trying .9-y6 on xp sp2 - need suggestions

[PeterSt]

Hi Mark, thank you for your nice words.

When you set a proper Music Root folder (Settings Area), your albums will show up in the Lirbrary Area. Watch the textbox at the bottom (which should show that music root foler), and click search. A maximum of 100 albums will show up there because of the demo version. If you have coverart in your per album music folders, the Library Area will show that Coverart (instead of backish crosses). It is there where you can click an album for selection and do many things with it (or all the selected albums as a matter of fact). One of them is that Load button I talked about. Much more you will find under the rightclick context menu (which thus shows at rightclicking an album).

Notice that there are more means to load an album (or individual tracks) in the Playlist Area, and I only pushed you towards the Load button because of that strange sequence you have, which easily can come from the way you e.g. drag files from Explorer onto the Playlist Area (which is just one of those other means).

In any case, take your time for it all, and just try to get your best sound. I think it could take you days to only find that, but with some little experience you will perceive something better compared to what you are used to soon. You must also learn what to listen for, and without someone "teaching" you, this takes some time also.

So far for now,
Peter

[fzman]

Peter,
Thanks for the tips.  I have been involved in high end audio for a long time, am a trained musician, and sell high end audio for a living, so i do have a lot of listening experience.  The system I am using is very good, and I have attended to many details of making the computer sound good - plugged into a shunyata v-ray with shunyata power cords, magnan interconnect from dac to sim audio preamp, audioquest digital cable, power supply tweeks in the pc, along with the custom diy linear power supply running the sound card.  The room is acoustically treated, and it is sounding very good indeed.

The computer I am using for audio is not connected to the internet, so has no antivirus running, and has very little software installed on it.  If i buy the software, how would i transfer the "license" to that computer?  would i have to install the xxhighend from scratch, or just copy a file over on a flash drive?

I have .9y6 on this computer, can i pay for that one, and then transfer the payment over to the audio pc running 9v7?

thanks again,

Mark

[PeterSt]

Hi Mark,

XXHighEnd doesn't "install" a s such, so it is only a matter of copying to the folder where you want it.
The license is for your "household", so you can have it on several computers (at the same time). For PCs not connected to the network there's a special procedure which I will PM you.

I have .9y6 on this computer, can i pay for that one, and then transfer the payment over to the audio pc running 9v7?

Versions really don't matter. You can also always fall back on old versions (which keep on being available for download as you may have seen).

I'll send you that PM.
Peter

[fzman]

Peter, I am still using the 1 gig kingston ram chip, and it seems to be playing fine, and responds more quickly with adaptive mode, and unattended.  is there any sonic advantage to switching to a single 2 gig corsair ram module? 

Mark

[PeterSt]

I suppose you achive this by setting your Split File size parameter relatively low. This works allright, but it not the intention of it all. But if you are satisfied with the sound like it is, why not (and I sure don't guarantee you will be perceiving changes to SQ when the parameter is set larger).

Notice that I am not familiar with low voltage, underclocked etc. memory and everything, which is a thing I leave for cics.
The same for 1 vs 2 RAM modules. So, to respond to that question : no idea !

Peter


PS: By now I am not sure what your settings are (you will have told it somewhere, but please put it in your signature !), but supposed you are not using upsampling (or Double only) then this really matter for the memory usage !

[fzman]

I will add to my signature.  Last night I was able to audition an Audioquest Signature digital cable, with the Boccino rcas.  Unbelieveable how good it is sounding.  The speakers dissapear, tonality is wonderful, very dynamic, and you can hear the spaces between the musicians!

I am liking the software very much, but can;t figure out what all the commands are for the autohotkeys- so far i have found alt-x to start xxhighend, alt-e to exit, and alt-n for next track - i cannot find the command for previous track... 

also, when i set q1 back to 1 (down from 4) the hard drive light came on, and stayed on for a long time even while music had been playing for minutes...  so i put it back to 4.

[PeterSt]

I can't imagine how that would be related ...
Maybe you just try it again ?

Notice that changing Q1 will restart the audio engine. So *that* implies other stuff. But only then, and it should fade out.

[fzman]

I am still learning, and only have a short time each evening to experiment and listen, and I would much rather listen, as the sound is very captivating now - and i need to do more system tweeking before I do a lot more experimenting with the settings.  But I will keep you posted.

[fzman]

Peter,

I switched another setting.  I changed my dac is   from 16/44.1  to 24/192.  i am using the Cary xciter dac, which uses the akm 4399 dac chip.  I think a very slight nasal quality in vocals has gone away with this change - does that make sense?  i may tri 32/192, which I believe is the limit for the dac, i will check the spec sheet tomorrow - gonna listen more before bed.

[Calibrator]

I am liking the software very much, but can;t figure out what all the commands are for the autohotkeys- so far i have found alt-x to start xxhighend, alt-e to exit, and alt-n for next track - i cannot find the command for previous track... 

Allow me to guide your fingers on the keyboard.

( see below )

http://www.phasure.com/index.php?topic=1058.msg8923#msg8923

[PeterSt]

Hi Mark,

If your DAC is 24/192, you just *have* to tell that via the settings. So, even if you are palying normal CDs only (redbook) the additional available bits will be used, although it depends on what you are doing. E.g. using the digital volume of XXHighEnd is enough. Or an upsampling means.
Btw, I don't think the DAC will be 32/192, but I didn't look it up.

Peter

[fzman]

From the AKm press release:
High Performance 32-bit Stereo DAC Optimized for Sound Quality
San Jose, CA December 19, 2008 — AKM Semiconductor (AKM), the world’s premier
supplier of audio ICs for professional and consumer markets, today launched the AK4399, a
high performance 32-bit stereo DAC that achieves 123dB dynamic range for stereo and 126db
for mono outputs. It is the newest member of the Audio4proTM family, and it is the highest
performing device in the 32-bit DAC series. An innovative design technique utilizing a
symmetrical layout for the left and right channels prevents signal quality deterioration, and a
32-bit digital operation block provides full 32-bit processing.
Achieving very high dynamic performance, the AK4399 features -105dB THD+N and 123dB
dynamic range in stereo mode. The device features fully differential outputs, digital attenuator,
de-emphasis filter, soft mute circuit and zero detection. The sampling rate ranges from 30kHz
to 216kHz, and the operating voltage is 5V.
Two digital filters are integrated into the AK4399: a sharp roll-off filter for high fidelity audio
and a short delay filter that has no impulse noise pre-ring for live performance applications. In
addition, 32-bit digital audio data can be input directly to the delta-sigma modulator without
passing into the integrated digital filters, allowing for use of an external digital filter.
The AK4399 supports DSD (Direct Stream Digital) or PCM data input. Since the AK4399
contains an integrated low-pass filter only for DSD data, the required performance in the
SACD format book (Scarlet Book) can be easily realized with a simple external analog filter.
The output level is the same for either PCM or DSD input data, as well as external digital filter
input. Volume control is independent of the type of data input.

[fzman]

thanks Calibrator!  that's a big help.

[fzman]

Peter,  regarding ram, what I was asking is whether a single 2 gig ram module would give better performance than a single 1 gig ram module....

Not sure if you have any opinion on whether it would sound any better, but whether the system would respond more quickly, run smoother, allow lower latencies,  etc.


Also, how does q1 and the buffers setting interact with the dual and quad sampling options (sonics, mostly)?  are there specific recommendations, using ks/xp yr7 as in my signature?

Wish I had more time to experiment myself, but would like some guidance so I am not randomly trying every possible permutation!

Best,

Mark

[fzman]

Peter, et al,

I have done some brief listening with linear, arc prediction, and anti-image at both 2x and 4x settings.  I have had mixed results, and noticed that the driver for my essence stx soundcard has fixed sample rates of only 44, 88, 96, and 192, which matches the indicator lights on my cary xciter dac.  with any of the upsampling settings, the sample rate light on the dac does not light. Any thoughts on whether this is good or bad?  How do you think it will effect the sound?

I switched back to straight 44.1, and the lock light came back on, and the sound is a bit warmer, and there is more precise imaging - no "wandering"

Thanks for reading this and offering any thoughts.

Mark