Okay, here is something that might get somewhere:

When I run the DAC test, it says that the DAC does not
support 44.1k or 48k at 16, 24, or 32 bits.

But the Off-Ramp/Timbre combo supports 44.1k @ 24 bits in
 test from the control panel works with those values.

No question in the previous post.  Just reporting on my
progress. I suppose the unposed question was one you
were not the person to ask, which was how to get
the system to work with Off-Ramp.

And Steve at Empirical Audio has been helpful with that
problem.  I have it working beautifully with Foobar, and
I am now through several tracks with the new j river in
WASAPI mode (which sounds excellent) without any
pops and cracks, though this has involved more tinkering
than one might think possible with relatively simple
software.

I can run XX engines 1 and 2, and they sound very good most
of the time.  The wav files, which are ones I often use as
tests and know to be okay, occasionally sounds very briefly
like a dirty CD skipping--that little trilling for 2 or 3 seconds.
There is also an occasional pop and crack.

I can get no output at all from #3.  It keeps telling me that
the dac won't run a particular data sequence--the one I
mistyped in an earlier post-- that it will and does with engines
1 and 2. 

The problem here surely has something to do with the
relation between XX and the new Off-Ramp firmware,
which will only accept 24 bit, or so Steve says and
sometimes seems to be true.  Although I have 24 bit
selected in Vista Sound Control panel, and it seems to
have to be at 24. J River occasionally pops if it is set to 24 bits,
but seems to be fine at 16 bits. I mention this only as
information that might be relevant to the overall question
of what my gear might or might not be capable of.

I am at loss as to what to ask.  I want, like everyone else,
to say, just make it work!! Is it simply that whole set is just
too damned fragile?  I really want to make this go
I am convinced of the virtues of XX.  It works without
problem with the Brick.  With it, however, the music
sounds thin and far away compared what I was getting
with XP and the HagUSB when I started this exercise.

  Don

Peter / SeVeReD--

Okay, so I loaded Vista for a third time. Tweaked, ran around the church
three times counterclockwise etc. and have XX (and the other players--j river and
foobar--that were also crackling and popping on Vista) working well with HagUSB
to Timbre tt-1.  It also works with Wavelength Brick, and the fact that doesn't
sound very well with it isn't a problem of Vista or XX.  I am beginning to see
that the Timbre is a fairly remarkable dac despite its ten-year-old technology.

I am also comparing  the Computer with a Celeron and Vista and a laptop with a duo core
and XP and j river with ASIO USB, which is very damned good.  The ASIO USB, to my
ear, is several cuts better than any other ASIO that I have heard. 

I want to get this settled. I like listening to music,but I really despise listening to sound.
At any rate, XX sounds as good or better on my rig as WaveLab, and files have to be
loaded in it one at a time. 



At any rate

Peter--

I understand that you are more interested in the volume issue.  It is
important to me because I do not have remote volume controls on my
amps.  I use software volume to make small changes to compensate
for the difference in recording levels from recording to recording.  So
when a small change upsets the playback for 3-5 seconds, it is a significant
problem.  As I often listen to randomized playlists, this could be
a serious irritation.

I am not sure that I have yet found a player that will allow this on Vista.
v.13--just out--of j river may do that.

For the present, however, I am more interested in getting Engine 3 to
work.  If it will sound better than Engine 1, which is pretty damned good,
I might be convinced to put up with some inconvenience of XX with
respect to the handiness of the frontend.  Did you see anything in the
data I sent you that might cause the Off-Ramp and Timbre tt-1 combination
not to work?  (I have also written Steve Nugent at Empirical about this).

I agree that SQ is important, and XX is very promising, but for me--
and I expect for a lot of other folk--it is the music that is goal.  I
really don't want to think about the software, the equipment, or even
the sound quality.  Sound quality is not the goal; it is the means.  The music
is goal.

A music player should give highest possible sound quality and should
allow attention to the music with complete concentration.  Whenever
the reproduction calls attention to itself, attention to the music is lost.

Best, Don

Peter--
It was late.  I was already into my nightcap whiskey. But, yes, three typos.  Redundancy is a wonderful saving grace in information theory.

Okay: Timbre tt-1 specs:

Rez 18 bit (not typo), 44.1
Input sampling rates: 34, 44.1, 48

Using engine 1 and Off-Ramp, I am getting the best sound I have ever had out of my PC system.

I can get the Timbre to work with Engine by 3 way of a HagUSB, so the problem is Off-Ramp or the interaction between Off-Ramp and Timbre.  With the Hag, however, Engine 3 does not sound as good as Engine 1 by way of Off-Ramp.  Although I have no way to compare, I think j river with USB-ASIO, XP, and Hag sounded as good as XX with Engine 3 and HAG.

So this information on Off-Ramp from the Empirical audio site:

“# All [versions of Off-Ramp] will pass 16/44.1kHz, 24/96kHz, MP3 and iTunes unmodified files”

“And  Using our new "driverless" firmware*, the Off-Ramp Turbo 2 is truly plug-and-play. There is no driver to install and it works with WinXP, Vista and MAC. Changing from 16/44.1 to 24/96 or any other sample-rate is transparent.”

Butthis from one of Steve’s posts on the Empirical Audio Forum on Audiocircle:

“PC:
[The new firmware] actually outputs 24/44.1 rather than 16/44.1, but this does not affect most DACs…..  When you change from 24/44.1 to 24/96, this happens automatically.  However when you change from 24/96 back to 24/44.1 you may have to unplug the USB cable and replug it for the change to take effect.  You may have to re-select the output device in the player.”
 
Although I would like to use of j river, because of the access it gives to the data, I mentioned the problem with it (breakup when scrolling) only because I thought it might indicate a lack of robustness in my implementation of Vista that would show up in less dramatic ways with XX. The problem I had with pop and crackle, when I first installed Vista and XX, has ceased.  I am not sure which of the many things I did solved the problem.  But XX sounds great on #1 Engine.  And it works on #2 engine.  I haven't really listened to it much, but it is--on quick impression--a bit muddled by comparison to #1.

However, with HagUSB and Engine 3, XX is flakey when I change volume while music is playing XX: Sometimes closing  down playback  for a few seconds; sometimes “Prog not responding appears”; sometimes playback resumes with much lower volume.

Thanks, Don

Peter--
I have a related problem. I am using 9v-6a.
Everything works fine with #3 Engine when I
output through a Wavelength Brick, but
with a Empirical Off-ramp to an ancient, but
wonderful Timbre TT-1 (which works ok
with Engine 1 and 2), I get no playback,
though the album timescale moves, and
then  I get the error message:

End Point Create Failed
The DAC does not accept the byte sequence

and then on another popup
it gives a sequence that the it looks to me
the Timbre should handle
1/14/44,100/171,400/4

The Timbre sounds great with Samplitude,
and was thinking of using it in may main rig.

Also, Vista is still a little shaky with most players.
J River, the new version of which sounds quite good,
and Foobar.  At first, with Vista, I was getting some 
random popping and crackling.  What concerns me now,
as I will probably continue using J River casually for
its good frontend, is that it sounds fine when playing
but when I scroll while playing (which was rock solid with XP) I get
break up.  And perhaps if it is that near the edge perhaps
it isn't doing the best when it is not breakingup.

The only thing I can think of is that I do have enough
RAM.  2gb currently installed. Celeron 2.8 ghz processor.

   Don