The W7 black hole

[BertD]

In the mean time I'm using a very convenient capable digital file player...

I love convenient but only if it sounds good....which player are you using in the mean time?

Bert

[crisnee]

In the mean time I'm using a very convenient capable digital file player...

I love convenient but only if it sounds good....which player are you using in the mean time?

Bert

Hi Bert, I don't want to mention particular players here just because it doesn't seem right (competition and the like) even if Peter doesn't care about it. I'll pm info about it to you.

-Chris

[PeterSt]

But, how can you possibly keep everything straight, and really rely on any particular impression?

we are back in square I.

Hi guys,

I could quote a couple of more phrases, but I'm afraid that I put *you all* in a quite confusing state, while my senses still seem okay. Seem ... haha.

Anyway, I'm well into a week of listening to W7 Vanilla, and really nothing made me change my mind. The treshhold for this is always 5 days, but maybe I indeed (but driven by nature) wasn't seeking for all the music styles and explicitly test/listen for merits there. So, maybe I'm more drawn to the "and how will this now sound ?!?" and put up something of a same style, instead of the mixed bag really needed to judge a "100% well".

Still I think I know enough.

For the "back to square one" people ... no. It really is not like that. It might when you suddenly start using older XX versions. It sure might if you suddenly put up your RAMDisks. DON'T ! (unless you still used that/them of course). You will be too much confusing yourselves ...

That we all should wait for 0.9z-6 really is something else, and about introducing confusement - yes, my fault. But I think 0.9z-6 will be up soon now.

Keep in mind please :

- Older XX versions are worse for theories. My theories, but still.
- RAMDisk is *not* good. If it sounds better in your system, something else is wrong.
- SSD, same story. It is not good.
- W7 version ? I am quite sure SP1 is not good. But :

Since when am I the only one judgeing this ? I never was and never want to be. So, at this time I must be judged as ignorant, wrong, or deaf. But wait until 0.9z-6 is out, and then let's see again. Still no agreement ? Also no agreement within the NOS1 group ? ...

... then I am not ignorant, wrong, or deaf - but needed your opinion and some pointing out. It never has been different and it should not be different.

Take it easy,
Peter

[christoffe01]

That we all should wait for 0.9z-6 really is something else, and about introducing confusement - yes, my fault. But I think 0.9z-6 will be up soon now.

- W7 version ? I am quite sure SP1 is not good. But :

Take it easy,
Peter

Hi Peter,

in your release note for 0.9z-5 you wrote:
 - Expected SQ changes compared to 0.9z-4-1 : NONE. -
But this was with W7 SP1 RC.

With plain W7 I hear differences between both releases now.
You have been unsatisfied with plain W7 in the beginning of 2011, until Marcin came up with SP1 RC, and now we are in a "technical sense" back in 2011, Jan.

To make a long story short, we are eager to listen to 0.9z-6 soon.

best

Joachim

[PeterSt]

With plain W7 I hear differences between both releases now.

Hi Joachim, thank you.
If you only can agree that back then you did *not* hear the difference (not that you must, but this is what I get from your post), then I could be right ...

To make a long story short, we are eager to listen to 0.9z-6 soon.

Exactly. And the real mistake I will have made is that I never imagined the combination as off now cold make the (and that) difference. But I guess you (and not only you) are indirectly telling me this. And I sure believe it. No doubts about *that*.

Regards,
Peter

[PeterSt]

P.S. With only about 30 or 40 people in your country, how come you have so many guys producing cutting edge NOS dacs over there?

Hey, you must have added this later ! (well, I didn't see it before)

Not sure. But we have Philips here, and I guess that in the far end a lot springs or sprung from there. I even worked there myself (but in software).

I'm also not sure whether "so many" good DACs or other official Audio comes from here, but we are an "Audio land" from origine. This may express better from e.g. DIYAudio (which I don't frequent) which sometimes looks like a dutch site, and the dutch guys showing up there know there abouts.

I don't want to suggest or insinuate anything special, and sure not with some explicit reason, but I feel that the level - if I am allowed to speak like that - is quite different from other countries. For example, looking at recording companies, I'm sure we perform quite well if not the best, considering Norway the other "best". Nothing else seems to come close. But, my judgement, my vision.

Dutch lyrics (but include Belgium) ... I really tried my best to replace myself into the english language ... but nothing comes close to that. It is by far out the best - about real life things. Think Bob Dylan but then superceeded by far, because more genuine, more to the point, and more daring at times.
I can't tell about other languages but german and french of course, so maybe swahili outperforms the dutch language here.

Again, not really knowing about large scale audio products from Holland (we in Holland exclude Philips exclusively - don't laugh now), "we" were always saying that audio comes from the UK. It still might, and I am not much into it anymore. And to give you an indication of how "we" always were (at least in some past) : "mwah, American sound - not for me".
(next I bought Infinity speakers).
Same with Germany, as an audio producing country, but very different sound.

Whether it is beyond you maybe, I don't know, but countries really go for a certain sound. Of course, in the end this can't be, assuming sound should not be subjective but real. Which country "is better" ? I don't know. But in the end it is about the people behind it plus the market they envision.


As said, we have Philips. Never mind *we* don't like their products much, this is (or at least has been in the past) a most innovating technical company. Maybe the most (and the worst for marketing). The people knowing a few things about audio, often worked at Philips. Those DIYAudio guys ? I think they all did.
What also may help is that we have quite innovating university programs. Ok, this may be the same everywhere, but because of the density it will be more easy for students to find an "end study project" (I hope you understand what I mean) which really let them explore new stuff. This is a must overhere : without doing something for this end study (which is being 8 months within a normal company) being completely new, you won't graduate. So, think 1000s of university students each year, and they *have* to make up something which wasn't done before. This automatically integrates with this company they recide.

Thinking of it ... suppose this would be an IT student, or maybe signal processing, I could call out for the university concerned for one or two or however many it needs students, to create an audio dedicated OS. From the ground up. It would cost me hardly anything.

Btw, and on another small subject, I wouldn't underestimate the "intelligence" from countries lile Poland. Or Russia deviates. We don't have such a thing overhere, but there this is explicit. I won't say this is the difference between north and south of USA, but something like that and really explicit. The "intelligence" is bound to come up with innovating stuff, never mind the lacking resources. Take rockets. It's a way of living.

Ok, I'll stop now.
Peter

[PeterSt]

Before I forget it :

Take Yello - Touch as an example to try. I think many will have this album.

Somehow - I don't know why - this is a most tough album to let sound right. It did before (but this must have been a year back or so) and lately it did not at all. Some strange sibilance exhibits throughout. Or, that *can* happen when undoubtedly things are not right.
Yesterday I recalled this, so I tried it again. Completely nothing wrong with it anymore.

Everybody in what ever (OS) stage at this moment, should try it now. I mean, before 09z-6. Later listen to it again for comparison. So, this is nothing about better bass or better highs or whatever, but about something being/going completely wrong. Similar to Boleary's expression about Griffin (hey, where is your response ? ).

Peter

[crisnee]

P.S. With only about 30 or 40 people in your country, how come you have so many guys producing cutting edge NOS dacs over there?

Hey, you must have added this later ! (well, I didn't see it before)

Not sure. But we have Philips here,

Yup, you didn't see it. You should know by now that I always slip stuff in. I can't just write about one thing.

And speaking of Philips, the first reel to reel recorder I remember owning (and I loved reel to reels--my last was one of those lovely Swedish or Norwegian jobs; I can't remember the company name for the moment) was a funny looking thing (actually I think it was Norelco--but aren't they and Philips related?) with 5"? reels, sort of on one end.

So I have a soft spot in my heart for Philips/Norelco--but just a tiny one, a little bigger than the one for Sony which was created by a superbly built hi-end Walkman (if that's not a total oxymoron) and has eroded to next to nothing since.

-Chris

[crisnee]

Before I forget it :

Take Yello - Touch as an example to try. I think many will have this album.

Everybody in what ever (OS) stage at this moment, should try it now. I mean, before 09z-6. Later listen to it again for comparison. So, this is nothing about better bass or better highs or whatever, but about something being/going completely wrong.

Peter

Will either of these Yello albums do for the test?  1980-1985 "The New Mix in One Go" or "The Eye." Cause that's all I got.

-Chris

[PeterSt]

No, not that I know of. I always could keep playing The Eye with pleasure. That "New Mix" I didn't play for a long time.

[crisnee]

No, not that I know of. I always could keep playing The Eye with pleasure. That "New Mix" I didn't play for a long time.

So what makes "Touch" so special that it can sound lousy or great at the touch of XX? That's rhetorical of course, since if you knew, you'd know, if you know what I mean. But still...

-Chris

[Chriss]

Hello Peter, guys
one friend just send me this link with windows 8 dev. vers.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/br229516
I'll try it later tonight to see how stable and operative is and will try to start XX but unfortunately I don't have good USB DAC now
Cheers, Cris.

[Calibrator]

Thanks for the link Cris. I have just grabbed the X64 version and will have a play tomorrow on a test HDD in my music server. Hopefully I can get the audio driver for the Juli@ working, otherwise it's 'all over red rover'.

Will provide some feedback one way or other.

Cheers,

Russ

[PeterSt]

Let's say that this continues here : Windows 7 SP1 Surprise.

But summarized : back to SP1 for those who like that better, or for those where it works out for the better in their system.

I know this for a while - could not be sure to what degree it was related to my own (new) NOS1-USB - but :

Let's say that at least everybody has been "forced" to try it out. Was Vanilla better for you ? good. Then leave it like that, or install SP1 again and retry. It all goes fairly fast and easy. Back again the same (takes somewhat longer).

Case closed. Ok, this topic.
Peter