MQN

Anything to do with computer audio, hardware, software etc.
cvrle59
Posts: 449
Joined: Tue Oct 08, 2013 12:45 am
Location: Canada

Re: MQN

Post by cvrle59 »

Congratulations Aleg!
I see some serious changes in you signature, hugo+282+300...wow! You can proceed with even more sophisticated testing, by now...:)))
BTW, I would like to express my appreciation to your in depth evolution of MQn, as well as to find the time to write about too.
i3 Haswell, PPAStudio USB3 card and USB Micro cable/Chord Hugo/Nad-275BEE/Harbeth-30.1
sbgk
Posts: 1950
Joined: Mon Oct 07, 2013 9:45 pm

Re: MQN

Post by sbgk »

cvrle59 wrote:Congratulations Aleg!
I see some serious changes in you signature, hugo+282+300...wow! You can proceed with even more sophisticated testing, by now...:)))
BTW, I would like to express my appreciation to your in depth evolution of MQn, as well as to find the time to write about too.
should be pointed out that many people contributed via feedback to the development of MQn, Aleg has been the most sane/vocal/active lately and appreciate that, especially in the deep bass area which I can't judge.

without Morio Yamamoto (playpcmwin) taking an interest in what I was up to with MQn, it would have foundered long ago.

as an aside I noticed that if I put the earbud from my portable dab radio into each ear in turn it sounds different. How much does this asymmetric hearing response affect our enjoyment of music ? Is it common ?
cvrle59
Posts: 449
Joined: Tue Oct 08, 2013 12:45 am
Location: Canada

Re: MQN

Post by cvrle59 »

It's not the question, that Aleg is not the only one. My point was actually his signature, so I just put an adder to it, so his results are going to have even more weight in it...)))
Thanks for your input,Gordon!
i3 Haswell, PPAStudio USB3 card and USB Micro cable/Chord Hugo/Nad-275BEE/Harbeth-30.1
jrling
Posts: 398
Joined: Tue Oct 08, 2013 7:54 pm
Location: London

DMA. Service, KS

Post by jrling »

Damnit must have forgotten to take my Gordon's WASAPI pills this morning and some heretic non-WASAPI suggestions slipped out!
Presume everyone else is taking one a day as the Doctor ordered?

Although the Sun has yet to dip below the yard-arm, I am off to pour a large Gordon's (Gin) and enjoy some music.

Jonathan

PS If anyone else does think DMA, MQn as a Service or KS would be a great way for MQn to go in the future, I am sure Gordon would like to hear - not just from me.
Maplin XM21X 12V float charging A123 26650 LiFePO4 battery/Maxwell Supercap PSU for Mitac PD10-BI J1900 Bay Trail, WTFPlay, Hiface Evo, Bow Technologies 1704 NOS DAC, StereoKnight TVC, Quad II monoblocks, ZU Audio Druid Mk4/Method Sub
sbgk
Posts: 1950
Joined: Mon Oct 07, 2013 9:45 pm

Re: DMA. Service, KS

Post by sbgk »

jrling wrote:Damnit must have forgotten to take my Gordon's WASAPI pills this morning and some heretic non-WASAPI suggestions slipped out!
Presume everyone else is taking one a day as the Doctor ordered?

Although the Sun has yet to dip below the yard-arm, I am off to pour a large Gordon's (Gin) and enjoy some music.

Jonathan

PS If anyone else does think DMA, MQn as a Service or KS would be a great way for MQn to go in the future, I am sure Gordon would like to hear - not just from me.
the old maxim in project management is time, money, quality. I don't have the time or the money for any further development, computer audio is a flawed concept. If anyone wants to do some in depth evolution of their own then I'm happy to help them.
jrling
Posts: 398
Joined: Tue Oct 08, 2013 7:54 pm
Location: London

Re: DMA. Service, KS

Post by jrling »

sbgk wrote:
jrling wrote:Damnit must have forgotten to take my Gordon's WASAPI pills this morning and some heretic non-WASAPI suggestions slipped out!
Presume everyone else is taking one a day as the Doctor ordered?

Although the Sun has yet to dip below the yard-arm, I am off to pour a large Gordon's (Gin) and enjoy some music.

Jonathan

PS If anyone else does think DMA, MQn as a Service or KS would be a great way for MQn to go in the future, I am sure Gordon would like to hear - not just from me.
the old maxim in project management is time, money, quality. I don't have the time or the money for any further development, computer audio is a flawed concept. If anyone wants to do some in depth evolution of their own then I'm happy to help them.
Gordon- total respect for that honest reply. We are all very fortunate that you have invested some much of your time in persevering with WASAPI to the incredible level achieved today. You must be proud of what you have achieved.

The last part of your statement though puzzles me? Computer audio is a flawed concept? Do you feel that analogue audio (LP12) is better than 4.75 MQn? I certainly do not think so. We have to live with computer-based audio source - CD or downloads, whether we like it or not. I reckon that MQn taken on with DMA, Service and KS could leap to a whole new level of SQ. That's pretty good for a flawed concept.

For me the flaw in the concept is Windows (or Linux). They are just not the right base OS for audio replay. But it is even more difficult to replace them with another OS dedicated to audio without time and/or money, since surely someone would have done it? Your M50 player is getting near but Linux is the OS still.

I would offer to take it further, but I have no appropriate skills.

Anyone else offering?

Jonathan
Maplin XM21X 12V float charging A123 26650 LiFePO4 battery/Maxwell Supercap PSU for Mitac PD10-BI J1900 Bay Trail, WTFPlay, Hiface Evo, Bow Technologies 1704 NOS DAC, StereoKnight TVC, Quad II monoblocks, ZU Audio Druid Mk4/Method Sub
Aleg
Posts: 1381
Joined: Thu Oct 10, 2013 8:26 pm

Re: MQN

Post by Aleg »

sbgk wrote:
Aleg wrote:
sbgk wrote:uploaded 4.80, slight change in sq over 4.75 256 128
Not done extensive testing but immediately noticeable is loss of control in deep bass, which becomes booming/blooming.
ok, reversed that change.

one more thing to try, have uploaded 4.81 and then can call it a day.
Still staying with 475 256avx128

4.81 sings a bit less than 4.75 256avx128.
It can sound a bit shortened sometimes, tones not finishing fully. This reduces the sense of the acoustic space. Some recordings that are 'famous' for that aspect (often from the ECM label, which is 'known' to bring a lot of the space into the recording) become more flattened. Try this with John Taylor - Rosslyn (ECM).

Control of deep bass is there, not as insightfull as the 4.75, but it is no longer blooming (opening out, escaping, no control), but it is still a more textureless 'boom' which can become booming and annoying if played at more volume. The 4.75 gives more texture and insight in this deep bass sound whereby it is not just a closed fat 'boom'-sound, but you can hear the fluctuations in the tone caused by the swinging of these large, thick and somewhat loose strings on the double bass which create these deep bass notes. This does not become irritating a higher volume as you can hear the string swing and sound varying with it, which is completely natural.

Vocals are somewhat smoother on 4.81 and have somewhat more clarity on 4.75. Tonally both natural and equally pleasant.

Shortened note also noticeable on the Haydn Sting Quartet from Alban Berg Quartet.

My impression is that 4.75 is more strict on the timing than 4.81, and is the one that is more true.

As said 4.75 256avx128 still has my vote for nr 1.

Cheers

Aleg
HDPLEX;picoPSU;ASUS Q87M;i7-4770T;PH SR7EHD;Server2012R2;Thesycon 2.24;
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darkpink
Posts: 85
Joined: Sat Feb 08, 2014 11:18 pm

Re: MQN

Post by darkpink »

What speakers do you got Aleg?
Aleg
Posts: 1381
Joined: Thu Oct 10, 2013 8:26 pm

Re: MQN

Post by Aleg »

darkpink wrote:What speakers do you got Aleg?
Wilson Benesch Square Two, quite a fast speaker.
HDPLEX;picoPSU;ASUS Q87M;i7-4770T;PH SR7EHD;Server2012R2;Thesycon 2.24;
JCAT USB;Sonicweld DiverterHR2;Naim DC1;Chord Hugo;Morrow Audio MA6;Naim NAC-282,SuperCapDR;NAP-300;
AQ Cinnamon;GISO GB;Netgear Pro+XM21X;Cisco SG300;NAS-ZFS.
sbgk
Posts: 1950
Joined: Mon Oct 07, 2013 9:45 pm

Re: MQN

Post by sbgk »

uploaded 4.82 sse2/avx, hopefully that is the last one. avx still sounds like FM radio vs sse2 MW

Shall give it a week before doing the rest.

did you know machine code instructions run better if they are on 8 or 16 byte boundary due to the way the instruction pipe is layed out.
You can make an instruction to be aligned by putting dummy instructions ahead of it, but these have their own sound signature and take so many cycles to run, so you can't align every instruction otherwise performance is hit. So the thing to do is align the loop entry points.

4.82 has optimised alignment, previously it took 10 bytes of dummy instructions to get alignment, now it's only 2.

that's why computer music is flawed, everything is a compromise.
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