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

[EdmontonCanuck]

Data is just data. Once copied it would be identical unless your Sandy when you do it. And you couldn't compare because they are not being streamed. It's when it's streamed that the river becomes polluted.

 

I know that data is just data. And I don't believe it becomes polluted once streamed, either. But that's just me. No harm no foul.

[sgr]

I believe the differences we hear when improving a pc's output are caused by "software jitter". That being the more processes a computer tries to do at once the more "software jitter" generated. I first ran across this term while beta testing the Elyric software with Paul McGowan of PS Audio. One version of elyric would sound much better than others. It almost always had to do with expanding what Elyric could do. The more processes eLyric would try to do the worse the sound would be. The beta testers almost universally experienced it.

 

That's what I believe happens when Windows software is optimized. The AudiophileOptimizer along with programs like Fidelizer, jPlay, and several others I know about but haven't used shut down and limit the processses occurring in Windows. I believe they eliminate software jitter. Listen to Windows vanilla. Start the AudiophileOptimizer. Listen. Then add Fidelizer listen. You'll hear a difference between all three. The session with AudiophileOptimizer and Fidelizer I bet will be best. If you can use jPlay add it. Listen again. It will be still even better. At least in my system. I believe these three software "engineers"all try work on different parts of the Windows system as they tend to compliment each other. Of course one could be very happy with just one of these software tweaks. If I had to limit my system to one I'd choose AudiophileOptimizer for my system.

 

Another way I've heard this happened this way. While listening one day I thought it would be a great idea to back up my music files. Almost immediately the music changed from a liquid, analog sound to just sounding wrong. I rebooted the PC stopping the backup process and the sound quality I was used to returned.

 

I've also noticed this when Windows wants to update the machine. In my experience you may as well let Windows do its thing as Music played back sounds awful until the update is over and the PC rebooted. Sometimes my PC will even function erratically and refuse to play files until the update is finished and the computer is rebooted.

 

If I new how to compare all the music files played in these examples I'm sure they would all be bit perfect. (Not that technically accomplished.) But the music sure doesn't sound the same.

 

Software jitter.

 

A phenomena to be explored.

[EdmontonCanuck]

I believe the differences we hear when improving a pc's output are caused by "software jitter". That being the more processes a computer tries to do at once the more "software jitter" generated. I first ran across this term while beta testing the Elyric software with Paul McGowan of PS Audio. One version of elyric would sound much better than others. It almost always had to do with expanding what Elyric could do. The more processes eLyric would try to do the worse the sound would be. The beta testers almost universally experienced it.

 

That's what I believe happens when Windows software is optimized. The AudiophileOptimizer along with programs like Fidelizer, jPlay, and several others I know about but haven't used shut down and limit the processses occurring in Windows. I believe they eliminate software jitter. Listen to Windows vanilla. Start the AudiophileOptimizer. Listen. Then add Fidelizer listen. You'll hear a difference between all three. The session with AudiophileOptimizer and Fidelizer I bet will be best. If you can use jPlay add it. Listen again. It will be still even better. At least in my system. I believe these three software "engineers"all try work on different parts of the Windows system as they tend to compliment each other. Of course one could be very happy with just one of these software tweaks. If I had to limit my system to one I'd choose AudiophileOptimizer for my system.

 

Another way I've heard this happened this way. While listening one day I thought it would be a great idea to back up my music files. Almost immediately the music changed from a liquid, analog sound to just sounding wrong. I rebooted the PC stopping the backup process and the sound quality I was used to returned.

 

I've also noticed this when Windows wants to update the machine. In my experience you may as well let Windows do its thing as Music played back sounds awful until the update is over and the PC rebooted. Sometimes my PC will even function erratically and refuse to play files until the update is finished and the computer is rebooted.

 

If I new how to compare all the music files played in these examples I'm sure they would all be bit perfect. (Not that technically accomplished.) But the music sure doesn't sound the same.

 

Software jitter.

 

A phenomena to be explored.

 

I agree that your so-called 'software jitter" can be a factor for a server that is directly connected to the DAC. Jitter is another name for a timing issue, and I can see how a very busy PC can affect the timing of a signal sent to the DAC. However I just don't see it being a concern when the signal is sent to another computer, the microRendu in this case. AO cannot really be helping in this regard.

[AudioPhil]

We want to thank all our customers and friends for their continuous support and contribution to our success.

 

To all of you we wish only the best of luck for 2017, all the health you could ever need and all the success you could ever want.

 

 

Enjoy the music,

AudioPhil & Claudia

[bodiebill]

hi Phil, thanks, a very good year to you too!

 

I have a question about shell replacement in the Service Tool. In my dual PC setup the audio PC is diskless and boots via PXE/iSCSI into a vhdx file that resides on the control PC. I just noticed that after replacing the shell to anything but the default Windows shell (in my case Server 2016) on the control PC, the audio PC no longer boots diskless. And when I revert to the default Windows shell, this does not fix it: it still won't boot.

 

Is this something you would expect to happen?

[AudioPhil]

hi Phil, thanks, a very good year to you too!

 

I have a question about shell replacement in the Service Tool. In my dual PC setup the audio PC is diskless and boots via PXE/iSCSI into a vhdx file that resides on the control PC. I just noticed that after replacing the shell to anything but the default Windows shell (in my case Server 2016) on the control PC, the audio PC no longer boots diskless. And when I revert to the default Windows shell, this does not fix it: it still won't boot.

 

Is this something you would expect to happen?

 

Hi

 

Well, basically the AudioPC and the Control PC have nothing to do with each other. What you discribe could only happen if you "host" the image for the AudioPC on the ControlPC, also meaning that the ControlPC would do the PXE and iSCSI. It would be much better the do the PXE/DHCP/iSCSI services on a dedicaterd third machine.

 

Very best,

Phil

[bodiebill]

Well, basically the AudioPC and the Control PC have nothing to do with each other. What you discribe could only happen if you "host" the image for the AudioPC on the ControlPC, also meaning that the ControlPC would do the PXE and iSCSI. It would be much better the do the PXE/DHCP/iSCSI services on a dedicaterd third machine.

That sounds like a good idea, and I may well try it, as it would create much more freedom when optimizing the control PC. Thanks!

[AudioPhil]

Exactly this is the point. The audiopc may work vey well like that, but the control pc definitely suffers because of the generated load on disk and LAN.

[bodiebill]

Exactly this is the point. The audiopc may work vey well like that, but the control pc definitely suffers because of the generated load on disk and LAN.

Thanks Phil. I installed a third PC as PXE/iSCSI server and compared my dual PC setup with diskless audio PC with a setup with an audio PC with disk. In the latter case, in AO I disabled SCSI drivers on both PC's and network related services on the audio PC.

I somewhat preferred the sound of the latter setup, i.e. with disk.

 

Question: from my mac I can still remotely access a shared folder on my audio PC. With network related services disabled, I would not have expected this to be possible. Is this normal?

[AudioPhil]

Hi bodiebill

 

sounda a bit weired to me. Basically this should not work. But since i barely know how to turn on a mac i don't know anything about how macs connect to windows machines. So the ultimate question is, does the access to the AudioPC also work from a Windows Machine? If yes, i suggest you run AO again.

 

best,

AudioPhil

[bodiebill]

sounda a bit weired to me. Basically this should not work. But since i barely know how to turn on a mac i don't know anything about how macs connect to windows machines. So the ultimate question is, does the access to the AudioPC also work from a Windows Machine? If yes, i suggest you run AO again.

Indeed after running AO again, I can no longer connect. I think I know what happened: when running AO the first time I noticed I forgot to disable network services, then immediately stopped AO (without first running the service tool to reset the services) and ran it again this time disabling network services. But for some reason the original setting prevailed. Solved, thanks!

[AudioPhil]

Very well then, glad to hear :-)

 

next time you get into a similar situation -> there is no need to run ServiceTool between two AO runs. Just directly run AO again will do the trick for 100%.

 

Best,

AudioPhil

[Le Concombre Masqué]

I was considering to partition my MBook Pro's SSD and give 2012 R2 a try, maybe up to AO. Reading AO's pdf I find out that there are BIOS tweaks that I won't be able to perform ; is it worth the hard work to install on a Mac?

 

i read you can't reap all benefits on a PC then, but how about installing Windows on a usb stick for booting on a Mac ?

[AudioPhil]

I was considering to partition my MBook Pro's SSD and give 2012 R2 a try, maybe up to AO. Reading AO's pdf I find out that there are BIOS tweaks that I won't be able to perform ; is it worth the hard work to install on a Mac?

 

i read you can't reap all benefits on a PC then, but how about installing Windows on a usb stick for booting on a Mac ?

 

 

Hi

 

Definitely worth the work, no question about that. Don't worry to much about the inability to change those settings in your BIOS. Especially in Asia we have a lot of very happy AO users, all on Macs!

 

Are you familiar with Apple Bootcamp? Thats what you need to install Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows 10 on a Mac: https://support.apple.com/boot-camp

 

Best,

AudioPhil

[Le Concombre Masqué]

Thank you

 

Maybe there's a whole ecosystem to consider (the OS, HQP, the TEAC DAC and maybe even the Regen and the Corning cable) but for sure it's worth the work : incredibly better sound with 2012 R2

 

Hi

 

Definitely worth the work, no question about that. Don't worry to much about the inability to change those settings in your BIOS. Especially in Asia we have a lot of very happy AO users, all on Macs!

 

Are you familiar with Apple Bootcamp? Thats what you need to install Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows 10 on a Mac: https://support.apple.com/boot-camp

 

Best,

AudioPhil

[AudioPhil]

Hello Folks

 

The first time ever we're announcing a "double-release". Few days ago AO 2.10 was sent out and one day later AO 2.20 Beta 1 was released as well. So let's have a quick look at the change logs, AO 2.10 first:

 

AudiophileOptimizer 2.10

- Update for Windows 10 Build 1067 (Anniversary Update)

- Dedicated update notification feature for beta versions of AO

- Several bugfixes for Chinese Windows 10

- Disable OneDrive/Defender also available in advanced mode

- Roon support question no longer asked if Roon Support is already installed

- Several cosmetics

- Minor Bugfixes

 

ServiceTool 2.10

- Update of DriverHelper

- Update of Shell Replacement for HQPlayer (new path)

- "Prepare Essentials Edition" feature visible again in ServiceTool

- Shell Replacement feature now offers two pages of shell replacements

- Added MediaMonkey shell replacement

- Added RoonBridge shell replacement

- Several bugfixes for Chinese Windows 10

- Several cosmetics

 

Setup 2.10

- Update of the PDF Guide

- Several cosmetics

 

AudiophileOptimizer 2.10 is the latest official release. It is highly recommended for all AO users, no matter if they are using Windows Server 2012, 2012 R2 or Windows 10, to update to AO 2.10. AO 2.10 does not work on Windows Server 2016. For AO 2.00 users there will be no new key needed. User still on 1.30 or 1.40 can get the upgrade via our download portal.

 

 

AudiophileOptimizer 2.20 Beta 1:

- Support for Windows Server 2016 RTM (Standard, Datacenter & Essentials)

- Support for Windows Server 2016 Evaluation (Standard, Datacenter & Essentials)

- Removed Support for Windows Server 2016 TP5 (Standard, Datacenter & Essentials)

- LockScreen disabled for Windows Server 2016

- ActionCenter disabled for Windows Server 2016

- Update of MediaPlayer support for Windows Server 2016

- Kernel-Streaming for Windows Server 2016 in Core Mode

(without the need to press F8 during boot)

ServiceTool 2.20

- Fix & Update for HQPlayer Shell Replacement, detects x86 or x64 path of HQP

- Support for Windows Server 2016 RTM & Evaluation

- Update of Windows Server 2016 WLAN support

- ST does not longer show option to switch modes in Windows Server 2016

(since Microsoft removed ability to do so)

Setup 2.20

- Support for Windows Server 2016 RTM & Evaluation

- Update of the PDF Guide

 

 

Enjoy it,

AudioPhil

[AudioPhil]

...I forgot... Updating is very easy, you do not even need to do a reset via ServiceTool!

 

[Blueline]

...I forgot... Updating is very easy, you do not even need to do a reset via ServiceTool!

 

It is certainly easy, for those who have learned it.

I can not procedure, then it's probably quicker to go to back to the GUI mode and update.

[Le Concombre Masqué]

HQPlayer on Windows 2012 Server

 

use Minimal server at the moment. ctrl alt del opening Task Manager is my best friend since I can then invoke Server mgr and get back Gui from there as well as I can File/Run any new task including HQP.

 

paradoxically I made (humm... kept should be more like it) few attempts to optimize further (I believe in as few process as possible but wouldn't take risk (anymore) to cripple the system nor do I feel like paying more than for HQP to lower the process number) : the USB part of CAD, no update, no firewall, no logs (start =0 via regedit) and that's it.

 

I use Fidelizer free but, still from Task Manager, set HQP to real time rather than the High priority set by Fidelizer. I also set the affinity to cores 0246 to avoid hyperthreading.

 

I use ParkControl from Bitsum to get no parking of cores and no frequency scaling as well as Bitsum high performance power plan.

 

 

And That's it. Drawbacks are a very hot laptop running at 2.9+ a 2.3 cpu and the loss of wifi in Minimal server mode (have to plug in ethernet to access my Music hard drives).

 

I want to be happy like is but if someone wants to suggest something before I'm back to healthy after this tweaking crisis I will consider and be thankful !

[westside]

Hi guys,

 

I have a question for you.

I use Audiophile Optimizer on Windows 10.

I use dual boot ( one for my daily use and one for music only).

My question is when i reboot my computer i need to re start my AO setting again or not ?

My AO setting are save or i need to do them again when i restart my computer ?

Thank you by advance for your help and i am sorry my english is bad.

 

Aurelien.

[AudioPhil]

HQPlayer on Windows 2012 Server

 

use Minimal server at the moment. ctrl alt del opening Task Manager is my best friend since I can then invoke Server mgr and get back Gui from there as well as I can File/Run any new task including HQP.

 

paradoxically I made (humm... kept should be more like it) few attempts to optimize further (I believe in as few process as possible but wouldn't take risk (anymore) to cripple the system nor do I feel like paying more than for HQP to lower the process number) : the USB part of CAD, no update, no firewall, no logs (start =0 via regedit) and that's it.

 

I use Fidelizer free but, still from Task Manager, set HQP to real time rather than the High priority set by Fidelizer. I also set the affinity to cores 0246 to avoid hyperthreading.

 

I use ParkControl from Bitsum to get no parking of cores and no frequency scaling as well as Bitsum high performance power plan.

 

 

And That's it. Drawbacks are a very hot laptop running at 2.9+ a 2.3 cpu and the loss of wifi in Minimal server mode (have to plug in ethernet to access my Music hard drives).

 

I want to be happy like is but if someone wants to suggest something before I'm back to healthy after this tweaking crisis I will consider and be thankful !

 

Hi

 

Minimal-Server does offer WLAN. Please see our PDF Guide (Page 51) to read about how to install WLAN-Support using the ServiceTool.

 

Best,

AudioPhil

[AudioPhil]

Hi guys,

 

I have a question for you.

I use Audiophile Optimizer on Windows 10.

I use dual boot ( one for my daily use and one for music only).

My question is when i reboot my computer i need to re start my AO setting again or not ?

My AO setting are save or i need to do them again when i restart my computer ?

Thank you by advance for your help and i am sorry my english is bad.

 

Aurelien.

Hello Aurlien

 

Once you made a full run with AO there is no need to run it again, except you made a reset via ServiceTool for maintenance tasks.

 

Best,

AudioPhil

[westside]

Hello Aurlien

 

Once you made a full run with AO there is no need to run it again, except you made a reset via ServiceTool for maintenance tasks.

 

Best,

AudioPhil

 

OK Thanks.

[Le Concombre Masqué]

Thank you but I don't have ServiceTool.

 

Does it act different from this guide : http://www.win2012workstation.com/wireless-networking/ ? (that is Add Wireless Lan Service Feature via Server Manager)

 

did it and manually enable the Broadcom and installed Airport/Bonjour and it worked fine in GUI mode but not in Minimal

 

best

 

Hi

 

Minimal-Server does offer WLAN. Please see our PDF Guide (Page 51) to read about how to install WLAN-Support using the ServiceTool.

 

Best,

AudioPhil

[AudioPhil]

Hi

 

Should be fine if you installed Wireless-LAN support manually.

 

Best,

AudioPhil