Fidelia 1.5

[Melvin]

App store

 

I thought so. Obviously not ready for us who purchased directly. Thanks.

[REShaman]

I thought so. Obviously not ready for us who purchased directly. Thanks.

 

It is usually the other way around. It took the App Store 6 hours to make the BitPerfect 2.0.1 available before downloadable from the App Store. But readily downloadable from BitPerfect's website.

 

Best,

Richard

[juliocat]

Go to Fidelia and download the trial, install it and you have the last version, no problems with licenses at all.

[Melvin]

Go to Fidelia and download the trial, install it and you have the last version, no problems with licenses at all.

 

Thank you.

 

Download fidelia 1.5.2. Works perfectly!

 

• still no gapless!
  
• testing now to see if I can get through more than 3 or 4 songs with actual sound coming out of my speakers
  

 

I wonder if Audiofile Engineering monitors these boards.

[Melvin]

For the sake of clarity here is a description of the dropout issue:

 

Fidelia starts off good, playing several songs nicely, then suddenly .. silence. The display (meters & elapsed time) show the song is playing and yet nothing is coming out of my speakers. No sound. Nada. I've deleted plist files, reinstalled the app, installed a beta, and changed settings to no avail. I think an important aspect of the problem is when a song ends, my DAC loses lock. The color-changing porthole "blinks" (off/on) and sometimes there is music, sometimes not. The files will continue to "play" either way. I've observed this repeatedly with gapless and non-gapless at every sample rate. Thinking this might be a USB driver conflict I tested Fidelia with my Bel Canto mLink and SOtM dX-USB HD (both XMOS based) converters as well .. same behavior.

 

This dropout issue did not exist prior to 1.5 being released. I'm hoping this latest release (1.5.2) solves the problem. Right now I'm listening to a couple of albums and after 1 album and 2 songs I still hear music! The same loss-of-lock-at-the-end-of-a-song phenomena (blinking DAC) is still occurring, but I remain hopeful.

 

As stated before, I've been in contact with Corey at AE support and he's been very responsive.

 

an afterthought: the DAC itself recovers quickly and seems to re-lock yet no music is heard.

[Melvin]

Spoke too soon. During the 2nd album, 5th song .. no sound. Same behavior. Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated.

[REShaman]

Corey sent me a link for 1.5.2, which worked. I installed 1.5.2 and also kept 1.5.0.

 

Corey indicated he asked his engineers to follow through with the download error I experienced when attempting to download from their website. Before I installed from the link, I launched Fidelia. Today, no prompt to download a new build. Perhaps, Fidelia has suspended the download mechanism to find what may be a problem. I mentioned Melvin encountered a download issue as well and referred Corey to this thread.

 

1.5.2 plays gaplessly on my system. However I heard several bursts of static intermittently over several tracks, but have not heard those static pops for several tracks. The gapless album I tested Fidelia 1.5.2 with is Bill Evans', yes!, The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings 1961, XLD conversion of HDCD 20Bit to AIFF. It is a live performance and gapless play is "poifect". No halt in play. Ooopps! Another static pop. Not good! SQ is decent, but not great. Wait, better than decent. But not great. Aside from the intermittent static pops, 1.5.2 works well.

 

I reported my findings to Corey at Fidelia. That's about it. I will play other tracks to determine if the static pops pop. The Bill Evans tracks are pristine and it is my go-to album for testing beta builds. Have no idea what triggers the pops. There's always something.

 

Enjoy the music,

Richard

[steadyshot]

Thank you.

 

 

 

• still no gapless!
  
• testing now to see if I can get through more than 3 or 4 songs with actual sound coming out of my speakers
  

 

I wonder if Audiofile Engineering monitors these boards.

 

Yes.Corey knows about this thread... I had sent him the link, when I had the problem with alac files.

[REShaman]

I prefer 1.5.0 over 1.5.2. Not even close. Gapless plays. No popping. Not using 1.5.2. Not as dynamic as 1.5.0.

 

My opinion.

 

Best,

Richard

[steadyshot]

I prefer 1.5.0 over 1.5.2. Not even close. Gapless plays. No popping. Not using 1.5.2. Not as dynamic as 1.5.0.

 

My opinion.

 

Best,

Richard

 

Maybe 1.5.0 could be a bit more transparent...But still fidelia is untouchable by any other similar software in terms of sound quality.

[REShaman]

Maybe 1.5.0 could be a bit more transparent...But still fidelia is untouchable by any other similar software in terms of sound quality.

 

Untouchable? I can appreciate your enthusiasm. Without making you wrong about your preference, I would not concur that Fidelia is untouchable. Given the topic of this thread, I'll leave my comment without any specificity.

 

And happy for you that Fidelia provides you with the enjoyment of music.

 

Best,

Richard

[steadyshot]

Untouchable? I can appreciate your enthusiasm. Without making you wrong about your preference, I would not concur that Fidelia is untouchable. Given the topic of this thread, I'll leave my comment without any specificity.

 

And happy for you that Fidelia provides you with the enjoyment of music.

 

Best,

Richard

 

It's not enthusiasm.. I can specify it for you. I have amarra 2.6 , bitperfect 2.01, audirvana plus 1.5.10, pure music 1.89g and no one of these players can become my standard without returning back to fidelia.

[REShaman]

It's not enthusiasm.. I can specify it for you. I have amarra 2.6 , bitperfect 2.01, audirvana plus 1.5.10, pure music 1.89g and no one of these players can become my standard without returning back to fidelia.

 

What is wrong with being enthusiastic about a product you assess as the best software player?

 

Fine. Great. Not arguing with you. I did not mention those other programs because this thread is about Fidelia.

 

Enjoy the music,

Richard

[REShaman]

Latest update about 1.5.2.

 

I replayed The Bill Evans The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings 1961, Disc 1 and three tracks of Disc 2, XLD conversion of HDCD 20Bit to AIFF. The static pops I heard intermittently during Disc 1 did not repeat during today's playtime. Yesterday, I had installed 1.5.2 from a link supplied by Fidelia after I reported problems with the download error. Merely mentioning these details for information. I left 1.5.0 installed after installing 1.5.2.

 

I have also revised my assessment of 1.5.2. I have not gone back and forth between the two builds today. I am just listening intently to 1.5.2. I have to say, my assessment has changed. build 1.5.2 is very, very good. A touch brighter than 1.5.0 which I described as more dynamic during yesterday's listening. The dynamics are present for 1.5.2. The advantages of listening to a jazz trio are obvious. The voices of the instruments during their solos provide a focus on the sound of the instrument rendered by the program. Bass is very good. Plenty of detail. The drums as well. Slightly veiled overall. Just slightly. But that's my subjective assessment and based on my system. Evans's piano sound is excellent. Just slightly brighter than 1.5.0. So, too, the applause from the audience is a bit more brighter.

 

I have no wish to comment and compare software players here at the 1.5 thread. I will comment that this is the best build(s) from Fidelia starting with 1.5.0. ever. My opinion. I could easily be satisfied with Fidelia as it renders this phenomenal jazz trio of Bill Evans, Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian with and almost superb SQ. Back to listening to the music, and

 

Enjoy the music,

Richard

[mdewire]

I just downloaded version 1.5.2 late last night on a trial basis and after a few tweaks I have now found my new reference player. The sound quality is organic like playing good vinyl. Most of my files are at least CD quality or better with a few 24/192 albums including Miles Davis Kind of Blue. I am having the gapless issue as well as I tried listening to Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon and it cut out on the transitions between songs for a split second. I still have Audirvana to use for playing albums like DSOM but I really like the sound I am hearing with Fidelia. Hopefully he gapless issue will be solved soon.

[Melvin]

I had some time this past weekend to test Fidelia with another DAC to see if the drop-out problem persists. I decided to use my Tranquility DAC for this test because, unlike the QuteHD, it uses the native MAC USB driver. Yeah, NO problems (well, except that gapless thing). NO dropouts.

 

Seems to me the Chord Mavericks USB driver doesn't play nice with Fidelia. Of course this is my very non-techie opinion and I could be completely mistaken. Sure seems it though. Interesting that no other player in my arsenal exhibits this behavior with the QuteHD. A mystery I hope is solved with a future release. Thanks again to Corey for his patience and time.

 

Richard .. glad to see your issue resolved. I quite agree with your assessment of the SQ from 1.5 through 1.5.2.

[REShaman]

I had some time this past weekend to test Fidelia with another DAC to see if the drop-out problem persists. I decided to use my Tranquility DAC for this test because, unlike the QuteHD, it uses the native MAC USB driver. Yeah, NO problems (well, except that gapless thing). NO dropouts.

 

Seems to me the Chord Mavericks USB driver doesn't play nice with Fidelia. Of course this is my very non-techie opinion and I could be completely mistaken. Sure seems it though. Interesting that no other player in my arsenal exhibits this behavior with the QuteHD. A mystery I hope is solved with a future release. Thanks again to Corey for his patience and time.

 

Richard .. glad to see your issue resolved. I quite agree with your assessment of the SQ from 1.5 through 1.5.2.

 

Hello Melvin,

 

Sorry about your problem. Typically, though, as the software evolves conflicts are not unusual. We see this rampant with posts about gapless, stuttering and drivers that leave a member completely disabled for playing music.

 

Fidelia support has been very good to me. And I am indebted to Corey for his steadfast support. I hope the triggers of the problems you are experiencing are resolved as soon as possible. The products we support owe us that, in my opinion.

 

As far as I can discern, the gapless problem you and others are experiencing is absent from my playback experience on my system. You are reporting a one second gap between gapless tracks? That would be discernible. Wonder what HDD and music tracks storage location might have in common. I let Corey know my music library is stored on an external Promise Pegasus 12TB R 6 Raid 5 drive and gapless play is working. Bill Evans' live performance makes detecting gapless play evident when it is working.

 

Wishing you a speedy resolution.

 

Enjoy the music,

Richard

[Melvin]

Hello Melvin,

 

Sorry about your problem. Typically, though, as the software evolves conflicts are not unusual. We see this rampant with posts about gapless, stuttering and drivers that leave a member completely disabled for playing music.

 

Fidelia support has been very good to me. And I am indebted to Corey for his steadfast support. I hope the triggers of the problems you are experiencing are resolved as soon as possible. The products we support owe us that, in my opinion.

 

As far as I can discern, the gapless problem you and others are experiencing is absent from my playback experience on my system. You are reporting a one second gap between gapless tracks? That would be discernible. Wonder what HDD and music tracks storage location might have in common. I let Corey know my music library is stored on an external Promise Pegasus 12TB R 6 Raid 5 drive and gapless play is working. Bill Evans' live performance makes detecting gapless play evident when it is working.

 

Wishing you a speedy resolution.

 

Enjoy the music,

Richard

 

Thanks Richard .. on a good note, I just now discovered where the problem is, not only with gapless, but also the drop-out problem. When the converter (doesn't matter which one) setting is set to "Match song" all hell breaks loose with the QuteHD, and no gapless with the Tranquility. When the setting is changed to any other selection, it works as intended (gapless, no drop-outs). Unfortunately this breaks the auto sample rate function. At least I can use it now.

 

[REShaman]

Thanks Richard .. on a good note, I just now discovered where the problem is, not only with gapless, but also the drop-out problem. When the converter (doesn't matter which one) setting is set to "Match song" all hell breaks loose with the QuteHD, and no gapless with the Tranquility. When the setting is changed to any other selection, it works as intended (gapless, no drop-outs). Unfortunately this breaks the auto sample rate function. At least I can use it now.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]11771[/ATTACH]

 

Hello Melvin,

 

Good detective/deducting!

 

So interesting how certain settings for a software player can conflict with a device's driver, if a driver requires a proprietary driver. Perhaps that is the reason I am not experiencing similar problems. I imagine when you report this to Fidelia and the Dac fabricators, you will have done them a valuable service.

 

There are corollaries with other software players and certain settings that causes conflicts with associated/integrated programs. iTunes' build breaking nearly all the software players until they fixed 11.03. Plenty of examples.

 

Well done.

 

Enjoy the music,

Richard

[Melvin]

Hello Melvin,

 

Good detective/deducting!

 

So interesting how certain settings for a software player can conflict with a device's driver, if a driver requires a proprietary driver. Perhaps that is the reason I am not experiencing similar problems. I imagine when you report this to Fidelia and the Dac fabricators, you will have done them a valuable service.

 

There are corollaries with other software players and certain settings that causes conflicts with associated/integrated programs. iTunes' build breaking nearly all the software players until they fixed 11.03. Plenty of examples.

 

Well done.

 

Enjoy the music,

Richard

 

Thanks! I emailed support this morning and Corey (God bless him!) already responded. He mentioned stumbling upon this same behavior, so we concur. There should be an update soon (I hope).

[REShaman]

Thanks! I emailed support this morning and Corey (God bless him!) already responded. He mentioned stumbling upon this same behavior, so we concur. There should be an update soon (I hope).

 

?

 

Enjoy the music,

Richard

[Melvin]

Saw this on the Fidelia support forum (bottom of page):

 

"Hi all. We've narrowed the gapless playback issue to setting the output sample rate to 'Match Song.' The engineers are on it and we'll have an update soon. Thanks for everyone's patience. "

 

Support | Audiofile

[Melvin]

For those patiently waiting for a fix, Corey posted a link today for the new beta. You can find it here:

 

Support | Audiofile

 

So far gapless and the "Match Song" setting is working. YAY.

[REShaman]

For those patiently waiting for a fix, Corey posted a link today for the new beta. You can find it here:

 

Support | Audiofile

 

So far gapless and the "Match Song" setting is working. YAY.

 

That's good news. Though I do not experience that problem, or lately any problems, I am happy for the result.

 

Thank you for the good news.

 

Enjoy the music,

Richard

[Melvin]

A new version has been released for those interested.