Montage

Blue2 - I do not have a Windows renderer for comparison, I use a SinatureRendu which is Linux based. So it was just a matter of allowing higher rate DSD playback for the limited music that I have that is greater than DSD128. Upsampling to DSD512 has been a bit unreliable on my server so I have tended to not use it. I know that it is claimed that the DAC8DSD is best at DSD512 but I have generally preferred PCM to DSD. Obviously this is an individual equipment and taste preference (and perhaps an unwillingness to invest in a higher power server with attendant noise and cooling problems!)

Thanks sbenyo. As I said above, I had exactly the same problems as you regarding the visibility of the service tool. I followed your suggestions regarding the compatibility settings and then I was able to open the window (which was only just visible at the bottom of the screen) and run the firmware update, which went smoothly. I then installed Amanero CPD1081 with 2006be10 and I have just played DSD512 for the first time from Linux . Success!

I have exactly the same problem on Win 10. Service tool sits in the taskbar but no window opens. When I click on the icon in the taskbar a window briefly appears, but immediately disappears.

As others have reported, I found AL to be bright sounding on my NUC7i7DNHE in Akasa case with UpTone JS-2 linear power supply (12V) acting as a Roon endpoint. Has anyone directly compared the JS-2 at 12V with a HDPLEX a 19V on a NUC7i7DNHE? On the NUC endpoint I switched to Windows Server 2019 with Audiophile Optimiser 3 (Beta) and Roon Bridge and have been very happy with the resulting sound via ISO Regen to Pacific dac. Following the advice here from Romaz and others I've just ordered an Optane M2 for the operating system (currently on SSD), so I'm hoping for a further step-up. I prefer AL on my Roon server compared to Roon ROCK. I've not yet tried Server 2019 and AO3B on the server, it will have to wait for an Optane compatible mobo. However, I will give Euphony a try. Thanks to everyone here for the on-going advice!

I am very happy with AO Beta 36, although I am using it in a relatively simple way. I'm using a Roon server (Roon ROCK linux based software) connected via ethernet to a NUC running AO and HQ Player. I then have a separate endpoint (Signature Rendu) running HQP NAA and connected to the dac via USB. The sound quality is massively improved over a standard Roon server to Roon endpoint setup, I can't go back. I have had HQ Player quit unexpectedly on one occasion soon after installing this beta but it has been stable for a few days now. Maybe I'll next try running the Roon server on Server 2019 and AO next. OS: Windows Server 2019 Standard GUI on NUC DAC/DDC: Lampizator Pacific Driver/Version: Amanero 1062 ASIO Need to press F8: No Player: HQ Player - no upsampling KS working: Not used WASAPI working: Not used Needed HD Audio Driver: No Thanks very much Phil for the software and support on a couple of occasions!

I have two µRendu units. One reboots successfully every time, the second always requires removal and reattachment of the power supply. They are in separate systems (different dac and power supply) and the problem remains with the same µRendu unit if I swap them over i.e. it is unlikely to be a system related problem. John T

Thanks Miska, That has fixed the problem that I had with Beta 4, microRendu is now immediately recognised as NAA. Best, John T

Miska, I just tried Beta 4 on Windows 10 but the NAA (microRendu) was not recognised - no device shown in settings. I had uninstalled HQP3.13.3, which was working and recognising the NAA, before installing Beta 4. I uninstalled Beta 4, reinstalled 3.13.3 and immediately the NAA was recognised. Any thoughts? JohnT

Thanks to Eric and Miska for the quick responses. Yes, as Miska said, using a Win10 NAA overcomes the Mac DSD128 limitation. With my older MacPro with a recent GTX970 CUDA graphics card I was able to play DSD256. Yes, I always have Pipeline SDM enabled and I tried the -2s filters without success. Given your last comment about the broken CUDA SDK, I'll continue to use my current MacPro for the time being and look in detail at the 'Design a PC/Server for Roon and HQPlayer' thread. The combination of HQP and Roon is perfect, a great front end and wonderful upsampling algorithms, thank you. John T

Has anyone successfully used a MacPro for upsampling PCM to DSD512 with HQP? I have an older MacPro (3.1, 2008) with 2x2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon which will upsample to DSD128 on OSX 10.11.4. With the recent addition of CUDA with a NVIDIA GeForce GTX970 card, it now upsamples to DSD256 reliably. I'm using a MacMini as NAA, running Win 10. However, when I try to upsample to DSD512 (playing to a T+A DAC8 DSD) there is a steady audio stutter. I'm now considering upgrading the MacPro. I know that it would be sensible to get a new Windows server machine, but I'd prefer to stay with the Apple environment at the moment. Miska has written that, for stereo with CUDA, 2+2 cores is probably optimal, adding an extra 2 cores for Roon, which I also use. Used MacPro5,1s (2010 or 2012), with a 6 core 3.33GHz Westmere processor are available, offering a 40 to 50% testbench speed improvement over my current machine. Does anyone have any experience with these? With thanks, John T

My apologies for not replying earlier. The First Watt SIT-2 was more dynamic and exhibited better imaging than the J2, although I had previously been very happy with the J2 and had preferred that to a 45 SET amp, except perhaps a small loss of warmth. Now I have my ideal combination of a Lampi Big7 with 45 tubes driving the SIT-2; the best of both worlds as the SIT-2 transmits the character of the tubes. Back to the topic of driving the HD800's: I found the sound of my HD800's to be a bit thin when driven directly by the J2. The HDVD800 (and 600, I assume) has a 43 ohm output impedance 'as that tilts the sound balance slightly as to give the HD800 a bit more bass oomph' (from the HDVD800 review on Head-Fi). I also saw this article on InnerFidelity: Musings on Headphone Amplifier Output Impedance | InnerFidelity Towards the end of the article is a frequency response curve for the HD800 showing how the frequency response around 100Hz is boosted with increasing amplifier output impedance. Consequently I tried a 120 ohm resistor in series with the amplifier output on each channel (2.5W carbons I had from another project). The sound was noticeably warmer, possibly too warm, so I will next try series resistors closer to the 43 ohms used by Sennheiser. It would then be great to compare the result with a HDVA600, if I can arrange to get one on trial. jt

Arriving rather late to the party, I bought a HD800 three days ago and it's been running continuously from a Chord Hugo, fed a continuous diet of BBC radio 3 via the optical output of a satellite box. It already sounds very, very good compared to my HiFiMan HE560 , although the 560's are not ideally suited to the Hugo. I was starting to wonder how much improvement there could be with a dedicated headamp and came across this thread. Jabbr's experiments with his First Watt M2 caused me to reconsider my J2. I bought it to drive my Avantgarde Duo Omega horn speakers and later upgraded to a SIT-2. I kept the J2 as a back-up and did try it directly driving the HE560's. It worked, but I was never happy with the sound or the comfort of those headphones. Today I emailed Nelson Pass and he replied very quickly saying that both the J2 and SIT-2 would be fine driving the HD800, although an attenuator may be beneficial if the noise levels were too high. I immediately tried the J2 using short lengths of speaker cable with bananas one end and an in-line headphone socket the other which I'd made up previously for the HE560. The J2 was driven in single ended mode from the RCA outputs of the Hugo. Noise levels were virtually zero and my first impressions of the HD800 directly driven by the J2 were of a slightly smoother treble and better, more defined bass. I have no other headamp for comparison except the Hugo, and perhaps it's not unreasonable to expect the J2 to better its amplifier stage, except perhaps in portability! jt

Both the dCS Puccini with U Clock and the Chord Hugo are indicated by A+ as operating in integer mode.

Superdad wrote: 'probably the biggest next leap you can make is to remove the stock switch mode power supply and go with a really good outboard linear supply.' Thanks Superdad, that has got my interest. I've found the Mojo Audio kit, the MOD Audio internal power cable and the TeraDak and Keces power supplies. Any others options I should look at? I've ordered the C.A.D. USB cable too as it is offered with a 30 day money back guarantee. Best, jt (Montage)

My SD is 64GB, but I had it already. Others are managing with 32GB - see the thread I originally quoted ''ATTENTION Current Mac mini/A+ users: Boot Mavericks from an SD card, etc...' I'm using Mavericks, with the SD card in the rear card slot. I copied OSX from the SSD using Carbon Copy Cloner, very easy. Others have done a fresh install to the SD card. Some have reported a slowing down of the computer in this configuration, but it has not been an issue for me.