Tír Na HiFi

Fran , I've 5.1 up and running since Sunday and the main engine I'm using is UltraStream. For me there's a huge difference in sound quality with this engine, the level of subtle detail is very addictive .
I'm also trying to chase the latency but with only a little success. Using DPCLat and LatencyMon , my AudioPC doesn't perform nearly as well in latency terms as my old POS P4. I think it's worthwhile to pursue this avenue even if I continue to use UltraSize=160 , the latency figure is some measure of the precision of the PC's and tightening everything has to be helpful.
Pearse and others are reporting interesting sound at very low UltraSize's .

KM

Fran wrote:I installed 5.1 this evening and am listening now as I speak. It all installed smoothly and I could find the audioPC no problem across the network. I really find that a wired solution is the only way to go, the reliability is just superior for a demanding task like jplay.


I'm running ultrastream at the moment, and pretty much with the stock values. On the beta versions I had to reduce Xtream size to 400 since my audioPC is a bit low on ram. Currently Ultra size is 250 and drive buffer 0.

How are the rest of you getting on with the update?!


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Something I have noticed on jplay and here - everybody is in a rush to the lowest ultrasize they can get, but then subsequently say it sounds better at some higher figure!

Is it madness to be chasing the lowest latency figure available?


Fran

i agree on the wired streaming its most stable
getting on well with 5.1

there seems to be a divide on the ultra-size some in the 2/3000 and others around 120-160 and guys getting 20 and everybody seems to love it maybe it depends what their pairing with.
theirs guys set it under 20 and think its great!!!

id like to be able to get 20 just so i could hear it and judge for myself, but that doesn't necessary mean it will sound best at it

are you happier @ 250us

have you tried in single mode i think the gap between 1 + 2 pc has narrowed with ultrastream

No, haven't gone with single PC yet - the dual PC thing actually really suits my setup so will stick with that now. I can't get much below 120 or so, and even at that it won't run sometimes. When I tried with RC15 I found a bigger ultrasize sounded better but I haven't experimented enough with 5.1 yet. If 120 is my minimum, and it seems it is right now, then I might just concentrate on any differences between say, 200 and 1000.

Also, I've missed out on the drive buffer setting - what is that again and it seems to be liked to ultrasize too?


Fran

Fran wrote:No, haven't gone with single PC yet - the dual PC thing actually really suits my setup so will stick with that now. I can't get much below 120 or so, and even at that it won't run sometimes. When I tried with RC15 I found a bigger ultrasize sounded better but I haven't experimented enough with 5.1 yet. If 120 is my minimum, and it seems it is right now, then I might just concentrate on any differences between say, 200 and 1000.

Also, I've missed out on the drive buffer setting - what is that again and it seems to be liked to ultrasize too?


Fran

id need to read up on the drive buffer but most peoples leaving it at 0 (default) for the lower us settings and rising it for the 1000+ settings i think>

5.1 working fine for me wireless to modem and on to laptop/dac wired. As reported before me no ultrastream so just have to look on in envy.
Maybe it is a conspiracy and US works for nobody but you are all pretending?
Xstream the tried and trusted and well tested is working fine for me.Sounds great.Betcha it sounds better than US!

tony wrote:5.1 working fine for me wireless to modem and on to laptop/dac wired. As reported before me no ultrastream so just have to look on in envy.
Maybe it is a conspiracy and US works for nobody but you are all pretending?
Xstream the tried and trusted and well tested is working fine for me.Sounds great.Betcha it sounds better than US!

it is april first after all tony

nige2000 wrote:

tony wrote:5.1 working fine for me wireless to modem and on to laptop/dac wired. As reported before me no ultrastream so just have to look on in envy.
Maybe it is a conspiracy and US works for nobody but you are all pretending?
Xstream the tried and trusted and well tested is working fine for me.Sounds great.Betcha it sounds better than US!

it is april first after all tony

Now I am really suspicious! Thanks for the laugh

Since no US I tried Total commander on both laptops. Seems like a huge explosion in soundstage. The only think happening here is just less services running on both laptops. Sound is fantastic I find it hard to imagine how much extra US will bring.
What is clear as per the dedicated audio pc thread all efforts to reduce load on the devices and improve power/ground etc etc just keeps improving things.

Fran, tried drive buffer yesterday and nothing bar value 0 would work for me on ultra stream so I left it at 0 as I have no idea what it is for also.
Only been playing with ultra stream myself but I am away from home for a few days so did not get much time with 5.1.
There is not much difference between ultrastream 20 and 200 but I somehow hear something at 20 which makes me feel there is a precocious musical prodigy (first description to come to mind) trying to break out there, I can sense that software and hardware is on the edge but at the same time I sense something wonderful in the music that I need more time to get a handle on, then again I could be just deluding myself....would not be the first time!!!

OK, thanks all,


I'll experiment more with the settings and also with TC again. I did use it, but it was a pain in the ass when I was having stability issues and needed to figure out networking etc.

During tonights listening, I had a moment during playback where the audioPC hung - dunno what was the cause, but a restart and away she went no problem again for the rest of the evening (all on US with buffer at 200).

Realistically, I'd need to go single PC playback to get latency down that low, and probably would also need to shut down some stuff too. Dunno if I can face it!! I value the stability - sometimes you just want to come in , turn on the music and not wonder if its going to play! Its all good to be on the edge of developments, but its nice to crawl back a bit from there too to the stable zone!!

One thing anyway, the dynamics and realism are fairly extraordinary with the new release. I actually think there's been a bit of a jump even from the RCs.


Fran