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AudiophileOptimizer BETA Thread (AO 3.00 beta is closed)


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On 2/6/2018 at 3:39 AM, Blawre said:

After reading johsgjerde's comments on the JPlay forum, I tried WASAPI in 2016 core.

 

The results are stunning. 

Although you can only use "Classic" mode in the JPlay settings, I think the results are superior to anything else that I have tried.

 

I use Hysolid as the player.

 

As you say Phil is owed a very bug thakyou.

 

 

Hi,

 

As a HySolid user I am disappointed not able to run WASAPI.  Could you please share your settings required to do so?  Right now I'm on KS, UltraStream, 1Hz, 10s.  Only Jplay driver appears on my iPad HySolid.

WS2019 Core Datacenter, dualPC, JPLAY Femto, AO3, Fidelizer Pro 8.8, MC2XY, IOS app.

 

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53 minutes ago, Blawre said:

 

 

Hi, 

 

Pleased to let you have my stable settings.

I, too had JPlay KS and setting 1Hz 10s.

However I found that Nontallion 8.88 would not run with these settings so I had former for Hysolid and 20 Hz 1s for  Nontallion.

 

When I injected WASAPI I found that 1Hz 10sec did not run and after experimentation I have settled on 20Hz 2s, which, incidentally is OK with Nontallion too.

 

I feel that the JPlay settings are probably determined by the DAC and computer HW so its a case of experimenting.

 

I run WS2016 in core mode on single INTEL i5 computer with 8Gb RAM.

My DAC is an M1 Mus Fid preceded with a MS 192 VLink.

 

Usually when I run Hysolid I run from the lock screen (i.e. before sign in.) Control is from an Android tablet or phone.

 

Regards

Hi,

 

I need to experiment more.  Mine is a dualPC setup, with B.M.C DAC.  Does your 20Hz 2s setting work with DSD too?

 

Many thanks for your kind response.  For a long time I haven't had Bug Head on my PC, just using HySolid exclusively.  JplayMini gets use sometimes for testing mainly.  Foorbar2k will be next on my list.

 

Beside using optimization software, how do you tweak your PC hardware?

 

Happy listening!

 

WS2019 Core Datacenter, dualPC, JPLAY Femto, AO3, Fidelizer Pro 8.8, MC2XY, IOS app.

 

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1 hour ago, JazzDoc said:

Earlier today, Marcin posted the following on the JPLAY Forum:

 

"From a technical point of view, it's impossible for WASAPI to sound better than KS. At least not via JPLAY."

 

I wonder if he is implying that it is theoretically not possible for WASAPI to sound better than KS or whether he is stating that WASAPI will not sound better than KS via JPLAY

I think he meant what he said, WASAPI can't be sounding as good as KS [due to the latter's lowest latency] technically.  As to which sounds better subjectively, it's up to personal preference.

 

I had doubt whether one is sounding better or worse than the other.  Now that I've listened a bit more, I realized that this is actually a win-win situation, that we poor audionuts now have a choice, that whether we prefer one over another depends on our HW, SW, tweaks, optimizations, moods and personal tastes.

 

That said, there're distinctions in SQ between the two IMHO.  In comparison, KS seems to be the ruthless, matter-if-fact version of truth while WASAPI seems like the romantic version of truth.  Both are like freshly roasted coffee, KS is more like dark to medium roasted white WASAPI is more like medium to light roasted coffee.

WS2019 Core Datacenter, dualPC, JPLAY Femto, AO3, Fidelizer Pro 8.8, MC2XY, IOS app.

 

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3 hours ago, Blawre said:

 

Hi,

 

My DAC doesn't support DSD.

 

BTW having a low time on JPlay Buffers has the added benefits that Hysolid is virtually gapless.

 

The only HW tweaks I have is a dedicated USB card which is battery powered.

My OS SSD drive is also battery powered. I have tried dedicated linear power but much prefer LI batteries.

Foobar doesn't seem too picky at all.

 

Cheers

There're optimized settings on network card, USB hubs, and DAC driver you might want to look at.  What OS are you running?

WS2019 Core Datacenter, dualPC, JPLAY Femto, AO3, Fidelizer Pro 8.8, MC2XY, IOS app.

 

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Sorry I missed the WS2016 Core part.  Basically, I turn off power management of USB hubs and Ethernet card, set DAC, NIC, USB parameters to lowest latency.  Hope you've done most if not more of them already.

WS2019 Core Datacenter, dualPC, JPLAY Femto, AO3, Fidelizer Pro 8.8, MC2XY, IOS app.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Like WS2012r2, with WS2016 one can control the music server from his smart device wirelessly even though the server connects to local wired network.  The server doesn't need to be wifi enabled or capable.  The home router provides wifi to smart device.  That's my two cents understanding, and that's what I'm doing.

 

Highly recommend WS2016 Core and AO.  Coming from WS2012, there should be no insurmountable issues upgrading to WS2016.  Reward in SQ is for real.

WS2019 Core Datacenter, dualPC, JPLAY Femto, AO3, Fidelizer Pro 8.8, MC2XY, IOS app.

 

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WS2016 Core offers higher SQ than GUI but requires knowledge on using command line to install drivers.  AO is a must imho to successfully install the OS, drivers and optimization tweaks.

 

If I can do it, you can and will do better.  You'll enjoy the OS and better SQ.  Good luck!

WS2019 Core Datacenter, dualPC, JPLAY Femto, AO3, Fidelizer Pro 8.8, MC2XY, IOS app.

 

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5 hours ago, tboooe said:

I am a dummy....forgot to run AO -WASAPI.  Everything working again!  Looking forward to comparing Server 2016 to 2012

Congrats!  Let us know your findings.

WS2019 Core Datacenter, dualPC, JPLAY Femto, AO3, Fidelizer Pro 8.8, MC2XY, IOS app.

 

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  • 1 month later...
  • 4 months later...

Even in core mode with command prompt, we can navigate around until we find the executable file we want, type its name then hit Enter to run it.  For essential commands in core, please read AO manual page 8, "Basic DOS commands".  In addition, Q-Dir is our friend.  Install it and we will have a "Windows Explorer"-like style  interface.  With it we can navigate around, copy, paste, delete, execute files, etc.  In fact for us most, install Q-Dir is about the very first thing we do after an OS installation.

 

Navigating around and doing things in core mode, compared to GUI mode, is like switching the driving from automatic transmission to manual (aka stick shift) transmission.  It seems a bit challenging at first, but educational, powerful, and fun later on.  If you Amir decide to go this route, good luck and enjoy the ride.

WS2019 Core Datacenter, dualPC, JPLAY Femto, AO3, Fidelizer Pro 8.8, MC2XY, IOS app.

 

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  • 3 months later...

My wishes for AO 3.0:

 

1/  Similar to a high-end Canon camera, there would be 2 to 3 Custom Settings named C1, C2, C3.  AO will be capable of memorizing, logging, and saving user's settings into those custom holders.  Next time the user configures the AO, he/she just picks C1 or C2 or C3 with a keystroke and bam, AO will swiftly fly thru those presets without errors and time consuming efforts.

 

2/ AO provides options for the tinkering user to further optimize his/her server at his/her own risk.  For instance, killing/disabling certain services/processes the user feels unnecessary, enabling/disabling certain OS features the user needs/doesn't need.

 

3/ Similar to a high speed broadband service, AO would provide a tool by which the user can use to monitor, measure and tune his/her system's audio performance, before and after changing a setting.

WS2019 Core Datacenter, dualPC, JPLAY Femto, AO3, Fidelizer Pro 8.8, MC2XY, IOS app.

 

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 5 weeks later...

AO Beta testing has begun...

 

AO 3.0 has been successfully installed and running on a fresh installation of WS2019 Standard (i.e. Core).  Beside a few items not yet available in AudiophileShell 3.0, there're no problems getting music playback from the Beta setup.

 

One observation:  after getting out to Command Line from the AudiophileShell, attempt to run Q-Dir failed eventhough Q-Dir had been copied to the C:\Windows\System32 folder and later on Q-Dir can be run from Task Manager or from a more "normal" command line mode.

WS2019 Core Datacenter, dualPC, JPLAY Femto, AO3, Fidelizer Pro 8.8, MC2XY, IOS app.

 

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While running AO -u, I had to make the choice of whether to disable JplayStreamer or not.  It should not ask the question because I'm running JPLAY 7 which consists of JPLAY audio service and JPLAYFemto server service.  JplayStreamer is long gone in the current JPLAY Femto.

WS2019 Core Datacenter, dualPC, JPLAY Femto, AO3, Fidelizer Pro 8.8, MC2XY, IOS app.

 

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BASELINE:  DualPC, both running WS2019 JPLAY Femto CAD script.  Warm, adequately detailed, musical SQ.  Preferred over WS2016/AO 2.20

 

AO3 Beta phase 1:  Same as baseline except: AO3 installed on AudioPC.  Digital filter X, Sound signature X.  SQ: more sophisticated than baseline with a touch of digital like.  More clarity, cleaner background, faster sounding (pros), with a touch of upper range grain that makes longer than 10 minute listening unpleasant (cons).  Without further testing various DF/SS combos, CAD 8.1 was applied as SQ mitigation and for further reduction of extraneous processes/services.  Now it sounds more like it: there's a good balance of musical warmth and increased clarity, the upper range grain is gone.  I'm torn between the baseline and this AO3/CAD 8.1 combo.  Either setup sounds really good on certain albums/music genre but not so on others.

WS2019 Core Datacenter, dualPC, JPLAY Femto, AO3, Fidelizer Pro 8.8, MC2XY, IOS app.

 

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Hi AudioPhil,

 

Can you please help me delete my posts #915 and #918?  The primary reason is that I unintentionally violated the Beta Testing Rules by including a foreign script to the mix.  Doing so invalidates the purity of testing environment thus producing misleading results.  Thanks for pointing it out promptly.

 

In all honesty, the misleading report is lagging in time.  Last night I properly installed AO3 on controlPC which I should have done in the 1st place and stated up til 3 am, amazed at the awesome SQ.  Stupidly, I posted the delayed 1st phase report in attempt to save the best for last.

 

Now, I'm going to remove the CAD script from AudioPC, have both PCs properly optimized and post a more complete (SQ, how easy/difficult to install), still unbiased but violation free thus not misleading report.

WS2019 Core Datacenter, dualPC, JPLAY Femto, AO3, Fidelizer Pro 8.8, MC2XY, IOS app.

 

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I'd like to report an issue upon attempt to install AO3 Beta 30 on controlPC.  After successfully installing, configuring and executing AO3  Beta 30 on AudioPC, I went on to controlPC, making sure there's active internet connection prior to and during the AO3 installation.  Again my expectation, the software kept giving me the warning, "AO 3.0 NEEDS AN ACTIVE INTERNET CONNECTION", stayed on screen for a short 2 seconds and went away.

 

By nature the controlPC always has active internet connection, otherwise DualPC wouldn't work.  Evidence of that is, I'm now using BubbleUPnP as control point communicating to controlPC via internet to play music.  AO3 Beta 30 is on AudioPC, AO3 Beta 29 on controlPC, until I can convince AO3 Beta 30 to land on my controlPC.

 

Appreciate any advice.

WS2019 Core Datacenter, dualPC, JPLAY Femto, AO3, Fidelizer Pro 8.8, MC2XY, IOS app.

 

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Thank you for the message.  Per your advice I went to the explorer folder to find no files in there.  Then I tried to install Firefox as interim brower.  The Firefox installer took too long and didn't seem to get anywhere.  I guessed it could be successful after an AO3 reset, so I killed the Firefox installer and was about to reset.  But looking at both PCs connecting to each other and connected to the Internet, I had an instinctive curiosity, "What if the controlPC may fool AO3 into thinking that the static IP between the two PCs are the only network connection available?"  Sure enough, I shutdown the AudioPC, left only Internet connection available on controlPC, reran AO3 Beta 30, and bingo - Beta 30 successfully landed on controlPC ground.

 

By the way, I love the way Beta 30 cleverly automates network enabling on both AudioPC and controlPC as Beta test default.  This is another step in pushing the envelope.

WS2019 Core Datacenter, dualPC, JPLAY Femto, AO3, Fidelizer Pro 8.8, MC2XY, IOS app.

 

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Beta 31: 

 

Set up and Shell Replacement work normally considering available software in the PC.  Overall operations seem a tad slower than Beta 30, hesitating in checking for software security.  Driver Helper does help.  WASAPI availability is a big welcome, especially to Roon users.  AO -filter is a nifty feature.  As good as X/X used to be on both PCs, 1A/4D is noticeably different in a more favorable way.  Switching from X/X to 1A/4D is almost like seeing someone just stepping out of the fog.

WS2019 Core Datacenter, dualPC, JPLAY Femto, AO3, Fidelizer Pro 8.8, MC2XY, IOS app.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm running AO3 B32 on DualPC setup.  IE shortcut found in Desktop folder on both PCs.  Clicking on the IE shortcut results in the following message(s):

 

On AudioPC:  "Missing shortcut"

On ControlPC: "Missing shortcut", then "Fix, Delete, or Cancel", click on Fix, then a big long blue warning on the center of screen, "This app can't run on your PC.  To find a version for your PC, check with the software publisher."

WS2019 Core Datacenter, dualPC, JPLAY Femto, AO3, Fidelizer Pro 8.8, MC2XY, IOS app.

 

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