XXHighEnd

"Last thing, though rather important : The real merits for SQ can only be obtained when the Q2/Q3/Q4/Q5 sliders are all set to 0 ! (Q1 is unrelated..."
from release notes for 9x-5

What does this mean?  Do you mean to say SQ is degraded by using Q2-Q5?..Do you mean we should not play/use them?

My impressions are that Q2 & Q3 are still very beneficial. I commenced my listening with 0.9x-5 with the latter sliders set at 0 as suggested but something sounded amiss from what I had been used to hearing during the last month or so since they were introduced. Restoring them back to 30/30 , which I had previously been using, brought back the clarity and articulation I had become accustomed to hearing. I'm leaving them there!

Cheers,

Russ

Hi Dave,

Yeah, I could wait for that question to arise. I'll try to explain :

Those Q2/3/4/5 sliders act a kind of opposite to what I generally try to achieve : let nothing influence sound. This means : leaving them at 0 they does not influence sound (by those slider means). Now :

With the GUI interference out of the way (and this is really a huge interference), another sound interfering phenomenon gets out of the way. And thus, judging that with Q2/3/4/5 not at 0 would make no sense.

Of course by now all is contradictionary. However, it also depends on exactly what influences and how it does it (like Q1 is in a leage of its own).
What it, honestly, comes down to, is that only those using Q2/3/4/5 at 0 can properly judge the difference with 0.9x-5. Once you are used to finding e.g. 30/30/0/0/ better, it's lost (for judging).

I too slided back to 30/30/0/0 after half an hour of first listening, but forced myself to get them back at 0/0/0/0 again, because theoretically it should be better. But I don't think it is ...
I still have it at 0/0/0/0 today, and I probably will last for another day or two, but although I think I perceive more cleanyness right now (which is good by itself), I also think some livelyness has gone. The clarity from Russ is just another phenomenon of which I'm sure the 30/30 indeed brings that.

Peter

TBH i preferred q2-5 at 0. In some cases they could provide a sort of pleasant effect but not true to the recordings IMO.
I said to Peter that it was similar to the tone controls of old amps. I still think that.