Computer Audio Design OSX Audio Optimization Script

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thank you !

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Hi Luke,

 

Good to hear that things are stable now. Indeed Apple Software Update is an issue with the script that we'll be looking at for the next version. Will let you know when we have an update ready.

 

Thanks,

Damian

Hello, I'm very happy with the script on a SD card (thanks) BUT...

 

osx 10.9.2 gets corrupted faster and faster (every time I redo a script optimized SD card) : would not boot though in perfect condition as seen per Disk Utility/Repair option. When I try to run a permission repair there are zillions of input/output errors that don't get repaired but get the system unstable beyond any hope of recovery.

 

Could it be that my SD card is getting physically tired (I go back and forth using it and the ssd for non audio purposes) ? or is it a script issue others are facing ?

 

thanks

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please, get more specific

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DM inverts polarity of dff files and I guess it inverts reverts polarity of pcm files.

 

Anyway, to my ears, it sounds better with DM unchecked, starting with Mavericks

 

A more efficient substitute already exists: Audirvana+ Direct Mode.

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By ears. when something does not feel/sound right I try the Polarity inverter on my preamplifier (note that the inverter included in A+ works for pcm files but not for dff ones). Some say in and out of polarity records are split 50/50, I move much more scarcely to switch the polarity ; with DM on, inverted polarity was the standard listening position of the switch for dff files, with DM unchecked standard is non inverted.

How did you determine the polarity inversion?

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Hi Alex, I'm reconsidering HQPlayer ; have you a compatible Yosemite cutting process ?

 

Start over with fresh Yosemite install; Partition your HD to have more than one instance--at least 3; Always keep one factory install and use others for step-by-step testing; Look at the work done by Paul and Altsterfan in the other thread. It is all a big pain I know. Or we can wait until Damian and Scott from C.A.D. do a Yosemite-specific script.

 

Best,

Alex C.

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Thank you Alex,

 

haven't you elected HQP as your player of choice ? I remember reading that CAD scripts would not be compatibles...

 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

 

 

Sorry, I don't. In fact, I have been too busy to even try Yosemite at all! However, "alsterfan" here has been posting a lot of his experiments and some docs of items he has moved (different than doing unloads via script, but same result as long as nothing breaks).

 

I won't say I am lazy, but having gone through my own manual process (before any scripts were ever offered; but now enjoying the convenience of the CAD script for Mavericks), I am content to let others do the hard and tedious work and to wait for a script or a very safe yet effective list before I jump in.

 

Again, my hat's off to alsterfan for his hard work. Moving launch agents and daemon (and frameworks?!) out of their Library folders may not be the most elegant or safest means (have lots of factory and lightly modded back ups to fall back to!), but it accomplishes the same thing as a script. Maybe Scott and Damian will use some of alsterfan's and others' postings as a starting point for a nice script for Yosemite.

 

I do still feel strongly that there should now be separate scripts for Mavericks and Yosemite (and I think the next version of CAD's Mavericks script ought to drop all the vestiges of Mountain Lion-specific commands--we have virtually all moved on from ML for audio).

 

Cheers,

ALEX

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Thank you Alex, I will dig for their posts. HQP does not work on my 55 processes Mavericks SD card, that's for sure. I could say that I enjoy both Amarra 3 and A+ 1.5.10 so far but if HQP is right, the others are wrong or, more precisely, feeding a DSD DAC with a 128 feed is the way to go. I'm still puzzled : each time I tested I thought it was too mellow and only good for making poor systems palatable but yesterday HQP was the only way to enjoy 24/192 Cowgirl in the sand after playing it on vinyl (Classic Records)

 

Thanks for the nice wishes. Same to you.

I enjoy both HQPlayer and Audirvana+ (though I have been too busy to jump into the 2.x versions with library management; again, waiting for others to get all the issues sorted out).

But to answer your question: OS X HQP works fine on Mavericks slimmed with CAD script and whatever other slimming I did to my SDHC boot card. I have been meaning to compare it versus under a more factory-stock Mavericks as HQP does not exhibit the large SQ difference with music from RAM disk the way A+ does.

 

However, you should read what Edward (Eurodriver) and Gregory have been reporting about their HQP/NAA comparisons with MacPro and Windows versus OS X. I have some ideas but have have not had time to reply. I so wish we could develop an OS X ASIO for XMOS async-USB chips. HQP OS X already supports ASIO back-end, but so far only exaSound DACs have a matching driver for their (non-XMOS) input.

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HQP works indeed with a very trimmed OS X on a sd card... might have messed with the settings. doesn't bring extra smoothness, (I haven't yet decided if HQP is right against Amarra and A+ in being smooth but having less snap, impact etc.) found it brings more fluidity, lightness (positive) and air in my system

 

merry Christmas

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A+ is / was my player for DSD only. And I own a TEAC 501 dsd capable DAc ; so the whole idea is to send max dsd output to it and thus use the fabulous filters... more details to come to the HQP thread if you're interested. (in a nutshell : HQP is the clear winner for dsd to my ears on my system)

 

Relative to this thread, I'll say that NAA HQP might be a complete alternative to os optimization though hqp too benefits from optimizations, as I wrote above.

 

I'm still using my Mavericks SD card and don't feel any need to change. I first trialed hqp on my ssd running Yosemite and it was very fine without any optimization

 

best,

 

To date I have felt that A+ does a better job getting around Mavericks' CoreAudio (I still prefer Direct Mode On w/Integer versus Direct Mode Off) than HQ Player, though HQP 3.4.x made a big improvement in transparency. And that comparison was of course done with all SRC off on both players--using 88.2 and 176.4KHz tracks into my NOS PCM1704K DAC--to be most fair.

 

But once I factor in HQP's fantastic Poly-sinc filter family, well-chosen dither, and reduced bits (my WaveIO I2S card/PCM1704 combo sounds WAY better with max bits set down to 24), the game was all over and I find it hard to go back to A+/iZotope.

 

My system has been down for a few weeks and I have been too busy to catch up with the SQ of the latest versions of the players. Plus I still have not stuck my toe into the waters of Yosemite.

 

Best,

--Alex C.

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I have just preferred HQP on regular Yosemite over on 55 processes Mavericks... But then the difference recalls me of + (impact, tone richness)and - (not so magically smooth and natural) of the comparison to Amarra... but I'm getting tired, maybe my brain starts to play tricks.

 

HQP on regular Yosemite outputing to a pure dsd DAC doesn't seem to be wrong in anyway though : would deplete many threads !

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Thank you. I think I understand you ; i.e. I rather play 24/192 Blue Notes through Amarra than AP SACD through A+... too thin, not physical enough. As of comparing HQP to Amarra, yes, I used pcm files and yes hqp converted pcm files to 2x dsd on fly. Getting rid of A+ in favor of HQP for dsd is a no brainer. it took me longer to say that HQP beats Amarra but that's the situation tonight. Furthermore, I might prefer HQP on Yosemite native while Amarra gives its best here on my trimmed Mavericks sd card (I'm now use to the ritual but...)

Hi Le Concombre Masqué,

 

I have been reading your various HQP posts with interest. Amarra is still my go to, but does not handle DSD. A+ DSD via DoP never did it for me...too fatiguing. So when you compared Amarra with HQP, you used a PCM file on both to compare? Was HQP translating the PCM file to DSD?

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I felt like you do, was very reluctant to claim HQP victory and very suspicious that dsd conversion was only a way to tame pcm. the rational would be that anyway sigma delta dacs (all or so) do transform pcm in a form of dsd before analog conversion and that it's better done by sw on a powerful machine

 

let me know and anticipate a huge delta in level matching (around 6 dB)

 

cheers

 

Hi Le Concombre Masqué,

 

Thank you. I think I will give it a try on the Mac as well. It seems counterintuitive though, that translating from one format to the other would sound better as opposed to keeping with how the music was recorded.

 

Cheers

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with the Raspberry at hand how can you resist trying !? i'm still wondering what a good NAA would be, Superdad wrote that Cubox was unbearable after trying Mac mini. Wonder which of the old ones (to buy cheap second hand, not that much more expensive then) has the best usb implementation. And then, who has an image for an easy installation ?

I have just spotted a 100 € core 2 duo à 1,85 GHz Mac mini (mid 2007 I guess ) with wifi not working

Been meaning to try that for a while too here, but since DOP is still the only way on Mac OS X with iFi, I would be stuck with DSD128, so Linux for me seems the better way to go as the ultimate O.S. to customise. But... can't get anything it to install on my MBP so far... Additionally, I don't have any small appliance to use as NAA apart from a RaspBerry Pi - as far as I know its USB implementation is not very good.

 

Other than that, I do have a Linksys Router than I hacked with an alternate firmware and enough Ethernet cables to do the trick.

 

HQP on Server and HQP on NAA (running Linux) then to USB DAC (for now) is the best thing I can do for my system as for the software/DAC currently as Linux does not have any restrictions concerning DSD256 anymore, as opposed to Mac OS X (only DOP, limited to DSD 128 unless iFi releases a driver for non DOP, e.g. ASIO and DSD256, which exaSound can provide but iFi don't want to rely on...)... Miska, on the other hand, already has included exaSound's technology/specs in HQ Player.

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I sure want to know your findings but it might time to stop for today !

I couldn't. That's why I am still up at 4:33. I need to get a Raspbian image installed on an SD Card now...

 

But first I had to find the Raspi: I had set it aside to sell it and perhaps get a BeagleBone Black, but couldn't find it in my DIY boxes. It was hiding in its box right next to the Panasonic Amp.

 

It's all wired up with HDMI and USB power and inviting red LED, but I got distracted by that long thread of sbgk doing his minimal player...

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yes and no as far as I'm concerned : yes I'm curious to read the script and maybe think about this and that but I'm careful about criping the system. If you check for actual working processes in Activity Monitor you'll find that a thicket of them are used, for seconds, and that it is very quiet while listening to music. Nevertheless, some trims are positive and you'll find mines somewhere, in the optimizing from scratch thread I think

eagerly waiting waiting waiting...

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i considered those tricks as complement to what I have previously posted :

 

 

CAD :

defaults write -g NSDisableAutomaticTermination -bool YES

defaults write com.apple.finder AnimateWindowZoom -bool false

defaults write com.apple.finder DisableAllAnimations -bool true

defaults write com.apple.systemsound "com.apple.sound.uiaudio.enabled" -int 0

launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.accountsd.plist

launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.AirPlayUIAgent.plist

launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.AirPortBaseStationAgent.plist

launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.usernoted.plist

launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.tccd.plist

launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.SubmitDiagInfo.plist

launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.SubmitDiagInfo.xpc.plist

launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.spindump_agent.plist

launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.quicklook.32bit.plist

launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.quicklook.config.plist

launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.quicklook.plist

launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.quicklook.ui.helper.plist

launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.printtool.agent.plist

launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.printuitool.agent.plist

launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.pbs.plist

launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.locationmenu.plist

launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.distnoted.xpc.agent.plist

sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.warmd.plist

sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.wdhelper.plist

sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.secd.plist

sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.revisiond.plist

 

sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.sandboxd.plist

sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.printtool.daemon.plist

sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.locationd.plist

 

I checked databases, thought and finally dropped a few lines in TErminal and got this (watch Terminal window) ; about half of what I tried did not work (10.10.3) but did not harm either. In fact, probably just because I was 15 more minutes further in my awakening process, doubt 3 extra killed processes make a difference, I found the SQ improved :

 

 

tahnks and kudos to Scott & Damian @CAD since this complement my previous efforts

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I'm sorry to advise against the script

 

 

suffice you drop (part of the script):

launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.accountsd.plist

 

and you're in trouble with ReportCrash going berserk

 

here's my updated Y tweaking scheme (not sure the CAD stuff at the end brought anything good but haven't found what's left of it to be harmful either so far ; the rest is approved for weeks):Nouvelles actions TerminalCADedit.rtfd.zip

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Try and report

meaning if used as is, without dropping any part of it, nor adding anything, that the new cad script works trouble-free?

 

Greetings from switzerland, david.

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have you checked Activity Monitor ? ; no trouble per se but, i.e., ReportCrash was coming (taxing up to 14% of cpu) and leaving on a few seconds cycle

About 10 hours of usage. HQPlayer, Mac Mini, up to date Yosemite, new cad script - no troubles.

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don't forget to check Activity Monitor before and after the script : killing some processes trigger others and some tax the cpu. My machine is idling at 99.9 when not playing music and I'd rather have this and my #110 processes than half as much but with a higher cpu load. When I play music, very few operations are active, with brief appearances of launchd I have these only :just make sure that the script does not unleash ReportCrash or other panic processes

Thanks for letting us know about this. My machine is acting much better

 

Dave

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to all those who took that route : give Windows 2012 R2 a try...

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Yes, major improvements. OSX is a joke in comparison when it comes to play music. Where was a wall of sound are delineated contributions etc

You are running bootcamp on your MBP and found improvements in HQ Player running in optimized W 2012R2 vs Mac OS? If so, what improvements did you hear?