wtfplay

[sligolad]

That is really interesting. When I remove my usb stick or SD card after wtfplay has loaded the files, the music plays gloriously.

Does wtfplay really 'remember' where the files came from?

If our ears say 'yes' we have to believe it, but it would be mind-boggling :-)

Meant to reply and clarify a while back Bodiebill but I have been travelling quite a bit recently, finally back to some listening :-)

 

The SLC USB sticks i use are for the music files only, as you say the Wtfplay files are loaded to RAM on boot and therefore no other comms are needed with the USB boot stick once up and running.

I have 4 SLC USB sticks in the Startek Rex, one 32Gb and 3 x 64Gb SLC USB sticks from Winkom in Germany.

I see Mach Xtreme now have 128GB SLC sticks on sale now.

 

I leave the USB stick with Wtfplay in the Audio PC all the time as no need to remove and the last settings used are stored to the stick on shutdown.

 

At some point I will try loading Wtfplay on the 32GB SLC stick and see if it makes any difference but I would definitely not expect to hear any difference hence why I have not tried this.

 

A recent change to my system, I had the JCat Femto USB card and after replacing the JCat V1.1 USB Card now surplus to requirements I decided to modify it with a PPA 24Mhz OCXO I had lying around. The OCXO is in the Audio PC powered with 5v from a Paul Hynes supply.

 

This was another lift in performance over the JCat Femto so happy days.

[bodiebill]

The SLC USB sticks i use are for the music files only, as you say the Wtfplay files are loaded to RAM on boot and therefore no other comms are needed with the USB boot stick once up and running.

Thanks, sligolad. But I meant the usb stick with the music files. Actually I can remove both the wtf system stick and the music stick. Also the music files are loaded in RAM, at least one by one; and the music keeps playing when the stick is removed. So I cannot imagine the improvement of using an SLC stick for either.

[sligolad]

Thanks, sligolad. But I meant the usb stick with the music files. Actually I can remove both the wtf system stick and the music stick. Also the music files are loaded in RAM, at least one by one; and the music keeps playing when the stick is removed. So I cannot imagine the improvement of using an SLC stick for either.

All storage media makes a difference even when the files are written to RAM, most good players today buffer to RAM and the difference between storing music files on HDD, SSD, CF Cards, MLC USB sticks and SLC USB sticks matters a lot as do the clocks on the Storage hardware and particularly how you power the storage media.

 

2 years ago it would have been a bits are bits argument but finally many people are confirming what many of us have found with different storage media...unfortunately it does matter.

[frd__]

Hi,

I am happy to let you know that the new release of wtfplay-live is now available. The list of changes and the link to the download directory can be found here:

http://wtfplay-project.org/rnotes.html

Please give it a try and let me know how it works for you.

Enjoy!
F

[rebone]

Hi frd_

Thank you for your continued work on this amazing software.

I stopped looking for any alternative for music playback, many moths ago.

Please keep up the good work and keep it simple.

Don't really know how you can improve on it though.

I certainly am enjoying !

Best regards

 

[audioarcher]

Got this software up and running this morning and have not been able to stop listening all day. After messing around with the frames, periods, and priority I am hearing the lowest noise floor I have ever heard through my system. It really is something.

 

Thank you Frd, for putting the effort into creating this software.

 

Sean

[Koomy]

I too would like to add my appreciation for wtfplayer.
I have it running on an oldish laptop, using the TV as a display, and an IR keyboard for control.
Sure, it's not as 'sophisticated' as having control via Foobar etc, but I like the idea of having a minimal set up and not having to tweak/optimise Windows.

I've had it running for a couple of months now and have been very happy with what I'm hearing.

Thank you frd__
I hope you keep up the good work.
 

[Norton]

Just returned to using WTFplay  -  what's the current verdict as to the optimum values of period size, period count and priority?

 

 

[frd__]

@Norton Sorry to say that but there are no golden values. You have to experiment a bit and determine which values give the best results for you. That should not take long though. I would recommend starting from the period size, then try to find the optimal period count and leave the priority as the last element to tune.
 

[Norton]

On 2 June 2017 at 0:41 PM, frd__ said:

@Norton Sorry to say that but there are no golden values. You have to experiment a bit and determine which values give the best results for you. That should not take long though. I would recommend starting from the period size, then try to find the optimal period count and leave the priority as the last element to tune.
 

Thanks frd__ really enjoying being back on WtfP again.  Hearing low level detail for the first time in familiar music, a salutary lesson that while bits are bits, not all players are equal.

 

When choosing RAM for a PC to use with Wtfplay, is there anything spec-wise I should look out for?

[frd__]

I have not been experimenting much with RAM and it is hard for me to advice something specific. If I had to pick something I would go for the lowest latency modules. Also I would not consider max RAM clock speed as a big factor as I would downclock  RAM anyway.

 

 

F
 

[shpongle]

hi norton

the best SQ i get with cpu/ram@800mhz ,ram@1,24v  with 5 5 5 20 Timings.

i think you can do this with every ram

 

with this Setup the sound is very relaxed and spatial

an analog Feeling....

 

@frd_ thanks for the new Version ! i still hope for diff Support next Version maybe?

 

Shpongle

[audioarcher]

@frd__ Any news on when or if gapless playback might be available? 

[frd__]

@audioarcher the gapless playback is coming but it most likely it will not be available in the next release. There are still a few things that I need to resolve about that. At the moment I am concentrated on upgrading the kernel - testing consumes a lot of time.

 

 

 

F
 

[audioarcher]

Thanks for the update.

 

I have not experienced even one drop out since using Wtfplay. That is very nice. I would get them from time to time using Windows 10. After Windows latest update the dropouts were getting ridiculous. So tired of Windows B.S. I was going to try Audiophile Optimizer for Windows 10, but will hold off for a while.      

[buchela]

On 6/7/2017 at 10:05 AM, audioarcher said:

Thanks for the update.

 

I have not experienced even one drop out since using Wtfplay. That is very nice. I would get them from time to time using Windows 10. After Windows latest update the dropouts were getting ridiculous. So tired of Windows B.S. I was going to try Audiophile Optimizer for Windows 10, but will hold off for a while.      

I have tried wtfplay-live for more than six months now, this player is unbelievable, a new standard to beat, Who needs windows with this player?

[ElviaCaprice]

On 6/7/2017 at 10:05 AM, audioarcher said:

Thanks for the update.

 

I have not experienced even one drop out since using Wtfplay. That is very nice. I would get them from time to time using Windows 10. After Windows latest update the dropouts were getting ridiculous. So tired of Windows B.S. I was going to try Audiophile Optimizer for Windows 10, but will hold off for a while.      

Definitely, Wtfplay is a great option if your okay with it's feature limitations.  I'm not, so it's a no go regardless of SQ results.  Windows 10 needs optimization, but once optimized properly, it never needs attention again, even if not licensed, free.

[astropuppy]

I have an old netbook I would like to install wtfplay on for use as a headphone source. Currently, win10 is installed on the HDD. My question is, if I can get wtfplay running from a usb thumb drive, can music on the (win10) HDD be mounted by wtfplay as is? 

 

All my other laptops are chromebooks, the netbook mentioned above has some very specific – hobby related – software that I prefer to keep on laptop. Yes I have backup images etc.
 

[frd__]

@astropuppy If you boot wtfplay-live from an USB memory stick it should access your Windows partitions. NTFS and FAT32 are well supported. The exception ExFat - this one is not supported. I am guessing that you Win10 uses NTFS by default. All disks will be mounted in read-only mode - your data will be safe.

 

Chromebooks are ARM - wtfplay is not there yet.

[astropuppy]

You are a master sir, thank you.

 

My netbook is an old amd c-60 cpu with a 500gb drive in it. I use this pc maybe an hour a year to program speed controllers using a win only software. You sir have provided a way for it to live. Basically, before doing anything I split the drive into 2 partitions. 100 GB for win10 and 400GB for music. I then loaded a couple albums into a music directory and fired up wtf_play it came right up; I was playing music in no time. Now I waiting for more of my collection to load from nas. Afterwards I'll be plugging into my Schiit stack for some headphone pleasure. Thank you for taking the time to put together wtf_play. Your number 1.

 

[LLiu]

First let me thank for the amazing efforts Fryderck have put into developing this SUPERIOR player, like many of you in this thread I have for years in pursuit of the best possible SQ in computer audio and features are only my secondary concern.  I have been to Apple, Linus PC, various off the shell streamers and eventually ended up with PC running Windows 2012 server and lately the 2016 server with various excellent optimization software like AO, Jplay, Fidelizer and also magnificent players like Bughead, Hysolid, Jplay Streamer, HQplayer and others.

 

I never thought I could get better by go back to Linus software player until I came across Wtfplay in a forum introduced by Sligolad (I must thank him for his convincing introduction of this player to us). Wtfplay is such a magnificent player to me that I feel obliged to share my joyful experiences to those who are prepared to walk extra distance to pursuit the best possible SQ in computer audio, instead of repeating all the good words and descriptions which have been mentioned here and in other forums about Wtfplay, I would simply say Wtfplay is now my new-standard-to-beat audio player, and it is the only computer software player that can regain my majority attention and listening time from my thousands of vinyl collections and handful of open reel tapes collections.

 

Thanks to Fryderck again, can’t say enough! Please keep on with your “less is more” magical work!

 

Liu

[sligolad]

Good to hear another voice that has discovered this hidden gem...if it is the best sound you are after then nothing beats it still, and you know what, there is an even better version hopefully in the works...that's what my ears tell me anyway which was surprising!!

 

Fryderyk sends out test versions every couple of months or even weeks sometimes to some trusted ears and i do not know who all of them are at this point, but until he gets consensus that there has been an improvement it does not get into the next release.

What I can say is that after listening to many versions over the years this recent change with new kernel and lots of other changes has been a real positive surprise to me so hopefully it makes release soon.

 

The key learning for the ultimate CA from the journey over many years still reinforces the fact that to extract the best from a music file you need clean power everywhere you can get it, minimal OS activity, lowest computer timings and hardware activity (noise), good clocks, isolation on reading/transfer of the music files to RAM and isolation on the USB transfer to DAC.

 

The big eyeopener after moving to WTFPlay has been the discovery on just how good old redbook files sound, i am rediscovering serious new information and emotion in a big catalog of redbook flac and wav files.

So much so that I rarely listen to DSD these days despite having a good collection of music in DSF and a Big7 and a Meitner MA1 for playback.

Others seem to agree on redbook but only after up-sampling to DSD, but for me with WTFPlay it gives the same result without increasing horsepower and the added noise at the hardware and software level that is required.

 

Great times indeed for those just interested in the listening experience without all the visuals on a Video monitor.

[bodiebill]

Thanks sligolad, I am looking forward to the next version!

 

Any chance this will support DSD256? Or is Linux DSD still limited to DSD128?

[Norton]

Glad to see that the word is spreading as to this excellent player.  It's not just the SQ (agree 100% about RBCD in particular) but also that, in a world of endless tweaking, WTFP achieves this  simply, reliably and for free ( volumtary donations notwithstanding).

 

What would be interesting  would be a project to come up with the optimum hardware platform for WTFP - I'm imagining ultra low power PC, with lots of very high quality memory, decent PS and music stored on SD card perhaps?  Or maybe some kind of SD-trans type device running WTFP?

 

[tonerei]

As outlined by Pearse(Sligolad) the new version of WTFP is another big leap. Fryderck keeps working away on this incrementally improving it all the time.

As outlined by Pearse above Norton working on the power supply brings big improvements. Really you have to decide how far you want to go and if you have the skills required for some of the more difficult stuff. Try the tirnahifi forum and specifically the computer audio section. Tons of info there but maybe hard to get through it all!

If you can at least get pico supply for your PC and try and incorporate linear supply and better still batteries(lifepo4).    Paul Pang use to do mobo's with outboard clocks but I think he has stopped it now probably due to mobo failures. I had a board with two outboard clocks done by Nige2000 but it is sick at the moment! Hopefully not terminally.  I think though with WTFP if you can get as far as picoless with linear you will be most of the way there in terms of power supply. Don't forget Intona or JKRegen for the USB.