[Mython]

OK, great.
 
Buy an Nvidia GPU.
 
Now all you need to do is spend a lifetime learning what Rob has learned, and you can then sit down and type the necessary code to exceed the performance of Rob's pulse array and WTA filter.
 
I don't think Rob will be concerned by people running HQ Player on an Nvidia GPU, even though it will probably sound very nice indeed.
 
 
To each his own... 

 

[Sunya]

I was addressing Rob's comment on PCs real time computing capabilities, wasn't meant to diminish Rob's accomplishment with DAVE.
 
It seems a bunch of you have a problem with that, overly defensive Chord fanboys I presume.

 

[miketlse]

I remember reading about CUDA almost a decade ago, when I had a passing interest in trying to write an optimiser tool, using parallel processing.
 
Then I realised that it was too much like hard work for the use case I was considering.
 
Even if it is possible to write the program, to create a DAC using one of these graphics cards, with performance that equals DAVE, then you still have the problem that you will be playing your music files on a PC that uses graphics cards, which need a great amount of fan based cooling. 
Actually you won't have to match the DAVE noise floor, because the ambient noise floor will be only -20 dB, because of the fan noise. 

 
Let us know how you get on with this project.

 

[miketlse]

  I was addressing Rob's comment on PCs real time computing capabilities, wasn't meant to diminish Rob's accomplishment with DAVE.
 
It seems a bunch of you have a problem with that, overly defensive Chord fanboys I presume.

No, I am not an overly defensive fan boy, but I have 35 years experience of writing software on-and-off, mostly to solve engineering problems.
I do know that there is a big difference between what a programmer claims is technically possible, in an ideal world with no limitations on hardware, cost, programming time, etc, and what is feasible to solve real world problems.
 
There are good reasons why the 'media PCs' that were talked about 10 years ago, did not become popular, and a big reason was fan noise.

 

[Sunya]

But the HQPlayer uses the CUDA cores for real time parallel processing, working on readily available consumer hardware; what ideal world?
 
You have a problem with those using the PC as a source?

 

[miketlse]

  But the HQPlayer uses the CUDA cores for real time parallel processing, working on readily available consumer hardware; what ideal world?
 
You have a problem with those using the PC as a source?

Will those GPUs be running in a completely passive cooling mode?

 

[Mython]

  I was addressing Rob's comment on PCs real time computing capabilities, wasn't meant to diminish Rob's accomplishment with DAVE.
 
It seems a bunch of you have a problem with that, overly defensive Chord fanboys I presume.

 
 
LOL - no need to cast aspertions.
 
If you care to look back, you will find one or two of these:      

  ...indicating that the discussion is of a friendly nature.

 

[halloweenman]

Rob Watts, I have a question for you. I have read here that you use JRiver for playback. I currently use iTunes as player using macbook and osx and all my music is in apple lossless format. Given that iTunes provides bit perfect playback for my music do you think its possible to improve sound quality by trying another player such as JRiver or Audirvana? I find it puzzling that Audirvana has two bit perfect integer modes that it claims sound different - mode 1 more transparent with better soundstage, and mode 2 that is warmer. How can this be if they are both bit perfect? Thanks.

 

[Rob Watts]

I am afraid I have no experience of iTunes, perhaps somebody else can comment?
 
I recall that we did have a problem with a iPhone on initial testing - and what we thought was a bit perfect file did actually have some gain applied, so it was not bit perfect. But that could have been a settings issue.
 
Rob

 

[adyc]

I have used HQPlayer before. I don't know what the fuss about this player is. No matter what settings I have used (and I have tried many), the sound coming out from HQPlayer feeding into a few expensive DACs I had before are no improvements.

As mentioned before, after I got DAVE, I am completely happy. I can say DAVE's algorithms beats the hell out of HQPlayer. Furthermore, DAVE is a complete package (software and hardware) and comes in such a small form factor. I can't think of any highend Hifi equipments are so reasonably priced and such extraordinary sound quality.

 

[BirdManOfCT]

OK, where can I buy DAVE in the US? The Chord website lists just one distributor for the US and that distributor's website says they don't sell to the public. Hmm.

 

[pkcpga]

OK, where can I buy DAVE in the US? The Chord website lists just one distributor for the US and that distributor's website says they don't sell to the public. Hmm.

Not sure where your located but my dealer in Nashua New Hampshire has it and other chords DACs as well as there's no sales tax in New Hampshire great bonus a purchase that size.
http://www.avtherapy.net

There are a few dealers in NYC that carry it also but high sales tax on an item like that.

 

[Beolab]

OT:

As i mentioned earlier last week, that i would receive the newly released DHC 5N Silver cable Prion4S , including some other goodies:



Prion4S Silver adapter:


As a bonus Peter made a very special cable:

Custom made:

Based on the Flagella 11 AWG speaker cable he made an banana - 4pin adapter for my Moon 600i amp instead of my Silver Dragon adapter i am using today:



And i can just say in a short, that i have not came across anything better! These cables is a huge leap forward in SQ over any other headphone cable i have heard.
My system came more to life, and this is the cream on the cake, or the last fine tuning.

For more in dept impressions please PM me:

 

[Currawong]

Rob Watts, I have a question for you. I have read here that you use JRiver for playback. I currently use iTunes as player using macbook and osx and all my music is in apple lossless format. Given that iTunes provides bit perfect playback for my music do you think its possible to improve sound quality by trying another player such as JRiver or Audirvana? I find it puzzling that Audirvana has two bit perfect integer modes that it claims sound different - mode 1 more transparent with better soundstage, and mode 2 that is warmer. How can this be if they are both bit perfect? Thanks.

 
If all your music is the same bit depth and sample rate, and that is what is set in Audio Midi Set-up for output to the DAVE, then it will be bit perfect. If you have a mix of high res files, then it wont, because OSX will re-sample to whatever Audio Midi Set-up was set to at the start. 
 
One advantage of the audiophile players is that they match the output to the DAC to the file, so if you go from playing a 16/44.1 to a 24/192 file then the program will switch the output. As I understand it, the sonic advantage they are supposed to have involves taking complete control of the USB output to the DAC, preventing the system using it. That reduces the amount of unnecessary interruptions and processing done by the USB sending and receiving chips, and the amount of noise those circuits generate and dump into the electronics. Audirvana has a white paper on their site about it from memory.

 

[LouisArmstrong]

I do have the old version of the Titan X, in SLI too, but I am not sure they would do any Hifi or Headfi system any good given the heat and fan noise, even if they are capable of parallel processing.