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Palomino

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  1. Hey, I have been thinking about getting a new mini for some time now and moving my existing one to another system. Any of you quad core or i5 users having issues with DSD upsampling? Just trying to figure out how much processor I need. I'm thinking about picking up a 2011-2012 version so I can still add ram, etc.
  2. Those two steps did seem to help. I got a free activity monitor that shows in the toolbar to see what was going on. It also allows you to kill or slow certain processes when they are not the main ap being used. CPU usage really varies depending on where it is in the song loading cycle. It also varies by the song. Higher rez takes more as you would imagine, but also what appear to be complex lower rez files. At times, I am running 97% to 100%, then it can go to only 4% or 5% while just playing. The key seems to be what I do with the first song. Allowing it to get to about 2/3 seems to provide enough runway to keep the processor from crashing. Last night I listened for about an hour on a playlist before it hit a complex tune and bit the dust. It still points to the need for a faster processor, because very few additional threads are running and they take up very little CPU. It makes a pretty substantial difference in my system so the hassle seems worth it at this time.
  3. Thanks. I had tried the former, but not the latter.
  4. Thanks. I wonder if something changed between versions because I did not always have this crashing issue.
  5. I think I have discovered my issue. Activity monitor shows 94-96% CPU usage with Audirvana crunching DSD. Does that sound unusually high? Not sure my of my processor. Its a dual core mac mini 2010.
  6. Apologies in advance if this is in the previous 40 or so pages, but I am having trouble with Audirvana crashing during DSD playback. I have tried playing tracks off the internal SSD, ramdisk, external firewire drive, etc. I have also launched Audirvana from all three disks as well. The play head is not catching up to the the song loading. I have let the entire song load before beginning play and it still crashes. I'm on a 2010 Mac mini with 8GB ram running Yosemite. I am using version 2.5.4. I have reset preferences, zapped pram, rapaired disks, fixed permissions, etc. Most of the standard troubleshooting tips. Funny thing is I had this happen and thought it had to do with competing communications with the drive during syncing the Audirvana library. So I set everything to manual and it stopped. I would happen every once in a while, but nothing too irritating. Now it is happening on every song again.
  7. Thanks for the impressions Melvin. Currently my son has the bifrost in his desktop system, but I may swap it out this winter and upgrade it. I have another system that I run with yet another DAC, but I suspect I can leapfrog it with a bifrost multibit.
  8. Melvin, Any comments on how the multibit compares to you ChordEX? I have both the bifrost uber and a ChordHD.
  9. Hi Alex, I have read a lot of the bits is bits threads. Learned a few things in addition to the great theater they provide. Just how many satisfied users do you have to date and how many reviewers / industry luminaries are they choosing to ignore in forming their opinions? I've read 4 or 5 positive reviews myself. Any news to report about your experience at RMAF? I did see Paul McGowan's comments. Also, I think I read one post in this thread that referred to using better power cords on their LPSU having an impact. I'd like to echo that experience. I started out with a generic power cord on my Teradak LPSU and felt it easily bested the included regen power supply. Then I put in a decent DIY cord and was surprised by the improvement. So I got a better DIY power cord from a secondary system and put it in. Another improvement. I'd be interested to hear what others are using on their power supplies. I run all my gear through a PS Audio Power Plant Premiere.
  10. I was being somewhat facetious when I commented about it being an interesting read... Anyway back on topic. I have the first generation chord qutehd. Big impact with the regen. I used to run a spdif converter and now go direct to USB. I know on the ex version they worked on the USB input section and that was probably carried through to the 2cute.
  11. My limited experience would suggest it does. I have heard the regen on my Chord QuteHD and the PS Audio DS and the impact was bigger on the Chord than the PS Audio. I did see right away that he used the pigtail USB. Given what he tested and how he tested it, it appears he didn't do a lot of research before he conducted the test. In a way, posts like that help us gain greater understanding (especially when people counter the argument) so I enjoy reading them, even if the poster has some axe to grind. I actually thought he was trying to be objective until I saw the placebo comment.
  12. An interesting read...from many angles. Be sure to review Alex's response and review the results represented in the color charts further down in the thread.
  13. I thought I would weigh in even though I probably don't have much to say that hasn't already been said. I had the opportunity to hear the regen on a friend's system. He had the regen running into his PS Audio DS Dac via the short solid extension supplied with the regen. He also has a Decware Mystery amp running into Decware 944s. We listened to a few different artists, but our A/B tune was primarily Jersey Girl by Holly Cole. I think a 24/96 version. I thought it was fairly easy to see that there was a difference with the Regen in the system. Better focus/positioning on the instruments for me (I was in the sweet spot) and more detail. For example, there is a tambourine that is in the Jersey girl song. With the Regen, it sounds more like a real tambourine where you hear the multiple "clinks" (for lack of a better word). Without it, you hear it as more of a single clink and it just wasn't as real. Some people say more air with the regen. I didn't necessarily hear that but it was a relatively short session. Another song was Wailin Jenny's Summertime which can have a bit of an edge to it. I felt the regen helped in this regard as well. We A/B'd but didn't do any blind testing. Still, I believe I could pick it out 100% of the time in a blind test. The focus was just that much better. I have read here about a 20% increase in SQ (subjective I know), but my friend and I independently put our own subjective rating lower based on what we heard on his system. He said 10%, I said 10% to 15%. Most of the tweaks I've experienced in that neighborhood or above have been related to power or room sound treatments. Definitely worth the investment. Anyway, after getting a listen, I bought a regen and will try it out with the supplied SMPS and a small Teradak linear supply I have that puts out 5-8v. I hope to have the Regen in October. I also run USB into a USB/SPDIF converter so it will be interesting to see what I get. I can go direct usb into the DAC so I will try it both ways.
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