- In case I want to go back, what a better place to store a history of settings than right here?
- These are really intended for me and for anyone with the subject DAC.
- Hopefully, I can update this post over time.
- Entries are newest first, oldest last
With v2.01 and upgraded Wyred 4 Sound DAC2 DSDse
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July 2015 *=appear to be critical:
XXHighEnd PC (i7 3930K) Hyperthreading On (12 cores) underclocked to *2.5GHz*, 16GB, Windows 7 Ultimate64 SP1 on 2.5 SATA2 spinning disk, XX on 2.5 OS disk, music on 3.5 SATA3 7200 RPM.
Motherboard BIOS settings: BCLK = 100 MHz / Intel Speed Step = OFF / Max Clock Ratio = 25 / Allow OS to change ratio = OFF.
XXHighEnd 2.01 Adaptive / Q1/3/4/5 = 6/1/1/1 / Q1x = 1 / Dev.Buffer = 4096 / ClockRes = 1ms / Straight Contiguous / SFS = *60* (max 150) / Playerprio = Low (or below normal) / ThreadPrio = High / Core3-5 / *No Playback Drive* / *No RAMDISK* (the built-in one, have not tried IMdisk) / UnAttended / most services Off, WASAPI on / Minimize OS / XTweaks set to v2.01 Defaults / *8x 384 Custom Filters* (High 23380 Hz)
DAC: 384KHz Wyred 4 Sound DAC2 DSDse set to default PCM Rolloff=FAST (the SLOW setting does not sufficiently filter out the noise shaping of the DAC), and no preamp
With ver. 1.186i beta and newly upgraded DAC2 DSDse
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September 2014 (1.186i) *=appear to be critical from memory:
XXHighEnd PC (i7 3930K) Hyperthreading On (12 cores) underclocked to *2.5GHz*, 16GB, Windows 7 Ultimate64 SP1 on 2.5 SATA2 spinning disk, XX on 2.5 OS disk, music on 3.5 SATA3 7200 RPM.
Motherboard BIOS settings: BCLK = 100 MHz / Intel Speed Step = OFF / Max Clock Ratio = 25 / Allow OS to change ratio = OFF.
XXHighEnd *WASAPI* / Q1/2/3/4/5 = 2/-/3/0/0 / Q1x = 1 / Dev.Buffer = 4096 / ClockRes = 1ms / Straight Contiguous / SFS = *60* (max 120) / Playerprio = Low (or below normal) / ThreadPrio = High / Core3-5 / *No Playback Drive* / *No RAMDISK* (the built-in one, have not tried IMdisk) / UnAttended / most services Off, WASAPI on / Minimize OS / XTweaks None / *8x 176 Custom Filter* Upsampling w/FX=On
DAC: 384KHz Wyred 4 Sound DAC2 DSDse (set to PCM Rolloff=SLOW: theoretically closer to Phasure DAC phenomenon), and no preamp
As a note to the above: The big picture to the September 2014 settings is that WASAPI was selected over Adaptive mode KS. I attribute the better sound to the DSDse's newest driver (1.5.36?) which adds a whole new level of sophistication to the sound. [Update: starting with July 2015 settings, I'm back to Adaptive mode. But I will continue to test WASAPI every once in a while.]
*****************Above this line deals with the upgraded DAC2 DSDse *****************
********************** Below this line dealt with the original DAC2 ****************
With .9z-9b (also)
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March 2014 (0.9z-9b) *=appear to be critical
XXHighEnd PC (i7 3930K) Hyperthreading On (12 cores) underclocked to *2.5GHz*, 16GB, Windows 7 Ultimate64 SP1 on 2.5 SATA2 spinning disk, XX on 2.5 OS disk, music on 3.5 SATA3 7200 RPM.
Motherboard BIOS settings: BCLK = 90 MHz / Intel Speed Step = OFF / Max Clock Ratio = 25 / Allow OS to change ratio = OFF.
XXHighEnd Engine#4 Adaptive Mode / Q1/2/3/4/5 = 1/0/0/0/0 / Q1x = 1 / Dev.Buffer = 2048 / ClockRes = *1.25ms* / Straight Contiguous / SFS = *60* (max 120) / PE Off / Phase Alignment Off / Playerprio = Low / ThreadPrio = Real Time / Scheme = 3 / *No Playback Drive* / *No RAMDISK* (built-in, not IMdisk) / UnAttended / ALL Services Off / Minimize OS / XTweaks Ultimate, "Time Performance Index" set to "Not the best" / *2x AI* Upsampling (for 44.1/16 bit) / No Upsampling for HiRes material (hassle) w/FX=On
DAC: Wyred 4 Sound DAC2 (set to default PCM Rolloff), and no preamp
Notes on above: It took a long time and careful testing to arrive at these settings. Forcing Q1 too high, or using xQ1 results in too many blue screens. Everything becomes reliable again by using lower values of Q1. 15 and under work well with Buffer size set to 2K. I will get back to *No Paging File* after sustained reliability. The problem with *No paging file* is that the blue screen goes away too quickly and the OS forces a paging file to be able to stop it for debugging. (which was a problem with W4Sdrv.sys).
With .9z-9b
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June 2013 (0.9z-9b) *=appear to be critical
XXHighEnd PC (i7 3930K) Hyperthreading On (12 cores) underclocked to *2.5GHz*, 16GB, Windows 7 Ultimate64 SP1 on 2.5 SATA2 spinning disk, *No Paging File*, XX on 2.5 OS disk, music on 3.5 SATA3 7200 RPM, no galleries / Engine#4 Adaptive Mode / Q1/2/3/4/5 = 30/0/0/0/0 / Q1x = 1 / Dev.Buffer = 2048 / ClockRes = 15ms / Straight Contiguous / SFS = *420* (max 420) / *Peak Extension On* (even after 0.9z-9b) / Phase Alignment Off / Playerprio = Low / ThreadPrio = Real Time / Scheme = 3 / Playback Drive on different 3.5 SATA3 7200 RPM / UnAttended / *ALL Services Off* / Minimize OS / XTweaks *Ultimate*, *"Time Performance Index" set to "Not the best"* / *4x* Arc Prediction Upsampling (but really need to mix modes based on source material and cant)
DAC: Wyred 4 Sound DAC2 (set to default PCM Rolloff), and no preamp
With .9z-7
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OS/PC: Vista 32 Ultimate SP2, 4GB RAM, Pentium Dual E2160 1.8GHz
xxHighEnd: 0.9z-7-4, SFS=60 Mixed Contiguous, 2x Upsample w/no arc prediction (for this particular DAC), Scheme 3 PlayerPrio=Low ThreadPrio=RealTime, Clock Resolution 15ms, Unattended and Attended, Stop all Services, Buffer 2048
Back, deep, relaxed soundstage: Engine#4, Adaptive, Q=20,0,0,0,0 ...
Forward, shallow, in-face soundstage: Engine#4, Normal, Q=14,0,0,0,0
DAC: Wyred 4 Sound DAC2 (set to default PCM Rolloff), and no preamp
With .9z-5 and .9z-6
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OS/PC: Vista 32 Ultimate SP2, 4GB RAM, Pentium Dual E2160 1.8GHz
xxHighEnd: 0.9z-6-1c, SFS=72 or 141 Mixed Contiguous, 2x Upsample w/no arc prediction (for this particular DAC), Scheme 3 PlayerPrio=Low ThreadPrio=RealTime, Clock Resolution 1ms, Unattended Stop Desktop and Remaining Services, Keep Lan Services, Buffer 1024
Forward, shallow, in-face soundstage: Engine#4, Normal, Q=14,0,0,0,0 ...
Back, deep, relaxed soundstage: Engine#4, Adaptive, Q=30,0,0,0,0
DAC: Wyred 4 Sound DAC2 (set to default PCM Rolloff), and no preamp
