Hard Hitting Audiophile Tweaks

[item_audio]

Off the top of my head, a few general sideways/addition comments on the above:

• Always disable unused USB ports in BIOS if your motherboard supports it.

• If the budget doesn't stretch to Server, it's possible to drill XP down to under 100 threads. Not only does it sound better than any other OS when combined with registry tweaks, it's practically free and supports JRiver MC19, DSD resampling, et al.

• It's no longer true than a linear supply is a must. We wrote the book on using multi-rail linears almost ten years ago, but even we're switching to switching for modest builds. With 5-9mV real-world ripple on all rails, why put up with the heat and bulk of linears? I was really hard to convince, but there it is.

• Mains isolation is crucial: both to give the PC clean power, and to prevent the PC from injecting noise back into the mains

• 3M 1mm materials like 5100 and 5100S are much more effective than Stillpoints products - as good as the SoTM ABS. Layer for maximum benefit: they can only be effective at frequencies below 1KHz in multiple thicknesses.

• Although the JCAT card is promising, the best general rule is: never use motherboard USB output, unless you're on a budget and it's a filtered Gigabyte DAC-UP outlet. This one's really tough to generalise about: the best optically isolated USB inputs on current DACs tend to be less concerned about USB-borne noise, but sensitive to clocking. Which opens the door to a range of other solutions. Well worth auditioning the PPA, SoTM, Adnaco and JCAT to see which suits your DAC best.

Will add more as they occur . . .

[Aleg]

• 3M 1mm materials like 5100 and 5100S are much more effective than Stillpoints products - as good as the SoTM ABS. Layer for maximum benefit: they can only be effective at frequencies below 1KHz in multiple thicknesses.
. . .

Just to clarify, the Stillpoint Ultra SS I'm talking about is a vibration isolator not an EMI/RFI Shield.

Stillpoint is foremost in the business of vibration control.

Cheers

Aleg

[2channelaudio]

Off the top of my head, a few general sideways/addition comments on the above:

• Always disable unused USB ports in BIOS if your motherboard supports it.

• If the budget doesn't stretch to Server, it's possible to drill XP down to under 100 threads. Not only does it sound better than any other OS when combined with registry tweaks, it's practically free and supports JRiver MC19, DSD resampling, et al.

• It's no longer true than a linear supply is a must. We wrote the book on using multi-rail linears almost ten years ago, but even we're switching to switching for modest builds. With 5-9mV real-world ripple on all rails, why put up with the heat and bulk of linears? I was really hard to convince, but there it is.

• Mains isolation is crucial: both to give the PC clean power, and to prevent the PC from injecting noise back into the mains

• 3M 1mm materials like 5100 and 5100S are much more effective than Stillpoints products - as good as the SoTM ABS. Layer for maximum benefit: they can only be effective at frequencies below 1KHz in multiple thicknesses.

• Although the JCAT card is promising, the best general rule is: never use motherboard USB output, unless you're on a budget and it's a filtered Gigabyte DAC-UP outlet. This one's really tough to generalise about: the best optically isolated USB inputs on current DACs tend to be less concerned about USB-borne noise, but sensitive to clocking. Which opens the door to a range of other solutions. Well worth auditioning the PPA, SoTM, Adnaco and JCAT to see which suits your DAC best.

Will add more as they occur . . .

I agree with the linear power route.
Today's ATX SMPS are very good. Ripple is super low.

On a side note, I already run linear power via a DIY usb breakout cable to my USB to spdif/AES converter. In your experience/opinion would a PPA or SoTM usb card with its HQ clock help improve audio quality in this circumstance? thoughts?

When I look at the PPA usb card I believe it could potentially introduce jitter due to longer clock cables, etc. Happy to be told otherwise.

cheers

[nige2000]

I agree with the linear power route.
Today's ATX SMPS are very good. Ripple is super low.

very few smps are good, but a few are excellent
no atx is going to be the last word in sound quality i can assure you of that, will be too much mobo noise passing between rails

When I look at the PPA usb card I believe it could potentially introduce jitter due to longer clock cables, etc. Happy to be told otherwise.

agree that 25mhz clk signal cable length is absolutely ridiculous, should have been mounted on the board

[sima66]

I can highly recommend this Filter Cards:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid= ... &_from=R40

I use them for over two years in different PC's and they always improved the sound.

[2channelaudio]

No mqncontrol doesn't assign affinity.

it's supposed to put mqnplay on core 1 and the rest on 0,2,3

If I check affinity in task manager
It shows mqn control and mqn play on different cores which is correct I believe

But priority is a bit more difficult.
I cant write script, is their an easy way to set priority on mqn startup?
I tried via windows scheduler but it doesn't make sense to me
Tried looking for tasker?! Can't find one for windows

Any help would be great

[Aleg]

No mqncontrol doesn't assign affinity.

it's supposed to put mqnplay on core 1 and the rest on 0,2,3

If I check affinity in task manager
It shows mqn control and mqn play on different cores which is correct I believe

But priority is a bit more difficult.
I cant write script, is their an easy way to set priority on mqn startup?
I tried via windows scheduler but it doesn't make sense to me
Tried looking for tasker?! Can't find one for windows

Any help would be great

I have a dropbox here with the complete setup of 3.14 avx and I added the latest release of tasker.exe
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/nei0p7vcdjrp8w0/ryTaJE_XPt

Best search MQn thread for more info because there has been written a lot about it already.

Cheers

Aleg

[2channelaudio]

No mqncontrol doesn't assign affinity.

it's supposed to put mqnplay on core 1 and the rest on 0,2,3

If I check affinity in task manager
It shows mqn control and mqn play on different cores which is correct I believe

But priority is a bit more difficult.
I cant write script, is their an easy way to set priority on mqn startup?
I tried via windows scheduler but it doesn't make sense to me
Tried looking for tasker?! Can't find one for windows

Any help would be great

I have a dropbox here with the complete setup of 3.14 avx and I added the latest release of tasker.exe
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/nei0p7vcdjrp8w0/ryTaJE_XPt

Best search MQn thread for more info because there has been written a lot about it already.

Cheers

Aleg

Thanks Aleg,

Appreciate that. already downloaded.
Noticed the 448 bat files? are these permanent reg changes?
Also what is the mqn-aff bat?

cheers

[Aleg]

Thanks Aleg,

Appreciate that. already downloaded.
Noticed the 448 bat files? are these permanent reg changes?
Also what is the mqn-aff bat?

cheers

448 bat sets clockrate in [Pro Audio] registry key and is permanent until you start mqn again and then mqn will change it to a different value. I prefer 448 to the mqn value.
mqn-aff.bat is the batch that starts mqn playback and calls the tasker to set affinity and priority the way I like it and calls 448.bat after that.
These adaptions are made right at the end of the batch so you can easily check what it does and you can change those values if you like them differently.

[jesuscheung]

need to have testing method.

most people have no testing method.
if they have internet link "x y z improves performance", they think it improves SQ.

look at fidelizer. he makes a few quotations from a ebook "windows internal", he thinks he is making SQ better

did you know that
check/uncheck "Show Favorite" in File explorer can make sound correct/incorrect.
not just better or worse. it is correct/incorrect.

most people don't care about little things. and complains sound is harsh/bright/noisy. maybe they deserve it ?!?!