[TJ Max]

Thanks for the reply TJ Max. Yes, exclusive mode enabled.
I use the regular ASIO driver. Is ASIO4ALL the same? I've heard of it and read that it can help some issues where regular ASIO driver is causing problems. I've also read sound quality is inferior with ASIO4ALL. Is it not a user-made ASIO driver for PCs that don't support the regular one for some reason?
Anyway, as per your recommendation, I set a larger buffer length. However, my BSODs seem to be the result of RAM usage. I worry that reserving more RAM for foobar will only exacerbate the problem. Maxing the buffer length seems to make no change in the crackles/pops when selecting songs and changing the time position of the track. These are still there


 

That's good to hear. Do you notice crackles/pops when selecting songs or changing their position in the progress bar? And a noticeable delay, too? I sure do. I just brushed it off as a cnotsequence of ASIO but is this supposed to happen?


And yes, I'm nearly 100% positive it's foobar. Had no BSODs whatsoever until installing it and using the bit perfect feature. The last one was a result of stopping the song being played and opening a youtube video. As soon as the youtube video sound was sent to the E1 (while foobar was still open), I heard a subtle crackle/pop and the BSOD occured.


Can you share what drivers and firmware you have at the moment for your E1?

 

ASIO4ALL is not a driver, but a utility that manages the driver.
If you were trying the buffer length within foobar, then try 1360 or 1920, those worked for me.
Maybe I missed it but can't you use WASAPI?

 

[Compfy Listenin]

Swolern, if you select ASIO: E1 as your output device then you are already running bit-perfect. Since you said you were running foobar with ASIO, then you must have the bit-perfect feature up and running. I have no problems running foobar with Direct Sound through the windows mixer. The problem is tied to ASIO.

As for WASAPI: that was my original question, TJ. I wondered if, since ASIO is giving me such a hard time, WASAPI would make things better. But I think the E1 only supports ASIO for some reason. Gosh, this is confusing and badly documented, if you ask me

.

 

[TJ Max]

But what happens when you just try Wasapi? Is there an error?

 

[Swolern]

  Swolern, if you select ASIO: E1 as your output device then you are already running bit-perfect. Since you said you were running foobar with ASIO, then you must have the bit-perfect feature up and running. I have no problems running foobar with Direct Sound through the windows mixer. The problem is tied to ASIO.

Hmm. Well i have my setup a little different. Im tied into my Essence STX sound card with digital output to the E1. I know i have been to lazy to remove my STX from my PC after i upgraded to the E1. I have just been enjoying music, the little time i get to. Oh and buying headphones, which i need to stop, lol.

 

[Compfy Listenin]

But what happens when you just try Wasapi? Is there an error?

After installing the wasapi component, I get 2 options in foobar output options: either wasapi (event) or wasapi (push) . I have no idea what to pick and since I don't want to break anything, I thought I'd ask here first. EDIT: yeah, the bit-perfect feature does not work when selectin wasapi. E1 only supports ASIO, apparently. What really irks me about ASIO (apart from the BSODs) is the crackles and delays when moving the song timer bar around. In a way, I feel like I'm moving the needle on a vynil record and it makes me uncomfortable.
 

  Hmm. Well i have my setup a little different. Im tied into my Essence STX sound card with digital output to the E1. I know i have been to lazy to remove my STX from my PC after i upgraded to the E1. I have just been enjoying music, the little time i get to. Oh and buying headphones, which i need to stop, lol.

Oh, I see. But then again the STX is probably a much better choice for gaming because of the virtual surround features. So in your position, I would keep it.

What do you select as your output device, then?

As for buying headphones: hey, if it makes you happy

.

 

 

[derbigpr]

So the Muses edition should not have the channel imbalance issues everyone was talking about?

 

[Compfy Listenin]

OK, I set the foobar buffer length to around 6000ms (anything higher and the spectrum visualization was reduced to 10fps) and messed around with ASIO control panel. There is a bit depth option there. It was set to 16bits. I set it to 24/32. The delay and crackle/pops when switching songs or changing time positions have been reduced but they are still present.

Also, my most recent go-to track for SQ testing (a 24/96 vinyl rip of Daft Punk - Contact, off Random Access Memories) was sounding like crap. Lo and behold after setting the bit depth to 24/32 on ASIO control panel it is back to sounding stellar. The drums on this track are seriously tasty and full.

My question is why is there even a bit-depth option in the ASIO control panel and why does it make such a huge difference in SQ? Are you telling me that even with bit-perfect enabled the bit depth is still up for debate? I imagine that downsampling (like it was doing) has a bigger negative impact than upsampling (and trust me, the difference was clear as day on that track) but jesus christ most of my music is 16 bits. If ASIO is set to 24/32 bit depth in the control panel this is bound to affect the music?

Luckily, I'm not that much of an audiophile as to be really bothered by this but holy hell you'd think that by 2014 listening to good sounding music through your PC wouldn't be this much of a hassle.

 

[Compfy Listenin]

So the Muses edition should not have the channel imbalance issues everyone was talking about?

Hi derbigpr. It shouldn't, but it does. I have one and it's hard to use low impedance headphones with the unit as you need to bring the volume dial up past 9 o' clock or so to get rid of the imbalance.

Also, I can swear the issue was more prevalent on the first couple of weeks after I got it. Even at high volumes, I could hear louder volume from the left channel, both on speakers and headphones. Now, after a couple of months owning it, it seems to be perfectly even as long you pass that 9 o' clock point.

 

[derbigpr]

Hi derbigpr. It shouldn't, but it does. I have one and it's hard to use low impedance headphones with the unit as you need to bring the volume dial up past 9 o' clock or so to get rid of the imbalance.


Also, I can swear the issue was more prevalent on the first couple of weeks after I got it. Even at high volumes, I could hear louder volume from the left channel, both on speakers and headphones. Now, after a couple of months owning it, it seems to be perfectly even as long you pass that 9 o' clock point.

Well screw that then....I can cross the Essence One off of my list as well since I don't want to risk buying a faulty unit. I really don't understand how the engineers can be this stupid when designing a product...putting such expensive components and so much effort into a product and then they ruin it all with some cheap 2 dollar potentiometers...it's just beyond me...I wouldn't put the pot they're using into a 20 dollar DIY headphone amp project, let alone a 1000 dollar unit. Arguably the most important component in an amplifier, which will make or break the sound, and they skimp on it. I feel like every single product in this world is designed, is then given to a bunch of toddlers and they're told "now fck it up in some way", before they start selling it, because issues that some products, expensive products, have seem way too simple for any reasonable manufacturer to ignore them or be unable to fix them. The reason why I'm even looking for a new amp/dac is because my current setup has an issue of channel imbalance, and its the only reason why i want to get rid of it. I'm just giving up on these combos and getting myself a Lehmann BCL to run the T1's. I hope that wont have the imbalance.

Btw: does your unit have B10 or A10 volume pots?

 

[4Real]

Well screw that then....I can cross the Essence One off of my list as well since I don't want to risk buying a faulty unit. I really don't understand how the engineers can be this stupid when designing a product...putting such expensive components and so much effort into a product and then they ruin it all with some cheap 2 dollar potentiometers...it's just beyond me...I wouldn't put the pot they're using into a 20 dollar DIY headphone amp project, let alone a 1000 dollar unit. Arguably the most important component in an amplifier, which will make or break the sound, and they skimp on it. I feel like every single product in this world is designed, is then given to a bunch of toddlers and they're told "now fck it up in some way", before they start selling it, because issues that some products, expensive products, have seem way too simple for any reasonable manufacturer to ignore them or be unable to fix them. The reason why I'm even looking for a new amp/dac is because my current setup has an issue of channel imbalance, and its the only reason why i want to get rid of it. I'm just giving up on these combos and getting myself a Lehmann BCL to run the T1's. I hope that wont have the imbalance.

Btw: does your unit have B10 or A10 volume pots?

 
If its a muses edition it should have both, the A10 is only used on the Headphone.

 

[TJ Max]

  OK, I set the foobar buffer length to around 6000ms (anything higher and the spectrum visualization was reduced to 10fps) and messed around with ASIO control panel. There is a bit depth option there. It was set to 16bits. I set it to 24/32. The delay and crackle/pops when switching songs or changing time positions have been reduced but they are still present.

Also, my most recent go-to track for SQ testing (a 24/96 vinyl rip of Daft Punk - Contact, off Random Access Memories) was sounding like crap. Lo and behold after setting the bit depth to 24/32 on ASIO control panel it is back to sounding stellar. The drums on this track are seriously tasty and full.

My question is why is there even a bit-depth option in the ASIO control panel and why does it make such a huge difference in SQ? Are you telling me that even with bit-perfect enabled the bit depth is still up for debate? I imagine that downsampling (like it was doing) has a bigger negative impact than upsampling (and trust me, the difference was clear as day on that track) but jesus christ most of my music is 16 bits. If ASIO is set to 24/32 bit depth in the control panel this is bound to affect the music?

Luckily, I'm not that much of an audiophile as to be really bothered by this but holy hell you'd think that by 2014 listening to good sounding music through your PC wouldn't be this much of a hassle.

 
With my Teac UD-H01, the Output Format is disabled in Foobar2000 while using ASIO, and the ASIO4ALL doesn't have a bit depth option. I recommend trying ASIO4ALL. 2.11 http://www.asio4all.com/
I should have my E1 tomorrow to see out it works myself. And later in the week I'll have a Teac UD-501!
 
Another music app to try is MusicBee, it supports bit perfect as well, and might have better performance.

 

[Compfy Listenin]

Well screw that then....I can cross the Essence One off of my list as well since I don't want to risk buying a faulty unit. I really don't understand how the engineers can be this stupid when designing a product...putting such expensive components and so much effort into a product and then they ruin it all with some cheap 2 dollar potentiometers...it's just beyond me...I wouldn't put the pot they're using into a 20 dollar DIY headphone amp project, let alone a 1000 dollar unit. Arguably the most important component in an amplifier, which will make or break the sound, and they skimp on it. I feel like every single product in this world is designed, is then given to a bunch of toddlers and they're told "now fck it up in some way", before they start selling it, because issues that some products, expensive products, have seem way too simple for any reasonable manufacturer to ignore them or be unable to fix them. The reason why I'm even looking for a new amp/dac is because my current setup has an issue of channel imbalance, and its the only reason why i want to get rid of it. I'm just giving up on these combos and getting myself a Lehmann BCL to run the T1's. I hope that wont have the imbalance.

Btw: does your unit have B10 or A10 volume pots?

I completely agree. It's moronic to have a 1000 dollar product exhibit such ground level faults like this. It's inexcusable and I would not have bought it had I known of this beforehand.

But seeing as I am stuck with it, I still enjoy it very much with my T1's and Audioengine speakers.

 

[Swolern]

Compfy I select the STX as my output device in Windows.

And wow I never knew about the channel imbalance issue. Even with my low impedance TH-900 I always leave the E1 volume dial at 12 o'clock and just adjust the volume via my PC. I will have to try that today and see if I have that imbalance problem also.

 

[derbigpr]

I completely agree. It's moronic to have a 1000 dollar product exhibit such ground level faults like this. It's inexcusable and I would not have bought it had I known of this beforehand.


But seeing as I am stuck with it, I still enjoy it very much with my T1's and Audioengine speakers.

Does it at least sound good with the T1's? Is there any headroom in the volume pot or do you have to turn it far up to get it loud? Since the specs say it outputs like 80 mW into 600 ohm, it seems a little low to me.

 

[Swolern]

Sounds amazing with my T1s. Any yes there is more than enough power to drive the 600ohm HPs. Max I can tolerate with the T1 is around 70% volume, and that is a absolutely blaring. My comfortable listening volume is between 30-50% depending on the music. Sound is full bodied with great mid-bass punch and clarity, and I'm only running the basic E1.

In my experience the E1 is great with bright HPs as the E1 adds extra to the low end frequencies to even it out. The HD800 & T1 were amazing on it. The bassy TH-900 needed a little EQ adjustments to get it just right.