i will try unattended tonight--- the flac files are numbered with a leading 0, as in 01 02....   the config i use in dbpower amp is to name the directory artist-album, and the flac files are track number track title.  winamp sorts them correctly, but i will check the tags and see if something is up there.

if i use cue files, which i can do very easily, do i add the cue file to the playlist, and let it find the tracks?

also, the cpu is an intel e7200, using 1 gig of kingston ram, and with the bios tweeks suggested by cics, which means it is underclocked/undervolted.....   I had been using winamp within the cics cmp environment, but since i have switched over to using an external dac, i cannot get the xonar stx card's drivers to use asio via the coax digital output (at least in winamp).  i switched over to using the steve monks ks plugin, and the digital out works flawlessly, and allows me to compare xx to winamp both via ks (so, apples to apples).

I may try to use another sound card, but am inclined to stick to the xonar stx, since it is pci-e, and i have built a nice dual linear psu for it, supplying 12v and 5v, with choke-filtered supplies.  this was a nice improvement via analog outs, compared to powering the card's molex connector via the computer's psu.  i have also done some capacitor bypasses on the dual 12v lines for the p4 processor power feeds from the computer's main psu.

also, the dac i am using (cary xciter dac), internally upsamples to 32/192 (cannot be turned off) - if this gives any ideas as to which settings for the q's may be good to try.

thanks again for the suggestions....

Mark

am trying 7 now, in adaptive mode,  had to go with 256 samples, with q1=1. sounded a bit dry and edgy, so i am up to q1=12. it is sounding better.  the main issue i have, after brief listening, is that the soundstage is wide, but very shallow - there is less layering of depth, than with my winamp configuration.  i cannot find a data file to report on, but cpu usage is at 0% most of the time, and goes up to 3-4% for a short time -- when loading a large flac file it gets as high as 50%.

also, it stops playing after a file from the playlist ends, but i would like to play the whole list in order.  also, when it has an album with 10 or more tracks, it puts track 10 before track 01.

confusing.

Peter,

I tried your suggestions, and it worked out, once I figured out that Q1 ranges from -4 to +???   my monitor is not very good, and I thought the lowest I could go was 4, and could not for a while figure out how to get it set to 1. special mode did not work at all,

once i figured that out, I was able to get it to be stable at 128 samples, q1=1.  , i set q2 to it's mid-way setting, which balanced a nice natural warmth with good detail and accuracy.  I left q3,4,5 set to 0 so far.  it does take about 12 seconds to start playing a flac file (with lowest compression) from an internal sata drive, and there is a quiet pop noise or two just before the file starts to play, but there are no glitches or pops/ticks once the file is playing.

i did get a few errors, as i was experimenting- engine 4 did not start in expected time..... so i just closed xx and restarted it.  I still have a slight sonic preference for winamp running thru the steve monks ks plug-in, so my goal is to beat that sound with xxhighend.  Are you suggesting that version 7 will work in xp, and sound better than version 6?  Also, what settings only available in the paid version will improve the sound, and is there a way to pay for the full version, and get a refund if it does not work out?

thanks for taking the time to read this and make suggestions.

Mark

Thanks, Peter.  I only had a sort while to try it last evening, and it was tricky to set up, since the pc did not have the net frame stuff installed, so i had to d/l on another pc, and then move it over with a usb stick.  what i did notice was that if I slid the q1 control all the way down to the bottm, the playback either stopped, or the sound became completely unrecognizable - just nasty squeals,and a "grinding noise" like a horribly blown speaker.

i will try your suggestions tonight, and see what happens.  I can also put one of my prodigy cards into the computer to try it as well, although it is toslink only, and i have a philosophical preference for coax spdif.

i will let you know what i hear after i experiment a bit.

best regards,

Mark

Hello all,

I installed xxhigh end last night on my for-audio computer, which is built using the cics cplay/cmp suggested cpu and mother board, along with many of the bios tweeks he suggests.  it is not connected to the internet, and is on an audiophile rack, and powered with a very good power cord.  i am using an essence stx pci-e sound card, with an outboard linear power supply feeding it 12v and 5v thru the molex connector.

i have been using it via analog outs, but recently have been trying a ps audio perfect wave dac, on native mode....

normally i use winamp with the steve monks ks plug in, or a recompiled otachan asio dll, by running winamp in cmp mode.

xxhighend sounds good so far, but I have a number of questions about configuring it, and what to look out for.  there is no provision in the stx driver to set buffers, only in the xx control panel.  should i aim for a high number or a low number?  when i click special mode, i get nothing but gritty noise.

i have not played with the q controls yet, but having 5 of them allows an enormous number of possible settings, and I am daunted by the task of trying them all......

i am going to stick with xp, so i would like to find out what xxhighend can really do before i decide to buy it.

i also have the prodigy hd-2 sound card (two of them, and advance and a standard- the standard is modded with better caps, better jacks, and with better opamps.

hope this was the right subforum to post in- I am not looking for someone to dictate what I should do, but to give me some guidelines as to how to "optimize" this software.

thanks for responding.

mark