XXHighEnd Model 0.9u-1 (Support for Upsampling to 24 bits + DAC Analysis)

[PeterSt]

It is strongly advised to not use your system without a preamp (or the pre-amp at max volume for that matter) if you or your speakers won't be able to handle a situation that e.g. the file contains wrongly formatted data or otherwise - because of which cracks may emerge with an energy beyond imagination.

All Vista / Engine#3 :

The following has been added to this version :

• DAC Analysis, meant to find out what Exclusive Mode really supports for your Soundcard/DAC.
  
  - Set the "DAC is" combobox to "DAC Test" as indicated in the picture below (the "DAC needs" section does nothing now).
  - Load at least one track in the Playlist Area. This is not allowed to be a 24 bit file !
  - Press Play.
  
  The various theoretical possibilities will be examined now, and when finished Notepad will pop up showing you what is supported and what is not. See the second picture below for an example.
  Please ignore the number on the second line.
  
  If you like, when you have more Audio Devices, subsequently make them the Primary Device (as usual for XX to play with Engine#3) and repeat the test.
  You can type the name of the Audio Device in the Notepad area and save it under a name accordingly for later reference.
  The XXModeSupport.log can be found in your XX folder when needed.
  
  Please help : When you encounter a "Supported" for a "24" in the second column (meaning "DAC needs 24 bits" in the given situation (never mind "given"), would you be so kind to post the Notepad output in the forum please and tell what Soundcard and/or DAC this is ? Thanks..
  
  Edit : Currently this only works with normal WAV files (Cue files too, but that's rather slow). So no FLAC and no MP3 ! (or you'll get errors).
  
  
• Compared to the previous 0.9u-0a version, your Soundcard/DAC will now allow for different modes of Playback. Also see above.
  Note : Shared Mode is *not* supported anymore because it brings nothing additional (not in this 0.9u-1 version), is the most confusing, and in fact s*cks all over. For that matter, there is no reason anymore to go to Vista's Sound Properties - Advanced and try settings overthere. They are completely ignored now ().
  
  
• When "DAC needs" is set to 32 (!!!), hence the "DAC is" > 16 bits, Doubling and Upsampling (to 88K2) is supported now.
  Important : Most often Upsampling takes place in the 16 bit domain, as was the case with XXHighEnd before. Now, "genuin" Upsampling is performed as soon as the DAC has more than 16 bits (17 would be sufficient theoretically). BUT :
  Upsampling *and* using the Digital Volume Control should really not be applied together !!
  Why ? because the "genuin", or better, "balanced" upsampling will be destroyed by it. Anyway in my theories the Upsampling of the Samplerate (2x) including interpolation to the proper amplitude values (right in between two adjacent original 44K1 samples' amplitude) will be destroyed by the Digital Volume. And just the same : when an e.g. 18 bit DAC allows for the headroom to do this, attenuating with 12dB already has removed that necessary headroom.
  When your DAC is 24 bits and play it so ("DAC needs" is set to 24 (but see below topic for 24 !) or 32), YMMV and it kinds of depends how much you attennuate.
  On the other hand : When you use your system with the Digital Volume set to -0dB (hence the Volume Control is analogue), Upsampling will be way better than before hence will not be able to show the anomalies from before, thinking of no headroom at all when the amplitude varies less than 2 decimal in two adjacent samples, or varies uneven decimal for that matter (like 3, 5, 7, etc.).
  
  
  
• Referring to the "!!!" in the beginning of the previous topic, a "DAC needs" of 24 and Doubling is NOT supported yet. Also the code doesn't look at it and when the Soundcard/DAC tells it is supported *and* you try it indeed, loud crackle will be the result !! (this is one of the reasons I need to know whether your Soundcard/DAC allows for it anyway, see earlier question).
  
  
• XXHighEnd can be played on Windows Server 2008 now and acts like running under Vista. When the Playlist Area does not contain tracks, this will show like Vista/S.
  
  
• Although already implemented in 0.9u-0, if everything works out as intended, USB users can now press Next once for playing the next track (Engine#3). Please let know when this is still an issue for you.
  
  
• Added a few 48000 samplerate / bitrate combinations plus one 192000 for the combobox "DAC is". Hardly important for now.
  
  

The download file is completely at the bottom below.