Every once in a while I've had the same problem with the volume not changing, but it's always been with a high res file. If I stop and restart the track the problem goes away.

Thanks Arvind, am assuming you meant 8e when you said 8g. For me 8-3a sounds more rolled off or less open in the high end than 8e. And I have to agree with Peter and Gerard about Adele. Her voice seems to overwhelm the mic when she goes from 0 to 60. For me a better test of how software , etc, deals with the higher frequencies is the acoustic version of Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morissett. When "things" are right, her voice sounds great but just the opposite if there's the least hash in the chain.

Peter, regarding your latest suggestion, I agree with Arvind's findings concerning PA off. To me, in my system, the more forward vocals are accompanied by a subtle harshness that takes me back to pre PA days.

Arvind, have you compared 8-3a and 8e? It should be easy for you to try since you don't have xtweaks on in 8-3a--you won't need to do any reboots.  However, you will have to open and then close 8e and then reopen it to get the autohotkeys working correctly. Ignore any reboot message that might come up in the process of opening and then closing 8e.

Just wondering what your impression of this comparison might be cause you seem to be the only other person to report that 8-3a has a bit of harshness with PA off. Here, with 8e, having both xtweaks and PA engaged sounds best.

Maybe I'm wrong about this, but it seems that in the past there was pretty much agreement about the SQ with each new development in XXHighend. Now though, it seems we may have reached a place where the software is generally so good that  settings, and perhaps even versions, are now more system dependent. There is the subjective element too, but  I think that plays only a small part, if any, in the current split of opinion regarding "what sounds best," because for so long consistent consensus seemed to be the rule.

Just my 2 cents....

Though use of the IPhase button helped dramatically to smooth the high frequencies here, 8-3a just sounds more digital on my system than 8-d. If I turn on PA in 8-3a and change settings to my 8-d settings, the sound is good but not as wide open and natural sounding as 8-d. The natural sound of 8-d or e is particularly noticeable with female voices. Another advantage of 8-d here is that I don't have to turn iPhase on or off depending on the track, it all just sounds good when PA is engaged.

Just my impressions on my system and I am certainly not complaining cause the sound here in my man-cave is, to these ears, nothing short of stunning!

Thanks Maxi, I reversed the IPhase setting and had a huge improvement in the sound--much smoother in the high frequencies. I was finally able to listen to 8-3a for more than five minutes. This seems weird to me because before PA days I never reversed polarity with the IPhase button. Will need more listening  before having an opinion on whether it's better than 8-d.

Last night I set the 8-3a x-tweak settings, as well as all other settings, to be identical to my 8-d settings below. 8-3a had a better low end feel but vocals remain less transparent and natural sounding. Here, 8-d (or e) continues to sound so "right" that at times it's as though the music is happening in slow motion-- remember the feeling when Bill Frisel was played on 8e? That's the feeling I mean. Perhaps I've become addicted to a very particular sound?

Roll another one, just like the other one.......

My cooling tower is about the same as always, slightly warm; however, my best indicator of the effect of ultimate x-tweaks is the speed of the PC- particularly stopping and starting a new track. Faster than ever before.

9Z8-3a here seems a bit of a step backwards. Vocals have a subtle glare (less natural sounding) that harken back to pre Phase Alignment days. But turning PA on with 3a doesn't entirely "cure" the problem, so it can't just be about turning PA on and off. My listening was with Peter's most recent 3a settings. So what sounds best here: 9Z8e. Though I last posted that 9Z8-2 is superior to 8e, that was "achieved" through what became ridiculously loud volume levels. What Cohen last said about 8e and there being something so right, regardless of faults, continues to be true here.

Now for something really different: After playing 8-3a in ultimate X-Tweaks mode, close XX and start 8e. Go into settings and ignore the errors that proper values can't be determined and set SFS to 1 and Q1 to 7 (all other settings were as in my signature below) and hit play. What you get, I think, is the Ultimate X-Tweaks setting with the usual 8e PA settings. ..... a very interesting silky smooth, turn up the volume presentation. Not sure if it's "better" but it sure is interesting.

Well for the last three days this error message hasn't occurred. The difference: my wife swiped my flat screen for a work project and I dug an old CRT out of the closet. Viola!

Thanks Allen. I am a little hesitant to go that route cause my best sounding rips have been with my current set up. I guess we need a new topic on best external rippers. 

Very nice find Nick. I unplugged three SATA cables from the MB and had a really nice bump in SQ. Though subtle, the sound became cleaner and more focused. Will be an inconvenience when I want to rip music but it's definitely worth the bit of trouble.

Like Mani, I have my HD spindown set to "never". In a four hour listening session I had this error five times.

9Z8-2, with Balanced Load at 43,  is so superior to 9Z8-d that's it's a bit embarrasing to think that my first impression was that vocals sounded better or more present on 8-d. After a good four hour listening session yesterday it became clear that the actual band, each and every instrument, and not just the singer is now present in my room. It's interesting though that this is a new sound and I really needed to do a long enough listening to overcome the bias in my mind for 9Z8-d. The most remarkable moment for me wasn't a vocal track, it was a Shubert violin/piano piece. Previously,with 8-d, when the violin was in the lead, the piano was barely perceptible--almost backround noise. With 8-2 the presence of the piano came to life and the interplay between the two  instruments  just unbelievably wonderful.

What a frickin' ride this is!!!

Several days ago I replaced the vintage speaker terminals, old school screws, with some decent binding posts in my 1963 Dynaco amp. Aditionally I installed a toggle switch in place of the original sliding switch that I use to bypass the integrated side of the amp. Overall SQ became a bit more silky smooth, yet with all the detail we have come to expect form the NOS1/XXhighend combo. BUT, suddenly my sound stage is a "mono ball" compressed between the speakers! Am hoping that it will open back up as the new wiring/soldering connections break in. Do you think so or did I royally screw up? I was only able to give the amp about a 45 minute listen and have been traveling since. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Did you activate and minimise the OS?