Euphony OS w/Stylus player setup and issues thread

[Smaragdhk]

Thanks for the info… The HD-DAC1 is indeed a different DAC from the SA KI Ruby where the latter has it’s own Marantz designed DAC, called the MMM (Marantz Musical Mastering + Marantz  Musical Filtering DAC), concept designed by Reiner Fink. Any incoming PCM signal is up-converted to DSD, and any DSD signal is left alone… the filtering applies to the analogue output. The concept is that DSD sounds the closest to analog vinyl sound as reinforced by the late Ken Ishiwata. Before we get into another rabbit hole this is again a matter of taste :)

 

[Smaragdhk]

As the inventor of the CD (Reiner Fink is ex Philips) they pretty much knew this all the time without having to listen to HQPlayer which didn’t even exist at that time ;)

[Smaragdhk]

15 minutes ago, flkin said:

 

Totally agree, different RAM brands sound clearly different! I'm using what everyone said sounded good - the Apacer industrial high temp ECC versions.

 

A thought about RAM... if one uses the FEMTO M.2 SSD and set enable "use cache" and disabling  RAM buffering then the tracks are loaded into the FEMTO SSD and played from there... So this totally negates the type of RAM used? 

 

According to the Euphony Knowledge base:

Stylus and 'Use cache' option

Option 'Use cache' is a convenience option which will make a copy of any song added to the queue from external resources (mounted USB drives or network shares) and put it in a special /data/Music/E_CACHE folder. Next time you need those songs, they will be accessed from that cache. This can help in several ways:

• Songs that you listen to often will be available even if your external storage is not attached or your network share not connected.
• Songs will load faster (if your Euphony installation drive is fast) and there will be much less USB or network traffic. If buffering options are not enabled this can also improve sound quality.

[Smaragdhk]

OK, convinced… so what’s the consensus when using Apacer DDR4 2666 sodimm RAM in terms of best audio quality result? One stick of 16G or 2x 8G? I’m currently using Timetec 16GB DDR4 2666MHz PC4-21300 Non-ECC Unbuffered 1.2V CL19 RAM

[Smaragdhk]

For what it’s worth, I couldn’t get the full metal SanDisk Cruzer to work… changed to another SanDisk Cruzer that contains both metal and plastic and that worked.

Also, it doesn’t matter how you format the USB stick as Etcher (on a Mac) will reformat it anyway… 

[Smaragdhk]

2 minutes ago, sakso136 said:

Thks !

what you mean full metal?

the one i have is plastic i think 🤔 

SanDisk Cruzer USB sticks are hot or miss.

Suggest to try another one… 

[Smaragdhk]

6 minutes ago, bos3812 said:

I wish you all the best for 2023.

 

A question to you all. I stepped back from Tidal Hifi + to Tidal Hifi. I can't escape the impression that the sound quality has decreased, also for 44.1 Khz songs. I get less air and detail. Does anyone have the same experience?

 

An article on TechRadar explains the difference between Tidal Hifi and Tidal Hifi Plus:

 

... HiFi includes songs at a quality of up to 1411kbps (CD quality). This is the same quality you'll get on most basic streaming options. This plan gets you access to Tidal's full library of songs which is currently around 80 million but is constantly growing....

 

... The other benefit of Tidal HiFi Plus is the different audio types. While HiFi plays at CD quality, this plan boosts the quality to a maximum of 9216kbps. This is part of Tidal's Masters scheme. With this, you'll be getting audio at the level of the original recording. That is the highest possible resolution, or in other words, an unedited version of the song....

 

https://www.techradar.com/features/tidal-hifi-vs-tidal-hifi-plus

 

While not all songs play at this maximum rate... I believe this is what you're hearing...

 

[Smaragdhk]

4 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

That explanation is very incorrect. 

so… reduced bandwidth between the 2 subscriptions is not a possibility to the perceived difference in audio quality?

[Smaragdhk]

22 hours ago, flkin said:

Just tried v20221228, don’t like it. Thinner and more digital sounding.

 

reverted to v20221028. 

 

Check the kernel... updating to the newest beta might reset to the standard kernel... I was on Kernel 5.18.0 and when I updated the beta it changed the kernel and I had to reselect and revert back to 5.18.0. 

[Smaragdhk]

18 minutes ago, bos3812 said:

I know this happens. The update also reverts to Roon 1.8. After going back to kernel 5.18 and Roon 2.0 the sound was sharper and less smooth. V20221028 sounds better in my situation.

 

Looks like we're all in agreement... same here. Would be nice if they show the version changes again.

[Smaragdhk]

40 minutes ago, walloon said:

My NUC running Euphony V4 is always on but I power off the DAC when I don't listen to music. When the DAC (USB attached) is powered ON, Euphony doesn't work until I do "Restart App". This is not very bad but still not an expected behavior I suppose. I have opened a ticket on 28.12.2022 but so far no contact from Euphony support. Do you guys have the same issue?

 

This has always been the case for V3 and now for V4 for me too... need to restart the app after switching my DAC (USB attached to 10i7NUC). 

[Smaragdhk]

On 1/10/2023 at 11:09 PM, Yiakubou said:

That explanation is BS. I am using Topping DAC and I also need to restart the app if I power on/off the DAC. Maybe Robert is right that this is some sort of behavior on the DAC side, but that still does not explain why other players do not have these problems - Roon, HQP, etc, so clearly there is a way to get around this behavior. They really have no clue about how to communicate with their customers and there seems to be zero mindset to work towards customer satisfaction. I also got similar cold, incomplete and confusing response from Robert on my ticket.

 

By the way, another method, other than restarting the app (which in my case triggers a library update) is to go to settings > music service > audio outputs > clicking "Bit-perfect". But that's considerably more steps ...

I also wonder if Željko moved on to a new role... he was a very good communicator...

[Smaragdhk]

Posting last 2 versions changes for everyone's convenience:

 

20230124 - BETA release - reset engine button added for local outputs - release changes are now fetched from server - improved detection/initialization of disconnected/connected cards - improved memory cleanup after buffering - improved queue buffering - improved resetDAC action - fixed queue buffering for Qobuz/Tidal - fixed song size calculation for songs processed for endpoints - fixed SQL error 'near default' - fixed problem with saving bigger playlists - fixed page size bug

 

20221228 - BETA release - added option do enable/disable playback from RAM - removed option for automatic buffering of albums added to queue - added song context menu with additional options: Add to queue, Add next, Play now, Play from here, Add to playlist, Song info - added Play & relax and Edit playlist as Queue options - added context menu for Play & relax and buffering - added Settings option: Layout scale - added Settings option: Enable/disable finding of UPnP devices - added playlist editing - added confirmation dialog for turning on RC - added "path up" (go to parent folder) in files/webradio views - added DOP as DSD upsampling option - adjusted registration checking - prevent certain operations while in ramroot - various cosmetic UI adjustments - added page size: 192 - gapless playback is turned off as default for new users - fixed a problem when remote and local DAC are of the same type - fixed Playback history ordering - adjusted cleanup of files for RAM buffering - adjusted resulting file size calculation for upsampled files - fixed display of audio outputs status - install option now uses current OS drive as source for target installation (original version OS image file was used before) - install option is now available from internal installation (you can create a backup OS installation) - finalize and install procedure should now be faster for most target disks

[Smaragdhk]

19 minutes ago, sakso136 said:

Hi,

listening now to 24012023 latest kernel version.

listening to some good improvements!

am i biased or do you hear the same?

 

Which Kernel are you listening with?

Default after latest update to V4.20230124 is  Kernel 5.14.2... 

 

[Smaragdhk]

3 minutes ago, davide256 said:

In the FWIW column, I reverted back to 5.14 because under 5.18 the issue came back where my NUC would not power off when the power button was pressed. 

 

Regardless of the power off "bug", which kernel do you guys prefer? And what differences do you observe in terms of sound?

[Smaragdhk]

FWIW, I've upgraded to the latest beta and changed the kernel to 5.18 and haven't felt the need to go back to any previous beta versions. Enjoying what I hear so far both through headphones and speakers. Anyone else care to share their finds? 

[Smaragdhk]

Thanks @bos3812, I came to the same conclusion after a long weekend's testing... lunar new year holidays here... :)

A nice step forward since it also cleared a few bugs I had with Qobuz. I'll keep this version (+ 5.18 kernel) for now.

 

[Smaragdhk]

Does anyone know how to incorporate DSP room calibration such as Dirac into Stylus?

[Smaragdhk]

Saw the update, checked the changes and updated, alas also reverted back after 10 minutes of listening… to me sounded thinner and more digital, similar to the version prior to 0124.

Fingers crossed the imminent production version sounds more like or better than 0124… 

20230207
- BETA release
- remember all library choices
- fixed startup playback problem on some devices
- fixed playback behavior for queue operations that influence the next song
- production version imminent

[Smaragdhk]

2 minutes ago, Yiakubou said:

Tried the latest beta version and it sounds exactly the same to me as the previous beta version.

interesting… are you using a single or multiple Euphony devices in your setup?

[Smaragdhk]

3 minutes ago, Yiakubou said:

Dual PC setup. Stylus -> Stylus endpoint -> DAC. Running on 5.18 kernel as before...

I see, perhaps it’s more obvious or apparent in a single device setup… I’m using a 10i7 NUC

curious to hear what others experience… @al2813

[Smaragdhk]

18 minutes ago, sakso136 said:

No processing, no upsampling, nothing!

music being played from nas!

did you change anything in the CPU isolation in the expert settings? Do the same % appear after a reboot?

[Smaragdhk]

5 hours ago, Yiakubou said:

yeah it doesn't work for me either. It cannot load any content. Submitted a ticket...

let us know the outcome… Qobuz is no longer working for me either…

[Smaragdhk]

2 minutes ago, Yiakubou said:

Got response from Zeljko and here is Qobuz loading issue workaround that works for me: Restart the app 2x times

that worked for me, thanks!

[Smaragdhk]

I have good result with Oyaide solid core hookup wire, twisted and Keces P8 and P3 LPS… so there are very good sounding alternatives.