AudiophileOptimizer - Windows 10 Beta Thread (BETA PHASE CLOSED!)

[alcarp]

Phil ... will the Education version work with AO?

[AudioPhil]

Hi

 

Yes that will be no problem. Do you have such an Education edition?

 

 

Best,

Phil

[macmarty]

Hi,

I've done a "clean" install of Win 8.1 Pro and made the update to Windows 10. Installed the beta and used

 

- strip down windows 10

- compating feature

 

after that, run the optimizer in advanced mode . everthing worked fine. After taking a listen, a wasen't able to run service tool or the optimizer again. got the message "couldn't find path"

 

anybody a clue if a did something wrong or find a bug?

[wisnon]

Turn off wifi and see.

[macmarty]

thanks a lot, that solved the problem.

 

took a serious listen today with win 10 + ao 2 beta in advanced mode + fidelizer free . connected to chord hugo with paul pang usb cable , listening with audeze lcd-xc the win system detroyed my good old ak 100II connected to hugo via toslink in between seconds. and my pc for testing was nothing special just a pc with switching power supply. so there is a lot of air with a caps system

[Jukka]

I had some time for testing of AO 2.0 this weekend, so here are my thoughts..

 

Lately I had been trying out the Server 2016 Preview 3 in GUI mode, was not really impressed with it as is.

Yesterday I installed first Win 10 Pro + AO 2.0, this was better, but for comparison I went for Server 2012 R2 with desktop experience + AO 2.0 which was clear improvement, I mean really good =)

Actually quite magical tonality, sense of space, effortless rhythm and pace, I got drawn in to music. AO 2.0 seems to be quite an improvement over previous AO version.

 

These tests were done on single PC with HDPlex linear power source, Intel i5 4670t, 2x Jcat battery power for OS SSD and Jcat Usb Card, PPA Black Sata cable, Curious Usb Cable to Regen with linear power source+ Sbooster Ultra+ Curious Cable Regen Link to Deqx HDP-5 Dac/preamp.

Played music with Jplay and Tidal/Chrome. There was no bugs in regards installation that I could find..

Hopefully next weekend I will have time to test Dual PC setup, that should be just great.

[LowOrbit]

I finally got around to building a couple of Windows 10 Pro systems (nothing especially fancy, just basic but passively cooled commodity PCs really) to test AO 2.0 beta. Even before AudiophileOptimizer was loaded they were sounding quite nice, certainly a step up from previous WIndows builds.

 

I had an oddity with activation of AO on the i5 AudioPC, but that cleared itself after a reboot. On the i7 ControlPC machine installation went fine.

 

The overall setup is JPlay and Minimserver, Twisted Pear dual mono dac with Amanero USB interface on the audio PC in slave mode. This set up sounded great using Server2012R2 Core previously with AO1.40.

 

Using JPlay Mini I was immediately struck by an increase in tonal resolution. Guitars are now more varied in tone from note to note, for instance. Instrumental separation is improved but musicality is also more fluid and organic. Really a big step up (if you are familiar with Naim systems, it would e like adding a Supercap to your Pre-Amp, or putting an upgrade PSU on your CD player).

 

So for those who have not already invested in Server licenses, this looks like a great opportunity to get AO goodness using W10.

 

I did have one issue using Minimserver which Phil is looking into. I use wifi to connect to the control PC so I can control Minimserver with BubbleDS on my tablet. Disabling services and drivers in AO2.0 caused the wifi service to stop working, even after running ServiceTool to add wireless Lan services back in. Re-enabling Drivers and services solved this so that's where I am at present.

 

It's not an issue, music has never sounded better in my system.

 

Thanks Phil. This is exciting.

[ElviaCaprice]

I finally got around to building a couple of Windows 10 Pro systems (nothing especially fancy, just basic but passively cooled commodity PCs really) to test AO 2.0 beta. Even before AudiophileOptimizer was loaded they were sounding quite nice, certainly a step up from previous WIndows builds.

I had an oddity with activation of AO on the i5 AudioPC, but that cleared itself after a reboot. On the i7 ControlPC machine installation went fine.

 

The overall setup is JPlay and Minimserver, Twisted Pear dual mono dac with Amanero USB interface on the audio PC in slave mode. This set up sounded great using Server2012R2 Core previously with AO1.40.

 

Using JPlay Mini I was immediately struck by an increase in tonal resolution. Guitars are now more varied in tone from note to note, for instance. Instrumental separation is improved but musicality is also more fluid and organic. Really a big step up (if you are familiar with Naim systems, it would e like adding a Supercap to your Pre-Amp, or putting an upgrade PSU on your CD player).

 

So for those who have not already invested in Server licenses, this looks like a great opportunity to get AO goodness using W10.

 

I did have one issue using Minimserver which Phil is looking into. I use wifi to connect to the control PC so I can control Minimserver with BubbleDS on my tablet. Disabling services and drivers in AO2.0 caused the wifi service to stop working, even after running ServiceTool to add wireless Lan services back in. Re-enabling Drivers and services solved this so that's where I am at present.

 

It's not an issue, music has never sounded better in my system.

 

Thanks Phil. This is exciting.

 

I take it that your observations were without any optimization of Windows 10 on your own before using AO?

[LowOrbit]

I take it that your observations were without any optimization of Windows 10 on your own before using AO?

 

Hi

 

That's correct - These were fresh installs of Windows 10, no Process Lasso (can't be bothered) or Fidelizer (never heard any improvement), just clean installs as requested by Phil for the trials of this beta.

 

If you have a dual PC server2012 setup running AO1.40 you will be pleasantly surprised by this new version, I think.

 

If I get the chance (unlikely with the build up to Christmas eating into my time) I will try to run this on Server 2012R2 and see if there are differences.

 

Mark

[qyy]

Hi

 

I have had some issues with the compatibility and activation, unfortunately. I tried installing under win 10 home edition and it was actually deemed valid up to activation. However, immediately after activation it became invalid and notified me as such. The problem here is that it used up an instance of my activation key and then became unusable.

 

I later successfully installed a working version under win 10 pro and was able to use it. The sound quality was very clear and good, but seems a little lacking compared to the win server 2012 R2 version. The quality did improve after I replaced the shell to TC though so that is good news.

 

So far this is what I gleamed after a week of testing from the new beta 7 version. I am happy with your work and appreciate your effort.

[lmitche]

There is no need to waste a full retail Windows license key. Just call Microsoft, explain the circumstances and they will help you activate Win10 with any valid key from Win 7 on up. I just did the same re-using a Windows 7 key from a machine that hadn't been booted in 3 years. The technicians were surprisingly helpful.

[ElviaCaprice]

Is it possible to do a full clean install without an upgrade from Windows 7 or 8, to Windows 10? Thought I read somewhere that Microsoft was going to allow any valid key from Windows 7 or 8 to activate Windows 10?

[lmitche]

Is it possible to do a full clean install without an upgrade from Windows 7 or 8, to Windows 10? Thought I read somewhere that Microsoft was going to allow any valid key from Windows 7 or 8 to activate Windows 10?

 

While I also read that it was possible to do a clean install of Windows 10 with a key from a previous Windows version, this was not my experience. There seems to be a caveat. One has to have installed the prior licensed Windows release on the new machine with activation and all service packs, to get the invite for the Win 10 upgrade. Once the Win10 upgrade is performed, the machine (not the installation) is activated, and a new clean install will work. The latter is a change from the old activation scheme.

 

In my case, I had to deactivate the license on the old machine, call Microsoft to activate the same license on the new machine using the old version of the OS, apply all service packs, and then upgrade to Win10. Once done, the upgraded version was blown away with a clean install which was then recognized as a valid machine that was already activated via the upgrade process.

 

Make sense?

 

Here is a tip. I found it best to contact Microsoft via their online chat facility rather then calling the US support number. The chat facility is on the windows support site and is 24 by 7.

[qyy]

While I also read that it was possible to do a clean install of Windows 10 with a key from a previous Windows version, this was not my experience. There seems to be a caveat. One has to have installed the prior licensed Windows release on the new machine with activation and all service packs, to get the invite for the Win 10 upgrade. Once the Win10 upgrade is performed, the machine (not the installation) is activated, and a new clean install will work. The latter is a change from the old activation scheme.

 

In my case, I had to deactivate the license on the old machine, call Microsoft to activate the same license on the new machine using the old version of the OS, apply all service packs, and then upgrade to Win10. Once done, the upgraded version was blown away with a clean install which was then recognized as a valid machine that was already activated via the upgrade process.

 

Make sense?

 

Here is a tip. I found it best to contact Microsoft via their online chat facility rather then calling the US support number. The chat facility is on the windows support site and is 24 by 7.

 

Sorry, what I meant was that I wasted an activation instance of AO 2.0 beta 7, not windows. I was referring to the fact that AO consumed an instance of activation and only afterward told me it was invalid. Sorry for the confusion everyone.

[AudioPhil]

Hi

 

Generating the Activation-Key happens before actually entering it, so...

 

please contact via email so i can have you get another Activation-Key.

 

 

Best,

Phil

[ted_b]

I have a fully activated WS2012 R1 CAPS Zuma-ish machine that has been my HQPplayer AO machine (networked to a WS21012 R1 AO'd Caps Carbon NAA, which will remain WS2012 for now). What is the best practice to upgrade the Zuma (i7 3770s) to Windows 10? Is it free? Do I do a "fresh" install and then reinstall HQP, Minimserver, Roonserver (doesn't work on R1), etc? I am one of Phil's early beta guys so I have AO for Win 10 and have finally given up on all the idiosyncrasies of having WS2012R1 on my i7. Thx

Ted

[DuckToller]

Hi Ted, do you look for the most comfortable or the most economical way to install win 10 on the Zuma? in general, A win 10 installation on a separate partition will create a dual boot option, so you could still use WS2012.

Cheers Tom

[ted_b]

Tom,

I have no real interest in keeping WS2012 frankly. Yes, a dual boot (my current WS2012 is a dual boot due to early beta stuff with Phil way back when) would work, but I need everything to be on Windows 10 if I;m going that route.

[scan80269]

While I also read that it was possible to do a clean install of Windows 10 with a key from a previous Windows version, this was not my experience. There seems to be a caveat. One has to have installed the prior licensed Windows release on the new machine with activation and all service packs, to get the invite for the Win 10 upgrade. Once the Win10 upgrade is performed, the machine (not the installation) is activated, and a new clean install will work. The latter is a change from the old activation scheme.

 

In my case, I had to deactivate the license on the old machine, call Microsoft to activate the same license on the new machine using the old version of the OS, apply all service packs, and then upgrade to Win10. Once done, the upgraded version was blown away with a clean install which was then recognized as a valid machine that was already activated via the upgrade process.

 

Make sense?

 

Here is a tip. I found it best to contact Microsoft via their online chat facility rather then calling the US support number. The chat facility is on the windows support site and is 24 by 7.

 

The Win10 free upgrade offer by Microsoft is applicable to systems running activated Win7 SP1 or Win8.1. Starting with either of these OS, it is possible to force the free upgrade to Win10 without downloading and installing the dozens of updates and patches via Windows Update first, and without having to wait for the free upgrade to come through from Microsoft. This is achieved by using the Microsoft Win10 media creation tool:

 

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

 

I have followed the steps below many times with no issues:

 

1. Use MS Win10 Media Creation Tool to download a complete set of Win10 upgrade files. The files can be saved to a USB flash drive and later copied to the hard drive to initiate the Win10 upgrade. Note: the files are OS edition specific. For example, on a PC running Win7 Pro/Ultimate or Win8.1 Pro, the tool will offer Win10 Pro for download. Ditto for Win10 Home being offered for a PC running Win7 Home Premium or Win8.1 (plain).

 

2. Do clean install of Win7 SP1 Professional/Ultimate or Win8.1 Pro (assuming the desired OS is Win10 Pro)

 

3. Activate the Win7/8.1 OS with a proper product key (typically not free, but possibly cheaper than full Win10)

 

4. Initiate the Win10 upgrade by launching the Setup.exe within the set of Win10 upgrade files

 

Once the Win10 upgrade completes successfully, that PC will be registered into Microsoft database as being eligible for Win10 activation. Instead of a unique product key, you will see "Windows 10 on this device is activated with a digital entitlement" in the product key field.

 

I have also done clean Win10 installs into several PCs that completed the Win7/8.1-to-Win10 free upgrades. The clean Win10 installs are always activated afterwards. Note that only the specific edition of Win10 involved in the free upgrade will activate on a specific PC. If the PC underwent Win7 Pro-to-Win10 Pro upgrade, then only clean installs of Win10 Pro will activate afterwards. Clean installs of other editions such as Win10 Home will NOT activate on the same PC. The "digital entitlement" is PC hardware (e.g. motherboard) specific and OS edition specific.

[scan80269]

Tom,

I have no real interest in keeping WS2012 frankly. Yes, a dual boot (my current WS2012 is a dual boot due to early beta stuff with Phil way back when) would work, but I need everything to be on Windows 10 if I;m going that route.

 

Hi Ted, if you don't mind losing an activated installation of WS2012 then Win10 clean install will be the simplest and quickest. You may be able to save a few dollars by taking advantage of Microsoft's free Win10 upgrade by intentionally installing Win7 Pro SP1 or Win8.1 Pro first, getting it activated, then go through the free upgrade to Win10 Pro. The tradeoff is cost vs. time.

 

Regardless of how you get to Win10, your apps like MinimServer, HQP will have to be installed from scratch. WS2012 is not eligible for free upgrade to Win10 per Microsoft.

[dminches]

Hi Ted, do you look for the most comfortable or the most economical way to install win 10 on the Zuma? in general, A win 10 installation on a separate partition will create a dual boot option, so you could still use WS2012.

Cheers Tom

 

If his SSD only has one partition can he create a 2nd one for Win 10 without reformatting the entire drive?

[scan80269]

If his SSD only has one partition can he create a 2nd one for Win 10 without reformatting the entire drive?

 

Yes! Use Windows disk management tool (diskmgmt.msc) to shrink C: to make room for a new partition, and install Win10 into it. The system will automatically support dual-boot afterwards.

 

If Windows disk management tool can't shrink C: enough to support a partition big enough for Win10, an alternative is to run the free edition of EaseUS Partition Manager which is far more flexible.

[ElviaCaprice]

Give yourself about 20 Gig on that partition. I did one about 16 and it almost wasn't enough for updates.

Thanks scan for the info.

[ted_b]

Great info guys. OK, I am no longer going to worry about Win 10 free upgrade paths; I'll just buy the damn thing.

Questions (funny, as we open doors,, more doors appear ) :

1) Is there a better place to download and buy Win 10 Pro than anywhere else?

2) as I looked at Disk Mgmt tool (to shrink C: currently 53GB) I realized that drive D: is the same size (58 GB) and must be my earlier partition. Everything on it is dated 2013 or before. I haven' touched it in 3 years. Should I simply erase it (or do I reformat it) and load Win 10 there (i.e have plenty of space for partition)? It's a battery powered SSD.

 

Sorry for the newbie (oldbie actually..did a lot of this 3 years ago and forgot everything) questions

 

[scan80269]

Ted, your D: looks ideal for installing Win10 into. There's a lot of free space in your D:, so reformatting is probably unnecessary, though it may be cleaner, depending on what's sitting in there.

 

For Win10, I would download from Microsoft. I tend not to trust 3rd-party offers for security reasons as downloads can easily be tampered with to include bad stuff. Downloading Win10 Pro from Microsoft should be free. It's the activation that has to be paid for.

 

If I recall correctly, for a clean Win10 install the installer will see all your disk partitions and let you choose which partition to install the OS into. You can simply select D: (or the 58GB sized partition if it doesn't show up as D) and proceed with or without formatting that partition first.