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

[AudioPhil]

4 years AO.... :-)

[abrusc]

2 hours ago, AudioPhil said:

4 years AO.... :-)

Congrats Phil and AO!!!

[Franatic]

Happy 4th Birthday, Phil.

 

I've had my AO since 3/16/2014. Absolutely essential software and a real bargain. The support.....and friendship Phil has offered is 2nd to none. His program just keeps getting better. Phil's doing an amazing job keeping up with the ever-changing computer audio landscape.

 

Thanks for everything, Phil

Bests

Fran

[AudioPhil]

Thank you very much for theese kind words, highly appreciated! :-)

[ALRAINBOW]

Wow it's four years already.  You know you started the music  server software.  And your still way ahead of the followers 

[AudioPhil]

Yes it is amazing how fast time flies by... :-)

 

4 years ago no man (or woman) on earth was using Windows Server to play music. AO changed this completely! :-)

[Johnseye]

3 minutes ago, AudioPhil said:

Yes it is amazing how fast time flies by... :-)

 

4 years ago no man (or woman) on earth was using Windows Server to play music. AO changed this completely! :-)

 

Well, not exactly true. Plenty of people were using JRiver and I'm sure there's other software I'm not aware of.  But you certainly improved the platform.

[ALRAINBOW]

Your correct and I was one of them. But how AO has moved us along is where his credit lies. 

Also forums like this that dwell in computer audio for all of us. I remember reading so much here and learned from here.  

[AudioPhil]

59 minutes ago, Johnseye said:

 

Well, not exactly true. Plenty of people were using JRiver and I'm sure there's other software I'm not aware of.  But you certainly improved the platform.

 

I was not speaking about Jriver at all?

[Johnseye]

1 minute ago, AudioPhil said:

 

I was not speaking about Jriver at all?

 

You said "4 years ago no man (or woman) on earth was using Windows Server to play music." JRiver runs on Windows Server, so 4 years ago men and women on earth were using Windows Server to play music.

 

I think there just may have been something lost in the translation of your statement.  Like I said, you have improved the Windows platform for music playback, and probably more so than anyone else in the last 4 years.

[dtb300]

So before AO, you are stating people ran JRiver on "Windows Server" - Not Win 7, 8, 8.1, or 10 (these are workstation/client OS's)?????

 

BTW, I understood what Phil was saying.....

[ALRAINBOW]

If you mean me yes. Not only that but I did not know the importance of good power and faster processors. What I did to compensate was expensive spidif converters.  

Offramp 5 buy empirical Audio and audiophileo 

ap1 /pure power these devices really improved things. But having said that what AO does and his help in building a better server was a leap 

[Johnseye]

25 minutes ago, dtb300 said:

So before AO, you are stating people ran JRiver on "Windows Server" - Not Win 7, 8, 8.1, or 10 (these are workstation/client OS's)?????

 

BTW, I understood what Phil was saying.....

 

Yes, this isn't new.  Especially in the realm of home theater.  Storage of music and movies to stream from a home server has been around for a long time.

 

What has changed things is the reduction in cost and increase in capacity of storage, which allows for large amounts of music and movies to be affordably stored.  This has had a significant impact on the transition from highly compressed media like mp3 to lossless or uncompressed formats stored on drives instead of disc.  There has always been an undeniable loss in quality from highly compressed music and video formats, but who would store a couple albums or movies on a hard drive costing hundreds?  With the change in cost and capacity lossless and uncompressed formats easily hit mainstream households increasing demand and innovation.

 

That innovation is what Phil is driving.  Improving home audio streaming from a Windows server to provide the best possible sound.

[dtb300]

Windows Server 2012R2, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2008, etc.   These are true Server OS's.  Not Win 7, 8, 10, etc.

 

Running an APP on a Box with a Client OS and call it a Server is one thing, running on a true Server OS is another.

[Johnseye]

2 minutes ago, dtb300 said:

Windows Server 2012R2, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2008, etc.   These are true Server OS's.  Not Win 7, 8, 10, etc.

 

Running an APP on a Box with a Client OS and call it a Server is one thing, running on a true Server OS is another.

 

Yes, starting with Windows NT, 2000 and 2003 were also Server editions.  From a software compatibility perspective there isn't much difference depending on how detailed you want to get.  Where issues usually crop up are in driver compatibility.

[ALRAINBOW]

I think my use of server is being mislead by some. For me a server is simply any desk top built for one purpose. Before AO I had a dedicated desk top very fast all the bells but only used it for music. And no internet or anitivirus. Foobar and j river. Win 7 

but I do see others view as well. Having said that what AO does with the use of win SER xx 

is a large increase in better Audio and I don't use any type of spidif converters with it. For me the server I built is better than what they did in imporvemts with win 7

 keep in mind my server is all out with four D.C. Psu s and all Audio grade main board and USB card.  

[Big AL]

There are a couple of dozen server roles and technologies, not to mention management capabilities and tools, that a desktop version of Windows will never have or require. It's just not in the nature of a desktop OS to provide anything more than desktop features. 

 

Turning off (disabling) services and scripts in Windows Server 2012 R2 is trivial. For the purposes of an 'audio file' server or player, core mode is where the REAL horsepower in 2012 R2 becomes obvious.

 

The fewer service an OS runs, the better the audio playback quality becomes. Minimizing background processes minimizes the load on a CPU. The lighter the load, the quieter your system will run and the quieter it runs, the better your sound quality. You can only do so much with a desktop OS, while there's very little you CAN'T do with Server 2012 R2. 

 

Windows Server 2012 R2 Roles and Technologies

Windows Server 2012 R2 Management and Tools

 

Compare the above info, which is only a fraction of what can be done with Windows Server 2012 R2, to what a desktop OS (Win7, 8.1, 8, 10) provides, and it should become intuitive obvious that there is no comparison. 

[Johnseye]

57 minutes ago, Big AL said:

For the purposes of an 'audio file' server or player, core mode is where the REAL horsepower in 2012 R2 becomes obvious.

 

The fewer service an OS runs, the better the audio playback quality becomes. Minimizing background processes minimizes the load on a CPU. The lighter the load, the quieter your system will run and the quieter it runs, the better your sound quality. You can only do so much with a desktop OS, while there's very little you CAN'T do with Server 2012 R2. 

 

 

You're not going to use most of what Windows Server has to offer as an advancement over the desktop.  Providing Core mode was a significant step for Microsoft and allows them to compete with Red Hat and the other Linux distros in the data center.  However I don't know if it's that big of an advantage over GUI for audio otherwise we'd all be running a base Linux package and we're not.  If you want to get to the nuts and bolts of an OS Linux can get you there.  Start from the kernel and build up with only necessary services.  Essentially what Roon is trying to do with ROCK.  The jury's still out on that one.

[Big AL]

Johnseye --- Good points, one and all, but given that Phil isn't developing AO to run on Linux/UNIX, it's kind of a moot point.

 

I WISH Phil would port his software/scripts to Linux! Compiling a kernel (ala the FREE Debian kit) that supports ONLY the hardware you actually have in your 'box' and includes ONLY the core elements of the OS that you really want or actually need for music playback and a file system/file server, etc., would obviously be the BEST way to fly! 

 

I've read good things about 'AP Linux' and am about to start building a new computer to test it on. Unfortunately, I seriously doubt that Phil is headed in that direction. That said, how cool would 'AO Linux' be!? VERY cool!

 

As they say, hope springs eternal. Maybe some day. Thanks for posting! 

[Johnseye]

4 minutes ago, Big AL said:

Johnseye --- Good points, one and all, but given that Phil isn't developing AO to run on Linux/UNIX, it's kind of a moot point.

 

I WISH Phil would port his software/scripts to Linux! Compiling a kernel (ala the FREE Debian kit) that supports ONLY the hardware you actually have in your 'box' and includes ONLY the core elements of the OS that you really want or actually need for music playback and a file system/file server, etc., would obviously be the BEST way to fly! 

 

I've read good things about 'AP Linux' and am about to start building a new computer to test it on. Unfortunately, I seriously doubt that Phil is headed in that direction. That said, how cool would 'AO Linux' be!? VERY cool!

 

As they say, hope springs eternal. Maybe some day. Thanks for posting! 

 

AO Linux would be very cool, and I'd bite.  I expect many others would as well, in addition to yourself.  Any good with Linux @AudioPhil ?

 

BigAL, let me know if you're successful in building something.

[leftside]

On 6/1/2017 at 4:05 PM, Big AL said:

There are a couple of dozen server roles and technologies, not to mention management capabilities and tools, that a desktop version of Windows will never have or require. It's just not in the nature of a desktop OS to provide anything more than desktop features. 

 

Turning off (disabling) services and scripts in Windows Server 2012 R2 is trivial. For the purposes of an 'audio file' server or player, core mode is where the REAL horsepower in 2012 R2 becomes obvious.

 

The fewer service an OS runs, the better the audio playback quality becomes. Minimizing background processes minimizes the load on a CPU. The lighter the load, the quieter your system will run and the quieter it runs, the better your sound quality. You can only do so much with a desktop OS, while there's very little you CAN'T do with Server 2012 R2. 

 

Windows Server 2012 R2 Roles and Technologies

Windows Server 2012 R2 Management and Tools

 

Compare the above info, which is only a fraction of what can be done with Windows Server 2012 R2, to what a desktop OS (Win7, 8.1, 8, 10) provides, and it should become intuitive obvious that there is no comparison. 

I agree that the fewer services and scripts an OS runs, the more horsepower the computer has for processing audio. This would be especially advantageous if doing something resource intensive such as upsampling. I'm on the fence whether this actually improves the audio quality though. Measurements would be nice if anyone has any to provide? Before and after installation of AO would be ideal. 

[AudioPhil]

On 2.6.2017 at 6:09 PM, Johnseye said:

 

AO Linux would be very cool, and I'd bite.  I expect many others would as well, in addition to yourself.  Any good with Linux @AudioPhil ?

 

BigAL, let me know if you're successful in building something.

 

I can offer Windows knowledge of more than two decades. But not for Linux unfortunately

[baburh]

Hi Phil,

 

I need your help. I hope this is a right place to ask:

I finally upgraded my single audio PC setup. I prepared a triple boot. Win10 family friendly. 2012r2 and 2016 both in core and AO, audio strictly only. Most probably I will ditch one once AO is fully integrated with 2016.

 

I am an old-time fan of JRiver, actually have not really experienced anything other.. I would like to first start out on AO2012r2 with Jriver and will definitely try Roon+HQPlayer immediately after. Now comes the question: Can they co-exist? Can I just exit one and start the other during the test period? Or do I have to reverse everything back from a backup image to try the other option? Any tips or recommendations regarding the installation steps etc would be most appreciated.

 

By the time I make up my mind with the  player software, I bet AO 2.20 and 2016 will full on and I will make a clean switch there

 

 

[AudioPhil]

Hi

 

using several players side a side is no problem at all. No need to reverse anything

 

Best,

AudioPhil

 

 

[Johnseye]

1 hour ago, baburh said:

Hi Phil,

 

I need your help. I hope this is a right place to ask:

I finally upgraded my single audio PC setup. I prepared a triple boot. Win10 family friendly. 2012r2 and 2016 both in core and AO, audio strictly only. Most probably I will ditch one once AO is fully integrated with 2016.

 

I am an old-time fan of JRiver, actually have not really experienced anything other.. I would like to first start out on AO2012r2 with Jriver and will definitely try Roon+HQPlayer immediately after. Now comes the question: Can they co-exist? Can I just exit one and start the other during the test period? Or do I have to reverse everything back from a backup image to try the other option? Any tips or recommendations regarding the installation steps etc would be most appreciated.

 

By the time I make up my mind with the  player software, I bet AO 2.20 and 2016 will full on and I will make a clean switch there

 

 

 

I have both JRiver and Roon installed on the same server.  You can easily exit one application and start the other.  You can also run both simultaneously but I have found that if you try and play music from JRiver while Roon is running, then JRiver has issues while Roon does not.