Help Me Tweak System...

Steve,

I'm curious why you're steering him away from FLAC or other compression formats? Is this only an XP platform issue in your mind, as I thought the general concensus 6 months ago was compression formats don't impart any measurable sonic degradation (aside from taxing the processor slightly to "uncompress" the file before playback)?

I'm not intending to open up another debate on who thinks WAV is better than FLAC, or ALAC is better than WAV, but I've flipped back and forth between WAV and ALAC on a Mac and there's very, very slight differences. From a resource standpoint, an uncompressed format is doable given how cheap memory is now compared to the past (maybe that's the answer to the question...).

Steve (or others):

A few questions regarding your post.

(1) The latest version of Foobar2000 is v0.9.6.5. Is this version appropriate, or is there a specific reason I want version v0.8.3?

(2) When I googled Jriver, I came up w/ the J River Media Center. Is this what I want?

(3) Could you please explain the function of Foobar, Jriver, and Directsound? I was unclear from your post which combination of programs I would need to replace the functionality of iTunes.

Thanks in advance.

Meanwhile in the land of the simple, here are a few suggestions that I have been successful with.

First, since you mentioned a generic USB cable, there is a growing group who believe that upgrading the USB cable can make a nice difference.

The consensus entry point is the Belkin USB Gold which will set you back all of $15 if you google a bit. Moving up the food chain look to CryoParts, then to Locus Design Group. (Kimber and Ridge also have their proponents.)

I have found all but the most robust DACs (like the MF TriVista which has a massive power supply) to be very sensitive to power cords. There are of course specifically designed digital cords like the VH Audio Flavor 1/2. But most anything upscale should make a noticeable difference.

I have spent a lot of time playing with tweaks like an Aurio, Roller Ball, wood slabs etc. I have found that most of these units - especially the lighter ones - benefit from damping (weight on top) and isolation. I don't see draining vibration as a particular issue. Play with whatever you have around, see what makes a difference then focus on that approach.

To beg the obvious - the DAC is a source. It should have the best ICs in your system between it and the preamp - with the possible exception of the turntable.

As far as the computer itself... I am a Mac guy but I have to believe the following is relevant to PC owners as well.

I keep my Mac, monitors etc on an APC UPS. I use an audio grade power cord to the Mac tower. I installed a an extra USB card so that the DAC has its own dedicated output. Frankly I am not sure what that means in terms of processing but I am sure it ensures full voltage.

I keep all of my audio on a BPT power conditioner. Ideally it will be on a separate circuit from the computer gear. Essential - yes at least hypothetically.

Practically speaking having the PC gear on a UPC and the audio gear on a separate conditioner gets you most of the way there.

The last piece of advice I can give you is to get a Mac Mini for your music and enjoy life. When you need aggravation you can fire up the blue screen of death...

Then unmap the device that you are using (USB interface) to avoid kmixer. Instructions:

Go to Control Panel - System Hardware - Device Manager - Sound Video and Game Controllers – (your device) - Right-Click and select Properties - Audio Devices – (your device) - Properties - Set "Do not use audio features" and set "Do not map through this Device"

Interesting… Steve N. would doing the same thing be beneficial for: XP based PC/external hard drive – wireless router – Squeezebox Duet – external DAC? I assumed that I was bypassing my PC’s hardware/audio devices????

Just use the latest version of Foobar2000 (0.9.whatever). Those who are recommending earlier versions are fooling themselves.

DirectSound is one of the output options for most music programs (e.g. Foobar2000). If you are using Windows Vista or 7, DirectSound will be just fine. If you are using Windows XP, however, I recommend trying KernalStreaming. Forget about ASIO for now...it, like KernalStreaming, provides a way of bypassing DirectSound, but is generally more problematic, and few devices support it without some workaround.

I don't recommend using WAV or AIFF because 1) the files are larger, 2) they don't sound any better than a compressed format like FLAC or ALAC, 3) they lack proper tagging support so they are more difficult to deal with, and 4) they offer no indication of when the file has become corrupted due to hard drive problems (which is more common than you might think). Use a lossless compression format (I prefer FLAC) and KEEP BACKUPS OF YOUR ENTIRE COLLECTION ON A DIFFERENT COMPUTER (OR BACK-UP HARD DRIVE).

Also...a lot of so-called "experts" will tell you all kinds of things about computer-based audio. Most of them are just parroting something else they read on the internet. Make your own decisions about what sounds better (e.g. FLAC vs. WAV, DirectSound vs. KernalStreaming, Foobar2000 0.9.x vs. 0.8.3, etc.), preferably using blind tests (let a friend help you out with that to achieve some sense of blindness on your, or their, part). If you read about A being better than B then you will think you are hearing it when you try an A/B test...blind tests are the only ones you can trust, in my experience.

Let's see...what else...DACs in general are overrated as far as their significance in the overall sound of your system. Yes, they are important, but keep in mind most of them are based on the same few DAC chips, and therefore the sound differences between them is surprisingly small (blind tests will help you make this determination for yourself). This basic fact being brought into the light is Steve N.'s worst business nightmare, but it's the truth. Here's how I'd rank the importance of components in a computer system:

1. Speakers/Headphones - 80%
2. Amp - 12%
3. DAC - 7%
4. Cables and Power Quality - 0.75%
5. Software, Drivers, OS Version, Audio Data format - 0.25%