Tír Na HiFi

Alarm. I played a few 16bit tunes for a visiting friend today on R2.39 , all excellent and well received. I then tried to play a Hirez tune on R2.31 and also on AVX V7 both gave a kind of fluttering noise, not crackling but fluttering like someone running fingernails over a Venetian blind and no music. I reset the PC but the problem hasn't gone away and versions which previously played Hirez no longer do. I presume there's some setting needing reset.
Update:Tried various other versions which previously played 24/96 for example and only noise. Looks like some setting has be adjusted.
Any advice?
KM

Ken Moreland wrote:Alarm. I played a few 16bit tunes for a visiting friend today on R2.39 , all excellent and well received. I then tried to play a Hirez tune on R2.31 and also on AVX V7 both gave a kind of fluttering noise, not crackling but fluttering like someone running fingernails over a Venetian blind and no music. I reset the PC but the problem hasn't gone away and versions which previously played Hirez no longer do. I presume there's some setting needing reset.
Update:Tried various other versions which previously played 24/96 for example and only noise. Looks like some setting has be adjusted.
Any advice?
KM

Ken
Nige has recommended at some point to create a new directory and copy the minimum set into the new directory.

I myself have changed the mqn.bat with adding the endlocal statement and by making all file references with the full path and using for that a variable that contains the current directory.
This solved these issues for me.

What sometimes also helped was running mqnload from a different directory and then again from the directory I wanted to play from.

Check you have the correct mqncontrol for the versions you want to play now as the R2.38, R2.39, R2.40 have there own dedicated mqncontrol.exe

Also check if you have the proper directory in your mqn.bat on line 3 if you did change that before.

It's a bit trial and error to find where it may have gone wrong, as it is difficult to say sometimes and also not knowing your setup. I have specific directories for specific families of mqn, like the sse2 10ms, avx 10ms, sse4 10ms, avx 100000 , etc.


Hope you find the way back.

Cheers

Aleg

Hi Aleg, I was sceptical that your suggestion would work. I have every version in it's own named folder in C, and I had been able to switch between versions without a problem. Nevertheless I removed them all to a memory stick, then I reset the pc and moed a a folder called MQNplayer with 2.31 back into C. Happiness all round, plays like a dream again.
Many thanks and pints all round.
KM

Ken Moreland wrote:Hi Aleg, I was sceptical that your suggestion would work. I have every version in it's own named folder in C, and I had been able to switch between versions without a problem. Nevertheless I removed them all to a memory stick, then I reset the pc and moed a a folder called MQNplayer with 2.31 back into C. Happiness all round, plays like a dream again.
Many thanks and pints all round.
KM

Thanks, I'll collect it someday when I'm in Ireland again. ;-) (Would be my first BTW)

I'm glad you're able to enjoy it again.

Cheers

Aleg

Ok I think I will be following that tip. Have plenty of versions that play but the 1.0 and 1.1 controls have given me heartache so hopefully if required this fix will work. THanks in advance Aleg. Ken can buy you a pint from me as well.

tony wrote:Ok I think I will be following that tip. Have plenty of versions that play but the 1.0 and 1.1 controls have given me heartache so hopefully if required this fix will work. THanks in advance Aleg. Ken can buy you a pint from me as well.

Only guys outside Ireland get offered pints
Funny that ;)

nige2000 wrote:

tony wrote:Ok I think I will be following that tip. Have plenty of versions that play but the 1.0 and 1.1 controls have given me heartache so hopefully if required this fix will work. THanks in advance Aleg. Ken can buy you a pint from me as well.

Only guys outside Ireland get offered pints
Funny that ;)

Nigel, you and Tony can always have pints from me! ;-)

sima66 wrote:

nige2000 wrote:

tony wrote:Ok I think I will be following that tip. Have plenty of versions that play but the 1.0 and 1.1 controls have given me heartache so hopefully if required this fix will work. THanks in advance Aleg. Ken can buy you a pint from me as well.

Only guys outside Ireland get offered pints
Funny that ;)

Nigel, you and Tony can always have pints from me! ;-)

Many thanks Adam but Nigel is only a young fella so he is still on the pints of milk. I can drink his pint if required.

Oh yeah on the auld MQn stuff any of the new stuff has worked fine for me just putting it on the desktop. 2.31/2.37/2.39 and all are excellent.
2.31 has what seems like huge amount of bass but is really atmospheric sounding. Will give some hires a go. I can see how Pearse got to the point with the 63's were the sub had to come out. I still think it helps with the 57's but I have the subs barely on so I think it is the timber floor that is helping to create/increase the bass.
2.39 excellent better bass control. Great leap in all these versions whatever direction Gordon is going it is working a treat.

I did some testing of some of the newer versions on 24/96 and speakers yesterday, and because of the new 16-bit limited editions and looking for a different perspective, I also tested on my headphone setup. I'm afraid I personally can't understand the direction of the latest developments into the SSE versions. Maybe it's system synergy, or maybe it's just me. :-)

I must add that for testing I mainly use natural and acoustic instruments and vocals, so no Zeppelin, Rush or Hendrix. :-) I hold to the view that for a system to be HiFi, it has to be able to reproduce a sound in high fidelity, meaning as close as possible to the original source. Any kind of electric or electronic source will be difficult to judge based on those criteria. It might sound good or bad on a system, but fidelity is another matter. I tend to use cello, piano, vocals, orchestras, the occasional jazz, recorded in an acoustic space. Only then can I truly compare to a reference point based on reality, not on what sounds good to my ears or the ears of a sound engineer. This as a preamble...

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.

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

satshanti wrote:I did some testing of some of the newer versions on 24/96 and speakers yesterday, and because of the new 16-bit limited editions and looking for a different perspective, I also tested on my headphone setup. I'm afraid I personally can't understand the direction of the latest developments into the SSE versions. Maybe it's system synergy, or maybe it's just me. :-)

I must add that for testing I mainly use natural and acoustic instruments and vocals, so no Zeppelin, Rush or Hendrix. :-) I hold to the view that for a system to be HiFi, it has to be able to reproduce a sound in high fidelity, meaning as close as possible to the original source. Any kind of electric or electronic source will be difficult to judge based on those criteria. It might sound good or bad on a system, but fidelity is another matter. I tend to use cello, piano, vocals, orchestras, the occasional jazz, recorded in an acoustic space. Only then can I truly compare to a reference point based on reality, not on what sounds good to my ears or the ears of a sound engineer. This as a preamble...

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.

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

haven't done much testing these last few days
but id agree with most of that give or take