XXHighEnd - The Ultra HighEnd Audio Player
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Author Topic: Love the sound - why?  (Read 7214 times)
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glynnw
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« on: October 16, 2008, 12:25:36 am »

As a newbie to XXHighEnd (but with over 30 years of highend audio experience) I find myself both bemused and confused.  First off, I love the sound.  When I first set it up and heard it from the corner where my computer is, back to speakers and way out of the sweet spot, I was startled at how "right" this sounded.  Recently I did some AB comparisons with my CD player (Stereophile A+) and could detect no differences, yet when I just sit down and listen to XXHighEnd  I am hesitant to end the listening session, because the musical enjoyment is so high.  What is happening here?  By the way, I am listening on a Sony VAIO laptop, which is connected to the Internet all the time, using Vista Ultimate and a Scott Nixon NOS USB DAC, through Bottlehead 2A3 Paramounts (currently passive - preamp off for repair) and modified Bottlehead Straight 8 speakers  Now I am thinking of selling the CD player and getting a dedicated computer.
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Latest Vers of XXHighEnd - settings vary daily/Windows Vista Home Premium SP1/ Wavelength Cosecant Version 3.0 (24/96)/Bent Audio Tap-X Passive pre/Bottlehead Paramount 300B amps/Homemade open baffles/ 2 Bag End Infra 18 subs w/DSpeaker 8033 DSP on each/PS Audio Power Plant
PeterSt
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« Reply #1 on: October 16, 2008, 10:38:01 pm »

Haha, not much strange to that !
First of all one has to learn what to listen for. And, if that didn't happen yet it is exactly your experience what happend (only the "tapping feet" decides).

Ok, there are so may things one can explicitly listen for, there's hardly a beginning.  One of them thoug, and this equals your experience more or less, is listen from even e.g. the right from the right speaker. The more the left speaker is heard (or even the left of that) the better it is. Judging like this is much more easy than sitting on the sweat spot !

This is all related to "phase linearity".
It works for depth too, altough some rules apply for the angle you're listening to then. Just try it : when all is right there is a diaoginal line where all sounds as good. The further you are away, the less critical this gets, but the more fuzzy the stage becomes. All kind of "normal" btw.

Might you be interested : I hardly ever listen on the sweet spot to listen or judge;  Just because much more is possible.
Whereever you are, the instruments should play on the same position ...
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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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XXHighEnd is THE best buy in Hi-Fi. Thank U Peter!


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« Reply #2 on: October 18, 2008, 01:16:48 pm »

As a newbie to XXHighEnd (but with over 30 years of highend audio experience) I find myself both bemused and confused.  First off, I love the sound.  When I first set it up and heard it from the corner where my computer is, back to speakers and way out of the sweet spot, I was startled at how "right" this sounded.  Recently I did some AB comparisons with my CD player (Stereophile A+) and could detect no differences, yet when I just sit down and listen to XXHighEnd  I am hesitant to end the listening session, because the musical enjoyment is so high.  What is happening here?  By the way, I am listening on a Sony VAIO laptop, which is connected to the Internet all the time, using Vista Ultimate and a Scott Nixon NOS USB DAC, through Bottlehead 2A3 Paramounts (currently passive - preamp off for repair) and modified Bottlehead Straight 8 speakers  Now I am thinking of selling the CD player and getting a dedicated computer.

Welcome to the "club", glynnw. XX is simply better than anything else. If you tweak you media-PC a little bit (e.i. avoiding USB interface) then you will get a sound closer to the mastertapes than any CD-player at any price. That is my experience and opinion.

PC-audio is still like shooting on a moving target. Not all the stones have been turned yet. You will find lots of tips and hints here on the forum.
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Hardware: Stealth Mach III > Lush^2 > 24/768 Phasure NOS1a/G3  > active preamp > 3-way active XO > amps > ribbon/dynamic true line source speakers.

Settings all settings as recommended by Peter by October 2019.
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