I'll give the virtual experience a try, send it on over......and thanks for taking the time to be so crazy but fun!

Am for the first time listening to Straight Contiguous, SFS 165. With all other versions the most I could go  was 50, and  then it was too much trouble to keep it going.

It seems that when I get close to the SFS limit the "Stop Monitor" button gets less reliable. A second or two after the music starts the desktop reappears. If I then lower the SFS enough it stops happening.

Also, regardless of the SFS, there have been a few times when I heard a tick and then the  XX wallpapaer appears with no cover art but with all the track titles. Don't know if this last "bug" should be in a new topic.

Well so far Z6 works with my 32 bit system and DAMN that sound is so frickin' unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey Stefano, what processor is in your laptop? Thanks

1. Unattended
2. No
3. No
4. see below

Attached are the log files. Interesting, I just tried this and it seemed to work. First three tracks played fine, then I hit "Alt N" and it started again. Weird. After Alt N only the first track would play correctly and it would skip through the rest of the tracks. I then tried another WMP rip and it skipped through all the tracks.

Thanks for thinking about this! But, please, don't let its solution hold up the release of Z6. 

Yes, Impossible Dream does have a weird veil in the sound. It is an HDCD and I wonder if that has anything to do with it. Anyway, I sent you the track I use as a reference for measuring distortion in female voices: Tomorrow Night- Patty Griffin.

Her very best cd is Living With Ghosts. It was recorded on a four track in her kitchen as a demo. WHen the record company tried to duplicate the emotional power in the studio they failed, so they released the demo as her first album! Though not the best recording it is a very honest one and the lyrics are so worth listening to..... would rival any Dutch lyrics for intimacy, honesty and emotional power. 

You've got to give it a listen.

One reason I waited to respond here was the possible fact that 9z-6 is in another league, so there is no use comparing it to 9z-4-1.

So I've been impatiently awaiting the latest!

Not having any Klause Shultze, I can't comment on the difference Peter and Russ describe. However, there is a substantial difference between z4-1 and z5-2. Because z4-1 will play WMP rips (and I have many from the local library so I can't rerip them) and z5-2 won't, I 've been using z4-1 exclusively. Thus, all the positive changes I've heard with Windows 7 vanilla have been with z4-1. because of this thread I just compared the two in attended mode, so I could switch back and forth quickly. If you want to hear the veiled quality of Z5-2 and how bad it souds in comparison, use Patty Griffins version of Tomorrow Night from her 1000 kisses cd. Her voice, whether one likes it or not, is full of those veiled frequencies; it will knock you over immediately. Lastly, I've attached two photos of the GUI for each version. Switching to unattended caused the high and low volume indicators of z4-1 to turn green, and the z5-2 to to stay gray, which is the color they usually are in unattended with both versions. Don't know if that's relevant but just in case....

Several times i wondered whatever happened to you! You dissapeared not long after i stumbled upon XX, and you were very much a part of my initial impression of the XX community. Glad to see you back.

Unattended is the button directly below the play button on the face of the GUI; it has the "X" in a box. If you have "Tool Tips" checked in the settings, you'll get an explanation of each button by hovering the mouse pointer over it.

Thanks Peter. When I uninstalled SP1 all the updates contained within SP1 automatically installed, 85 of them! That's my best guess cause my system is set not to receive updates nor was I connected to the internet when I uninstalled SP1. I then had to manually uninstall those updates, which did not take as long as reinstalling the OS. Anyway the improvement in SQ is substantial. Very much more analogue sounding. To see if I could hear the difference I first tried "I Got Rythm"  from the Bassface Trio Plays Gershwin CD. This is probably my most well recorded 16/44 file. I was shocked. The piano had the true accoustic sound of a wooden instrument. I listen to that disc a lot and I'd never heard the piano sound like that before, analogue overtones like it's is in the room.

Also, Itook your advise and have been listening with a new amp for several months now. Solid state 150 watts per channel (Odyssee Stratos Plus) using anticable wire to connect the speakers. Geeze the mids and the base have been in my room in a new way; however this latest "remove SP1 discovery" has made my volkswagan system totally unrecognizable.

Talk about service, Peter and his family came to my house during their travels in the US last spring. Had a great time and, whether he knows it or not, a great, though brief, education in audio. The sound level meter  he gifted me has been used often to "prove" to my dear wife that the music is not too loud!

Again, Thanks.

Damn, I was hoping you'd be wrong there Chris, but of course you're not.  Totally using current volume settings and what sounds best to me subjectively.

Would it be possible to have a volume preset botton on the album level? So, for example, you decide what the perfect volume is for a particular album and you hit a button that then automatically assigns that volume level to all the tracks in the album. Thereafter, when creating a playlist, the tracks would play at the previously assigned level. This would be great for those not using a preamp and who generally like to consistently listen at loud levels. Also, it would be a partial solution for not having a remote volume control. Perhaps I am being a bit too fanciful.......

When I installed SP1 it came with a bunch of OS and security updates that influenced SQ. Uninstalling all the updates except SP1 brought back the "RC sound". Talked about it here: http://www.phasure.com/index.php?topic=1668.0

Hi Peter, just wondering if you did any testing regarding the length and quality of the usb cable between the NOS USB and the computer. With my old setup, JKenny USB/SPDIF converter to MSB DAC, the length of the cable made a very significant difference. Thanks.