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cMP - the open source high-end Memory Player

41.183.0.21
Posted on December 30, 2007 at 05:42:01
cics
Audiophile

Posts: 1320
Joined: November 9, 2006
cMP

The open source high-end Memory Player

December 2007

Music delivery is perfected. cMP (cics Memory Player) delivers memory playback (without RAMDisk or other utilities) thereby eliminating disk interference during playback.

In creating cMP, its critical objective was the implementation of fundamental designs that:

  1. Remove disk traffic interference during playback without having the inconvenience of manually loading files into a virtual RAM drive, etc..
  2. Ensure time critical sample delivery to the external DAC. Streaming of samples from precision upsampled (to 24/96) sound buffers to the soundcard must be fast, lean and mean! There's no room for any bottlenecks or overheads here, otherwise we risk increasing jitter and compromise Bit Transparency.
  3. Provide better power supply and remove the need for a ferrite core on the mouse connection.
  4. Provide flexibility to choose any player (Foobar2000, Winamp etc.).
  5. Further minimize the Windows footprint to that more optimal than XP's Embedded SP2 operating system as used in large scale commercial applications. This provides the foundation for the 2nd design goal.
  6. Offer a CD/DVD-ROM drive without impacting sound quality.
  7. Offer proper remote usability as locating that mouse cursor from a distance is cumbersome.
  8. Contain costs but also allow for a complete elegant one box solution.

Such designs in theory should render a stunning sonic experience. Its implementation however was a massive challenge. Did this theory meet the sonic expectations? Yes as evidenced in cMP's bit perfect performance and ultra low jitter.

How does it sound? The most descriptive word that comes to mind is emotional. cMP's sonic purity is truly profound. It grips those musical lines across any genre with remarkable precision. Soundstage improves, there's better layering and even more ambient information. Bass is tighter, with natural vocals & instruments.

FRONT



BACK



More pictures and screenshots are available from the cMP documentation link provided below.

FEEDBACK

Pre-release testing by music lovers located all over the world yielded further insight and perfection of cMP.

  • A music lover based in the US with limited or no computer training:

    This has been a great way to learn about computers in addition to making something very useful for enjoying music.

    Compared to my ###### (read expensive high-end traditional CD transport), even with some tweaking and learning left to do, this sounds much better. Dynamic, yet relaxed (effortless?).

    I started listening last night at 7:00 and had to force myself to go to bed at twelve. Amazing spaciousness. It is truly getting close to GREAT analog and is much better than average analog already. It is simply amazing.

    I found your instructions easy to follow ONCE I understood what I was being told to do. To repeat, I have never done anything like this before, so your instructions were clear without resorting to "hand holding". I think the process was easier than you warned. I kept saying to myself, "that wasn't so bad!"

    After cMP:

    My only audio friends are very analogue-centric. Sometime in January I am going to have them over to audition the cMP. I think they are going to be amazed. Of course, I am confident that JULI@ is going to be the icing on the cake. If this takes the whole thing another step closer I think they will be grateful that one can enjoy listening to CD's as much as LP's. Of course, in many ways your approach does things even LP's cannot do. It is becoming a toss-up, but the best kind; one can enjoy either one equally well!

  • A music lover based in Europe with more than 2000 CDs:

    the quality of sound reproduction is quite amazing. My motivation for building was that I am not wealthy and could never dream of, let alone buy, a high-end CD player. Even this project was considerably more than I could properly afford and I began it with some trepidation. But it's been well worth it.

    After cMP:

    I spent several hours last night testing the latest cMP. I did several A/B runs with cMP on the one hand and Foobar launched via old batch files and reading direct from disk on the other. There is no doubt in my mind that the sound using cMP is a significant improvement even with my modest setup.

    The quality is quite stunning, significantly better than previous. (My partner agrees with this - she's no audio junkie but she is an informed music lover.)

  • A music lover based in Australia:

    I have been wanting to relay to you my own experience with your methods and give you some feedback . So far, I have found your approach produces very good results so I must convey to you my thanks and appreciation. At some point soon I will formalise my thoughts and send them to you or post them. I believe what you have done has become an excellent resource/asset to people interested in PC Audio.


FEATURES

  1. Disk traffic interference during playback is eliminated. Advanced RAM playback is based on available physical RAM (as reported by Task Manager or Process Explorer). This means up to 4GB (XP's limit) can be used allowing for 24/192 RAM playback. Recommendation is to use 1GB RAM (which yields available physical RAM of ~830MB - enough for any CD at 16/44.1). cMP achieves memory playback via the system cache and not through a simulated virtual drive. This approach removes Windows disk I/O overheads (irrespective of whether disk is physical or virtual) hence, it's more optimal.

  2. Extensive Windows & Player (Foobar2000 or other) optimizations yielding much lower jitter and bit perfect delivery. System level optimizations are done at runtime (which cannot be achieved using .bat files and utilities like Process Explorer). cMP is designed to work with 32 CPU cores!

  3. Open architecture. cMP allows for any player to be used: Foobar2000, XXHighEnd, Winamp etc. (player just needs to handle .cue files like foobar2000 otherwise play entire .wav). Any ripper software can be used (as long as it conforms to .cue single file standard like those created by EAC). Additional flexibility is provided, for example use cMP to drive your HTPC playing any movie from any genre (a .cue file for each .iso file is needed).

  4. All .cue files are processed by cMP which means the player focuses only on playing the CD. In Foobar2000, the album list control component is not needed. In techno speak this is called separation of concerns.

  5. Power delivery to the mobo is improved by further reducing interference. The need for a ferrite core is removed.

  6. Full function remote control using a wireless mouse is achieved. Your entire library can be navigated: play any CD, eject it, jump to any track or change volume. This is achieved using just ONE mouse button: the Wheel! Use the mouse as a normal one (left-click) or hold it in your hand (like a remote control) and wheel away using your thumb. Of course other buttons are used for more convenience. There's no need to find that tiny mouse cursor and left click! (You can still do this if needed).

  7. Your entire library that you so diligently ripped is fully compatible with cMP. No proprietary / lock-in stuff here which forces you to re-rip. Just point cMP to your music folders containing .cue and .wav files (or flac or other). cMP supports any content file as long as cue files are defined for them. For flac content files, the known EAC bug of adding an additional .flac suffix to the content file's name must be removed (otherwise your cue's content file directive will not be found).

  8. CD/DVD-ROM drive is implemented without compromising playback quality. For the purist, this can be unplugged without opening computer or rebooting.

Bottom line: cMP is a (one box) highly advanced memory player that's easy to setup and use. cMP's core strength lies in newly developed operating system software components (built in c/c++) that uses XP SP 2 as a foundation. Windows Explorer is done away with while cMP takes over and more. Bit perfect delivery is achieved yielding an ultra high resolution of more than 23.5 bits (a limitation in measuring instruments prevents measuring cMP's perfect resolution). DAC's have yet to achieve this resolution (as a minimum of 141db SNR is needed)! For cMP's bit perfect measurements, see (Bit Perfect Measurement & Analysis ).


GETTING STARTED

Visit cicsMemoryPlayer.com where you'll find detailed easy to follow instructions and much more.

Ensuring clean AC power delivery to equipment is very important. For DAC, pre-amp and amplifiers, use a dedicated AC circuit. For source equipment, use another AC circuit as this is where cMP's main PSU should be powered from. Use another less important AC circuit for powering cMP's 2nd dirty power inlet. Use of quality power cords and line conditioners is recommended.


Special thanks to those that provided such brilliant feedback and suggestions during pre-release testing. cMP's software is at version 1.0b as more feedback is desired. Your input, insights, criticisms, experiences and suggestions all help.

Thank you.

 

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    ...
RE: @bertel & telrab: Do you get improvement with additional Device Manager changes?, posted on March 22, 2009 at 15:11:01
Bertel
Audiophile

Posts: 83
Joined: February 12, 2009
 Although I'm still right in the process of burning in my newly installed all pure battery power supply for the P4 connector (first step, 24pin to follow next) as well as getting used to the sonic changes this brings, I think I can clearly say that I did not see any change when unchecking the Mouse-wakeup-property alone, but think I DO hear a change when disabling "System Management BIOS Driver" and "System Board". I would describe it as quite noticably more air, spatiousness and even more "correct" positioning, all in midrange events - if that's what you mean by "purity" we're probably experiencing the same, because these effects came together with a feeling that once more it's another tiny step towards perfection that made me notice that the listening experience feels again even more "right". Difficult to describe (even more so for a non-native English speaker...), but I think you get the point.

Now will try to disable the other system devices as well as per Dave's suggestion and also do the Registry changes.

 

Possible explanations for my 'metallic issue', posted on March 23, 2009 at 03:15:23
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 Following are somethoughts as to what is the root cause of my 'metallic issue'.

1) Its pure and simple the dac (a USB Benchmark).

Pros: I can make it go metallic through 2 digital cables while the
analogue out of the juli@ sails along with no issues @ 192/146.
Remember I can go metallic on the digital out of juli@(running 192/146)
and then w/o rebooting switch over to analogue out and no issue.

Cons: the metallics go away with reboot; use of fd for music files @
192/146 results in no issue; other cmp/cplay users use Benchmark-- they
have reported no issues like mine

2) Its the juli@ drivers that get corrupted

Pros: goes away with reboot, juli@ analogue out does not require drivers
(its all hooked up with hardware on the card)

Cons: Use of fd for music files ok @ 192/146

3) If 2 is true what causes drivers to go corrupt? Could be the processor
which could be what we used to call 'a minus 3 sigma' processor. That
is a processor that is way on the low side of the performance spectrum.

Pros: Explains why higher loaded cpu precipitates problem

Cons: Reboot solves issue for awhile


I guess my next step is to try a dac with 192 capability other than the Benchmark.

Anybody have ideas? I don't want to buy a new dac (costly) or a new soundcard (costly to go Lynx). Buying a new cpu is not too bad $ wise but don't want to do if this not root cause.

 

RE: @bertel & telrab: Do you get improvement with additional Device Manager changes?, posted on March 23, 2009 at 06:35:17
Ryelands
Audiophile

Posts: 1867
Location: Scotland
Joined: January 9, 2009
 bertel wrote:

Now will try to disable the other system devices as well as per Dave's suggestion and also do the Registry changes.

I look forward to hearing how you get on with these but do remember that they have been tested by me only so be sure to make them one at a time and to note what you disable in case you need to restore it.

Note also that the registry changes I described are cosmetic only and that I forgot to mention that the Control Panel one makes the CP inaccessible from the Start menu. Instead, type "Control" in the Run line.


Dave

 

Changes to System Devices, Registry, posted on March 23, 2009 at 06:54:02
Bertel
Audiophile

Posts: 83
Joined: February 12, 2009
 Hi Dave,

thanks for the "disclaimer" ;-) Yes, I did try them one at a time, and as was your experience (I too have the Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L) I also could disable the remaining system devices without any problem.

Please allow a very personal / highly speculative / probably rather placebo-wise "I hear what I want to hear" assessment of the effects as I perceived them: The immediate result was a meanwhile quite familiar one - while the 2 changes recommended by cics did bring the "predicted" results in midrange, the additional changes then were a bit "too much" at once and resulted in some harshness and a feeling of being "not quite right yet" - the usual situation when the system after some changes needs some time again to break in. It has done so for a few hours now, and things are starting to get smooth and mellow again.

I am a bit uneasy about reporting such tiny and VERY subjective effects, but we know how all these ever so little steps and improvements in our digital audio domain all have lead and still lead up to such a tremendous achievement as cMP/cPlay in fact is - and concept-wise the additional ones discussed here are also absolutely in line and therefore just "right" :-)

 

Do not disable the 3rd "Motherboard resources" device which is for PCI bus, posted on March 23, 2009 at 10:27:59
cics
Audiophile

Posts: 1320
Joined: November 9, 2006
 This will impact negatively on SQ. First 2 can be disabled.

 

Answer is option 1 (DAC1 is causing this at 192k input and not 96k or lower), posted on March 23, 2009 at 10:36:15
cics
Audiophile

Posts: 1320
Joined: November 9, 2006
 I wanted the analogue output test to verify this: Benchmark DAC1 experiences a re-sync when selecting another track or album but this seems to cause a DSP bug (which converts 192k to 110k). When doing a reboot, DAC does a "fresh" sync. In all other cases, DSP is upsampling to 110k - only when input is 176k or 192k, downsampling occurs.

FD is always "online" whilst HDD goes from idle to read state causing the system to pause hence why a resync is needed at DAC).

 

RE: Two more devices to disable, posted on March 23, 2009 at 10:46:46
cics
Audiophile

Posts: 1320
Joined: November 9, 2006
 PCI users must keep 3rd "Motherboard resources" enabled.

"DMA Controller" should always be enabled.

 

RE: Do not disable the 3rd "Motherboard resources" device which is for PCI bus, posted on March 23, 2009 at 11:04:50
Bertel
Audiophile

Posts: 83
Joined: February 12, 2009
 Oh wow - so the loss in sound quality that I could notice (as described above) was not due to the again required break in period but to these two devices (3rd "Motherboard resource" for PCI, and "DMA controller" as per your other post)?!

It DID work without instabilities, but that of course is not the point here - interesting that you can follow the rules of "less is more" too strictly and turn off too many things... ;-)

Thank you indeed for this very valuable advice - will sneak back and silently turn those two back on again... ;-)

 

I was hoping this was not the case., posted on March 23, 2009 at 11:21:06
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 I guess I will see if Benchmark will fix it. I'm wondering if others with Benchmarks experience this problem? I guess its time to get a Buffalo Sabre which has a way to input I2s.

Rickminnis: my apologies to you. You had suggested this before but I defended my beloved benchie.

 

What 192 capable dacs are others using with cplay?, posted on March 23, 2009 at 12:16:13
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 Appreciate some input.

 

Thank you so much for your help in diagnosing this issue, posted on March 23, 2009 at 12:23:51
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 You are a gentleman and a scholar (in the literal not figurative sense). If I have to get another dac (that is if Benchmark can't fix mine) I will do so so I don't have give up on cplay/cmp.

Thanks again for a wonderful player.

 

RE: I was hoping this was not the case., posted on March 23, 2009 at 13:39:57
RayBan
Audiophile

Posts: 111
Location: Vegas
Joined: February 12, 2009
 I am also using a Benchmark DAC1 PRE. Yesterday I was listening, off and on, and suddenly I noticed something like an echo and distortion in the right channel.

I had just had the HDD out to copy the C:/ partition and thought I had not secured it properly. I shutdown, repositioned the HDD on the mounts and started up again. Everything was now ok.

Makes me wonder if what cics is saying applies to all Benchmarks???

They have excellent CS and will probably look into your problem Theo. Ask them to tell you what they find.
RayBan

 

RE: What 192 capable dacs are others using with cplay?, posted on March 23, 2009 at 14:28:42
sondale
Audiophile

Posts: 100
Location: Surrey
Joined: July 28, 2008
 theob,

I am waiting for the new Buffalo - it seems to promise a lot - but no idea on the price just yet!

Alan

 

RE: What 192 capable dacs are others using with cplay?, posted on March 23, 2009 at 14:59:01
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 me too unless Benchmark can fix my dac

 

I'm very interested in comparing DAC1 to Juli@'s analogue outputs, posted on March 23, 2009 at 18:01:34
cics
Audiophile

Posts: 1320
Joined: November 9, 2006
 Can you test Juli@'s analogue outs to Amps? Either RCA or TRS (Balanced) can be used.

Also see this discussion for latest BIOS & Devices setup (in your case, host freq of 160 is safe but 150 is optimum). I'll update the usual revision post in cPlay once I'm happy with stability.

 

RE: I'm very interested in comparing DAC1 to Juli@'s analogue outputs, posted on March 24, 2009 at 02:34:32
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 ok I'm going to have to run this way after I send my dac back to Benchmark. I'm going to have to get some interconnect adapters so it may take a day or so. But yes I will do it.

 

Contacted Benchmark Media very good folks(like Elias Gwinn), posted on March 24, 2009 at 07:15:38
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 They indicate that through the spdif input the Benchmark is asynchronous and so the likely cause of my issue is not the Dac 1 losing sync. So to test that theory I've hooked up my oppo (which outputs 24/192) out of specially modded rca outs on the back panel. I bought it so I could listen to single layer sacd's.

I'm currently running a 24/192 source(IRobot on Classic HDAD--one side 24/192lpcm and one side 24/96 dvd) through the Benchmark to see if I get the 'metallics'. If I get the issue all agree that its the dac. If I don't, Benchmark believes its the digital stream coming out of the juli@.

When I ran the juli@ analogue outs sunday and compared to Dac 1, the Dac1 was connected via toslink to the Benchmark. But, for normal listening I usually run spdif out directly to the dac1 all the time because it sounds better that way.

We'll see.

At any rate Benchmark offered to bench test my dac to make sure its within spec.

 

Running 5 consecutive hours no problem, posted on March 24, 2009 at 11:49:44
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 I'll let it go 7 hours (which was how long I ran juli@ analogue out). But if this turns out not a problem I'm thinking it could be the cpu or mobo.

Cics would you agree with this assessment?

I want to understand true root cause so I can fix it.

 

Try this test, posted on March 24, 2009 at 15:43:17
cics
Audiophile

Posts: 1320
Joined: November 9, 2006
 Mobo and CPU are OK.

You have a sequence of actions that causes the problem. This time do same but before playing next track or album (i.e. before switching from stop / pause to play), switch inputs back & forth on DAC1, e.g. Toslink and then back to BNC (assuming this is the input being used). The idea is to force the DAC1 to do a sync. Start play - do you get the problem? If yes then its the SPDIF output on Juli@ otherwise its a DAC1 issue.

 

RE: Try this test, posted on March 24, 2009 at 17:58:05
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 Let me make sure I understand what you are saying:

Put cplay on pause or stop, toggle the Benchmark full cycle back to bnc. Play cplay. Ok I can do that. But why do you say that if it goes metallic its the juli@ stream, if not its the Benchmark? Don't understand that logic.

 

RE: Need feedback on this experimental setup for cMP², posted on March 24, 2009 at 18:56:39
GStew
Audiophile

Posts: 633
Location: NE Mississippi
Joined: September 21, 2001



cics,

I performed the bios changes fairly quickly after you first posted them and did not find a significant difference. But seeing the response of others AND seeing additional changes to make, I tried them again tonight. At first, with just the mouse changes, the device disables, and the bios changes alone, I was still not blown away. But your post on RAM timing got me to try different timings.

I started at 3-3-3-8 and it was ok. Up to 3-3-3-9 and it was a little too etched. Then down through 3-3-3-7 and 3-3-3-6 to 3-3-3-5 where I got a smoothness in the highs, an aliveness in the mids, and a stronger sense of PRAT in the bass and now I'm with it.

BTW, my cMP uses the recommended case/Mobo/HDD/processor/heatsink/memory/audio card and has all the customizations applied through Minlogon, but uses a linear/hybrid supply for the ATX24 connection and fully linear supplies for the P4 and two 'dirty' supplies, replacing the Granite Digital units. More on those in a different thread.

Greg in Mississippi

P.S. With each change like this, I go back through the bios and try both recommended CPU GTLREF Voltage Ratios... and always come back to preferring .566

 

Revenge of the Power Supply Follies..., posted on March 24, 2009 at 19:09:07
GStew
Audiophile

Posts: 633
Location: NE Mississippi
Joined: September 21, 2001






I've spent the last 1 1/2 weeks working up a pair of linear supplies to replace the Granite Digital 'dirty' supplies.

I'll do a full report later, likely this weekend, but I have several learnings to pass along on this:

1. They DO make a significant difference... not as much as the linear/hybrid on the ATX-24 and a pure linear on the P4, but a close third. Lower hash, greater clarity, better dynamics.

2. Quality of these supplies is VERY important. I first did them with 'ok' caps, thinking they wouldn't be important. After two incremental upgrades to better caps, I bit the bullet and rebuilt them with full-monty audiophile-ish caps... Jensen 4-pole at the diode bridges and Black Gates at the regulator outputs. And only then did the tonality start to sound right... and it's gotten better as they break-in. I still have a hard time believing that the quality of this supply makes as much difference as it does!

3. Plugging the 'dirty' supplies into a separate AC line produces the best results, even when using linear dirty supplies AND various powerline conditioners.

4. The Granite Digital units are really pretty good, providing a 'phatter' bass, but less definition and detail top-to-bottom than good linear supplies. But the Granite Digital units do have a very listenable tonal balance and don't have any glaring bad habits.

More later!

Greg in Mississsippi

 

Juli@ Follies..., posted on March 24, 2009 at 20:44:55
GStew
Audiophile

Posts: 633
Location: NE Mississippi
Joined: September 21, 2001
 10/10/09 Updates...

I've the following info to my Juli@ Follies post below:

1. Info about one more regulator chip on the analog card which appears to power what appear to be the mixer chips, U24 and U26.

2. Info about the balanced outputs and the unbalanced and balanced inputs.

3. Info about the use of 5v on the digital card

4. Preliminary notes on where the outputs from the DAC go.


This all was prompted by:

1. I'm modifying a Juli@'s analog balanced outputs for another inmate, so I needed info on the balanced side.

2. I suspect there are some additional gains available by upgrading that last regulator chip that provides the negative rail to the mixer chips... the positive rail for those chips are covered by U10.

3. Replacing the output muting transistors with relay-based ones is a common modification for circuits such as this, providing some sonic gains.

4. I strongly suspect if one is using the Juli@ just as an output device, there are some serious sonic gains available by bypassing the mixers and output circuitry and taking the DAC output to a simplified and more direct output stage. I have this on my queue of Juli@ mods to try.

I hope this information will be useful for others!

Ok... I haven't abused one of my Juli@'s with my soldering iron... yet. But it's just a matter of time

What I did do is spend a bit of time poking around the Juli@ and wanted to report what I found... and also gather info others have posted into one place.

What's prompting this is the imminent arrival (I hope) of an I2S-connected DAC. It's not a commercial product, but just a tweaked set of boards as used by one of the EQ modifiers. I'm hopeful that this DAC will work well driven by the Juli@ as it is based on the AK4399, a similar DAC to the AK4358 that's already used in the Juli@.

I needed to find the reset pin in the J3 header, one that I haven't found identified in previous posts on various forums in the past. So I pulled out my trusty meter and started poking around... and then wanted to confirm some of the other pins... and then find the +-12v pins... And then kept going... and this is what I found:


J3 connector signal pinout (note much of this is taken from the Head-Fi post http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/easy-i2s-juli-pci-sound-card-242285/):

J3 Pin 1 -> 1724 PSDOUT[0] ( I2S data out) -> AK4358 SDTI1 (I2S data in)

J3 Pin 5 -> 1724 PSYNC ( I2S Word Clock ) -> AK4358 LRCK (I2S Left/Right Word clock)

J3 Pin 7 -> 1724 PBCLK ( I2S bit clock out ) -> AK4358 BICK ( I2S bit clock in )

J3 Pin 9 - > Xilinx on the digital board -> AK4358 MCLK ( I2S Master Clock in )

J3 Pin 11 - > Xilinx & AK4114 on the digital board - > AK4358 PCN (Reset)


J1 connector power supply pinout (note much of this is taken from the Head-Fi post cited above and some is taken from this Asylum post http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/t.mpl?f=pcaudio&m=35497):

J1 Pins 1 & 3 -> +12v

J1 Pins 7 & 9 > -12v

J1 Pin 2 -> +5v

J1 Pin 10 -> +3.3v

J1 Pins 4, 5, 6, 8 -> grounds


PCI power supply connections (note some of this is stated in this Asylum post http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/t.mpl?f=pcaudio&m=35497 . Also, a good source for the PCI pinout is here http://pinouts.ru/Slots/PCI_pinout.shtml):

First of all, the Juli@ only uses the +5v and +-12 lines from the PCI bus. If you look carefully at the pins specified as 3.3v on the Juli@ edge connection, you'll see that the conductive fingers are not connected to the board. This simplifies hooking the Juli@ up to a separate power supply... here's the PS pins:

B1 - > -12v
A2 - > +12v
B5, A5, B6, A8, B61, A61, B62, A62 - > +5v

While there are a number of +5v pins that will need intercepting to inject the 5v from a separate power supply, it's a LOT easier than if you also had to connect up twelve +3.3v lines too!


Digital card power supply notes (note some of this is stated in this Asylum post http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/t.mpl?f=pcaudio&m=35497):

U1 regulates 5v to 3.3v, with the first pin connected to ground, the second the output, and the third to the 5v bus. C1 & C3 are input filtering capacitors and C2 is the output filtering capacitor.

Also note these comments from a poster titled 'marcello' (from a post on this forum, sorry, I didn't dig it up to cite directly):

"Upgrading digital section:

Locate a good "audiophile"clock oscillator manufacturer. There are multiple offers available on the internet, varying from LC, Audiocom, etc. In NL, Audioart is making a VERY good clock but I'm not sure if they are selling it separately. If not I can intermediate.

I will come with my own clock this summer. 12V and the lowest noise and jitter you've heard of.

Two clocks are needed, one for 22.5792MHz and 1 for 24.576MHz. Replace the existing crystals (x1 and X2)with the corresponding clock oscillators. Power these external clock oscillators by a very good linear supply, or even a lead acid battery if the required voltage is 12Vdc.

Solder a 220uF/10V SG or SH OsCon capacitor from U6, AKM's 4114 chip AVDD pin 38 to ground. Best is to do this on the underside of the board, across BC25. Negative to the solder pad nearest to the "BC25" text.

Solder a 220uF/10V SG or SH OsCon capacitor across C8; positive to the pad towards text "C9", negative to pad towards text "C8".

These measures take care of the most basic limitations of the sound quality of the Juli@ card."


Analog card digital power supply notes:

U10 regulates +12v down to 5v for the digital chips and the mixer chips on the analog card, with the same pinout as U1 above, G O I. C13 is the +12v input filter capacitor and C14 the +5v output filtering capacitor. C16, C46, C17, and C85 are local filters for this rail.


Analog card analog power supply notes

U11 regulates +12v down to +9v, with pin 1 the +12v input (the pin towards the center of the card), pin 2 the output, and the tab ground. C18 is the +12v input filter and C19 the +9v output filter.

U13 regulates -12v down to -9v. with the tab the -12v input, pin 1 the ground (the pin towards the center of the card) and pin 2 the output. C22 is the -12v input filter and C22 -9v output filter.
U14 regulates -9v down to -5v(?), with a pinout of G I O. C24 is the -9v input filter and I haven't found (although I haven't looked very hard!) an output filter. It provides -5v to the chips I believe do the mixing, U24 & U26. They get their +5 from U10.


Analog card analog input circuitry notes

U15 and U16 are the unbalanced input opamps and I believe U17, U19, U20, and U21 are the balanced, I haven't traced this section much. C29 C34, C37, and C42 are the unbalanced input coupling caps and I don't believe the balanced input has coupling caps. I suspect Q1 and Q3 are the balanced output muting transistors and D2, D3, D4, and D5 provide some protection for the unbalanced inputs, but these are just guesses. The balanced and unbalanced input circuits look to be very different from each other.


Analog card analog output circuitry notes

U22 and U23 are the unbalanced output opamps and U25 and U27 are the balanced. C70 and C73 are the unbalanced output coupling caps and C76, C79, C81, and C83 are the balanced output coupling caps. Q5 and Q6 are the unbalanced output muting transistors, while Q7, Q8, Q9, and Q10 mute the balanced outputs.


Analog card DAC output circuitry notes

Although I haven't documented the details yet, I've traced the outputs from the AK4358 DAC to two vertical rows of components on the backside of the card, the rows starting with R71 and R76. The 4 sets of outputs (R&L, +&-) are found on the side of the components away from the part identifications.


Separate Power Supply Voltage Insertion Points (note that this is inspired by and includes the information posted by Alfred in this post http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/t.mpl?f=pcaudio&m=49122 ):

DVCC1 - 5v into both digital and analog cards (Note that the 5v IS used by several chips on digital card in addition to regulator U1, such as U2 and U8. I've never tried it, but I suspect it will not work correctly if you don't supply 5v to the card in addition to the 3.3v. So if you feed it 3.3v separate from the PCI buss, either leave the 5v connections to the PCI buss or feed the card 5v separately (Note this is different than what I published before!).

Also be aware that the analog card uses both the 5v and the 3.3v, along with +12v & -12v.

P3V3D1 - 3.3v out of U1 regulator. Can be used as an insertion point for 3.3v to both the digital and analog cards by removing U1

DGND1 - Digital card ground

AGND1 & AGND2 - Analog card grounds. Use 1 if you are using the balanced outs, 2 if you are using the RCAs

P12V1 - +12v into the analog card

NVA1 - -12v into the analog card

P5VA1 - +5v out of regulator U10, which regulates from the +12v rail

PVA1 - +9v out of regulator U11, which regulates from the +12v rail

C19 - The side of this capacitor away from the center of the board is also the +9v out of regulator Ull

C23 - The side of this capacitor away from the center of the board is the -9v out of regulator U13

R29 (open pad on my Juli@) - the side of this set of resistor pads away from the 'R29' is an insertion point for the +12v

R32 (open pads on my Juli@) - the side of this set of resistor pads towards the center of the board is an insertion point for -12v


With all this information, modifying the Juli@ will be a snap.

So what do I plan to do with it?

Sorry, that'll have to wait for another night, I need to go back to work for awhile.

Greg in Mississippi

 

Summary of Juli@ mods, posted on March 24, 2009 at 22:06:40
cics
Audiophile

Posts: 1320
Joined: November 9, 2006
 I've posted this in another thread.

 

RE: Revenge of the Power Supply Follies..., posted on March 25, 2009 at 01:18:49
Bertel
Audiophile

Posts: 83
Joined: February 12, 2009
 Greg,

now that's really interesting! I see from your pic in the other thread that (since it's the 'dirty' PS) you use this to power USB and HDD with it, right? Anything else?

Now: Apart from the USB bit, is there anywhere the power from this PS comes near the mobo / soundcard / CPU ? I have been under the impression since that this 'dirty' PS doesn't affect the 'clean' circuit and thus SQ in any way, so I try to understand and am looking for possible explanations why it in fact DOES matter. Do you (or others) already have any ideas on this...?

I have made a contrary experience: In my setup, the only two "outside world connections" to the mobo (Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L, apart from P4 and p24 of course which I power with battery PS) are the SATA cable and the USB cable which I have modded as recommended to receive power from the Granite Digital piece. I have a "regular" mouse with a cord (no wireless) as only USB device (unplugging doesn't have any effect on SQ), 7" LCD in my Zalman case is only taking 12V power in, touch surface is not used. So all in all a rather "purist" setup. I power my SSD, the USB two-pin plus the 12V line for the LCD screen all from one Granite Digital. Now: I have tested and experienced that it doesn't make any difference in SQ, noise, interference etc. if I use the Granite, a linear PS, a very cheap wall wart - or if I unplug the Molex for LCD and USB altogether (SATA plug for SSD of course has to remain connected)! So maybe the HD is the difference between our two cases? Would really be interested to find out - there surely is another valuable learning behind this! :-)

Cheers,
Robert

 

RE: @bertel & telrab: Do you get improvement with additional Device Manager changes?, posted on March 25, 2009 at 03:18:11
telrab


 
Cics,

The additional changes give a clearly noticable improvement in SQ: a more delicate and detailed midrange, the 'S'-sound in voices is more prominent as well. I now tend to push the volume even louder.

Thanks!

 

What happened to the documentation?, posted on March 25, 2009 at 03:47:22
Apokalypse
Audiophile

Posts: 222
Location: Victoria
Joined: April 1, 2005
 It's all gone...

 

RE: What happened to the documentation?, posted on March 25, 2009 at 04:25:05
Bertel
Audiophile

Posts: 83
Joined: February 12, 2009
 Hi Apo,

just checked and tried the link provided in cics' starting post - the documentation IS there, but maybe you couldn't find it: Click on the small image just below "Start Slideshow", then "Open this PDF" on the next page, and voila, you'll have the 6 page cMP documentation! :-)

I hope you'll find this interesting and can convince yourself to give it a try - the results will be amazing, many if not all of us here have had the chance and luck to experience this, and you'll find help and support here whenever you need it!

Regards,
Robert

 

update on testing, posted on March 25, 2009 at 04:27:08
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 Oppo went 8 hours with no problems

Tried recycling or toggling input switch on dac & cannot precipitate issue. But I can't understand the logic of this test. I can sometimes go anywhere from 5 -30 minutes before I get issue on normal listening. I only toggle within a 5 second interval.

I'm noticing when I get the issue is usually right at point where I believe cplay is switching off/on to get more data from hdd (right around the 2:00 minute mark) or at the beginning of a new track.

 

RE: cMP can't taskkill explorer.exe - RPC server displayed as running but in fact unavailable.., posted on March 25, 2009 at 04:34:44
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 Hi Robert I was able to format, partition new hdd by re-enabling Dcom in services.

 

RE: Summary of Juli@ mods, posted on March 25, 2009 at 06:10:01
GStew
Audiophile

Posts: 633
Location: NE Mississippi
Joined: September 21, 2001
 Thanks sir.

I'd used some of those posts as starting points for the information I posted. My hope is to take the Juli@ even farther than described in these posts... ultimately including powering it from a separate set of linear power supplies. Even though I have a separate DAC card coming, I believe that the Juli@ is capable of much better performance than what one gets with a stock card powered from the computer's busses.

At a high level, Here's my roadmap...

Phase I - Improve PS filtering by replacing the input and output caps on the two digital and two analog regulators.

Phase II - Improve analog signal transfer by replacing the output coupling caps.

Phase III - Clean up the power supply by cutting the links to the motherboard's power buses and feed the card with separate linear analog & digital supplies.

Phase IV - Further improve the power by replacing the on-board chip regulators with upgraded discrete regulators.

I have parts either in-house or on order to do the first two phases and hope to be able to report on them after this weekend.

Greg in Mississippi

 

RE: Summary of Juli@ mods, posted on March 25, 2009 at 06:13:01
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 Are you running analogue out, no exrernal dac?

 

RE: Revenge of the Power Supply Follies..., posted on March 25, 2009 at 06:23:50
GStew
Audiophile

Posts: 633
Location: NE Mississippi
Joined: September 21, 2001



That is very interesting information, Robert. In my setup, these two supplies power the LCD, the USB (for the wireless mouse and the touchscreen), and the HDD.

One of the transformers is setup to produce ~18v which is fed to a 12v regulator which powers the LCD and the regulated 12v is fed to a 5v regulator which powers the on-board USB header that supplies the wireless mouse and touch-screen.

The other transformer produces ~9v which is fed to a second 5v regulator and it powers the HDD.

Because these are all plug-connected, I can try mixing and matching various combinations of the Granite Digital units with these linear supplies. I have gone back and forth between both linear 'dirty' supplies and both GD units, but I have not tried combinations of them. Possibly I can do that this weekend.

And no, I really don't have a good explanation for why this supply makes a difference... and why the quality of the supply's components is important. I really didn't want to spend the time last week and weekend to rebuilt the supply 3 times... but it wasn't satisfactory until I finally relented and used 'audiophile' components. Your suggestion that the harddrive may be responsible is a good line for inquiry. Sorry, I won't be purchasing an SSD to try this out in the near future!

I can also try a wired USB mouse to see if that makes any difference.

Greg in Mississippi

P.S. I just edited the post to add the picture... sorry, I'd intended to put it in when I first replied. It shows the inside of my cMP2 with both sets of linear supplies.

 

RE: update on testing 2, posted on March 25, 2009 at 06:33:12
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 Got further input from Benchmark

However, try his test anyway, so that we may rule out the DAC1. When the metallic sound is there, try switching inputs. Try power cycling the DAC1 (remove the power cord). Try unplugging the cable from the DAC1’s digital input and then re-plugging the cable. If any of these causes the problem to go away, then the DAC1 may be the culprit. Otherwise, the problem is with the digital outputs on your card.

Tried them all & it didn't make issue go away.

Cics do you agree with above? Tried your test which suggests dac and Benchmark's test which suggests its the juli@ digital stream..



 

That's a similar test - looks like spdif out of Juli@ is causing this, posted on March 25, 2009 at 06:43:55
cics
Audiophile

Posts: 1320
Joined: November 9, 2006
 Could be a design fault which means buying a new Juli@ won't solve it. Doing I2S out could work as this is what we tested with analogue outs & headphones.

 

RE: Revenge of the Power Supply Follies..., posted on March 25, 2009 at 06:47:15
Bertel
Audiophile

Posts: 83
Joined: February 12, 2009
 Greg,

thanks for giving these details!

Absolutely, it would be great if you could find the time to do this "swapping test". I would be very interested in your findings if both of those two power rails make a difference in your setup (and in which way), or if "only" the PS for the HDD makes the difference - that would then be much in line with my results. Wired versus wireless mouse shouldn't make a difference at all - you can easily check by just unplugging the small sender or whatever you have there and see if it matters, in my case it doesn't. HDD probably is the path to follow - we'll see from your results!

I in turn would love to do this "swapping test" myself but currently can't - on my 5V "dirty" line there's only the USB power with a mouse connected, and I haven't managed yet to power this with any external PS I tried - it only works when there is also power draw from the SSD... Strange behavior which I simply can't understand, there surely is a solution to this but I had put this back for reason of other more important things to do (battery PS that is). If you now find that choosing a "proper" power supply for HD makes a difference then I'll have to be back on it to check what your results mean for SSD... ;-)

Cheers,
Robert

 

Make sure to hit Next for "Installation Guide & User Manual" as well (18 pages). nt, posted on March 25, 2009 at 06:47:24
cics
Audiophile

Posts: 1320
Joined: November 9, 2006
 .

 

RE: Summary of Juli@ mods, posted on March 25, 2009 at 06:50:43
GStew
Audiophile

Posts: 633
Location: NE Mississippi
Joined: September 21, 2001
 Theob,

Yes, I'm using the analog out of the Juli@. I'm actually very impressed with the SQ I'm getting, but I know it can be improved. I suspect that with better power supply bypassing and output coupling, it will rival many outboard DACs... and with separate linear supplies and upgraded regulators, it will beat most of them.

We'll just have to see. That's one of the main reasons I got a spare Juli@ card.

Later!

Greg in Mississippi

P.S. I should also say that the DAC I'm getting is just a circuit board with a seperate board for regulators. Since it will be connected via the I2S connection, which others have said is not very strong in the Juli@, I'll be locating it inside the computer case just beside the motherboard. Since it will start out with an upgraded chip in a minimalistic implementation, higher-end regulators and a separate set of power supplies, I do expect it will beat the Juli@'s internal DAC, even after modifying the Juli@'s analog circuitry.

 

RE: Two more devices to disable, posted on March 25, 2009 at 06:59:49
cics
Audiophile

Posts: 1320
Joined: November 9, 2006
 The 2 other remaining "Motherboard resources" should be enabled - this affects south bridge chipset.

 

Test on GTLREF voltage ratios is useful, posted on March 25, 2009 at 07:05:14
cics
Audiophile

Posts: 1320
Joined: November 9, 2006
 I leave mine on 0.566 and haven't tested others when doing these changes.

Look at switching to SSD from HDD - this should make a bigger difference in your setup. Robert also uses SSD.

 

RE: Test on GTLREF voltage ratios is useful, posted on March 25, 2009 at 08:30:52
GStew
Audiophile

Posts: 633
Location: NE Mississippi
Joined: September 21, 2001
 cics,

Replacing the HDD with an SSD is in my upgrade plans, but my intention was to wait a bit (as the prices continue to come down) and do that after I build a custom case where I can better control vibrations and shielding between sections of the cMP.

And that's all after I have spent some time upgrading the Juli@ and installing the DAC boards I mentioned.

One question... do you know if anyone has compared the sound of a cMP with an E7200 vs an E7300? I have both available, the E7200 is currently in my cMP, and I'm wondering if it's worth swapping it out.

Greg in Mississippi

P.S. I am convinced of the benefit of eliminating the spinning drive due to an experience I've had a number of times... sometimes after I have made a change to my cMP, when I close it up, it won't sound right. Almost always, I go back inside and find that I have the HDD up against one of the internal standoffs and vibrations are getting fed back into the case. Moving it so it is on the isolation feet underneath it and not touching one of those 'non-removable' internal standoffs in the Zalman always fixes the sound.

 

E7xxx processor all have same basic specifications (3MB Cache, Dual Core, VIDs, FSB) but different frequency, posted on March 25, 2009 at 09:39:51
cics
Audiophile

Posts: 1320
Joined: November 9, 2006
 It would be a waste to change within 'family' rather wait for next generation 35nm processor technology which would offer less power consumption.

Why don't you store HDD in 3.5" bay - just use a 2.5" to 3.5" bracket.

 

RE: E7xxx processor all have same basic specifications (3MB Cache, Dual Core, VIDs, FSB) but different frequency, posted on March 25, 2009 at 10:14:42
GStew
Audiophile

Posts: 633
Location: NE Mississippi
Joined: September 21, 2001



Ok. I was just curious as I had an E7300 processor available (it's in my ripping PC) and could change it pretty easily.

On the harddrive, I had it in the 3.5" bay with a homemade adapter that provided some vibration isolation (see attached picture). But when the drive touched the sides of the bay instead of being isolated, I noticed a SQ reduction. So I went to the setup in my picture in my previous post... the HDD is mounted to a bamboo block which sits on 4 isolators and has a damping weight on top. This works well as long as it's not pushed against the standoffs... which can happen when I am changing between the GD dirty supplies and the linear dirty supply and don't remember to check it's position.

Also, I figure anything that's not in the case won't be able to vibrate and possibly affect SQ.

Greg in Mississippi

 

RE: Need feedback on this experimental setup for cMP², posted on March 25, 2009 at 11:12:26
GStew
Audiophile

Posts: 633
Location: NE Mississippi
Joined: September 21, 2001
 cics,

I forgot to mention that I'm running 192 oversampling with FLAC files and have had not hiccups or stutters since dropping the host frequency to 150.

Greg in Mississippi

 

Minlogon: Segers method help, posted on March 25, 2009 at 12:28:59
Dawnrazor
Audiophile

Posts: 12592
Location: N. California
Joined: April 9, 2004
 I just did this and have a blue screen. I followed the steps exactly. Anyhow, I pulled the hdd and swapped the winlog.exe.bak and winlog.exe (actually minlog) and renamed.

The system booted fine.

I think the registry changes aren't being made. XPlite shows that WFP is disabled this is with xp2 and the reg file was correct and saved to .reg. I ran it and it asked me if I wanted to save the changes to the registry, etc.

But in the registry I dont see an option that says "config". Is that what it would show if it was implemented?

HOw can I get the registry to change. I am pretty sure the files are right at least they are the right size.

Also just in case this is not the gigabyte mobo if it makes a difference this is an asus.

Help!

 

RE: Minlogon: Segers method help, posted on March 25, 2009 at 13:00:14
seger
 Did you check for the Config line in registry before restarting? It's good to doublecheck everything when it's your first time - like check that a new winlogon with its odd icon doesn't appear at the end of the files in system32 several seconds after renaming. If so, WFP is not disabled. Creating the registry entry can also be done manually - go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon. Right click in the right-hand pane, click on New and select DWORD, name it Config and give it the value 00000017 That's where you check for the Config line after running the .reg file you made. Just don't restart until you are very sure everything has been done correctly.

 

P.S., posted on March 25, 2009 at 13:15:48
seger
 your situation illustrates why it is good to have an extra system partition - you can get into the other system to repair mistakes, without the hassle of removing drives. It's even possible to edit the registry of the other system!

 

THANKS!!! That was it, posted on March 25, 2009 at 13:40:34
Dawnrazor
Audiophile

Posts: 12592
Location: N. California
Joined: April 9, 2004
 The registry didnt have the change for some reason. It said it had been updated but I guess not.

I made the config addition and changed the files back and viola it worked.

I noticed that there were some things missing from the desktop, and the color is a bit off...from blue to green. Is that normal?

Also, am I done??? Anything else to do or check at this point?

It does sound better at this point. YOu guys werent kidding about winlog getting in the way of the sound.

Thanks for the help!!

 

How to edit registry to access disk manager, posted on March 25, 2009 at 13:45:19
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 I have a dual boot setup as you recommend. I cannot access Computer Management from my cMP partition with minlogon (though I thought I had been able to do so in the past), so I can't get to services to turn any back on so I can access disk manager. Is there a way this can be done via editing the registry (or some other way) from the other partition?

 

Listening to juli@'s analogue outputs, posted on March 25, 2009 at 13:59:58
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 It sounds very very good. I'm not sure how it compares to Dac1 yet, my initial impression is that its not as good. But I'll listen for awhile and make a final judgement later. Oh heck the analogue part of the card is not even broken in. The final assessment will take several days.

Initially very very surprisingly good though.

 

RE: How to edit registry to access disk manager, posted on March 25, 2009 at 14:01:14
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 try enabling Dcom in services. Worked for me

 

RE: THANKS!!! That was it, posted on March 25, 2009 at 14:04:16
seger
 Settings to do over: Folder options - all settings except offline files; Mouse settings; Display settings - all except Resolution and dpi; System Properties > Performance > Settings > Visual Effects: Tick "Adjust for best performance. Also do registry: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\ Desktop - MenuShowDelay set value to 1
Luckily you don't have to do BIOS or Device Manager changes again. You will probably want to customize the Start Menu/Taskbar (right click Start > Properties) and maybe cleanup Start Menu folders (right click Start > Explore) Quicklaunch doesn't work in minlogon.

 

RE: How to edit registry to access disk manager, posted on March 25, 2009 at 14:27:30
seger
 But you can get into your cMP system, so shouldn't need to do remote registry editing. Probably (guessing here) you inadvertently disabled Logical disk manager Service - leave it on manual, stopped, and it will come into play when called. Start DCOM and you can get to Disk management.
In general, leave Services on Manual unless they start themselves when you reboot or will not stop without disabling.

 

RE: How to edit registry to access disk manager, posted on March 25, 2009 at 14:37:44
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 I cannot access Services, as I said, so I can't do what you suggest. That is the problem. I have tried every way I can think of but still cannot get to Services to make changes.

 

RE: Make sure to hit Next for "Installation Guide & User Manual" as well (18 pages). nt, posted on March 25, 2009 at 14:43:22
Apokalypse
Audiophile

Posts: 222
Location: Victoria
Joined: April 1, 2005
 Thanks bertel and cics!

It is indeed there. Oops.

Look forward to implementing one of these solutions thanks.

 

RE: How to edit registry to access disk manager, posted on March 25, 2009 at 14:54:41
seger
 Maybe corruption in Windows. services.msc file is in system32 folder. If you can't open it with Run > services.msc, you could go to system32 folder and see if it runs from there.

 

RE: THANKS!!! That was it, posted on March 25, 2009 at 15:00:53
Dawnrazor
Audiophile

Posts: 12592
Location: N. California
Joined: April 9, 2004
 Cool.

One last thing.

I noticed that there are still some things that are installed that seem to be unnecessary. DO I really need the calculator for instance? Or does it not matter now?

Thanks.

 

RE: THANKS!!! That was it, posted on March 25, 2009 at 15:08:41
seger
 Depends how good you are at maths (!) Nah - doesn't matter - it's the stuff that could use the system when you aren't looking that you have to get rid of.

 

RE: How to edit registry to access disk manager, posted on March 25, 2009 at 15:16:20
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 It won't run either of those ways.

 

RE: How to edit registry to access disk manager, posted on March 25, 2009 at 15:40:05
seger
 How inconvenient! You don't want to go to registry every time to alter services. Try to find an expert solution to opening services.msc via google. In the meantime, if you want to start DCOM this once, go to HKLM\CurrentControlSet\Services\DcomLaunch and set the Start line value to 2
This should change it to Automatic and it starts itself on reboot - but this is at your own risk, as you clearly have a system problem. I would try things for a while, but be prepared for a system rebuild as the final solution.

 

RE: How to edit registry to access disk manager, posted on March 25, 2009 at 16:05:14
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 Thanks. I will try this tomorrow after I let someone hear my setup, since it may be offline when I do, as you warned. I too see a reinstall in my future. It would help to know how to turn on Logical disk manager Service as well, if as theob suggested it is off.

 

RE: P.S., posted on March 25, 2009 at 17:37:04
Dawnrazor
Audiophile

Posts: 12592
Location: N. California
Joined: April 9, 2004
 Yeah. If I had to do this over again, I would probably have at least 2 if not more partitions. I am thinking one with a clean install, one after say autoruns and before minlog, and one for minlog. That way it would be easy to listen to the differences of the different steps and be ready to rebuild if needed. And silence the dbt people :)

 

External 24 BIT/192KHz DAC, posted on March 25, 2009 at 20:28:49
sozeh
Audiophile

Posts: 2
Location: Central SP Brazil
Joined: March 19, 2009
 ** Posted on a wrong thread. cics, in his kind answer below, advised me
** to post it here.
I know almost nothing about computers. I'm on the way of building myself a PC transport following cics' instructions and, in the process, trying to minimize blunders caused by my ignorance.
I have an EXTERNAL [24 BIT/192KHz] DAC/Preamp in my stereo set up. It has SPDIF inputs, optical and coaxial; no RCA inputs.
I couldn't find SPDIF outputs on the motherboards cics recommends.
Is there a micro ATX, VIA based, low cost, low power consuption motherboard, running cool, with SPDIF outputs which could meet cics' demands?
Prior to that: is a (PC motherboard) SPDIF output able to send its signal to my DAC so that the DAC processes that signal and feeds 24 BIT/192KHz to the Amp? In other words: do I run the risk of finding a bottleneck to 24/192 playback when using SPDIF outputs?
By the way: what kind of output(s) have the motherboards cics recommends(when using them with external DAC)? RCAs or 6.3 / 3.5mm for stereo jacks?
Thanks in advance for helping me and I apologize if my doubts cause derision.

~ ~ ~
Re your questions (Posted by cics):
P4M900 VIA mobo does not offer digital out (strangely, P4M890 does via mobo header but is limited to 48k). These mobos have been updated to latest Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2C or GA-G31M-S2L which does not offer digital out. Instead, you need to install a soundcard - ESI's Juli@ is a good start and is capable of 24/192k SPDIF out via RCA.

 

RE: P.S., posted on March 26, 2009 at 02:34:26
seger
 On my main system I have 4 partitions on one HDD - 3 systems and one for music, etc. I use one for cPlay/cMP, one for other players/cMP - both are left in cMP mode. The other system is left at its desktop for general chores - e.g. transferring in new files, and for making playlist cuesheets which I then play in one of the other systems after a reboot. It's interesting to compare to listen for changes, as you say, and also to compare different players, asio vs. ks, different drivers, etc. But only to satisfy myself - not to convince anyone, except maybe to try for themselves.

 

Great post; I'll bookmark this for later potential use. nt, posted on March 26, 2009 at 02:36:41
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 .

 

RE: How to edit registry to access disk manager, posted on March 26, 2009 at 02:38:26
seger
 disk manager is in same place - "dmadmin" - set it to 3 for manual, (4 is disabled)

 

RE: That's a similar test - looks like spdif out of Juli@ is causing this, posted on March 26, 2009 at 02:52:56
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 I can confirm another juli@ won't fix (tried it and got same problem). Do you know of anybody else that has this issue? Reason I ask is maybe its an interaction. Maybe a better processor will fix. When the 35 nm processors come out I'll try as long as they are compatible with the Gigabyte mobo.

Again thanks for all your help. Even though I don't have a clean solution I do have several workarounds. Listening to juli@ analogue outs, while not fully broken, is a delight. Perhaps not as extended nor dynamic as Benchmark, juli@ analogueout is very sweet/delicate. Once broken in I will lower host clock control to 150.

 

RE: Two more devices to disable, posted on March 26, 2009 at 03:21:28
seger
 Is this what you're referring to? Right click Start button > Porperties > Start Menu tab > bullet Start menu > Customize > Advanced tab: untick My Network Places, and anything else you don't want to see. My Start menus usually look like this:

 

RE: Two more devices to disable, posted on March 26, 2009 at 04:36:45
Ryelands
Audiophile

Posts: 1867
Location: Scotland
Joined: January 9, 2009
 seger wrote:

Is this what you're referring to?

Possibly - but the method is not, as far as I can see, available to users of the Windows "Classic" desktop.

I wanted to rid cMP's browsing GUI of XP-derived clutter but "tips" off a variety of web sites proved flakey (though TweakUI is fine for hiding system partitions). However, I found the Registry edits I cited to be reliable: it's a tiny cosmetic point, no more.

On a more substantive note, as cutting system power consumption is a cMP2 design goal, users might like to try this simple "optimisiation".

Measure the power drawn by the monitor as its brightness is turned down. (How to do this depends on whether your monitor is mains- or DC-powered.)

At first, the draw falls as the brightness is cut but it then levels off. Obviously, stop just as it starts to level off. At it is probably now a shade dark, raise the contrast slightly to restore legibility as that doesn't increase the draw.

I cut the power consumed by my monitor by about a third this way.

Best

Dave

 

RE: Two more devices to disable, posted on March 26, 2009 at 09:36:59
seger
 Wow, that is a tiny thing, now I see it - nice job hunting down the fix!

 

Fixed! )new question resulting, posted on March 26, 2009 at 09:53:50
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 DCOM was on 3. Edit to 2 did the trick. Logical Disk manager was on correct setting. Thanks seger and theob.

The underlying corruption has to do with adding a second hdd which can be chosen to boot on instead of the first hdd. I have two hdds instead of two partitions on one hdd. The cMP was on C:, but when the other hdd was added and booted on, it named itself C: and the cMP disk boot partition became F:. Its registry, however, retains many settings with C: addresses. I have found a program called RegCure which found all these and can "fix" them, which may mean simply deleting them. Anyone have an opinion about whether this would be okay to do--no gaurantees expected?

 

RE: Fixed! )new question resulting, posted on March 26, 2009 at 10:18:28
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 glad it worked for, it was (I think) seger's idea though. But let me ask you this I added a 2nd hdd onto which I reloaded windows and all the cmp/cplay stuff through minlogon. I simply disconnected the 1st hdd which also has the same stuff on it. If I connect the old one I want to go in and delete the os stuff and just use it for music. I assume if I hook it back up it'll be ok and not confuse the pc. Am I correct?

 

RE: Fixed! )new question resulting, posted on March 26, 2009 at 10:38:25
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 I am far from sure, but it seems to me if you boot only from the disk you want to keep the system on you should be okay. It wants to call whatever drive it boots from "C:" so if that's what it already is then it should stay that way.

 

RE: Fixed! )new question resulting, posted on March 27, 2009 at 03:41:08
seger
 In cicsmemoryplayer.pth simply edit the drive letters to F: for each path.

 

RE: Fixed! )new question resulting, posted on March 27, 2009 at 08:10:58
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 That was not my question. I already have all the cuesheets using F: and cMP2 runs fine. I am wondering about getting rid of all the remaining listings in the registry that refer to C. Some of these were created when installing xp pro. It would seem they must now not be integral to current operation with the drive called F, but I am still leery of eliminating them and so ask others opinion on this.

 

Changing drive letters so cues work, posted on March 27, 2009 at 13:04:28
Dawnrazor
Audiophile

Posts: 12592
Location: N. California
Joined: April 9, 2004
 I am digging my cmp2,

But the cues were messed up. So I popped the drive and used alan Jordan;s cue program. I knew I had to get the drive letter of this drive to be the same on the 2nd computer as on the cmp2 rig which for some reason is "g".

The problem was that that computer let me pick letters AFTER "g". I selected "h" and proceeded figuring that it would be possible to change the letter on the cmp2 rig to match.

But I can't. I restarted a few services that I thought might have something to do with it, but no go.

What can I do to fix this?

Or is there a program that can just make them not have an address contingent on a file path. Most of the cues I have are like that and work as long as the files are in the same folder. It should be illegal to put in exact addresses!

 

RE: Changing drive letters so cues work, posted on March 27, 2009 at 14:44:36
seger
 G: must already be assigned to a drive. If it's a system drive you don't want to be changing the drive letter! If your music files on your cmp machine are stored in a separate non-system partition, it should be easy to change that drive letter. I can't see what arrangements you have, so can't give specific advice.

The advantages of full address cuesheets are: 1.you can store them anywhere and they will work. 2.for Vista cMP users you have to store them on the Desktop, so full address cuesheets allow you to keep your music files elsewhere. 3.For making playlists from files that are in separate folders.

The disadvantage is that if you move the files after making the cuesheet, you have to edit the address.

Other ways to make cuesheets that don't give full addresses:
For wav files: put your CD into EAC and make a multi-file cuesheet, without re-ripping - no editing will be required. Or make a cuesheet with foobar cuesheet creator - you will have to add genre, performer, title for the album, and performer and title for each track - that's a lot of editing!
For flac (or other extensions): Use foobar - if your tags are decent, no editing will be required, except for "various artist" or mixed genre albums, which you will have to edit Performer or Genre afterwards, or you will get "unknown" in the cmp library.

RecursiveCueCreator is incredibly fast, but you have to edit all the cuesheets to show Genre, and if your directory structure, tags and file names aren't just right, you get anomalies - so it's not perfect.

I have various shortcuts for manual editing, pretty idiosyncratic, and everyone has to work out their own methods for their own needs - it can be a bit of a mission!

 

RE: Changing drive letters so cues work, posted on March 27, 2009 at 15:30:03
Dawnrazor
Audiophile

Posts: 12592
Location: N. California
Joined: April 9, 2004
 Hey Seger,

Here is some more info.

The drive in question has the OS in a separate partition..."C"

"G" is another partition on the same drive and it just has the music files on it.

Drive g comes up as drive H in my other pc and I can't change it to anything before that, so I could't make it G on the other pc.

On the cmp2 rig the option to change the disk letter jsut doesn;t work. Is there a certain service I need running.

I can't use eac I dont think since the files don't derive from the originals. They are copies of the originals but were burned using yamahas AMQ that changes the pits so eac doesn't recognize the disk anyhow. I do have the originals and I bet that would work, but there are a few disks that now take up 2 disks due to amq. I could give eac a try.

It would work if I could just change the letter.

And, FWIW I dont even have "genre" in my tags. I just use the "all" or "artist" view in cmp2.

Help.

 

RE: Changing drive letters so cues work, posted on March 27, 2009 at 16:27:47
seger
 In a fully optimized cMP setup, I only have to change DCOM service to Manual and start it, then right click on My Computer, select Manage, then select Disk Management, right click on the Partition in question and select change drive letter and follow that through.

"Drive g comes up as drive H in my other pc" : Do you mean by this that you are moving the HDD out of the cmp computer and the music partition is labeled differently? If that's what's going on, that's to be expected - just put it back where it was, please! You don't need to move your HDD to make cuesheets.

Guessing from your description of your files, RCC might make a mess of the cuesheets, and EAC may not work for many of them - same happens for a lot of my music, so don't feel too special! Just use foobar cuesheet creator and deal with the manual editing for your wav cuesheets that will be needed - slowly, over time it will come together. Keep the cuesheets in the folders with the music as you have been doing, and don't worry about the full-address cuesheets for now - you can mess with that later.

 

RE: Changing drive letters so cues work, posted on March 27, 2009 at 16:43:28
seger
 D - I just saw your post in the other thread about having trouble with foobar cue creator - probably the reason they aren't working in cPlay/cMP is that you have to select "ANSI" code (in the drop-down at the bottom of the save cuesheet window) before you save it.

 

Closer, posted on March 27, 2009 at 17:11:25
Dawnrazor
Audiophile

Posts: 12592
Location: N. California
Joined: April 9, 2004
 Hey Seger,

In a fully optimized cMP setup, I only have to change DCOM service to Manual and start it, then right click on My Computer, select Manage, then select Disk Management, right click on the Partition in question and select change drive letter and follow that through.

That worked and I changed it to drive H. But here is the very weird part. The cue sheets work if I click on them in the folder view, and cplay opens and plays. BUT from CMP I get an error. FOr some reason it is ADDING to the address and extra "H:\Dawnrazor" so the address that cmp is looking at is "H:\Dawnrazor\H:\Dawnrazor...." The cuesheets address is correct in the file and I know this from looking and the fact that they play in cplay.

I thought it MIGHT be because they are in different places ie the cue is in a different folder. But I tested this by moving the cue to the folder with the .wavs and while it didn't show up in cmps initial "your cues are messed up" diagnostic, it refused to play it anyhow.

What is going on?

"Drive g comes up as drive H in my other pc" : Do you mean by this that you are moving the HDD out of the cmp computer and the music partition is labeled differently? If that's what's going on, that's to be expected - just put it back where it was, please! You don't need to move your HDD to make cuesheets.

Actually it is easier to move to another computer to do it. A. I don't have to install anymore stuff on the cmp rig, and B. the other computer is more comfortable for that kind of stuff.

And the reason I am in this mess is because I was doing what you suggested and using foobar to edit my cuesheets. (OK I did that years ago so it is not your fault :)) See none of the cues had any track titles due to amq, so I was manually adding them. I only got to about 30% of the files and those are the ones that are messed up. I am guessing that foobar switched to an absolute address and the other files have eacs non-absolute address and that is why those work.

Yeah, I know I am not special. Just late to the cmp2 party. Typical Dawnrazor....

 

RE: Changing drive letters so cues work, posted on March 27, 2009 at 19:17:20
Dawnrazor
Audiophile

Posts: 12592
Location: N. California
Joined: April 9, 2004
 Seger,

I guess I wasnt clear. I had a problem creating .wavs from .mp3s that would play in cplay.

I never used foobar for cue sheets.

Sorry

 

RE: That's a similar test - looks like spdif out of Juli@ is causing this, posted on March 27, 2009 at 20:14:09
cics
Audiophile

Posts: 1320
Joined: November 9, 2006
 See latest in cPlay's update post for BIOS and device changes. Juli@ analogue out should improve.

Question: Are you using laptop HDD (2.5") or standard desktop ones (3.5")?

 

All supply is now Linear except for Pico PSU, posted on March 27, 2009 at 20:20:24
cics
Audiophile

Posts: 1320
Joined: November 9, 2006
 Do you plan to replace this DC-DC converter? Pico's ripple voltage specs suggests higher ripple over better (Zalman / Antec EW) PSUs.

 

IS THIS THE PROBLEM?, posted on March 27, 2009 at 21:08:36
Dawnrazor
Audiophile

Posts: 12592
Location: N. California
Joined: April 9, 2004
 I just saw this:

Open architecture. cMP allows for any player to be used: Foobar2000, XXHighEnd, Winamp… player just needs to handle .cue files like foobar2000 (otherwise play entire .wav). Any ripper software can be used (as long as it conforms to .cue single file standard – like those created by EAC). Additional flexibility is provided, for example use cMP to drive your HTPC playing any movie from any genre… (a .cue file for each .iso file is needed).


The cues I am having trouble with are the ones that reference multiple files and not one big file. Is that what is being talked about here and the reason I am having trouble even though cplay will play the files?

 

RE: Closer, posted on March 28, 2009 at 02:24:29
seger
 Glad you sorted out the drive letters!

If you're using full-address cuesheets with cMP, or even if you aren't but you are using cPlay, you have to tick "No" next to "RAM Load" in cMP settings. That might be the problem. Otherwise I'm scratching my head...

"Actually it is easier to move to another computer to do it...the other computer is more comfortable for that kind of stuff."

That's what I do - I'm at my workhorse computer in my office-cum-scrapyard where I have copies of all my audio and video files and a couple of PCs going - I do all ripping, tagging and cuesheet making here and then copy the finished products to the main music computer.

I don't know about amq, but I would recommend that you make new cuesheets with foobar and do any editing needed afterwards in Notepad. Foobar doesn't give you absolute addresses, as far as I know.

Here's a small but fun tip: set up a button for cuesheet creator (this is in Columns UI, Playlist View): right click anywhere on the existing buttons, select Customize, then click on Add button, then Change button, click "Context menu items" in the Command group box, click on "Current playlist selection" in the Item group box, then go down and highlight "Utils/save as cuesheet", click OK. Now to the right of the "Display:" line select "Text" in the dropdown, tick the "Use custom text" box and type "CUE" in the box to the right, click OK. Now you have a "CUE" button! I've made a few other useful buttons this way as well.

 

RE: That's a similar test - looks like spdif out of Juli@ is causing this, posted on March 28, 2009 at 03:09:35
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 I have a std 3.5". what would a 2.5" do for me? btw juli@ analogue out is very good. Still not as extended (highs and lows), not as dynamic, not as big spatially (esp depth) as Benchmark Dac1. But (and a big but) juli@ analogue out is sweeter than Benchmark. I could listen either way. One particular spec that may be contributing to this: Juli@ analogue out output impedance is 100 ohms, Benchmark is 0.1 ohms.

 

Re-test with Main PSU powering HDD, posted on March 28, 2009 at 03:49:17
cics
Audiophile

Posts: 1320
Joined: November 9, 2006
 Well I'm still on the problem and if you're powering your standard HDD from GD that could be the cause due to too much load. Standard drives consume much more power than laptop drives.

Great feedback on the analogue outs - yes they're different but can you make a call on which you prefer?

 

RE: Re-test with Main PSU powering HDD, posted on March 28, 2009 at 03:57:27
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 Right now I have to say the juli@ only because I don't get the problem. If the problem could be fixed I would have to go back and forth to make a definitive call.

Are there any alternatives to the gd power supllies with more capacity?

Btw the new bios specs are great, very very good midrange and sound is very coherent top to bottom, best yet.

Have you tested hvavandepas recommendations? Seems like they may be worthwhile? See link

 

OK Re-testing with Main PSU powering HDD, posted on March 28, 2009 at 04:23:15
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 Funny though my pc reset Host Clock control to Auto as well as system memory multiplier and Dram timing selectable on bootup. So its not optimum sonically. But we'll see if the metallics go away (I rebooted to get host clock control to 160 everything else to latest spec).

 

36 minutes I got the metallics. nt, posted on March 28, 2009 at 04:57:27
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 ,

 

Further observations/data on this issue, posted on March 28, 2009 at 06:40:46
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 I really believe it is power related: always seem to be more frequent metallics when power line is noisy(noisy today good time to test). Also after I tried internal sata power feed I put back the gd and tried a different power cord to pc (still running juli analogue outs) listened for a while then rehooked up the Dac1 and it was metallic right from the start. Switched back to juli@ and I started noticing a 'beginning of the metallics'---lots of static---when I switched tracks not always but sometimes. But if I just indexed cplay to next track then back again to previus track it would go away. So, I don't know, I'm starting to think maybe power and/or cpu load related might be the issue.

Why are you convinced its not the cpu?

 

Juli@ PSU highlights, posted on March 28, 2009 at 07:34:56
sonics
Audiophile

Posts: 116
Joined: July 6, 2008



Hi,
i found a solution to go directly into the juliboard with 3,3 Volt, which is the only needed tension for the digital section.
On the opposite side from the outpust there is an voltage regulator U1 from 5 to 3.3 volt, who can be unsoldered and we are able to feed 3,3 Volt ( four 6 volt batteries parallel via a thel regulator to 3,3 volt)to the board as You can see on the photo.
Sounds phantastic and is a real big step.
More depht, information and dynamics without any increase of harshness.
Highly recommended.
bye
alfred


my current stuff;
CMP/Cplay, PC with separated PSU for P4, P24, HD and Fans (Batteries for P4)
Julia I2S to buffalo( batterie PSU) to Zapfilter and to Tripath 2021 (batterie PSU)

 

More feedback on juli@ analogue out, posted on March 28, 2009 at 08:16:35
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 I'm liking it very much (maybe after 3-4 days its broken in now). Even though the shortcomings I mentioned vs Dac1 are still there, at 150 host clock control, eist disabled, new devices disabled I am starting to think I like it better. Even with the small ground loop I'm getting, I just love the highs, midrange. While the bass is not as tight (as Dac1) its plumpy in a graceful, musical way. Dynamics perhaps not as good but still better than anything I have heard (save dac1 via cplay/cmp).

Many music files that were hard. borderline unlistenable through the dac1 are now much better.

 

RE: All supply is now Linear except for Pico PSU, posted on March 28, 2009 at 12:36:06
GStew
Audiophile

Posts: 633
Location: NE Mississippi
Joined: September 21, 2001
 Ultimately, that is my intention. But I don't have a clear roadmap yet.

Bear with me while I think out-loud...

I'm currently focusing on the D-to-A conversion... I've been using a stock Juli@ and it's analog output. While I'm getting exceptional sound already, I feel there are some significant gains to be made there. My 'Juli@ Follies' post earlier this week is my prelude to some serious modifications on that card, with the ultimate plan to power it from separate +-12v and 5v supplies AND upgrade the on-card regulators with aftermarket discrete units (likely Dexa). I also have a separate add-in I2S-connected DAC coming that I'm expecting to better anything I can achieve with upgrades to the Juli@'s DAC and analog section, but I still think tweaking the Juli@ will be useful as it will offer people an easy-to-implement alternative to outboard DACs (although without the benefit of galvanic isolation between the computer and the rest of the system).

A related point is that the Juli@'s analog outputs are the only component in a cMP2 that uses the -12v supply line from the ATX-24. The Pico-PSU I damaged early in my hybrid/linear experiments only lost it's -12v output, so it still runs my cMP2 EXCEPT the Juli@'s analog output.

Once I've removed the need for a -12v supply (by feeding the Juli@ with it's own supply or only using the Juli@'s digital side and using a separate DAC), I only have to add the 3.3v and 5v portions of the ATX-24 to do a fully linear supply.

I've scanned, but haven't fully digested the implications of the PSU specifications. On first look, a lot of it can be creatively ignored for our purposes. That assumption will need to be tested by building the 3.3v and 5v linear supplies and seeing if they work with a potentially 'sacrificial' motherboard. I'll have to find some inexpensive ones that are similar to the current Gigabyte recommendation... I don't want to destroy a now-hard-to-find Gigabyte board developing this.

After reading the PSU spec, I have a few thoughts... the 5VSB line provides a 5v supply even after the power is switched off for standby purposes, but we don't implement any standby functions in a cMP2 and I strongly suspect that it won't matter if this line is not provided. I do know that using a linear 12v supply that does not follow the PSU spec's turnon sequencing works ok for what we're doing. I would expect a well-constructed linear supply to meet the ripple, regulation, and noise specifications without any issues. The power-on sequencing specs that might be interesting to implement, but they really don't look too bad.

Depending on how other aspects of my life go over the next several months (work is pretty brutal right now), this may be a late-summer project.

In the meantime, the SQ gains I've gotten with the Pico-PSU-based hybrid/linear supplies have been very impressive. I now have better caps (Elna Silmic II) that I can install on my Antec supply and after I put them in (maybe in the next two weeks) I will do another listening comparision between the capacitorized-Antec and my hybrid/linear, but the initial comparisons were not a comparison... the hybrid/linear beat the Antec decisively in all areas. And the linear 'dirty' supplies have provided a nice additional boost. I can strongly recommend both of these to anyone wanting to get the highest SQ currently available out of their cMP2. And they are not dead-ends as the two linear 12v supplies will be retained when adding the 3.3v & 5v supplies

At least one other inmate has done a similar setup and he may be able to add his impressions here too.

As for ripple out of the Pico-PSU, I do have some caps on order to use on the output of the Pico. Of course, that's the parts order that has been the slowest to rrive, but I will report on that once I have them and can install them. BTW cics, where did you see the ripple specs of the Pico... I didn't see them in a quick look-around.

I'll also report on my Juli@ mods over the next few weeks and on my dirty supply comparison trials (to try to determine what supply makes the most SQ difference).

Greg in Mississippi

 

Solved it kind of, posted on March 28, 2009 at 15:23:57
Dawnrazor
Audiophile

Posts: 12592
Location: N. California
Joined: April 9, 2004
 Ok, I just reverted to the original cues and .wav files and lost the editing I had done. Not a huge deal as about 70% was missing track names anyhow.

But who cares, it all sounds so good...and I have a ways to go on the hardware side too :)

 

Source of Artist in cMP display., posted on March 28, 2009 at 17:16:23
sondale
Audiophile

Posts: 100
Location: Surrey
Joined: July 28, 2008
 cics - I am trying to change the Artist / Album artist in my WAV files and I was wondering from where does cMP picks up the Artist column is it in the mp3 tags or Performer within the CUE file?

 

More feedback on juli@ analogue out, posted on March 29, 2009 at 04:17:09
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 Here is Windows Task Manager data(just to see if anything here is amiss):

cpu usage: 44%-64%

Handles: 1162
threads: 120
processes: 14

Physical memory: 251k
available: 74K
sys cache: 91k

commit charge:

total: 164k
limit: 239k
peak: 164k

kernel memory:
tot: 8k
paged: 6k
nonpaged: 3K

Anything pop as out of the ordinary?
I am running 192/146, at 150 host clock control all else per latest spec.

Also since I lowered host clock control I noticed cpu usage go up and my metallics come more often than before (while listening to dac1). Also I notice when I reboot the pc is re-setting host clock control to auto , multiplier to auto and dram timing to auto.

Since I suspect my root cause may be power related I tried plugging my audio pc, power line conditioner(Hydra) into a different outlet--> however I got the same result: the metallics after 5 minutes of play time.

Also since posting the above I noticed some services wer still started so after I closed all (except the 2) I get 997 handles; 100 threads; 13 processes while running cmp/cplay. Cpu peak usage still about the same as above.

 

RE: Juli@ PSU highlights, posted on March 29, 2009 at 07:13:03
GStew
Audiophile

Posts: 633
Location: NE Mississippi
Joined: September 21, 2001
 Very nice, sir. For those using just the Juli@'s digital side, this will be a very easy way to clean up the power with a separate supply.

I guess it was a very good weekend for modifying Juli@ cards... see my posts below. I'm still using the Juli@'s analog outputs, so my mods covered both the analog card and the digital card. I also got some nice improvements with my mods... next for me is doing something similar to what you did, powering it with supplies that are separate from the computer's supplies and later, upgrading the regulators.

And I'll also be implementing a separate I2S-connected DAC, inspired by your post awhile back about connecting the Buffalo DAC to the Juli@.

Thanks for sharing and for the inspiration!

Greg in Mississippi

 

RE: Juli@ Follies..., posted on March 29, 2009 at 07:35:09
GStew
Audiophile

Posts: 633
Location: NE Mississippi
Joined: September 21, 2001






Significant Juli@ abuse occurred last night.

I implemented upgrades to all of the power supply rails included local reservoirs & upscaled parts before and after each regulator, using Black Gates on the analog card and Sanyo OsCons on the digital board.

Note that I removed the balanced connectors to make it easier to add the resevoir caps. This is not a must, but did improve access to the connection points.

I also replaced the output coupling caps at the Juli@'s analog outputs.

With only a couple of hours of run-in, it sounds very good and very, very promising. The presentation is 'denser' with more texture and detail, but even with the added details, you can more clearly hear it all as a whole AND pick out individual instruments and singer. The spectral balance seems more even top-to-bottom even though I didn't sense an imbalance before. Treble details are more delicate and audible while strangly seeming less pronounced. Dynamics also increased, downward into microdynamics as much as large-scale dynamics.

I first did the analog card, then the digital card. One interesting observation was that I think I heard larger sonic difference with the digital card upgraded than just the analog card.

I do have an un-modified Juli@ and will do some back and forth, mix and match comparisons after the modified cards have had a chance to run-in a bit.

Next is to setup separate linear supplies for the 5v, & +-12v supplies (the Juli@ does not connect to the computer's 3.3v line) and power the Juli@ separate from the computer supplies.

Greg in Mississippi

P.S. One thing that I think would make a worthwhile difference on the Juli@ analog outputs is to leave the side of the card that you aren't using not-powered. As best as I can tell without digging, both the balanced and un-balanced sides are powered all the time. I'm hoping to find some resistors that can be removed or traces that can be cut to do this.

 

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