NOS1a and Q5 & W7 vs W8

[CoenP]

I used Windows machines a lot in the past but switched about 6 years ago due to the fact that Mac Hardware is just so much nicer My personal taste obliously.
And my hassle to maintain the system in the MAC is basically zero. Do not get me wrong, i do not want to start a MAC vs PC discussion, just my personal experience.

It just occured to me that when I saw in another thread here the photos of the gear people use, the PC usally had the least apealing look

Hi Michael,

I'm with you here, but I only bought my first Mac recently. 60% of the decision was daily windows frustration and 40% because of the MUCH better look and feel of Mac products. My MBP is the best (& best looking) computer I ever used. I even went BYOD with the Mac in my daily occupation.
 
I still have and use Windows stuff (win7) predominantly for "High End" audio. There's simply no alternative yet. I wouldn't regret leaving the platform altogether but that's not an option today.

regards, Coen

[michaeljeger]

Hi Coen
Thanks for your feedback.
Why would you say that PCs are better for HighEnd Audio?
Is it due to the fact that you can select specific hardware like USB Cards?

Regards, Michael

[Mamba315]

99% of my Phasure NOS1 (now "a") usage has been under Mac OSX.  Peter did try the Audirvana+ player at one point, so he has recommended filter settings for that player if using the NOS1.  I tried to get HQplayer working but ran into an error after install that I couldn't understand or solve, so I gave up.

It gets worse.  Most of my music is played over Spotify with OSX up sampling to 384K.  Look under the AudiiMIDI utility for this.  This is a capability that Peter actually reminded me of, since I'd forgotten about it It's not because Spotify is ideal for SQ, but simply because it's a very easy way to hear new music.

Interesting regarding Peters recent comment that low-power computers may be ideal because mains noise can still affect sound.  The Mac Mini is designed to use much less than a typical PC.  Apple seems to prioritize this during development since it's always part of their marketing spiel.  The later models especially so, although I still need to hook up my wattage meter to see what my 2012 Mini consumes.

I've never felt OSX wasn't supported, but the NOS1 was designed for XXHE so that's where most of the discussion is.  No much to discuss on the Mac side, once you have your AudioMIDI and Audirvana+ settings correct.  It makes sound, better than my Benchmark DAC2 incidentally, but not as good as it can be under XXHE.

I put Windows on the Mac too, so I can use XXHE on it.  Easy to boot into that, but I'm a creature of habit and my personal music collection is only a tiny fraction of what Peter has.  Plus I still have the XXHE PC.

When I get some new speakers (Geddes), I'll do more comparing.  I haven't felt comfortable doing comparisons so far, since every speaker so far (at least 7 over the past year) has had some serious flaw.  Learned a lot, at least..

Enough blah blah, as Peter would say 

[PeterSt]

Haha !

I still need to hook up my wattage meter to see what my 2012 Mini consumes.

Today I wondered, but now I'm sure someone has the answer !

Btw, my XXHighEnd PC consumes 48.5W during playback (yours can do that too).

Regards,
Peter

PS: Please people, talk about Macs as much as you like. Matt, you're actually (also) an unexpected person because I never know what you really use. OK, now I know. This could count for many more who maybe don't "dare" (ahum) to tell about it ?

[michaeljeger]

99% of my Phasure NOS1 (now "a") usage has been under Mac OSX.  Peter did try the Audirvana+ player at one point, so he has recommended filter settings for that player if using the NOS1.  I tried to get HQplayer working but ran into an error after install that I couldn't understand or solve, so I gave up.

It gets worse.  Most of my music is played over Spotify with OSX up sampling to 384K.  Look under the AudiiMIDI utility for this.  This is a capability that Peter actually reminded me of, since I'd forgotten about it It's not because Spotify is ideal for SQ, but simply because it's a very easy way to hear new music.

Quite interesting. I initially also struggled with HQPlayer. There have been some recent updates but I do not like the usability so much. Use mostly Audirvana. (also for my SACD Isos)

Spotify is nice but I really do not like the SQ at all. Some files are just horribly compressed vs CD-Version.
I agree that it's good to learn about new music.

A Mac Mini for Playback will be probably around 30 Watts total.

Regards, Michael

[CoenP]

Hi Coen
Thanks for your feedback.
Why would you say that PCs are better for HighEnd Audio?

Is it due to the fact that you can select specific hardware like USB Cards?

Maybe.
At this point in time its not a fair comparison, apples and oranges. My PC is higly tuned towards to what my system is capable of for my listening preferences. That includes hardware, mobo and all software. Mac starts out a a totally different point for all these items. Maybe we will find a way. The low power laptop route sounds promising so far.
FYI my best sound up till now uses settings different form Peter's general recommended ones. And it sounds darn good to me.

I've only begun with the Apple to explore its possibilities, just to get a better understanding of what a different setup means to the sound. The're not much alternatives to A+ and HQ player from a quality perspective. I think expensive Amarra is for the really committed MAC user. It took me some time to get sound out of the HiqPlayer, but I managed. While darker and more rough I still prefer A+. As I understand for maximum SQ HqP is intended to be used with the NAA that runs on Linux (no NOS driver for that).
Played around with settings but no real tweaking so this may change.

I don't know what is possible, but I can imagine something like an OS-X AudioUnit to provide for ArcPrediction/Custom "filter" up to 16x in a Mac environment. That would make a comparison more enlightening...

regards, Coen

[CoenP]

Taking a look at the configuration of your PC I see that you are using a Megahalems passive cooling (no fans running), would you tell me please what Megahalems model are you using and, if possible, could you put some pictures of your PC? I still have three fans in my PC and I would like to try it totally passive.

It's the Prolimatech Megahalems rev.B. I have a big "noiseless" fan attached with rpm controller (turn knob) for the really hot days in summer or when I convert videos with GPU acceleration. Normally the controller is disconnected from the supply.
When in music mode in the summer it gets nicely warm to the touch, its cool this time of year.
Since the memory and Southbridge are not stressed I assumed temperature is no issue, but I never checked that. I know there are south bridge coolers; I used one to make my atom passively cooled. There are cooling fins on the memory and I have the lazy habit of leaving the side of the PC open for easy access.

Sometimes I forgot to remove the fan controller and the sound irritated me enough to stop the music and start looking for the cause. So I consider the absence of PC PSU powered fans quite important. 

Now the PC is hidden and it's dark, I will make a photo on a more convenient time.

You have also the "Power cable PE not connected, together with nos1 and poweramp in "audio" strip". Does it mean that the PE not connected is only the one in the cable from the power strip to the wall? or the power cables from the NOS1 and power amp have also the PE disconnected?

I have to update: One Siltech octopus power strip (8 outlet) at the mains outlet. This outlet has no PE, PE has to come from a different room but is NOT connected now. Mind you I have both the black wire and the USB PCI card "connected".
The Siltech supports NOS1a, audio PC and a secondary strip. The Secondary strip is old fashioned without PE (flat type) that supports all current and historic power plugs (sometimes 50-60's tube amps get connected). This is where the "power" amp is connected wich plug is the consumer flat type without earthing. What is confusing in my current signature is that I intended to refer to the disconnected PE of the PC cable. It is disconnected at the PC's side (Europlug).  The NOS cable is a stock Euro cable on which I placed a sturdier plug and Euroconnector with PE connected at both sides.

I hope this makes it a little clearer.

regards, Coen

[CoenP]

But now I'm a bit concerned that with the NOS1a, setting up an RDC with a laptop to control XX might cause SQ issues. Setting up such a connection is something I'm very much looking forward to. Maybe there is a trade off with an RDC connection which then lets one disconnect mouse, keyboard and monitor? Just wondering.

This was my theory, but I only tested it on WIN8 and its no secret that I don't like that at all. Anyway disabling the KVM did not do very much, but the RDC was a nice improvement in the right direction, but certainly not enough to leave WIN7  !

Removing the PCI-e Videocard was a bad idea even when there was no monitor on the output. The sound became feeble and powerless and atmosphere was lost.

Back on WIN7 disabling the Ethernet again (no RDC) was an important step in the journey back to excellent sound again.

So YMMV.
I'd say save the convenience improvements for another day.

regards, Coen

[PeterSt]

Removing the PCI-e Videocard was a bad idea even when there was no monitor on the output. The sound became feeble and powerless and atmosphere was lost.

[CoenP]

Removing the PCI-e Videocard was a bad idea even when there was no monitor on the output. The sound became feeble and powerless and atmosphere was lost.

Mind you I have an i5. My take is that the GPU on the CPU got activated again by the removal of the videocard with detrimental effects on SQ.

regards, Coen

[boleary]

Hey Coen, thanks for your October 20th reply. I've been traveling and somehow I missed it. Like you, I'm still on W7. Every time I try W8 the sound gets out of control with all kinds of HF distortion. I haven't tried W8 with the bnc cable. That might make a difference.

Regarding the RDC, I thought that folks were using it with the NOS1a upgrade?

[PeterSt]

Mind you I have an i5. My take is that the GPU on the CPU got activated again by the removal of the videocard with detrimental effects on SQ.

Hey Coen, that was the first thing slipping to my mind. But then your Sig says "No IGP" and although I had to guess its meaning I thought of No Internal Graphic Processor. This combined with an I5 of which I thought "isn't probably even in it (GPU)" ...

But otherwise I would have suggested exactly like you say now (see quote). *If* there's a GPU in there !

Peter

[PeterSt]

Regarding the RDC, I thought that folks were using it with the NOS1a upgrade?

Brian, not that I know of for explicit "a" reasons. All I know is that many use it in the first place.
I for sure know one : Me.

So it is only that the NOS1a 100% allows for it now, but the XXHighEnd settings for it are doable but not intuitive (is anything ? ) and I did not lay them out (since the 1.186-i version for it is not official anyway).
But working on THAT ...

Peter

[CoenP]

But otherwise I would have suggested exactly like you say now (see quote). *If* there's a GPU in there !

Confusing terminology, but the i5-2500k I use has an onboard (modest) GPU aka an IGP. When no videocard installed the BIOS defaults to the IGP for video. Powerconsumtion wise this setup is an advantage, but it didn't sound like that.

regards, Coen

[boleary]

So it is only that the NOS1a 100% allows for it now, but the XXHighEnd settings for it are doable but not intuitive (is anything ? swoon) and I did not lay them out (since the 1.186-i version for it is not official anyway).
But working on THAT ...

Peter

Looking forward to it! Thanks.

Brian