Who's used the Audiophile Optimizer for Windows 2012 Server or Windows 8?

[toddrhodes]

I posted this in the Software section but mistakenly thought this thread was in that forum...

 

So I am trialing AO (GUI mode for now) in my listening room and while I was able to hear palpable differences just switching from Win7 Ultimate to 2012 R2, I simply cannot hear any differences in the various sound signature/digital filters sections in AO. I use this PC for slightly more than a dedicated Audio PC (just surfing the Internet really, when I don't feel like breaking out the iPad) and I guess I was hoping for something revelatory after adding AO. And I can't really A/B with and without AO given the changes it makes to the OS (maybe Service Tool would help? I'm only 2 hours into "ownership" so still very much learning my way around right now). I DO like the sound after having it installed, I would just think I should be hearing distinct differences between the various modes offered.

 

I'm using JR MC20 as my software player, dedicated listening room with a very low noise floor, custom, high-end DIY 3-way monitors, Schiit Gungnir (running TOSLink for now, it just sounds better than my current USB setup), and have all of my equipment isolated using Barry Diament's isolation principles. So I find this system to be highly resolving and have the media to back that up as well. I'm going to continue playing with it, but I'm just not hearing a vast difference - this may not be a bad thing, as I feel at some point, diminishing returns kicks in. That's why I built this room, to find my own limits, to say nothing of the limits of my hardware

[toddrhodes]

Good to know! I will try that shortly. So far what I'm hearing are very subtle things like echoes in the studio/venue, better depth, and increased detail on background sounds. This system with AO and 2012R2 is really something else. I don't want to move to a dual PC setup and I am a bit curious how core mode will truly work with my use case. For instance tonight I had to reboot into W7 to VPN to work and run a software deployment. I love the flexibility I have but something in the back of my head is telling me a powerful client PC situated outside of my room (to keep noise to a minimum) and running the core PC in the room since it's silent anyway would be a very capable and well-rounded setup...

[toddrhodes]

I am currently using the new Roon Labs app with my personal CD rips and downloads combined with Tidal. Is either server 2012 R2 or Windows 10 compatible?

 

Yardbird, I tried Roon on 2012R2 and got it to work, but not so well that I will keep it. I was having lots of GUI issues and you have to install a pretty large expansion pack on 2012R2 to even get it to play music. And for some reason, no matter how much latency or buffering I added in via ASIO4ALL, 24/192 tracks were unlistenable. I have not tried it again since getting JPlay installed. With the GUI issues I was having and now having discovered Bughead Emperor, I will not be using Roon at least in the foreseeable future.

[toddrhodes]

I was using a Gungnir in 2012R2 through ASIO, it just takes a bit of luck (lol) to get the driver installed. I had to go to Device Manager > Action > Add Legacy Hardware, choose Install the hardware that I manually select, click next until you can select "Show All Devices" then click "Have Disk." Point Windows at the unzipped ASIO folder structure and it *should* pick it out and install it. Now, mind you, it took me hours to get this to work, but for the life of me I can't recall why (I had also tried a dozen other methods, unsuccessfully, so I may be getting those confused with this process which finally worked).

 

Note, I stepped through this process at work on Win7 but from memory, it should be *very* similar in 2012R2.

 

I upgraded to an Aqua DAC and didn't have a blip of trouble. I think Schiit's issue is that they use CMEDIA devices which flat out don't install on Server 2012R2 but work fine when loaded through the back door. I think they're just between a rock and a hard place here.

 

I can confirm that with the method above I was able to use ASIO out of JRiver to Jplay then Kernel Streaming out successfully in AO GUI mode so it should be fine in core mode, but I cannot confirm that.

 

Best of luck!

[toddrhodes]

I finally took some time - set aside an hour - to push AO down to Core Mode on my S2102R2 box. Phil, did you optimize something in the beta with going into core mode? I'm able to get into Core in about a minute flat. It's a modest box, too, just an i5 with 16G RAM, two SSDs (one OS, one Audio). Getting out of Core mode is similar. I'm just running JRMC 20.131 in KS out to my Aqua DAC via ASIO. It's a nice improvement and, most importantly, now that I have a secondary PC for all my other tasks, I can actually game in my room with the game sound through my TV if I want, and have my Audio PC singing in all its glory, completely rock-solid with no slight ticks or pops that I'd get when I was running it as an all-purpose machine, it's fantastic

[toddrhodes]

I should probably just try this instead of asking first, but if I'm running JRiver in ASIO mode, accepting input from RoonServer, will that work in Core Mode? E.g. will Core Mode know to start RoonServer? JRiver would still be the default shell. Output would be KS, so I know I'm good there. Any thoughts?