XXHighEnd - The Ultra HighEnd Audio Player
March 29, 2024, 09:26:43 am *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?

Login with username, password and session length
News: August 6, 2017 : Phasure Webshop open ! Go to the Shop
Search current board structure only !!  
   Home   Help Search Login Register  
Pages: [1]
  Print  
Author Topic: The Best is the "Worst" ...  (Read 7389 times)
0 Members and 0 Guests are viewing this topic.
fas42
Audio Loudspeaker
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 20


View Profile
« on: February 11, 2013, 02:20:30 pm »

Overall I've found recordings that sound atrocious on many systems to be the best indicators, markers of progress. I have a selection on hand, ready to bring me to earth fast if I haven't been fussy enough:

Status Quo has been a standby for many, many years: in the early years I used a greatest hits collection as a regular to humiliate other gear smile. The ability to go loud and resolve the tonality of the cymbals is a quick and easy test ...

A collection of early 30's big band, swing orchestra hits. Big brass crescendos very easily turn nasty if all not well.

A very poor Oscar Petersen mastering. Something was not right in the studio when doing the job, and the piano tone is right on the edge of being unacceptable ...

Foo Fighters, probably any album: the production style gives this music a tremendously aggressive tone; making it sound like music is not easy.

Led Zeppelin I, original mastering: massive sound stage, tremendously overwhelming impact. Most systems make a complete mess of this ....

Adele 21: this is hard work, absolutely peak replay capability is required. Otherwise, sound becomes like a battering ram.

Just a few off the top of my head ...  Wink

Frank

Logged
PeterSt
Administrator
High Grade Audiophile
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 16827



View Profile Email
« Reply #1 on: February 11, 2013, 02:38:12 pm »


For a large part it is a matter of attitude;

I live by making "CD's" which don't sound at all, listenable up to just good.

When I started with CDs, okay, say two years after that, I owned a 1000 albums, 5 of them sounding good to me. A small 10 years later, never buying new amps or CD players etc., BUT tweaking the hell out of my existing system, I was left with 5 sounding NOT good.

So instead of playing the "inherently" good ones only, I play the bad ones and try to make them better.
That tweaking of my system totally stopped and has changed into making the software better.

blahblah
Wink
Peter


PS: "Whatever you want - wherever you go ..."
Recognize it Frank ? Maybe not; I'm doing it by heart.
Logged

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.

Global Moderator
BertD
Audio Enthusiast
**
Offline Offline

Posts: 422


Only the Best!


View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #2 on: February 11, 2013, 02:48:59 pm »

That tweaking of my system totally stopped and has changed into making the software better...

Perhaps it is time the update the system once more (big leap) and from there continue with less fatiguing work to improve the software even further?  whistle

I have gathered several ideas during the time you've stopped updating...  Too much

Bert
Logged

Februari 1st: RDC controlled i7-4785T (set to 800Mhz - fully passive design without any moving parts), 16GB RAM / XXHighEnd 2.04c on 2GB RAMDisk (IMDisk) / Windows 10 Pro 10586.0 X64 on internal 250GB SSD / Music on external NAS / Playback Drive 10GB RAMDisk (IMDisk) / SFS 0.10 / Barbone Industrial Intona > Phasure NOS1a 75B (BNC Out) async USB DAC, Driver v1.0.4b (4ms) > Blaxius BNC interlink > BD-Design BD30-SPR amplifiers > BD-Design Custom Made Sigma loudspeakers.

XX settings basically similar to PeterSt's
PeterSt
Administrator
High Grade Audiophile
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 16827



View Profile Email
« Reply #3 on: February 11, 2013, 10:56:13 pm »

Quote
PS: "Whatever you want - wherever you go ..."

Frank, it took me two full albums with smashing cymbals minus one track ...

"Whatever you want - whatever you think ... ".

"Whatever you want" is the name of the track.

Not many people go for Status Quo. I recall from 20 years ago I had 43 albums of them ...
And ehm, saw them live 10 years back. No. I was disappointed. Too much of puppets on a string.
But sounded great tonight !

Regards,
Peter
Logged

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.

Global Moderator
fas42
Audio Loudspeaker
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 20


View Profile
« Reply #4 on: February 11, 2013, 11:29:59 pm »

Got it in the first post, Peter! "Caroline" is perhaps the optimum track to use because the cymbals are close enough to be being continuous throughout, and allows one to play with things while monitoring the tone. I was using a Perreaux 2150B at the time, nominally a beast of an amp, and there was a clear point where the power supply started to collapse, way below maximum volume - a lot of my efforts have been with amplifiers, these of course are a major weak link ...

I went and saw the band in their heyday, uuhh, 35 years ago  Wink, they did well! Would you believe, here in Australia, they are a "mouthpiece" for one of the major supermarket brands, doing "Down, down, prices are down ... ", and a video to boot !! Issued a double CD with this version, new material, and live concert disk. They haven't changed a bit, well worth getting!

Yes, you've been on the "right" journey,  Wink ... . With the tweaking, that is. Those 5 albums are vital tools in your kitbag ...

One thing that is clear to me is that there are numerous ways of achieving this critical quality level, call it 100, which allows the ear/brain to bypass remaining weaknesses. Your current focus is minimising the electrical interference generated by the source reading process, mine over the last couple of years has been to tame interference entering via power supply weaknesses; both can do the job if the rest of the system is up to it. So, there is no "magic" way, but plenty of smart ways of getting there ...

Frank
Logged
Pages: [1]
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1 RC2 | SMF © 2001-2005, Lewis Media Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
Page created in 0.059 seconds with 19 queries.