[Patu]

leeperry: Did you see my question earlier? Do you have a list of the driver version changes anywhere? I have bookmarked some list you pasted here earlier but it goes only to 1.48. 
 
Also I haven't yet had time to audition my setup with the new firmware and drivers on U3. I'll let you know when I get chance to do some auditioning. if you're going to compare 1.61 to 1.63, that would be very interesting.

 

[leeperry]

Yep, it's in the link of my reply to your post actually: http://pastebin.com/uf5aRmPN
 
If 1.48 with the new firmware sounds tighter than 1.43 with the old one, then it's a good guess that the firmware matters more than the drivers I think. Anyway, IME the old software sounds laid back and the new one über-analytic...pick your poison 

 
I rest my case that the 1.61 that started using a new timer might have been the game changer.

 

[jtinto]

Holy cow leeperry
I hope you getting it working as well as it does with my mac mini natively
I couldn't be happier with the difference it made with my W4S DAC2
Cheers

 

[Patu]

Quote:

Yep, it's in the link of my reply to your post actually: http://pastebin.com/uf5aRmPN
 
If 1.48 with the new firmware sounds tighter than 1.43 with the old one, then it's a good guess that the firmware matters more than the drivers I think. Anyway, IME the old software sounds laid back and the new one über-analytic...pick your poison 

 
I rest my case that the 1.61 that started using a new timer might have been the game changer.

Oh, sorry. I somehow missed that part of your reply completely. 
 
I must try that timer trick also when I get back home. 

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Quote:

Oh wow, amazing! How come it's not on the english speaking website?
 
BTW, you can find the 1.63 drivers at http://www.luckit.biz/downloads/Luckit%20WaveIO%20Drivers%20(v1.63.0).rar
 
The .inf files need to be modified of course, same story as with the 1.43 

 
It adds the following over 1.61:

Woo-hoo, works for M2Tech HiFace2 as well! Thanks a bunch.

 

[leeperry]

Quote:

I must try that timer trick also

 
Windows is not a realtime OS, as clearly explained here.
 
The 1.61+ drivers use the Event Timer which is basically unstoppable, its effect is clearly visible on the ppm accuracy of Reclock for instance.
 
So it's a good idea to enable HPET(you could always disable it later on if need be) and force its lowest 0.5ms resolution(instead of the default 10ms) for the tightest timings ever....prepare yourself for the resolution increase though 

 
Quote:

Woo-hoo, works for M2Tech HiFace2 as well! Thanks a bunch.

Glad to be of some asisstance! Can you hear a SQ difference going from 1.57 to 1.63? Do you have HPET enabled?

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Quote:

 
Windows is not a realtime OS, as clearly explained here.
 
The 1.61+ drivers use the Event Timer which is basically unstoppable, its effect is clearly visible on the ppm accuracy of Reclock for instance.
 
So it's a good idea to enable HPET(you could always disable it later on if need be) and force its lowest 0.5ms resolution(instead of the default 10ms) for the tightest timings ever....prepare yourself for the resolution increase though 

 

Glad to be of some asisstance! Can you hear a SQ difference going from 1.57 to 1.63? Do you have HPET enabled?

Could be in my head but it sound clearer and for some reason brighter, I use ASIO as output.

What is HPET and how can I enable it?

 

[nzitr]

Quote:

I just rolled back the old software and there is no question that the sound is quite different....I'll try the new firmware with the 1.48 drivers in order to know whether it's the drivers or the firmware that are at play here 

 
I also collected the 1.50, 1.53, 1.55, 1.56 and 1.57 so that should keep me busy for a while heh

 
Interested to see how this test works out for you.
 
I am BTW using HPET and have confirmed it is functional.
 
Also I am only using lossless files and I am quite particular as to which albums I will listen to.

 

[leeperry]

Quote:

it sound clearer and for some reason brighter, I use ASIO as output.

That would match my experience as well, but tbh I already found the H2 quite bright w/ the 1.50 drivers.
 
Quote:

What is HPET

 
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/gg463347.aspx
 
Quote:

how can I enable it?

 
http://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1075781-tweak-enable-hpet-in-bios-and-os-for-better-performance-and-fps/page__p__594852229#entry594852229
 
 
Quote:

I am BTW using HPET

 
Enabling it only is not really optimal as it will run with a 10ms resolution by default and you should really force it to 0.5ms. You can check the current resolution with "Clockres.exe" and there's a number of tools to force 0.5ms such as Fidelizer.
 
Quote:

Interested to see how this test works out for you.

 
I really like the laid-back sound of the older software, never been too fond of analytic DAC's tbh...I'm hoping to find a nice in-between by using the new firmware together with <1.63 drivers(I didn't try the stock 1.61 duh ^^) 

 

[Patu]

I checked the Neowin thread and there's pretty negative comments about enabling HPET. Well I have to try at home if it works for me. BTW Can you permanently force the resolution to 0.5ms or do you have to do it every time you reboot your computer? I have Fidelizer on my computer but I haven't used it that much. Also it has to be run every time you reboot the computer. I pretty much use it only when I do some serious listening. 

 

[nzitr]

Quote:

Enabling it only is not really optimal as it will run with a 10ms resolution by default and you should really force it to 0.5ms. You can check the current resolution with "Clockres.exe" and there's a number of tools to force 0.5ms such as Fidelizer.
 
I really like the laid-back sound of the older software, never been too fond of analytic DAC's tbh...I'm hoping to find a nice in-between by using the new firmware together with <1.63 drivers(I didn't try the stock 1.61 duh ^^)

 
HPET results during playback (JPLAY throttle mode activated):
 
ClockRes v2.0 - View the system clock resolution
Maximum timer interval: 15.600 ms
Minimum timer interval: 0.500 ms
Current timer interval: 0.500 ms
 
I will keep a eye on it to see if it ever has a different Current timer figure.
 
I might try going back to 1.61 to see how it sounds.

 

[leeperry]

Quote:

I checked the Neowin thread and there's pretty negative comments about enabling HPET. Well I have to try at home if it works for me. BTW Can you permanently force the resolution to 0.5ms or do you have to do it every time you reboot your computer? I have Fidelizer on my computer but I haven't used it that much. Also it has to be run every time you reboot the computer. I pretty much use it only when I do some serious listening. 

 
A friend of mine who's both an audiophile and a gamer told me that only GTA4 would occasionally stutter when having HPET enabled(forced to 0.5ms), everything else was fine. You need to have an app running in the back in order to force 0.5ms at all times. I use a tool a friend of mine wrote at my request but he might embed it into some bigger app so I can't distribute it atm. Apparently this one can also do it: http://www.lucashale.com/timer-resolution/
 
Quote:

HPET results during playback (JPLAY throttle mode activated): [..]
Current timer interval: 0.500 ms
 
I will keep a eye on it to see if it ever has a different Current timer figure.

 
foobar and WMP should tell 10ms, and I guess JPLAY forces 0.5ms already....this would have to be expected considering the price tag and the "audiophile" target.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by nzitr /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
I might try going back to 1.61 to see how it sounds.

 
You might as well try the 1.48 if you have time to kill(you can use 7-zip to decompress the .exe without running it): http://www.ibasso.com/en/download/index.asp 

 

[Patu]

I checked BIOS for HPET setting but I can't find one. My motherboard is Asus M5A78L LE, about one year old. Should it support this feature? 

 

[leeperry]

Anything that's not ages old must support HPET in order to receive the "designed for Vista/W7/W8" logo, it's all explained in the aforementioned m$.com link 

 
I've been confirmed on another forum that the new Stello software yields the same kind of sonic improvement on the U3 as it did on the DP1, that's good to hear

 

[Patu]

Apparently it was automatically on in my BIOS. I read somewhere that "ACPI 2.0 Support" is the same as HPET and it was already enabled. In addition there was also setting for "ACPI APIC Support" and it was also enabled. When I tried to disable the latter setting Win7 didn't start. 
 
Anyway now WinTimerTester 1.1 shows 14,31818 MHz and Ratio stays slightly under 1.0000 (0,9995-0,9999). Also ran Fidelizer for Professional option since I'm using my computer at the same time. Now everything shoul be set. I'm not sure if I'm just imagining but the sound seems to be slightly more resolving now. Or then it's just the exceptional mastering of Porcupine Tree's albums.