Windows 7 Music Server - The First 48 Hours

Industry wide- there has been a big push to incorporate Windows 7 as a media server. I went over to the 'white side' when Vista was introduced- and have never looked back.<br />

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I have seen the 'Beach Ball of Death' only 24 times since the change.<br />

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Using a new MS operating system with anything other than brand new hardware is a pathway to heartache.<br />

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Forget Windows 7, 8, 9 and eventually 10. Mac is stable for media applications right now.

Hi Jesus - Yes, the crashes were all related to third party issues. Windows 7 by itself seems stable and fast. I'm using 64-bit because I have 10GB of RAM in this machine.

The recent mac release had the apples falling off the tree with Amarra issues. Again it was not the os itself, but third party related. <br />

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So back to my party story:) One of the three apples was also a pc user. He happen to be a recording studio owner. His company voiceovermart uses mostly apples (yes he loves them and I heard it more than once), but has a new pc server;) because the one software he really wanted to use was only on a pc......<br />

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Regards<br />

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Jesus R<br />

www.sonore.us

Chris how much time are you spending downloading and implementing sound cards for Formula One and Formula two?<br />

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When I read your articles I feel like you need something like a woodworking jig to make things work. Not the user experience I was thinking about for Windows 7.

Chris:<br />

I have been using Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit for maybe a month now. I have been using Media Monkey and J River music center which is output to USB and straight to a PS Audio DL III DAC. All the music I have been using has been ripped with DVDaexplorer, converted to FLAC, and tagged. All the music started out as DVD Audio Hi Rez selections.<br />

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It has been rock solid for me. NO blue screens, no crashing, just working. This is all being done with an HP DV5-1000 laptop which has a Core 2 Duo T5800, 4 Gb ram using wireless N to connect back to a server holding the music. The way I have it set up I am able to "A/B" the original disc in a Lexicon RT-20 player against the software playback through the DLIII and on to the rest of the system. I am pretty sure I am getting 'bit perfect' output because the playback between the 2 devices is as good or better when using the computer with the music ripped to FLAC. I cannot prove this scientifically so take it with a grain of salt. An added benefit is that this particular laptop has IR control with a Microsoft Media Center remote built in so I can run it from across the room.<br />

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I look forward to seeing how it works out for you. If you have any way for me to test my results, let me know and I will be glad to participate.<br />

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Chuck

Chris - Are you able to get hi-res playback via the new beta Lynx driver? I upgraded the firmware on my aes16e to v9 and upgraded the driver to the new beta version that you are using, and I can no longer play files with resolution >96hz (ie, 176 or 192)(via single-wire output to BDA-1). These previously played fine with this software and hardware configuration. The OS which I encountered this problem on was Vista32, and now having upgraded to Win7_32 it persists. The light on the DAC indicates the resolution of the stream correctly eg, 176, but no sound is produced. The Lynx Mixer Outputs panel also show no activity on the relevant channel when the file being played is above 96k resolution, so this might be a bug in the beta driver, or if you are not experiencing it, a bug in the new aes16e firmware.

Hi Lapierre - Welcome to Computer Audiophile. To answer your question about time spent, I like to think of it this way - I spend the time to find a formula that works, then I write about it so the readers don't have to spend time recreating the wheel. <br />

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If someone implemented formula one or two above they would be listening to bit-perfect music in no time.

Hi carloscarr - I believe the new firmware is for 32-bit operating systems only so I skipped it. I can play everything from 44.1 to 192 via single wire just fine. Your issue is similar to one of the issues I encountered over the last couple days. Are you using ASIO? So far it's required in my system.

Hi Chuck - Thanks for the info. Fortunately your USB DAC uses the built-in Windows driver, thus no blue screens. My issues were with third party drivers :~( <br />

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<i>I am pretty sure I am getting 'bit perfect' output because the playback between the 2 devices is as good or better when using the computer with the music ripped to FLAC. I cannot prove this scientifically so take it with a grain of salt. </i><br />

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I took it with a pound of salt :~) I wish there was an easy way for you to get more "scientific" verification of bit perfect output. The sound output will likely be pretty good even if it's not bit perfect depending on the amount of bit altering being done. <br />

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Any word on USB Class 2 drivers?

I believe we have to wait for sp1.

Using WMP at unity gain will give bit-perfect output, including HDCD. This is according to the dev team that wrote the code. Several are knowledgeable audiophiles (along with their day job as developers )<br />

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What happens with other drivers and players, I don't know. Just see if the HDCD light comes on in an external device, which is a good litmus test. Being able to detect bit perfect playback by ear is I suspect a superhuman feat.<br />

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And at less than unity gain, the volume control software is highly sophisticated affair, generally competive with that of high-end DACs that don't use mechanical potentiometers or resistor networks. They were very serious about audio playback in Vista compared to XP, and put a huge engineering effort into it. Win 7 contains additional improvements of an incremental nature.<br />

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Having used Windows 7 for a year now, the overall experience is way, way better. The attitude in Redmond was, when it's ready, we ship, and not before, and this shows. The product was tested by a very large community, well into six-figures worldwide.

Chuck,<br />

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Do you feel that Windows 7 sounds better, worse or no change from xp or Vista using a USB dac?<br />

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Liz

Windows 7 is working fine here with MediaMonkey 3.1.2.1277 + Otachan ASIO plugin SSE + ESI Juli@ 1.07 (SPDIF).<br />

I have an Asus M2NPV-VM motherboard, AMD 6000+ CPU and 2 gigs of RAM.<br />

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For me it sounds better than it did with the same config on Windows XP.<br />

Thumbs up!

What is the advantage of using 64 bit ultimate (or Pro) over Home, Premium 64 bit?<br />

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-Steve<br />

See their differences here:<br />

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7_editions

Not much difference at all. For me, I want to know I have every option possible. The price difference wasn't really that much either.

Matias,<br />

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Are you running the 64 bit version of Windows 7 with Media monkey 32 bit?

WMP is in no way Bit True under Windows 7 nor does it switch automatically to different sample rates. Thins is the case theoretically and practically (and I have confirmed it (sure with all volumes up to 100)) with my Audio Precision and the Bit True test), but at least the output is 24 Bit. ;-)<br />

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Juergen<br />

According to the developers, they're seeing HDCD bit streams passing through WMP and lighting up the HDCD indicator on external devices, at least in the 16 bit form, at unity gain, thus they are inferring bit-perfect in this specific situation, despite the 32 bit floating point volume control. So it's apparently touchy.<br />

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My impression is that bit-perfect is available under some, but not all, scenarios. DD/DTS seems to work OK with external receivers, indicating that they're apparently happy with the output; this apparently happens through the DD/DTS bypass mode. <br />

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We'll be testing via S/PDIF shortly, and at 24 bits.

That’s right. WMP under W7 does pass a HDCD Track correctly with indication of the HDCD light, but this is far from saying, WMP and W7 is bit true. I have stated this already in an earlier threat at this forum, where I have also stated, that the DTS / DD is also no indication for Bit True.<br />

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I have also already stated, that also under Vista, if you do not look seriously to the data, you should think, that if you adjust the output sample rate correctly to the input data, that the data is bit true but this isn’t.<br />

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Just run a “simple” constant value test signal (digital DC) or a walking zero signal (either in 16 Bit or 24 Bit resolution) and you will see, it isn’t bit true and does change the data.<br />

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Juergen<br />

No no, you are not going to read what you expect after seeing that title ... it is WORSE ...<br />

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Some things are just unknown, which doesn't mean I don't know them hehe.<br />

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<cite>My impression is that bit-perfect is available under some, but not all, scenarios. DD/DTS seems to work OK with external receivers, indicating that they're apparently happy with the output;</cite><br />

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Before Vista, people used to perform the "DTS test". This was very common, and it would prove for XP for some situations (soundcards/drivers) whether playback was bit perfect. Not in all cases, and nobody understood it quite well.<br />

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The above quote reminded me of one of such unknown things, and this is that with encoded material Vista (and the likes, like W2008, W7) switches to bit perfect mode. It must, or otherwise these streams cannot be played; the encoding would be destroyed.<br />

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Now, in here I have seen so so many posts about the HDCD light and the proof of *thus* being bit perfect when the light lits, that I gave up on it and let it be. This, while to me it is more than 100% clear when and when not bit perfect playback is possible over Vista likes. However, during normal thinking and operation this is about ASIO/WASAPI, and not about DTS streams ... of course.<br />

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<strong>But what I never thought about before is that HDCD has to be treated as encoded material just the same, or otherwise it can not work at the decoding side.</strong><br />

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Read what Juergen just wrote ... he is just correct. But with my reason behind things (which is just in the Vista specs !) all things come together. This should mean that :<br />

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Vista (etc.) indeed is bit perfect for HDCD material. But only for that (as a kind of representative for red book).<br />

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Peter, bringer of bad news, who can now at last put his mind to rest on this subject and who could have come up with this a few years back ...<br />

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I'm running Windows 7 Ultimate final x64 with a 64-bit CPU, and MediaMonkey version 3.1.2.1277 + Otachan ASIO plugin. I believe the player and plugin are both 32-bit.<br />

But the player itself seems to run smoother in Windows 7 then it did on Windows XP. And I definitely hear a sound difference for the better.<br />

It's important to notice that there is a Properties menu somewhere for the sound device that allows you to check 44.1 up to 192khz output compatibility.<br />

I can't wait to have my hand on the new MediaMonkey 4 that is being developed. It will feature native WASAPI support, so I can compare WASAPI x ASIO outputs.<br />

My problem is with iPod syncing, whch right now means instant freezing of iTunes and/or MediaMonkey. But that is for another topic.

<I>Peter, bringer of bad news, who can now at last put his mind to rest on this subject and who could have come up with this a few years back ...</I><br />

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I love the sense of humor Peter :~)

Thanks Matias. I use J. River Media Center 14 with ASIO on my current XP laptop. This app has native WASAPI support and I feel it sounds better then Media Monkey. I want to know it that works with the 64 bit version of Windows 7. You can download the program and use for a while so can you please try and let me know?<br />

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Thanks in Advance.