Hi Peter,

OK, when I get into XXHighEnd settings and look at the Output section and then the "Device" drop-down menu, there are several choices (some of them appear truncated due to the width of the box):

Primary Sound Driver
Realtek Digital Output (Realtek High Definition
Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Phasure NOS1 Out1 L/R (3-Phasure NOS1 W
Phasure NOS1 Out2 L/R (3-Phasure NOS1 W
KS: Phasure NOS1Out1 L/R>>#pcmrendere
KS: Phasure NOS1 Out2 L/R>>#pcmrendere

One of the two Phasure NOS1 Out options was indeed selected (I didn't pay attention to which one was active--oops-- but I've tried both).

No matter which of the above options I choose, I get the same error.

Should I try reinstalling the driver, as Hans suggested?  If so, give me a hint as to how to do this.  Thanks!

Mark

Hans and Peter,

Thanks for your replies.  You both seem to feel that the NOS1a is the problem (either the driver or the DAC itself).  However, the Windows chime or *bling* sounds are coming through to the stereo just fine.  If the NOS1a or its driver is at fault, wouldn't these sounds coming from the PC not make it through to the preamp?

I'm perfectly willing to follow your earlier suggestions, of course, but I want to make sure it's sensible to do so in light of the above facts.  Also, Peter, it will be many hours before it's dark enough to look for a miniscule LED glow in the innards of the NOS1a!

Mark

Mark

I've been happily using XXHE v. 1.186a for a couple of years now (yeah, I know, I need to upgrade!), on a computer that Peter built.  I'm using the NOS 1a DAC.  But a couple of weeks ago, when I hit "play" with a track cued up, I got no music--only the Windows error chime and the following message:

Error during Playback Initialization
ENDPOINT CREATE FAILED -> The DAC does not accept this byte sequence.
Try switching DAC Needs from 32 to 24 (or the other way around)

A second message, behind the first, says:

4|32|176400|2822400|16

Switching "DAC Needs" to 24 did no good, of course, nor did rebooting the computer.  I don't think I inadvertently made any changes to settings before the problem began--it came "out of the blue", so to speak.  The housecleaner was here earlier that day, but I can't imagine that she would have messed around with it, and I'm out of other suspects!  My wife definitely avoids touching the stuff.

I'm not particularly computer savvy, so this may be a problem that most of you would have solved by now, but I'm stuck.  Any ideas?

Uh...yeah!  That's what I meant to say!

Mark

I had an email exchange with Peter this morning, when I posed this question:

I do have a question about using the XXHighEnd PC for "seeing" the internet.  I'd like to be able to play streaming music files off of Tidal, into the NOS1a.  If I just confine the XX computer to playing streaming music off of the Tidal website, as well as its normal duties playing ripped files through XXHighEnd, I don't think I'll have exposure to viruses.  Do you see any significant problem with this?

To this, Peter responded:

Well, I can see a bit of problems with Tidal and such. So a normal protection you can’t apply (but actually have to) because of that being detrimental to about everything and a more smart one would be more difficult that I would be able to cope with (I just don’t have the PC connected, so I don’t care about anything).
What about putting this to the forum ? Maybe someone has arranged for it in sufficiently decent fashion.

Good idea!  So what do you think?

As services like Tidal (in the US; www.tidalhifi.com) and WiMP (in parts of Europe and maybe elsewhere; www.wimpmusic.com) provide access to millions of tracks of music, in real time, at high quality (44.1 kHz/16-bit, 1411 kbps, lossless), it would be great if we could use our existing XXHighEnd PC to play tracks into the NOS1 DAC.  Otherwise, I assume we have to use a second computer that is linked to the internet to play streaming files, with the attendant USB cable input switching between sources (I think) into the NOS1.  I'm aware that playing streaming files, even lossless FLAC files via the likes of Tidal or WiMP, won't have the benefit of arc prediction and other magic that the XXHighEnd program applies, but it's a huge step in the right direction.  Peter has even alluded (I think--it's hard to decipher his allusions, or illusions) to working on something to use XXHighEnd (or maybe a modification in NOS1?) to apply that magic to streaming files.

I know that Peter is concerned about viruses, since the XXHighEnd computer is running without virus protection, and of course it would be crazy to willy-nilly surf the web on the XX PC without virus protection.  (Gee, even the name "XXHighEnd" could attract the wrong kind of websites and spam, if you get my drift!!)

But what about restricting the computer's internet use to Tidal or WiMP, to play streaming music?  Is anyone doing this "in sufficiently decent fashion"?  Any problems/concerns?

Mark

Hi Peter,

Gee, I wish I'd known you were in town last night, Roberta and I could have taken you and yours out to dinner, or Roberta would have enjoyed cooking something yummy for you at our house.  Of course, then I would have put you to work helping set up my new toys in the listening room, turning your trip into more of a working vacation--not what you need right now!

If you're in Big Sur for lunch today (it's almost lunchtime as I write), go to Nepenthe; what a view!  Matt might suggest the restaurant at Post Ranch Inn for dinner, but that would set you back some serious money; but, like Nepenthe, a killer view.  Less spectacular a view but equally fine food (for less money) can be had at Ventana Inn.  Matt will surely have some great input on this.  Enjoy!

Hi Matt, great to hear of another (relatively) close Phasure Phan!  Maybe after you and I finally get our systems settled in we can meet for some listening/tweaking.

Peter, have fun...you're hitting some great weather here on the coast!

Mark

Well, I for one attended the Audio Show on Friday, getting to the show hotel just a few minutes after 10 AM.  I zipped up to the Phasure room, as I wanted to meet Peter before he got sucked out of the room to attend to other responsibilities (or, as we now know, left the room because he didn’t want to be there!).  I found Peter, along with Lee Mincy (North American distributor for Phasure), feverishly stuffing foam padding into the tweeter of the Surreal speakers!  They clearly knew that they had a problem on their hands, but Peter was pretty cool about the whole thing. 

Peter and Lee were amiable hosts, and Peter was happy to chat with me about how to get this whole Phasure NOS1 DAC and XXHighEnd computer and software conglomeration working together (I got my NOS1 just a couple of weeks ago, and the computer was waiting for me on my doorstep when I got home from the show—wish me luck).

Yes, the tweeters in the Surreal speakers were pretty aggressive, and I think Jason Serinus was fair in his assessment and didn’t blame the Phasure products.  The hotel room acoustics were a problem too, of course, and I really didn’t find a system/room that sounded as good to me as what I have at home.  This brings up a question:  how is the typical Audio Show listener to tease out the relative contributions to the sound from more esoteric components such as DACs and computer software, in an unfamiliar room with unfamiliar speakers, amps, etc.?  As Peter suggests, everyone could bring their own speakers, amps etc. to the show, but this seems a bit, uh, cumbersome (Peter, what the heck did you mean when you wrote “…this is what will happen next time”?).

Perhaps a better assessment of Phasure products in a Show setting would be to use generally-accepted-as-excellent speakers (such as Magico, Raidho, TAD, one of the usual suspects) , amps, cables, and so on, with A/B comparisons between a computer playing music through a well-regarded software player such as JRiver, and a high-end DAC such as the Berkeley Alpha, then play the same track through the same exact system, but played through XXHIghEnd software and the Phasure NOS1.  I love to hear comparisons like this at audio shows! The folks at JRiver and Berkeley would not love it, I suppose.  But if the Phasure products are as good as everyone on this forum says they are (and I should find out for myself soon, once I get it all set up in my own system), such a demo should make reviewers like Jason really sit up and take notice of this little company in the Netherlands.

Lurking behind and between the computer and Phasure NOS1 was not the $1, el-cheapo USB cable previously recommended by Peter, but instead a fancy-pants, wallet-slimming USB cable provided by Synergistics.  Oh no, must we now be tempted to upgrade?!  I should have asked Peter about this, but didn’t.  Perhaps Peter can explain the relative merits of a USB cable “upgrade”.  But I don’t expect much in the way of lengthy replies from Peter for the next week and a half or so, as Peter was just beginning a 2-week vacation here in the States—let the man get some rest!

Mark
Santa Cruz, California

Congratulations, Peter!  I was just perusing an email I received today from Absolute Sound, including a review of the best sounds from the New York Audio Show.  Well lo and behold, the Phasure NOS1 got the attention of the reviewer, Scot Hull, in the Venture Audio room.  Aside from calling it a "curiously shaped device" (OK, he's right, you know) he did recognize it as "outstanding-sounding".

Here's the link: http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/new-york-audio-show-part-2/?utm_campaign=Newsletter&utm_medium=email&page=2&utm_source=email-116

Mark