MQN

[sima66]

I wasn't able to play a lot of the previous version and from the latest ones I can't play only the 2.38!!!
Also I can play only 16/44.

My favorite so far is the 2.31. After that I will choose the 2.37.
Both with the 100000 control.

[Aleg]

...
First of all, in my experience any avx version sounds much better and real than any comparable sse version. They are in another league altogether. So, let's start with the SSE's:

2.31 > 2.26 > 2.20 > 2.37 > 2.38 > 2.40 > 2.30

With the first three the timing is correct, they're musical, pleasant to listen to, with 2.31 getting close to avx realms of resolution, sound stage and tonality.
2.37 is on the edge for me, doesn't sound quite "right", with some of the punch and bass weight of the next two candidates.
2.38 and 2.40 have some good aspects, as mentioned above, but way too much is lost, timing and musicality, almost unbearable for me to listen to.
2.30 is way off for me timing wise, forced to press x after 20 seconds of listening :-)

avx 2.30 was better than sse 2.30, but still slightly "off" to my ears, hard to explain.
Much better were avx 2.20 and 2.26, very close. While sse 2.26 was slightly ahead of 2.20, the reverse was true with avx. So avx 2.20 is my favourite MQNplay.

Except for 2.38 and 2.40 I tested all of the above with control 1.1. Then I remembered one of you (sorry, don't remember who) mentioning he preferred control 100000, so just for fun I used that and something happened there. So I revisited that old favourite again and compared various combinations:

avx 100000 / control 100000: very musical, relaxing, laid back, unassuming, slightly dull, yet microdetail, small but realistic sound stage and harmonics

avx 2.20 / control 1.1: punchy, lively, musical, PRAT, detailed, resolution, tight, possibly slightly too... controlled, artificial, sorry, hard to find the right words...

and finally a combination of both avx 2.20 / control 100000: not exactly the best of both worlds, but a blending of two sets of qualities that's a kind of compromise, but really works quite well, creating a very solid and real presentation. Having tried this with various music, I am confident enough to claim that this is my favourite MQN combination to date.

Hi Satshanti

I agree completely with your ranking of thee sse versions and also agree that avx has the more prefered tonality.

I must say it's been some time since I have listened to avx-2.20, as one gets drawn forward with all these new releases and if suddenly there is a very good one in the new relesases, like sse 2.31, I tend to forget to compare it to my previous best one. So I will do that somewhere this weekend. My first job today will be to clean all thermal paste from the components of my passively cooled audiopc and rebuild it again based on a new mobo.

That's me for now and... welterusten... (Aleg's smiling)... Dutch for good night ;-)

How did you know? I actually did, before seeing your bracketed comment, even though its early morning now and have difficulties keeping my eyes open due to the onset of my hayfever yesterday.

Great write up and enjoyed reading you extensive comparison. Also have to agree with your choice of music to form an opinion on the playback. Natural acoustic instruments and voice are indeed the best way to form such an opinion because there is a (nearly) objective reference point of how acoustic instruments sound in real life.

Thanks again

Cheers

Aleg

[Clive]

Due to the recent posts I was inspired to try avx 2.20 and control 100000.

I just don't get why avx is so problematic to get working. A recent version worked the other day with a new directory being set up. Now I can't get 2.20 / 100000 working at all. I've tried reboot and new directory.

Back to 2.31

[nige2000]

My first job today will be to clean all thermal paste from the components of my passively cooled audiopc and rebuild it again based on a new mobo.

oh dear,
youll be like me and have a mobo for every day of the week:)

which motherboard did you get?

[Aleg]

My first job today will be to clean all thermal paste from the components of my passively cooled audiopc and rebuild it again based on a new mobo.

oh dear,
youll be like me and have a mobo for every day of the week:)

which motherboard did you get?

I needed a Haswell board that would fit my chassis as well, so that limited me to micro-ATX format boards with x87 or x85 chipsets.

I went for the Asus Q87M-E, as I had compatibility issues with JCAT USB on my Intel DH87RL, and others had reported succes with an Asus Q87T-board which has the same components as my new board but is just a different size (ITX vs micro-ATX).
I hope the new board will resolve my compatibility issues with PCIe USB boards, as most USB boards are nowadays build around the Renesas chipset family that's also used on JCAT. I feared other USB boards might show the same compatibility issues, so thought the easiest (and probably cheapest) way would be to replace the mobo for a proven compatible one.

Have only still got the CPU to clean and the rebuild can begin.

Cheers

Aleg

[sbgk]

now the sse2 optimised code won't run on my laptop, don't understand what the issue is. Some windows update affected it ? 2.31 original runs, but when I recompile the code the new exe won't run.

[nige2000]

My first job today will be to clean all thermal paste from the components of my passively cooled audiopc and rebuild it again based on a new mobo.

oh dear,
youll be like me and have a mobo for every day of the week:)

which motherboard did you get?

I needed a Haswell board that would fit my chassis as well, so that limited me to micro-ATX format boards with x87 or x85 chipsets.

I went for the Asus Q87M-E, as I had compatibility issues with JCAT USB on my Intel DH87RL, and others had reported succes with an Asus Q87T-board which has the same components as my new board but is just a different size (ITX vs micro-ATX).
I hope the new board will resolve my compatibility issues with PCIe USB boards, as most USB boards are nowadays build around the Renesas chipset family that's also used on JCAT. I feared other USB boards might show the same compatibility issues, so thought the easiest (and probably cheapest) way would be to replace the mobo for a proven compatible one.

Have only still got the CPU to clean and the rebuild can begin.

Cheers

Aleg

jeezz
that jcats getting really pricey
looks much like my h81i plus
why is only a x87 or x85 work for you?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/H81M-E-Motherbo ... s=asus+h81

thought the issue was more fault of the bios than hardware?
let us know how it sounds

[sbgk]

I must add that for testing I mainly use natural and acoustic instruments and vocals, so no Zeppelin, Rush or Hendrix. :-)

There is just not enough going on with natural and acoustic sounds, yes they are part of the overall test, but for an initial view I use tracks that I'm familiar with and have heard on MW/FM radio, LP, tape, CD etc so I know how they should sound.

[nige2000]

I must add that for testing I mainly use natural and acoustic instruments and vocals, so no Zeppelin, Rush or Hendrix. :-)

There is just not enough going on with natural and acoustic sounds, yes they are part of the overall test, but for an initial view I use tracks that I'm familiar with and have heard on MW/FM radio, LP, tape, CD etc so I know how they should sound.

think he means an accurate reference point needs to be a live performance, if you use cd,tape, radio etc as a reference you will lend yourself into their flaws and not surpass their sq
acoustics have the least equipment and are the least altered, therefore more true sounding, because of varying sound of different amps electric guitars, keyboards, drums etc is more vast its more difficult to get a good reference point

well i find it easier to pre test with acoustic stuff because its more about the way it should sound (live/real factor) more than you like the way a particular version makes Jimi's guitar sound
most of the time versions that pass acoustic tests will pass rock scrutiny too

im a bit snowed under with versions here but the last few versions 2.37 up have great bass definition timing and detail, avx 100000 has best atmosphere air, reverb
2.31 is somewhere in the middle
avx seems to have had a clear advantage on every version

[Clive]

avx seems to have had a clear advantage on every version

Not if the darned thing won't play then inexplicably works after a number of attempts. Grrr! Now that Gordon is having an issue with SSE2 maybe these things are linked and we can find a resolution.