My computer sounds better immediately after reboot.

"For best performance a reboot should be preformed after each song. Try it and see for yourself."

It may be obsessive, it may be even paranoid, but then, it may be true to a point, but hopefully not between every song. :-)

If there are any memory leaks in the operating system or other programs that run continuously on the system, over time they will grab resources and fail to release them. The result can be lower performance and (eventually) a system crash. These are known bug modes for computer software, the only new part with audio is the possibility that performance degradation manifests as (subtle) audio quality deterioration.

Another failure mode is deterministic, and applies to software that keeps an "uptime" counter since started. If these counters reach their maximum value (and possibly wrap around) then strange things can happen. (I have a router that keeps its timers this way and has to be rebooted once a month for all of its features to work correctly.)

If power management turns equipment on and off, it may exercise subtle bugs in the hardware, firmware or drivers that malfunction randomly on each power cycle. If a system rolls the dice enough times eventually it will roll the digital equivalent of "snake eyes". Hopefully, a reboot will suffice, but in extreme cases a complete power cycle with perhaps 30 seconds of no power (and no battery backup) may be needed. (Actually in extreme cases reflashing firmware may even been needed, as appear to have happened last year with a bunch of Seagate disk drives that "bricked" randomly during power management cycles.)

The occasional "prophylactic reboot" is not a bad idea with many computer systems.

Tony Lauck

"Diversity is the law of nature; no two entities in this universe are uniform." - P.R. Sarkar

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

RE: My computer sounds better immediately after reboot., posted on November 3, 2009 at 20:55:08
Adriel Audiophile Posts: 627 Joined: October 13, 2001	Can be true in some cases especially when using x-fi series for s/pdif. It does not like multiple stand-bys, switching modes to gaming, eventually it will not bit-perfect the audio creation mode until after a reboot.

RE: My computer sounds better immediately after reboot., posted on November 3, 2009 at 13:58:09
Roseval Audiophile Posts: 506 Joined: March 31, 2008	My computer has a far better S/N ratio before I boot it. The Well Tempered Computer

I bet blacker backgrounds, too. N/T, posted on November 3, 2009 at 14:15:58
carcass93 Audiophile Posts: 2634 Location: NJ Joined: September 20, 2006	N/T

Sure, especially the screen N/T, posted on November 3, 2009 at 14:31:25
Roseval Audiophile Posts: 506 Joined: March 31, 2008	The Well Tempered Computer

Feeding Obsessive Compulsives....nt, posted on November 3, 2009 at 12:37:52
Dynaudio_Rules Audiophile Posts: 5607 Location: Georgia Joined: April 1, 2005	. Scrutiny Strengthens The Truth and Breaks Down Lies 音楽は天国と地球のかけ橋

I think it's just a Windows thing..., posted on November 4, 2009 at 13:55:26
AbeCollins Audiophile Posts: 11779 Joined: June 22, 2001 Contributor Since: February 2, 2002	I've experienced UNIX boxes with uptimes in the years with no reboots. I reboot my Windows XP box every few days just 'cuz. ;-)

RE: I think it's just a Windows thing..., posted on November 4, 2009 at 16:21:35
Dynaudio_Rules Audiophile Posts: 5607 Location: Georgia Joined: April 1, 2005	Come to think of it, I never turned off my UNIX box at work. But you are right this could be just a Windows thing, I know Windows works best with a fresh install every once in awhile. But some how I think he is just pulling out legs.... Scrutiny Strengthens The Truth and Breaks Down Lies 音楽は天国と地球のかけ橋

RE: I think it's just a Windows thing..., posted on November 4, 2009 at 18:34:39
AbeCollins Audiophile Posts: 11779 Joined: June 22, 2001 Contributor Since: February 2, 2002	I hope he's just kidding, but you can never tell on this "tweakiest" of all Asylum forums. ;-)

Must be a MS Windows box.... (nt), posted on November 3, 2009 at 05:11:36
mls-stl Audiophile Posts: 1628 Location: St. Louis Joined: April 11, 2006	*

RE: My computer sounds better immediately after reboot., posted on November 3, 2009 at 00:23:20
audioAl Audiophile Posts: 921 Location: So. Texas Joined: December 16, 2007	Darn It! My on/off switch broke! Shoot, darn Asylum,@$##@!!%^^ Vista Ultimate 32bit/Diamond XS Dac/ Sterovox coaxial line in to Insignia Amp/Cambridge SoundWorks& Infinity RS 1001 Speakers

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My computer sounds better immediately after reboot.

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