I just wanted to say that Cantatis released new drivers for Overture sound card. I'm sitting jawdropped. You may ask why? I'll tell you. So far, I haven't been able to go below 1024 samples in adaptive mode and now I'm playing at 32 samples and Q1=-4 with QAP - no clicks Why am I writing this? To confirm my previous hypothesis, that drivers' performance is the most important thing when it comes to low latency playback. Of course, Peter knew that before

Yes, I know what you mean, but the difference is in power consumption of CPU and noise/ripple related to number of cores active (hardware). But who knows, maybe a special scheme for one core would bring some further improvements.

I meant 24/48 files 

I don't know Peter, what difference would it make if I only have one core available? :D And no, I don't have any problems with ticks and pops, I only have to choose Low/Realtime priority for hi-rez files. I prefer High thread priority, I think that the sound is fuller this way.  Split size at 75 MB. Of course, my PC is hardly usable while listening to hirez tracks with quad arc predicion. My cursor freezes every 30 seconds or so, but no ticks Any plans on improving memory management? You wrote that it's impossible to load the whole album into memory. Isn't that Engine3 "stability issue"?  Anyway, like you wrote in other topic, the bar is so high right now... 

Mani, underclock/undervolt your CPU as much as possible and run it on a single core! In my system there is a huge difference between one and two cores (voltages, clocks and other setting are the same). On a single core I can pump up the volume to the limits, while on 2 cores I can barely stand the sound at 11 o'clock.

I know what's the original purpose of this adapter, but it would be the easiest way for me to deliver clear power from a linear PSU to my sound card through it.

Are you saying, that the molex is there to feed the adapter? LOL If so, then I don't need this cr*p :D

Peter, thanks for a reply I'd rather buy sth like this http://www.virtuavia.eu/shop/pci-express-to-pci-adapter-p29855.html
and power it by a linear PSU, but I am not 100% sure if this adapter gets the power from a motherboard or is it completely powered through the molex.

Peter, were there any noticeable improvements with this case?

I'd really appreciate your response.
M.

It might be, but there is another factor - long cable. I don't know if it's such a good thing for audio. Anyway, I'm looking forward to your impressions. 

I hardly believe it. My M-Audio Transit (TAS1020B) also gives galvanic isolation and I couldn't stand the sound until I made all the tweaks and undervolting/underclocking. But the Transit is fed by USB power... I haven't got any firewire device so far, but I know that for USB, the PC's power/noise will affect SQ even when you spend money for a fancy transport like ART Legato with separate power. The only way to virtually eliminate computer's negative impact on DAC is to cut the power leg from USB, but sometimes it's required for a receiver to operate. My question for you Peter is: does NOS1 feed 30V from firewire on PC's side?

Peter, congratulations, it seems that everything is on a proper way. There is only one thing that concerns me, is it immune to PC's noise? Or shall I put it this way - does it sound the same with every PC if XXHE set properly?

Best regards,
Marcin

Why not? Even with 8 or 16GB of RAM? Right now I am able to load Yello - Touch (24/48) to memory. I already played it few times and can confirm that absolutelty no pops occur But that's album-file. The problem is still a pain in the neck when I try to play few tracks. It would be great if you could add another option to memory management responsible for max number of tracks loaded into memory. Of course the total max size would be the border. That's the cure for all the folks having slow CPUs and not being able to play without  pops and clicks. Let's make use of that large memory modules, shall we? 

Now, back to the Core Appointment Schemes. They still affect SQ even on a single core CPU. The difference is very much audible with the same characteristics of sound as on a dual core processor. Will go back to this later.

Check your power plan settings, make sure it's optimized for performance.

Your PC must be terrible, no offence.

I play at unattended.