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Author Topic: Settings and a lesson  (Read 5539 times)
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Scroobius
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« on: September 15, 2012, 11:39:29 pm »


I recently changed major components in my system. New amplifier chips PS capacitors etc., also added decoupling caps in the signal path and new bass drive units in the speakers. Many things changed all at once.

So they all needed burning in. But since these changes were made the sound has had a hard edge a glare to it that was not there before it just did not sound as good less detail also. Obviously this was caused by the new components wasn't it? maybe adding decoupling capacitors? Add to that PA which makes the system sound better - overall result confusion better in some areas but overall not as good, SQ just not right. So I left the system running for many hours to burn it in but it still did not sound right.

So I thought that it was all to with PA and SFS size all the other settings that can be changed in XX. I ended up with SFS of 430 Q1=20Q1F=10 and hey presto some improvement those hard edges and glare reduced - I had to be on the right track. So was this the answer?

Well no - not even close. And today I found out why. I took the amplifier out to make a couple of changes - just tidying up no changes that would make any difference to SQ. It was then I noticed that the speaker terminals on the back of the amp were all loose (arrgh what a thing to admit) - meaning that the speaker wires were not clamped tightly. This was because I had fitted caps over the terminals when I made the above changes to the system and unknowingly had loosened the terminals (don't ask you will just have to believe me on that). So I tightened all the terminals as a matter of course and thought no more of it.

Oh boy when I sat down to listen SQ is back to where it was and more (with PA)- it sounds fantastic. I mean really the best it ever has and some.

But the interesting thing is that when I was not happy with SQ I made big changes to XX settings thinking they were the cause. I played with SFS increasing it to 430 increasing Q1F to 10 etc so with a big latency. And yes the big problems with SQ were significantly improved. But after many hours listening it was clear it was not a fix.

So now with everything working properly I have just been playing with settings in XX and it is clear that whilst they do change the SQ they do not change it (for me anyway) in any fundamental way. So now I am coming back down to lower SFS settings and Q factors i.e. reduced latency and the lower latency settings sound better to me.

I may be completely wrong on this but it does seem to me that increasing the latency does not changed the basic SQ but it does provide a "smoothing" effect (and these effects could depend on the amount of resource of the PC etc so complicated). Well maybe or maybe not but the really important thing is that big changes in latency now do not really impact on the superb SQ I now get.

And through all this the humble GainClone sounds just superb. It would be interesting to hear Mani's Sauermann amps at some time I am sure they would be better but it would be interesting to at least get some measure of just how good these GainClones are relative to the best kit.

P
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621 Xeon 6120 LPS PC  -> Xeon Scalable 16/32 core with Hyperthreading On (all cores active) @~660MHz, 48GB, Windows 10 Pro 64 bit build 14393.0 from RAM, music on LAN / Engine#4 Adaptive Mode / Q1/-/3/4/5 = 14/-/1/1/1/ Q1Factor = 10 / Dev.Buffer = 4096 / ClockRes = 15ms / Memory = Straight Contiguous / Include Garbage Collect / SFS = 0.69  (max 140.19) / not Invert / Phase Alignment Off / Playerprio = Low / ThreadPrio = Realtime / Scheme = Core 3-5 / Not Switch Processors during Playback = Off/ Playback Drive none (see OS from RAM) / UnAttended (Just Start) / Always Copy to XX Drive (see OS from RAM) / Stop Desktop, Remaining, WASAPI and W10 services / Use Remote Desktop / Keep LAN - Off / WallPaper Off/ OSD Off (!) / Running Time Off / Minimize OS / XTweaks : Balanced Load = 35 / Nervous Rate = 10 / Cool when Idle = n.a / Provide Stable Power = 0 / Utilize Cores always = 1 / Time Performance Index = Optimal / Time Stability = Stable / *Arc Prediction Filtering (16x)* / Always Clear Proxy before Playback = On -> USB3 from MoBo -> Lush^2*A:B-W-Y-R, B:B-W-R* USB 1m00 -> Phisolator 24/768 Phasure NOS1a/G3 75B (BNC Out) async USB DAC, Driver v1.0.4b (16ms) -> B'ASS Current Amplifier -> *Blaxius^2 A:B-R, B:B-R* Interlink -> Orelino Active Open Baffle Horn Speakers.
GerardA
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« Reply #1 on: September 20, 2012, 07:42:22 pm »

Very nice story P.
I read from your signature you're using adaptive mode?
I was unhappy with the latest sound and tried some settings only to make it worse. Set it back but seems it remembers some settings untill you restart or reboot.
But the big difference was setting adaptive to special!
Now i can listen for long times and stay very happy. Happy
Curious what this setting does for others.
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asrock ->intel 6700/4GB/Samsung 850 SSD/Win 10() Pro /XXHE 2.09  Special (32) Clock: max ,SFS: 4  MC, Q1 = 14, Q2,3,4,5=0,0,0,2 Quad AP, No Invert / Playerprio = Belownormal / ThreadPrio = Realtime / Scheme = 3 / Mixed contigious / Unattended -> Minidsp 2x4HD (IIR and FIR)->  Mivoc AM80 / 300B / gainclone -> TDL TL/Seas Excell/ScanSpeak
PeterSt
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« Reply #2 on: September 21, 2012, 09:14:00 am »

Gerard,

KS Special Mode actually will be the defacto standard for most. But the NOS1 goes the other way around (long latencies) and Special Mode can't even be used ...

Peter
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For the Stealth III LPS PC :
W10-14393.0 - July 17, 2021 (2.11)
XXHighEnd Mach III Stealth LPS PC -> Xeon Scalable 14/28 core with Hyperthreading On (set to 14/28 cores in BIOS and set to 10/20 cores via Boot Menu) @~660MHz, 48GB, Windows 10 Pro 64 bit build 14393.0 from RAM, music on LAN / Engine#4 Adaptive Mode / Q1/-/3/4/5 = 14/-/0/0/*1*/ Q1Factor = *4* / Dev.Buffer = 4096 / ClockRes = *10ms* / Memory = Straight Contiguous / Include Garbage Collect / SFS = *10.13*  (max 10.13) / not Invert / Phase Alignment Off / Playerprio = Low / ThreadPrio = Realtime / Scheme = Core 3-5 / Not Switch Processors during Playback = Off/ Playback Drive none (see OS from RAM) / UnAttended (Just Start) / Always Copy to XX Drive (see OS from RAM) / Stop Desktop, Remaining, WASAPI and W10 services / Use Remote Desktop / Keep LAN - Not Persist / WallPaper On / OSD Off (!) / Running Time Off / Minimize OS / XTweaks : Balanced Load = *62* / Nervous Rate = *1* / Cool when Idle = n.a / Provide Stable Power = 1 / Utilize Cores always = 1 / Time Performance Index = Optimal / Time Stability = Stable / Custom Filtering *Low* (16x) / Always Clear Proxy before Playback = On -> USB3 from MoBo -> Lush^3
A: W-Y-R-G, B: *W-G* USB 1m00 -> Phisolator 24/768 Phasure NOS1a/G3 75B (BNC Out) async USB DAC, Driver v1.0.4b (16ms) -> B'ASS Current Amplifier -> Blaxius*^2.5* A:B-G, B:B-G Interlink -> Orelo MKII Active Open Baffle Horn Speakers. ET^2 Ethernet from Mach III to Music Server PC (RDC Control).
Removed Switching Supplies from everywhere (also from the PC).

For a general PC :
W10-10586.0 - May 2016 (2.05+)
*XXHighEnd PC -> I7 3930k with Hyperthreading On (12 cores)* @~500MHz, 16GB, Windows 10 Pro 64 bit build 10586.0 from RAM, music on LAN / Engine#4 Adaptive Mode / Q1/-/3/4/5 = 14/-/1/1/1 / Q1Factor = 1 / Dev.Buffer = 4096 / ClockRes = 1ms / Memory = Straight Contiguous / Include Garbage Collect / SFS = 0.10  (max 60) / not Invert / Phase Alignment Off / Playerprio = Low / ThreadPrio = Realtime / Scheme = Core 3-5 / Not Switch Processors during Playback = Off/ Playback Drive none (see OS from RAM) / UnAttended (Just Start) / Always Copy to XX Drive (see OS from RAM) / All Services Off / Keep LAN - Not Persist / WallPaper On / OSD On / Running Time Off / Minimize OS / XTweaks : Balanced Load = *43* / Nervous Rate = 1 / Cool when Idle = 1 / Provide Stable Power = 1 / Utilize Cores always = 1 / Time Performance Index = *Optimal* / Time Stability = *Stable* / Custom Filter *Low* 705600 / -> USB3 *from MoBo* -> Clairixa USB 15cm -> Intona Isolator -> Clairixa USB 1m80 -> 24/768 Phasure NOS1a 75B (BNC Out) async USB DAC, Driver v1.0.4b (4ms) -> Blaxius BNC interlink *-> B'ASS Current Amplifier /w Level4 -> Blaxius Interlink* -> Orelo MKII Active Open Baffle Horn Speakers.
Removed Switching Supplies from everywhere.

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