The administrator of dbPoweramp, Spoon, specifically suggests not to upsample while ripping. He believes that for optimum sound quality, ripping should be done same as source.

As a matter of fact, in the early days of CA, I too had ripped Redbook CD to 24/192 & 24/96 & compared the same with native 16/44.1 files. My impression was that the upsampled files sounded bright & digital. In any case they didnt sound better than the native files. Mind you in those days I was using the Empirical Audio, Overdrive DAC.

Besides this I really dont see any reason why this would improve SQ, after all one is upsampling to higher levels (32/706) at XXHE while playback using Arc Prediction filtering, anyway.

Arvind

Hi Peter,

Not literal but something to this effect. Next time I see it I will post the exact words.

Arvind

Hi Peter,

It happens sometimes with me too but not necessarily with the second track only.

Other times I have noticed that a playlist does not start playing at all & a window appears saying " Set point error......pause....." After a reboot all is well.

Both the problems are not very frequent, but next time i see them I will post the log files.

Arvind

Hi Peter,

I have noticed a situation when the DAC is on & the DC Offset is set correctly, at this time if one reboots the PC the DC Offset changes, in my case both L&R become 1. Is it normal to reset the DC Offset every time the PC is rebooted?

Arvind

Hi Peter,

A week back my SFS was set at 500 & then I reduced it to 430. This reduced the harsh brightness in the sound. I then experimented to bring it furthur down to 340, but the sound became a bit dull. So i thought let me try around 375 (somewhere in between 340 & 430). At 375 I get an error window asking me to reduce SFS. Now what could possibly cause this, just a week back I was at 500 & now I cant get 375 to work? All other settings are the same.

Presently I can't go over 365.

Arvind

Hi Peter,

I have noticed the following bugs with 0.9z-6:

1) The coverart does not appear during playback of the first track. However it appears from the second track onwards.
2) Twice, since a week of starting using 0.9z-6, the computer has suddenly starting rebooting while playback.

Arvind

Hi Mike,

Firstly, there is no route to Sonic Nirvana; its very relative & depends on one's own perception of sound/music.

Vinyl is probably considered as the best source but in my opinion a very difficult medium to handle. Comparing CDT/CDP vs Computer Audio, I feel that if rightly done, CA gives out better sound & has ease of operation & flexibility.

The audio gear that you have is really good & personally I wouldnt change from the AR preamp to the Sonus Faber speakers. If you go with CA all you need is a well configured PC, (specs are available in the forum discussions) XXHE software player & a good DAC like the NOS 1 USB or equivalent.

All the best,

Arvind

Changed to 0.9z-5-2 today & the big difference is significantly better resolution as compared to 0.9z-4-1. Great job Peter.

Arvind

Hi Peter,

I made a list of the time taken for each action while normally using XXHE, maybe we could compare if it is more or less the same for everyone & what could be influencing it.

Time for Stop Services after reboot = 75 secs
Time for Stop Services at new playlist = 7 secs
Time for track to start playing after stop services window closes = 15 secs
Time taken to change track using hotkeys = 15 secs.

The objective would be if the timing can be reduced to make things happen faster.

Arvind

Hi Mani,

I have heard the Soulution amps, though not owned them, however recently there was an amp shoot out at Ascendo. The 3 amps used in the shoot out were the Bolder, CAT & Soulution. Mr Jurgen Scheuring of Ascendo e mailed me that the CAT won hands down.

Arvind

Hi Peter,

One of the best versions of XXHE that I have heard so far. The balance across all frequency range is amazing. However I felt that the highs in 0.9z-4-0 were a teeny weeny bit clearer. Maybe I need to optimise the settings.

Off with RamDisk.

Thanks for the lovely sound.

Arvind

Hi Guys,

Finally completed the "so called" break in period of 30 days & for whatever it is worth here are my comments.

Firstly I would not go back to the Empirical Audio Combo; that indicates something, doesnt it???? Having said that, the main difference between the two is the sound transparency. Listening to Empirical Audio is like having the sound filtered through a fine curtain.

However the difference is not like night & day on a scale of 10, if NOS 1 is 10, then the Empirical would be a 8.5.

Great job Peter, this NOS is not coming back to you, unless you have a big upgrade coming up.

Arvind

Off Ramp 3 is limited to 24/96 but the Off Ramp 4 is asynch & supports upto 24/192. A good USB cable is reqd with the Off Ramp 3 or 4. Both support USB 2.0. USB cable upto 5 m gives no problems at all. S/PDIF cable should be good irrespective of which convertor is used.

Empirical Audio has reduced the price of the std Off Ramp 3 to $ 499. In my opinion a great buy. They have some pieces left with them still.

Arvind

Hi,

You could look at the Empirical Audio Off Ramp 4. Its around $ 1200 but is really good.

Arvind