Hi Ivo,

I just tried cPlay. 
To me it sounds like Foobar.

Peter... please make an API for XXEngine so that other developers can join in the fun and make plugins for Foobar and custom UIs. HQPlayer had a nice WPF UI at one time (see pic). I would like to reproduce that for XX. It would look nice on a smartphone or small tablet as a remote interface to XX.

Thank you for all your hard work and excellent player. I bet your dac is excellent too.

Anybody else notice JPLAY's version 4.1 the polarity is reversed compared to XXHighEnd?

Once you switch polarity in JPlay-mini by pressing p they sound more a like. 

XXHighEnd still wins with a bigger sound stage and smoother highs in my humble opinion

A Foobar plugin for XX would be cool.

I recently installed Win7 on my Acer W500 tablet and tested XX on it. The end result is that I can't recommend it. The sound quality was not on par with my main rig which is a dual core 2 Ghz laptop. I also tested a dual core 1 Ghz laptop and I can't recommend it ether. 

The reason I use laptops and tablets is because they are almost silent and are easier to be made silent by putting them in a hushbox. I used to use a desktop machine and watercooled it to remove all the fans but got tired of the mess and complexity of that.



 

I have an Acer W500 tablet. It comes with Windows 7 installed and as such it will run XX. It is almost completely silent. It has a SSD hard drive. http://www.amazon.ca/Acer-RK602-046-W500-BZ607-10-1-Inch-Keyboard/dp/B004UVARI0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325275608&sr=8-1

I currently don't use it for XX because I run Windows 8 (Developer Preview Version) on it which XX doesn't work with.

I haven't bugged Peter to get XX to run on Windows 8 yet because Windows 8 is still a work in progress. XX is not the only program that doesn't run on Windows 8.

Hi Peter,

Long time no talk... Congratulations on the new DAC(s)!!

Where can I see a picture, price, interface, details and so on?
Do you have it on another website? Am I blind?

Cheers,
Brent

Hi Peter,

Thank you for 64 bit support. I didn't notice your reply till today.

I have only tried version .9-v1. I didn't have to download any direct X drivers. By the way... DXDiag.exe tells me I have Direct X version 10 installed (it must come with Windows2008, same as Vista, I am guessing since I don't use Vista).

When I start this version of XX a debug prompt "Windows2008 Error" appears but doesn't stop it from working.

I compared Foobar2000 to XXHighEnd in 64 bit Windows 2008 Ent. and XXHighEnd is the clear winner.
I can't yet say XX sounds better in the 64 bit or 32 bit Windows 2008. That will take time and many reboots (which we all like to avoid).

Cheers,
Brent

Hi Peter,

You can install VS2008 and VS2005 side-by-side without one messing up the other. The Express (free) versions have 90% of everything in the Visual Studio version.

I think the problem is in the front-end. If I directly launch xxengine3.exe I don't see an error.
If you take a copy of the XXHighEnd project and start chucking stuff out until you get one that will run in 64bit OS, then you know what is causing the problem. Divide and conquer. 

Sorry for telling you how to do your craft. I know you know how to code better then I.

Just giving you a 64bit nudge

Cheers,
Brent

Hi Superdac,

I know your pain with pops and clicks in the sound while using a laptop. I generally use a desktop machine with a USB DAC. I make these DACs as a hobby and this has been going on 3 years now. With desktop machine I have almost zero pops and clicks.

I decided to buy a laptop so that I could demo my DACs to folks without having to drag too much gear with me. This predates Vista. I installed Windows XP on the laptop and Foobar with ASIO. Pops and clicks were very bad. I could reproduce pops and clicks by playing a song. 30 seconds into the song a pop or clicks would happen with more to follow.

Being a computer geek I set out to fix this little problem. 3 days of nothing but working on the problem, tons of Google searches, 10 reinstalls of Windows XP... I gave up and installed Windows 2003 Server (the same OS I was using at the time on the desktop computer) the clicks and pops are gone.

The old laptop does not have enough RAM to run Vista and the RAM upgrade is too costly for this machine.
So now I am looking for a new one, I may try Asus EEE (almost silent, but not going to be easy)

I have also run into pops and clicks on desktop machines.

I know what the problem is in both cases. The problem is software drivers for the low level parts of the computer, like the file system, video card and so on. A poorly written driver can cause the pops and clicks. On a laptop computer the hardware is less common then a desktop machine. For desktop machines there are usually more then one version of a driver produced for it and you can try the different drivers to see if you can find one that solves the problem. Or it may be a combination of drivers that causes the problem and again you may not be able to get away from the problem.

In my case I used a different OS on the laptop and it fixed my problem. The reason this worked is that the drivers that were in that OS were different and probably better.

My recommendation to you would be to start a new thread asking the public what laptop they use with no pops and clicks. If you find one then sell yours and buy the same laptop or buy a desktop that is known to work.

Cheers,
Brent

Hi Peter,

I just moved into 64 bit OS (getting up to speed on Hyper-V, virtualization and all the stuff that goes with it).

Now I am stuck with Foobar (which actually sounds pretty good in Windows 2008 Server 64bit) because XXHighEnd is not working in 64bit OS.
The virtual machines can't talk to audio hardware on the host, the host has to be 64 bit version of Windows 2008 Server.

In the move to 64 bit world I had one custom app that would not run. To run it in 64 bit OS I had to recompile with a setting set in the Visual Studio 2008 project's build setting:
"Target 32bit OS"

Have you tried that setting before building XXHighEnd?

Here is the error message I see when I try to run XXHigheEnd in 64bit OS:
Description:
  Stopped working

Problem signature:
  Problem Event Name:   CLR20r3
  Problem Signature 01:   xxhighend.exe
  Problem Signature 02:   1.0.3034.29559
  Problem Signature 03:   480fb0e2
  Problem Signature 04:   XXHighEnd
  Problem Signature 05:   1.0.3034.29559
  Problem Signature 06:   480fb0e2
  Problem Signature 07:   d
  Problem Signature 08:   d0
  Problem Signature 09:   System.InvalidOperationException
  OS Version:   6.0.6001.2.1.0.274.10
  Locale ID:   1033

When you have time and so on... send me a temp version with extra debugging output and we can work out what the problem is.
Who knows it may sound even better running in 64 bit version of windows.

Cheers,
Brent
 

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the new version without debug popups. I haven't tried it yet. I just booted back into Windows2003 to export my Outlook rules to import in my new Windows2008 home.

I am currently dual booting between Windows2003 and Windows2008. So I can't compare to VISTA but I have to say Windows2008 boots very fast and shuts down instantly. The memory foot print is pretty small. I have 4 GB of RAM and when I login my RAM usage is 400MB (I think).

The way I am dual booting is I use two drives and switch the disk boot order in the motherboard bios. I usually only run one hard drive to keep the noise down, now I have to run two. I try to keep my machine noiseless and fanless. It is hard to do and keep it that way.  I water cool the computer and hard drives. I use a statue water pump that I made noiseless by sinking it in a tub of cement. I can still hear a bit of a his as the water flows in the pipes, but I don't think I could hear it if I had any fans turnning. My room is very lively. Cement floor, giprock walls and cealing.  I used to have my hard drives in cement too, but one died and I had to bust open the cement. I didn't think it was possible to get it out but all it took was a couple wacks with a hammer to crack up the cement. Currently my drives are between sand bags (water cooled).

Anyhow I got to stop talking and get boot back into Windows2008 and fire up my new buddy XX

Keep up the good work. 

BTW I still get a few errors and weird stuff happening. I am not going to say anything about I have more experience with XX and read up on what problems other people are having. Plus I don't want to bother you, you are probably tired of helping me by now and need a break

Hi Peter,

You did it!  IT WORKS on Windows2008 Ent Server.  One more request before I fade into the background. May I please have a version without the debug pop ups?

~~~~~~~~

Sound quality.....  WOW XX is a huge upgrade from Foobar with ASIO4ALL driver.  I had my doubts that XX would sound better then Foobar.  I listen to computer as source music 90% of my waking hours. This is a big deal to me and my USB DAC making hobby.

Now I want to know how you do it? Not that I want to compete with you, but what is so different about XX that makes is so much better?

Now I have a reason to switch to over to Windows2008 Server.

Hats off to you Peter.

When I get a chance to try the other versions of Windows2008 I will report back here to say if XX works on them as well. If not I am sure it will be a matter of adding the OS string to the program. The 64 bit version will not work until VISTA 64 bit works.

Cheers,
Brent

Hi Peter,

Thanks for working on this.  The result of the test was [abcdefghij] skip [k] then [lm] skip [no] then [pq] then error.

Hi Peter,

Thanks your new version works. I now can use Engine #3.

But I still can not use your XX program. When I try to play a Flac or Wav file I receive the following error:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
See the end of this message for details on invoking
just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box.

************** Exception Text **************
System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
   at XXHighEnd.XXHighEnd.btnPlay_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnClick(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnClick(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Button.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There is more to the error message. See my prior post. It works for me in Win XP but not Windows 2008 Server.
Perhaps you can send me a version build with debug enabled so that the error message will tell you what line of code is producing the error.

Cheers,
Brent

Hi Peter,

I tried version 0.9-u0 and it didn't work.  I can not switch to Engine 3 mode. It says "Vista Only" when I try.

The OS Test applet you asked me run reports this string. Maybe you can double check you have it in version u:

Microsoft® Windows Server® 2008 Enterprise   Version : 6.0.6001.65536  Platform : Win32NT

Also I should say that I can not get XX to play anything in Windows Server 2008 using Engine1 or 2. Version "t" was the same.
The error message I get:

ee the end of this message for details on invoking
just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box.

************** Exception Text **************
System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
   at XXHighEnd.XXHighEnd.btnPlay_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnClick(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnClick(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Button.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)


************** Loaded Assemblies **************
mscorlib
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.1434 (REDBITS.050727-1400)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.NET/Framework/v2.0.50727/mscorlib.dll
----------------------------------------
XXHighEnd
    Assembly Version: 1.0.2967.32953
    Win32 Version: 1.0.2967.32953
    CodeBase: file:///G:/install/audio/XXHighEnd/09-u0/XXHighEnd.exe
----------------------------------------
Microsoft.VisualBasic
    Assembly Version: 8.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 8.0.50727.1434 (REDBITS.050727-1400)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/Microsoft.VisualBasic/8.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll
----------------------------------------
System
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.1434 (REDBITS.050727-1400)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Windows.Forms
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.1434 (REDBITS.050727-1400)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Windows.Forms/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Windows.Forms.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Drawing
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.1434 (REDBITS.050727-1400)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Drawing/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Drawing.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Runtime.Remoting
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.1434 (REDBITS.050727-1400)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Runtime.Remoting/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Runtime.Remoting.dll
----------------------------------------
Microsoft.DirectX.DirectSound
    Assembly Version: 1.0.2902.0
    Win32 Version: 5.04.00.2904
    CodeBase: file:///G:/install/audio/XXHighEnd/09-u0/Microsoft.DirectX.DirectSound.DLL
----------------------------------------
System.Data
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.1434 (REDBITS.050727-1400)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_32/System.Data/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Data.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Xml
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.1434 (REDBITS.050727-1400)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Xml/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Xml.dll
----------------------------------------
LogicNP.FolderView
    Assembly Version: 9.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 9.0.0.0
    CodeBase: file:///G:/install/audio/XXHighEnd/09-u0/LogicNP.FolderView.DLL
----------------------------------------
System.Management
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.1434 (REDBITS.050727-1400)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Management/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Management.dll
----------------------------------------
Microsoft.DirectX
    Assembly Version: 1.0.2902.0
    Win32 Version: 5.04.00.2904
    CodeBase: file:///G:/install/audio/XXHighEnd/09-u0/Microsoft.DirectX.DLL
----------------------------------------
System.Configuration
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.1434 (REDBITS.050727-1400)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Configuration/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Configuration.dll
----------------------------------------
Accessibility
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.1434 (REDBITS.050727-1400)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/Accessibility/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/Accessibility.dll
----------------------------------------

************** JIT Debugging **************
To enable just-in-time (JIT) debugging, the .config file for this
application or computer (machine.config) must have the
jitDebugging value set in the system.windows.forms section.
The application must also be compiled with debugging
enabled.

For example:

<configuration>
    <system.windows.forms jitDebugging="true" />
</configuration>

When JIT debugging is enabled, any unhandled exception
will be sent to the JIT debugger registered on the computer
rather than be handled by this dialog box.

Thanks for the clarity Gerard.

Now I just have to wait for version 0.9u to surface so I can try it in Windows2008 Server