[chipzahoy]

Sure, I don't want to spend that kind of money on a DAC either, so let's take the Scarlatti DAC out of the equation (or rather, inequality).

Cics' Computer Transport + Scarlatti DAC > Scarlatti SACD/CDP + Master Clock + DAC

becomes

Cics' Computer Transport > Scarlatti SACD/CDP + Master Clock

 

[leeperry]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ektalog /img/forum/go_quote.gif - I read the longish PDFs, etc. Darn, my computer is ALL wrong...AMD cpu, overclocked, fanless PS (low power), ethernet, wireless, you name it and I have it wrong. Great!

yeah, his tutorial is great stuff! and I think he's right when he says that any overclocking should be disabled, because overclocked components increase EMI.
Guide to Overclocking | VR-Zone | Gadgets | PC Enthusiasts
Quote:

When overclocking, EMI (Electromigration) is probably one of your worst enemies. It is caused in any component when a part of it receives too much voltage

anyway, do we really have to kill the windows shell and make .cue files? how about opening .m3u files and single FLAC's in foobar, no can do? you can still interface it w/ foobar I think?

 

[haloxt]

Ektalog, I still received good effects from using cmp+cplay with a really crappy stock dell computer and a soundcard about the same as emu0404. Before upgrading the emu0404, I'd say follow some of the free/cheap advice on the cplay site, maybe get one of those nice $50 earthwatts psu's because imo power filtering is a very important part of high end audio and that psu seems pretty decently priced and is well-regarded. I found that my power conditioner significantly improved my computer as transport and my sound card headphone output. It brought the soundcard quite a bit closer to my main setup and certainly makes the sound signature less fatiguing when compared to my main setup unconnected to the power conditioner.

leeperry, You don't have to kill windows shell if you use cplay alone, Cmp is when windows shell goes byebye. But maybe using foobar as frontend with cmp in the background it might allow you to queue up files one by one but once you have explorer.exe disabled you soon lose the urge to sit at the computer adding songs one by one to a playlist and just listen to full albums. It takes less than 2 minutes to turn your entire library into cuesheets with the cue creator program provided on the same website as cplay. They should make an option to make playlists on the go though, it will make cplay more convenient when you aren't using it with cmp.

 

[Marcin_gps]

Hi Everyone!

I'll add some of my thoughts regarding CMP2 (CMP+cPlay). I've been testing/listening a lot lately on both of my machines. One is a top notch Phenom II X4@3.7Ghz, 8GB DDR3 2000MHz RAM, top Asus motherboard, Intel 80GB G2 SSD for system (win 7 64bit) and eco drives from Samsung for data. PSU is Antec CP-850 (best PSU I've seen so far, Seasonic M12II-430 in my second system looks like a toy compared to that Antec). It's cooled by THermalright Ultra 120 Copper Edition, everything in Antec P183 case + some Fander fans. Anyway, I've been testing different players, settings etc on this machine. Few weeks ago Foobar 0.8.3 @Kernel Streaming and SRC at 96kHz was the best I could hear. Lilith Player was to "digital" and edgy, new Foobar also sounded unreal to me, especially vocals. Then I tried new engine in XXHighEnd which uses Kernel Streaming and with low Q1 setting, unattended - that was it! I thought it could'nt get any better until I ran cPlay. Then the idea of creating dedicated audio server on my old machine came up (X2@1.9Ghz, mATX biostar, passively cooled in Silverstone TJ08 case). I created a minimal, preoptimized version of XP sp3 with nLite (only 150 MB image), used cics recommendations and far beyond that when it comes to disabling unnecessary components. You want to know how it sounds? Huh, it sounds so good that my girlfriend (who is rather "deaf") is fine with second PC in 12m2 room. Nothing comes even close to CMP2, it's so detailed and airy with no signs of fatigue at the same time.
Gordon from Wavelength wouldn't believe me. He said I should go with new JRiver Media Center @WASAPi and memory playback checked. I have to admit it sounds fine, but lacks of detail, dynamics and bass control. CMP > all

Or is it anything else I should try?

PS
Can't wait for new SPDIF converter from Wavelength. The WaveLink is going to be 24/192 asynchonous unit, battery powered (feeding from usb's 5V when it's idle), with bnc and coaxial adapter. Gordon says is going to have about 100 times smaller jitter than my M-Audio Transit

(TAS1020B in adaptive mode)

 

[leeperry]

did you try uLilith? I love how it sounds w/ ASIO4ALL(it also does WASAPI) on XP SP3, it truly amazes me tbh

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/li...ml#post6403206
and it does support VST plugins in 64bit float and stuff:

 

[Marcin_gps]

Yes, I mentioned it
Lilith is ok. Here is a list of the best players (IMHO):

1. CMP2 (CMP+cPlay)
2. JRiver Media Center 14 (WASAPI, memory playback)
3. XXHighEnd (Engine 4, Q1=-4, unattended)
4. Foobar2000 0.8.3 (kernel streaming, SRC at 96kHz)
5. uLilith

Order by SQ

 

[leeperry]

"Lilith Player was too "digital" and edgy"...W7 is definitely evil

 

[Jon L]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcin_gps /img/forum/go_quote.gif 1. CMP2 (CMP+cPlay) 2. JRiver Media Center 14 (WASAPI, memory playback) 3. XXHighEnd (Engine 4, Q1=-4, unattended) 4. Foobar2000 0.8.3 (kernel streaming, SRC at 96kHz) 5. uLilith Order by SQ

Why Foobar 0.8.3 with Kernel Streaming? That configuration doesn't sound any better than even 0.9.x Foobar or even WinAmp/ASIO.

Foobar 0.8.3 with Otachan ASIO IMO is preferable, and yes cPlay sounds good, but it's very different sounding compared to 0.8.3/Otachan, not necessarily "better."

 

[Marcin_gps]

Foobar with Otachan's ASIO (0.47 dll) is to smooth and lacks resolution. And I don't claim cPlay only will give good results. You need to prepare dedicated audio server with all optimizations to get the best out of it. It's worth it.

 

[haloxt]

The site that hosted asio builds for foobar 0.8.3 is no longer on the internet, and I recently formatted my hard drive without copying the file so you'll have to ask someone else for it, Marcin. I'm guessing the asio Jon L is using is "foo_output_asio(dll)_0.51.7" or one of the other modified builds. Slim.a is using foobar 1.0 KS currently and he's tested many software, so it might be worth a try to you.

 

[haloxt]

The new 2.0b39 version is quite good to my ears. If you've got an older version I highly recommend trying out this one. I know that this program was designed specifically for an all-out optimized computer transport, but I think this version is noticeably better than the other players I tried under a variety of component matching and software tweaking.[size=83%][/size]

 

[Dynobot]

Quote:

The site that hosted asio builds for foobar 0.8.3 is no longer on the internet,

Anyone want an old copy of Foobar can go here...even the famous 0.8.3 version
 
http://www.filehippo.com/download_foobar2000/55/

 

[Dynobot]

Ever notice how new versions of software sound different and usually better than previous versions?  I remember using Foobar when it first came out and shortly afterwards Otachan developed some ASIO plugins for Winamp and Foobar.  Everyone swore 0.8.3 was the absolute best and other subsequent versions of Foobar did not sound as good.  At this time "Audiophiles" started loosing interest in Foobar or became diehard 0.8.3 users.  On the opposite side of the fence is XXHighend and JRiver, people seem to think every subsequent version sounds better.  Although in JRiver at least they did nothing to the audio portion of their code, but rather just added plugins to make it compatible with Wasapi for example.  Peter the XXHighend creator like most software code writers find it hard to walk away from code once its done and endlessly tweak it, people interpret the different sound as better usually.
 
Kind of the same way people who are into audio have been making gains to their systems for decades.  I myself have been into audio for the greater part of 20 years and with each purchase of more expensive or equally expensive but new gear it seems that the sound has improved.  Honestly some times I think I am just going in circles, I remember my old Marantz and Ohm Walsh speakers sounding fantastic with my Pioneer turntable....zip wire speaker cable and all.
 
Is it the fresh sound of something new that makes things appear to be better or are real quantifiable gains really being made?
 
Either way its always fun to try something new, its the nature of the hobby I guess.

 

[haloxt]

What I do to try to reduce the likelihood of that fallacy is to switch gear up a lot to try to prove or disprove what I think I hear. I think everyone should be doing this for educational purposes. Although blind testing would be most ideal to prevent self-deception, it's not usually as pleasant, or easy to do properly.
 
Going through a few dozen songs, I think one that well-illustrates v39's strong points is Patty Smith's Because the Night, album Easter. Excellent coherency.

 

[xnor]

Dynobot, I could see how somebody would stick to 0.8.3 with ancient plugins that nobody cared to port or with a computer that doesn't run anything beyond Windows 98.
But saying 0.8.3 has the best sound quality is pure BS.