simply play the CD with a CD Player rip the same CD & play it through XXHE. Then compare the SQ of both. I dont think there is anything so complicated about this.

Arvind

Hi Peter,

Over the last few days I did an extensive comparison of SQ between the CD & the ripped ones, using XXHE 0.9y-3a. IMO the CD sound is significantly better in all respects. The Low Bass is tighter & deeper, mids are warm & deep & the high's are much more transparent. In fact if CD scores 10/10 ripped ones would score 6/10. The difference is too large.
Is there anyway to bridge this gap?

Arvind

Hi Peter,

You've done it the harshness in the high's have disappeared completely but I fear it may be a bit overdone; probably bordering on "laid back". I had to reduce Q1 from 14 to 5, switch to non invert & move the tweeters 2 mm forward. Mids are nice & warm & the bass as usual spectacular.

Arvind

Hi Peter,

Waiting for the 0.9y-3 version.

Arvind

Hi Peter/Roy/LydMekk,

Ok now with all the suggestions the best of the lot is Q=14/0/0/0/0 & Invert. This gives the least harshness with the high's; though I still feel its not good enough. Sharpness is good to the point it does not hurt or fatigue the ear.
I dont have standing wave problem in my room, have installed bass traps as per the freq/dB chart. My preamp & amps are of the same make so impedance matching problem would be highly remote.
Roy, my speakers are Ascendo System M (ascendo.de) the Xovers are 80Hz & 3200 Hz. Tweeters are Ribbon's.

LydMekk, I dont a problem with the Bass as a matter of fact it is spectacular but the mid's could be warmer & the High's are harsh & bold; probably that is why the Mid's are not coming out so warm.

I am using the 0.9y-2 version of XX.

Arvind

Hi Peter,

Unattended is definitely better than attended; no doubt about that. However with my set up I still find that the high's are a bit harsh & bold. Tried various Q settings but none improved this. Wonder what is causing this since it appears that I am probably the only one hearing this?

Arvind

Hi Peter,

I will put in my settings in my signature, probably today. The SQ I mentioned about was in Attended Mode; pls forgive my ignorance but what is the reason for difference in SQ between Attended & Unattended?

Of course I will try Unattended today & give you a feedback.

Arvind

I agree with ivo the high's sound harsh & aggressive & the mids could do with a bit more warmth. Bass is spectacular. My Q settings are 5/0/0/0/0 on 0.9y-2.
I compared with the original CD using the same set up & the result is the same. Peter you may need to look into this. I believe audiophile's using very transparent amps & very high resolution speakers, would be facing the same situation.

Arvind

Hi Peter thanks for the info.

Cheers

Arvind

Hi Peter,

Aqvox have come out with an ASIO USB Driver which they claim is very useful. Do you think this is true?

Arvind

Hi Peter,

I went through the same sequence again & evrything worked fine. Maybe I did something differently at that time.
Just for your info file format is 16/44.1 WAV.
Attended

If this happens again I will memorise the sequence accurately.

Arvind

HI Peter,

Another problem faced by me is when I pause the track for say more than 2 mins & the click play then I get the following windows:

Engine #3 did not start within the expected time.
24 bit format stage crack detect >112
44100/176400/40941264/50000000.

Arvind

Hi Peter,

When I start XXHE, a window opens stating "Host Process for Widows Services stopped working & was closed". Is this normal?

Arvind

Hi Russ,

I was doing a A to B comparison with the original CD & the ripped one; with the same set up. I did notice that the high's were a bit over powering, which made the mids feel a bit subdued.

Maybe this is with my setup. Also will check the Freq response in my room again.

Arvind

Hi Peter,

I agree the bass response is quite amazing; crisp & very tight, just the way it should be. However I feel that the high's could be turned down a couple of dB's to make the mids more pronounced.

Anybody else feel the same way?

Arvind