[ScareDe2]

A few question. Can a loaded and slower computer have a negative impact on sound when you are using USB with external AMP/DAC?

I experienced something strange. Lately I realise my music was playing "offbeat" or a bit too fast and it was rythmically incorrect. But it was very subtil. I went to program manager and deleted ASIO4ALL that I was not using anymore since with Foobar2000 I now use WASAPI event. I also closed many browser sessions and started to clean my computer a bit. And it seems it has improved the sound.

Is it recommende to use the computer as dedicated audio source rather than multitasking for optimal audio? I also use fidelizer and I wonder if that can help.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

A few question. Can a loaded and slower computer have a negative impact on sound when you are using USB with external AMP/DAC?

More on usability and outright errors rather than simple SQ differences.

Is it recommende to use the computer as dedicated audio source rather than multitasking for optimal audio?

Recommended, absolutely not required. Past making sure that USB power isn't a problem and neither are drivers, what I'd worry about more is how noisy the computer is. Depending on what you do with a computer, running totally fanless isn't necessarily a good idea, but even on a loaded computer I'd still listen casually because what the heck else would I do.

When listening and not multitasking I use my Android as a music server with my reference system though. The gaming rig (and it's not even that noisy - 12dB intake fans with a padded front panel, H7 fan at 900rpm, GPU fans at 800rpm, and exhaust fan at 800rpm) uses a soundcard.

 

[drez]

In my experience you want a dedicated computer/source device for ultimate sound quality. Mostly this is once DAC and amplifier are end game and will reveal benefit from a better transport.

Alternatives to a normal computer also exist such as Auralic Aeries, Uptone uRendu etc. - low power, appliance style computers that are easy to use and don't produce as much noise. Most of these need external storage on a NAS, network drive etc. I never tried that route as I built my own music server with Teradak full multi-rail linear power supply (fanless, headless, all SSD, JCAT USB card). I used an existing full featured motherboard and RAM I had on hand, which had a nice power regulation design (24 phases or something), and just disabled all the hardware I didn't need. I had to replace the CPU though as my existing one was quite power hungry. Most others use low power computers eg. Atom.

Another option which many seem to consider great for sound quality but not so great for ease of use are SD card reading sources. A CD player will also probably outperform most computer sources (when I say most, I have yet to hear a commercial streaming/computer device beat a good CD transport). In any case - the strong points of computer audio are low cost, High Res formats, streaming/flxibility, DSP (eg. room correction or up-sampling), and ease of use, and not having to re-purchase entire music library if everything's digital.

I don't recommend spending too much time on software tweaks. The best solution IMO is an operating system designed from the ground up for audio like Daphile or some other Linux. Some playback software might also help - I like JRiver in Windows, and generally limiting background tasks and some other performance optimisations can help, if only to get rid of dropouts and make life easier for the USB.

 

[ScareDe2]

Thanks for the advices. There are a couple of things I have tried (free) that has improved my sound quality. One of them was simply to disconnect and reconnect my USB mouse and keyboard. Just that. Simple and fast and it correct some issues with the sound. I repete the same everytime I power my computer after I open foobar2000.

Another concern I had was with my memory RAM. I decided to format my computer (to original factory setting) and just keep minimal use with what I need. Right now my RAM use is 1.16G (my OS is window 7 64 by the way) I have disconnected 2 RAM sticks inside my computer and now just use 1 stick. That is an idea I don't know if it has improved the sound quality but it's free.

Another try might be to go Start-control Panel-Hardware and Sound-Device Manager and at bottom open Universal Serial Bus controllers and disable USB not being used.

I always enjoy using Fidelizer, it's free and it can close all unnecessary Windows services for maximum performance.

 

[ScareDe2]

At this point, I have a Schiit Wyrd, Isilencer3 and jitterbug. I am also using an old external PSU that was collecting dust, it found a second life serving as a more powerful unit to replace my existing internal PSU in my HP pavillon P6520f. I have bought a samsung solid state driver to replace my noisier HDD. And I am now using windows 10 (still free to upgrade even though I am not using a laptop the upgrade works for free). Plus I now used my older second computer USB 2.0 port (I have both computers, case opened next to each other) and the second computer USB2.0 is plug inside my main computer lol. So basically, every internal elements is now external. And I have ground lifted my amplification with a cheater plug (unsafe so I will get a hebtech hum exterminator). Sound is not quite dead silent but very improved since my first post.

Whew.

That USB nightmare is getting closer to the end.

 

[obobskivich]

To the original post on "lots of things running at once can it hurt sound" - potentially it can cause skipping or drop-outs of the audio (or video, for that matter), especially if its a lower performance machine (or if it throttles its CPU down significantly when "idle"). So cutting down the number of things you have running (and/or disallowing very low idle states) may eliminate that. Again, this is a single side point and if you don't have random skipping/pauses in playback, then its a non-issue, but certainly something that trying to do "tons of things at once while listening to music" can cause.

 

[Headzone]

Did you try setting thread priority to "high" on both your playback software and the drivers themselves.

 

[obobskivich]

Did you try setting thread priority to "high" on both your playback software and the drivers themselves.

Also a good point/idea.

If this was in response to my example though, it wouldn't ultimately solve the problem, but it may give you a bit more breathing room. Specifically what I'm describing is a situation whereby you're "out of resources" and everything is going to suffer as a result. For stuff like web browsing or text messaging the "delay" while a page loads is something we can live with, but for music listening it manifests as drop-outs, which are very annoying because it cuts up the listening experience.

 

[castleofargh]

yup, viruses, some bug with a bad driver/software version, or simply using something that requires too much CPU without enough time to do the job(like some of the settings on my EQ). but as far as my experience goes, it doesn't seem to change the perceived sound in some audiophile way. I always get glitches like I would with some buffer problem, for 0.1s there is a sound that shouldn't be there, and depending on how bad it is, that glitch will occur more or less often. or simply errors that would stop the playback or make it freeze.
I didn't get significant improvement in measurements on my laptop when setting everything to prioritize audio. I got worst measurements using the battery, but even for that I wouldn't try to make up a rule, as under other circumstances the result could have been reversed.
I didn't have much of any issue from the start so what I tried only resulted in minimal variations that felt inconsequential to my listening experience. but I tend to think in terms of "I have a problem", or "I don't have a problem". so I can't talk for people suffering from upgraditis.

 

[xivlia]

i guess the cables used make a difference also .

 

[miksu8]

If ASIO drivers are doing error correction, jitter and drop outs shouldn't be a problem. But high CPU load or other laptop activity can cause more electrical noise which can transfer to DAC through USB ground. USB galvanic isolation should deal with that. And if USB cable is poorly shielded, it can pick up interference from other electrical devices too.

 

[theveterans]

^ ASIO does not do error correction. All it does is bypass Windows Mixer and communicate directly to the sound card with the data UNMODIFIED. The error correction is being done by master clocks in the sound card itself before it goes to the DAC. High CPU usage causes latency errors due to multitasking multiple threads at the same time and no USB galvanic isolation can protect your data from latency issues. Galvanic isolation protects the power from getting interference from EMI and RFI like you mentioned

 

[ScareDe2]

I went a long road and at some steps people said it's just 0 and 1 it won't improve anything, but it has. I don't have any problem with glitches. It really is just a sort of light distortion around the music, like if you were looking thru glasses that has some dust on it. It is not clean and not free of noises. It affects the image and the musicality as well. The flow is not great like it is supposed. Heck I even get better musicality when I listen to my JVC boombox or when I listen to radio in my car. It has nothing to do with frequencies, bass or whatnot. You just know that something is not right with the music althoug it is very difficult to pinpoint the problem exactly. So...

I will receive my Bifrost GEN 5 probably next week. This is the last improvement I pay for hopefully ^^

 

[theveterans]

If you do get clicks and pops and slight graininess on a few occasions and those don't occur in say a DAP or smartphone, I would run latencymon and see which driver is causing your interrupted audio buffering to the DAC.

 

[miksu8]

^ ASIO does not do error correction. All it does is bypass Windows Mixer and communicate directly to the sound card with the data UNMODIFIED. The error correction is being done by master clocks in the sound card itself before it goes to the DAC. High CPU usage causes latency errors due to multitasking multiple threads at the same time and no USB galvanic isolation can protect your data from latency issues. Galvanic isolation protects the power from getting interference from EMI and RFI like you mentioned

As far as I know my Chord ASIO drivers take care of resending faulty and lost packets so it's doing error correction caused by latency etc.