably one of your most recently added customers, who will hopefully listen to the sound of XXHE and NOS1a next week for the first time in his life, I can imagine the improvement of SQ you described.
Regards, Richard

Hi there!
I have read a lot about the Phasure NOS1a and the XXHighEnd Player in various forums, all of it very positiv. Therefore I am very interested in these products.
I have already written an email to sales..... about a week ago as recommended here to ask about delivery time for the NOS1a, but I did not get an answer yet. So what could I do to go on?
Regards - Richard