Bughead Emperor

[kaufenpreis]

For my system 6.48 is the best yet Nice increase in soundstage treble extension and lovely mids.

[zackthedog]

I've been away from Bughead for a while. I use to feel it was almost too analytical, and the music was contained in a sort of digital box or frame. This new version is more relaxed and open. Very nice, I'm going to stick with it for a while. I'd urge anyone who finds it scary to just open Bughead or Infinity Blade, click the default settings, load some files and enjoy. You can familiarize yourself with all the gadgetry later on. :-)

[Nikhil]

However, after a few days' listening it's clear to me that this player is in a different league from anything I've heard before. In day to day terms it's right at the limit of practicality, but chance on the optimum settings and it has the clarity and detail of the best of the rest, but with a 3D, big, solid and tactile sound I've only ever heard from vinyl before. I suspect that it also works differently from other players.

BHE has glorious sound when it works.

But getting there takes a little bit of work.

 

I've found that backing off the extreme filter settings gives the best sound.

I now just run everything in "Normal" setting in High Class Professional.

[satbaba]

My opinion: the best sound quality I've heard till now

[Nikhil]

It's interesting to ask oneself what is the reason behind why we need to 'rewrite the data' first.

 

From what Yokota has indicated - the optimization is at the CPU register level with the appropriate SIMD instruction set (AVX, MMX etc).

[highstream]

BHE has glorious sound when it works.

But getting there takes a little bit of work.

I've found that backing off the extreme filter settings gives the best sound.

I now just run everything in "Normal" setting in High Class Professional.

 

High Class Professional?

[Nikhil]

High Class Professional?

 

To get into High Class Professional, in Setup screen "Select options <1>" on the left panel

 

1. Enable "Correct Clear Sound"

2. Enable "Memory Envalid"

6. Enable "z Tune"

7. Setup DIMM [Memory Optimize]

Assign memory equally to each DIMM setting

1:4GB/2:4GB/3:4GB/4:4GB if you have 16GB RAM

8. Enable "Double Sided mounting memory"

 

 

** I am still running 6.49 so not sure if this has changed in the latest versions.

[highstream]

Thanks. Don't see "z Tune" with 7.81.

 

On first listen, those settings with Blade=71 or Galaxy=72 and mmx+ take out a lot of the brightness - and lowered the volume several notches.

[Nikhil]

On first listen, those settings with Blade=71 or Galaxy=72 and mmx+ take out a lot of the brightness - and lowered the volume several notches.

 

Have you tried using the Self Sound Optimizer?

​

[YashN]

From what Yokota has indicated - the optimization is at the CPU register level with the appropriate SIMD instruction set (AVX, MMX etc).

If you check his text again, you'll see that it should be modified to be a proper, logical sentence and then... it might not mean what you think it means... He mentions two things: 'method of transport' and instruction set and his initial hypothesis of one being the cause for better SQ (probably meaning the other isn't).

 

In any way, this is just a description of a hypothesis of a part of the process for which the whole of the 'rewriting of the data' is performed in his code.

 

What I asked as more fundamental question is 'why is there a need to rewrite the data in the first place'?

 

The reason I ask is that there is some similarity in what he found while experimenting and coding BugHead.

 

So, an accompanying questions to ask is 'what does BugHead do that other players don't and from where it derives its SQ?' This can help give some clues too, but it's OK to start with just the 'why do we need a rewrite' first.

[Nikhil]

If you check his text again, you'll see that it should be modified to be a proper, logical sentence and then... it might not mean what you think it means... He mentions two things: 'method of transport' and instruction set and his initial hypothesis of one being the cause for better SQ (probably meaning the other isn't).

 

Actually he is pretty specific - the optimization is at the CPU register and instruction level from what I can understand.

What is register (processor register, CPU register)? - Definition from WhatIs.com

[highstream]

Have you tried using the Self Sound Optimizer?​

 

The phrase is vaguely familiar but I'm not seeing it. Where is the SSO found? thanks,

[Nikhil]

The phrase is vaguely familiar but I'm not seeing it. Where is the SSO found? thanks,

 

In 6.49 the "Self sound optimizer" button is on the top right of the player.

After you load your song list, click on the SSO button to let BHE do the filter selection for you.

[highstream]

Perhaps a change? Here's what I'm seeing with Infinity Blade 7.81:

[Nikhil]

I think you have BHE running in Normal mode i.e. no upsampling.

You get the Self sound optimizer when you run in Upsampling Mode (Option 4 in Setup menu)

[highstream]

Ok, I think I've figured it out. Red is ON, not blue. I'll give a listen sometime soon. Although I think the reason I hadn't pursued this before is because on the JPlay thread, I seem to recall some people with good systems saying the upsampling wasn't helping the sound, better to go manual.

[Nikhil]

I would recommend trying out the different options - but yes I use Normal mode most of the time.

 

With Upsampling mode the options can be over whelming.

They don't always sound better as well - hence the recommendation to try out the SSO option.

[YashN]

Actually he is pretty specific - the optimization is at the CPU register and instruction level from what I can understand.

What is register (processor register, CPU register)? - Definition from WhatIs.com

 

Nope. Read more carefully.

 

And... that still doesn't you anything about why there's a need to rewrite the data in the first place....

[mansr]

Nope. Read more carefully.

 

And... that still doesn't you anything about why there's a need to rewrite the data in the first place....

Maybe there is none. Indeed, knowing how CPUs work, I'm certain of it.

[YashN]

Maybe there is none. Indeed, knowing how CPUs work, I'm certain of it.

Unfortunately for you, though, you still haven't revised how a digital audiophile chain works and thus are stuck in a 'bits are bits' mentality, which while we should like it to be as simple as that, just isn't the whole truth in computer audiophilia, as treating a 'bit' has associated noise with it because of internal D/A processes where you're still calling it 'digital' or 'bit', especially when a common DAC is directly connected to a computer.

 

And before you get all worked up about what you've done or not done, I know you've done a great job coding and opening up to people the good things that allow Audirvana+ and others to do real-time up-conversion.

 

Thing still is: because you know how a CPU works or how coding works, you have some assumptions about how it all works (or should work ideally) in a computer audiophile chain.

 

I'm a Systems Engineer myself, so I know networks, hardware, software, but I still had to revise some mental maps.

 

These assumptions do not stand though - it should suffice to show you something is happening with say, BugHead Green which gives you an inkling because the single thing that Yokota does in it is just avoiding the cache, that's all.

 

Same 'bits', just different memory, and the SQ is vastly different (even using BugHead Green through WINE on a Mac).

 

While 'there shouldn't be any difference because they are the same bits', there is and you will be incapable of understanding this, let alone, Rewrite Data, until you've done the homework, heard the difference and tried to really understand.

 

There's a thread called 'Beyond Bit-Perfect' where I describe more of what I think along these lines.

 

Until you understand how DRAM actually works internally - there's a thread on DDR3 bit-flipping which touches upon this - and what Yokota means in descriptions of his BugHead work, nothing of this will make sense to you - which is understandable - been there, done that too...

[Conte_Oliver]

But do you read, and understand, all the strange things (maybe is the transaltor...) that Mr. Yokota writes on his BHE Facebook page?

[Nikhil]

And... that still doesn't you anything about why there's a need to rewrite the data in the first place....

 

It appeared to me that the optimization is in using the appropriate SIMD instruction set.

I understood it as using the optimal instruction set to handle the data transfer to the CPU memory.

[Nikhil]

Maybe there is none. Indeed, knowing how CPUs work, I'm certain of it.

We were discussing the REWRITE DATA program not the BHE player itself.

I had found the defrag analogy somewhat satisfying but YashN believes it to be more like copying data.

 

So we're really trying to figure out what is done by the REWRITE DATA program.

Yokota indicates it's his own version of some kind of jitter suppression.

[YashN]

We were discussing the REWRITE DATA program not the BHE player itself.

I had found the defrag analogy somewhat satisfying but YashN believes it to be more like copying data.

 

Worry not about mansr, he goes about displaying his lack of knowledge in threads he isn't ready yet to comprehend (perhaps I am being too kind in saying 'yet').

[mansr]

Worry not about mansr, he goes about displaying his lack of knowledge in threads he isn't ready yet to comprehend (perhaps I am being too kind in saying 'yet').

I see you've been taking those classes in belittling and condescension seriously.