XXHighEnd

All,

Yesterday I finally did what I planned - and was excited for for some days : I revisited Windows 8.
I did so, because I encountered just too many strange opposite effects with our Linear Power Supply, as described to some degree in here : Eureka ! (http://www.phasure.com/index.php?topic=3619.0).
So I sensed a big change coming up ...

Context of changes since the last time I tried Windows 8 :
- B'ASS post amplifier ;);
- RAM OS Disk;
- Intona USB Isolator;
- Linear Power Supply to my Audio PC.
So not even the least set of changes !

Well, it was beyond expectations. Let me try to put it like this :
For 3 hours in a row I have been shocked.

Very first apparent shock : No W8 robot in sight !! (this has always been the culprit with W8).
It now is the very very opposite. Man, what a MUSIC.

Second shock wave : It has always been very difficult for me to get Donna Summer et al in my list of demo tracks; I had two since the B'ASS (think of my reporting of "dance" starting to work well now), bbbut ...
This beats all. I played I Feel Love (live version) and I did not play it really loud at all. Still, all I could see was a smokey hall and people jumping up and down on that way powerful beat with such a slam that I could not imagine where the sustaining accuracy came from. This is how things can shock : it goes beyond possibility. Still it happens. Open mouth stuff.

The above was not under the influence of anything - also not extacy itself; it happened in the first 30 minutes of playback and I guess I played it because I felt it would work. And this is because of after burner shock #3 (which just as well could have been #1 but it is just what you run into first) :
The BASS.

With open mouth indeed for that 3 hours in a row I have been observing what the heck actaully all happened and how it could do that. Hey, we some times read about people expressing about "one octave lower". Can I, this time ?!?
It made me think back about a similar expression (sort of) about Windows 10. "That bass !". So how can I say such a thing now again about going back to Windows 8 ??
I think it can happen like this :

The bass of W10 is a smooth, deep one. But actually it never really touched me, while at the same time I have been thinking a lot about "those were the days bass time". Hence, although I easily accepted the whole (for SQ) I knew or felt that it had been better in the bass department;
During analysing it, it came to me that this really low bass is audible for its individual cycles, while the "lower" W10 bass does less of that. OK, I have talked about such a thing many more times often - say how a distorted bass can be perceived as lower (technically it is because the repeating cycle is longer). But it is "low sound" and less of an instrument with low frequency.

Another means I seem to legitly use for justifying the W8 bass being the better one, is this :
With Windows 10 I have been able to run into various sources for letting the bass colour. Of course this is about my hobby horse of all needing to be neutral (you may not be disturbed by it), but if you - for example - would read back about my B'ASS endeavours, you'd easily see how I ended up where I ended up and which I call "two steps of amplification" (with the option for you guys of more). But, now and then I sneak in a third, because I made a switch for that (so it can be tested)). Now ? ha ! now, despite the bass being crazy to begin with, I'd easily add 3 steps more; you just can feel that it can take it, because if "this" is possible, all is possible. It is actually similar to "infinite highs" I often talk about, but now with bass.

Alain, are you listening ? ...
... at this moment there is a down side ...

There is something not right with the highs. Or at least with some albums I could play in the short period of time, yesterday. Coincidentally the same Donna Summer is the example. Her voice is like a high-rev sawing machine (same fashion on two different albums).

From your descriptions, Alain, I kind of felt you could be meaning that kind of "shrillness", but I only saw today in your Sig that you are using Windows 8. Coincidence ?

Let's say coincidence, because prior to seeing that, I already decided that a capacitor on the LPS of the PC is too big and should be smaller; this was changed minutes ago and so tonight we have another chance. And if that cap does not solve it, I won't sleep until I do my other means.

P :wacko: t :wacko: r

Ah... I haven't touched my sig for quite some time... I am always listening to Win 10 buil 10586, with the os-ram drive and Intona... I have tried Windows 8, but the one I have on another HDD, for comparison purposes about this "voice" thing.

I am not listening but I am reading ;)

I will not tell what I did, you will throw bird names at me :(

I will do some more tests and be back, even if I can't be on par with you (no LPSU powering my audio PC for instance)...

If you ever go back to Windows 7, I will go outside to scream ;)

Alain

Hahaha !

Two things :

1. It is sad that I did not find your culprit;
2. I am happy that I can dive with open mind in my smaller capacitor.


No worries. I would need to set up a RAM version for it but I have other plans for such 12 hours. :)

Peter

No need to be sad Peter... Maybe your scratching is my itching here ?  ;)

There can be so many specific aspects in each system. And if this is hearing related, there is not much to be done... I am still wondering what is that I have forgotten to verify...

Alain

Hmm ...

Although I expected differently, I am still listening to Windows 8;
I also briefly went back to W10, but although the balance of that seems to be better (the balance over the frequency ranges) it is a more flat sound. It is just a different "setup" now and not something I really regard better or worse. But the thing doing it for me at this moment is :

With W8 you can not see where the plane of the sound source is (I talked about that before, linger ago by now) while with Windows 10 you clearly have speakers.

Btw, the more nasy "woman sound" was solved as expected (different capacitor on the PSU of the PC).

I can also add that the Sound of W8 is the more slamming one. Key point for myself is that I can now choose the amplification setting of the B'ASS. Want more umpf ? just engage one more step of amp. Want it more cold and neat ? disengage that.
This was not so at all with W10 in the same situation. There it was "OK" or "Over".
Maybe I am going to add another switch in the B'ASS for myself now. Just to see what it brings ...

Otherwise it is very clear that W8 is way more snappy. Actually it is the smoothing of that of W10 which makes us like W10 (I am sure). But with that more snappy now working out (as it seems - no more robots !) all I notice right away when visiting W10 is its more grey sound hence its character.
I also feel that the exra weight of W8 is at the cost of the mid, to some degree.

Undecided, but somehow I like the fact that, well, I still like W8.

Oh, I almost forgot :
WOW, it only now appears how super (more) fast W8 is on the loading of tracks. I almost forgot about it, but W10 is somehow more slow on that. But what's now very strange because very apparant, is that I load an album (FLAC !) in 0.2 seconds or so. It seems to start playing before I press Play. :yes:
This is with the new PC, but ... :scratching:

Peter

Yout thoughts about the W10 smoothness reminds me of a small anecdote.

One day I was listening to a song from Eric Johnson, with a good heavy and fuzzy sound. It was playing from the sound card of a laptop, connected to 2 speakers + sub (Bose...). I observed that the guitar was more "fuzzy" and interesting and I thought that it could be because of jitter... At the times we were with Win 7.

Alain

Yesterday I stopped liking W8 for the better. Back to W10 it was. :bettergo:

Peter

 :drinks: