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In Reply to: RE: cPlay - the open source high-end audio player using ASIO posted by cics on May 05, 2008 at 12:31:58
Hello, everybody. It finally happened. We have a cicsMemoryplayer.exe file, that does NOT REQUIRE winspool.drv to boot.
Those of You who have renamed/relocated files according to Jack Wong's recommendation (like myself), should rename the file to 1.exe. Everybody else, who use the old file under its original name should simply add .exe to the new file. Just e-mail me to get Your copy.
Serge.
Yes, You can reboot, shutdown and so on. Thw winspool.drv can be deleted.
Yes, it makes the difference. I hope, You will like it.
Follow Ups:
Hi, Does anybody know where I can get the 'cicsMemoryplayer.exe' from please, which does not need winspool.drv to boot?
Although we were asked to send an email to obtain this, tt looks like Serge Mihaylov has got his email settings to not allow contact from forum members.
Anybody else have a copy or know where I can download it from?
Thanks.
PM sent.
May I have directions to get this new cicsMemoryplayer.exe file also, please? Tks!
Thanks, the new CMP file improves things tremendously. Sound quality in a word- amazing!
I assume that the bit stream must be cleaned up no end on the timing side (less jitter maybe)? What this does on my system is tighten and deepen all aspects of the music. Treble becomes delicate, clear and subtle, the integration and power across the whole audio range is much stronger. Syncopation, timing and tautness is a lot better. There is a greater relationship between instruments (including vocals) and I'm also noticing some inner details I've never heard on my system before. Bass lines are much richer, the whole thing just has more of that smoother, analogue sound.
Makes me wonder what this 'winspool.drv' does to cause such a downgrade. In comparison, the sound I was getting before was, sort of, watered down, a bit fizzy and less focused, sloppy with a glassy treble and less weight.
There is just a couple of strange things about the new file (they're livable with- and no-way would I want them fixing if it may degrade the sound).
1. The button at the bottom left, which used to bring up the cmp settings (things like 'folder' locations, 'RAM load', 'Start CMP' etc.) now just brings up an 'ok' box with an exclamation mark in it, when you click 'ok' , another of the same 'ok' boxes pops up, then clicking this goes back to the main song interface.
The only way I got the new file to run, to use it in cmp mode, was to set my options with the original 'cicsmemoryplayer.exe' file running (including 'start cmp' button). Exited the settings page and rebooted. Then using 'explore' in the Cics song list interface, located the file 'cicsmemoryplayer.exe', renamed it and then altered the other file name (1.exe) so it became the new 'cicsmemoryplayer.exe' (I had already copied this file into the same folder already). After re-booting it then uses the new version.
2. If you run the new version of the 'cicsmemoryplayer.exe' then exit back to XP (in other words, if it was NOT running in 'cmp' mode), then it goes into an endless loop opening (I think) 'My Documents' folder up, over an over again, for some reason?
Well apart from those two things, the sonic benefits are well worth the slight issues. I could possibly write an interface to do the settings page screen, maybe as an additional little app in Autoit? All it would need to do is alter the config file I think?
Thanks again, this has been a real eye (ear?) opener.
The button at the bottom lefthas, as I understand it, been disabled by design in steppe's version of the cMP shell. Your suggestion is one workround but others include:
1. Editing the registry (fiddle about with the shell installed on a different machine to see what to change and how);
2. Restoring Resources that steppe deleted from the file, thereby restoring functionality he's happy to do without but that you might want to keep.
I've used #1 before but had to try #2 because the new file didn't work at first. I could log on to the system (I use headless mode) but got only a blank screen. After deleting steppe's dialogues and importing the one remaining dialogue from my own "known good" but heavily hacked version of the file, all was OK. It's easy to do that in Resource Hacker.
I agree with you that steppe's file sounds significantly better than the "stock" version but I'm a bit puzzled as to what you mean by "inner" detail. How is it different from "outer" or "middle" detail?
Edits: 08/09/13
Yes, I thought it may be by design, as well as the removal of the CMP graphic logo (for resource reasons). I agree that the lack of settings is livable with. May look into this on a separate pc, as no-way do I want to risk messing this new sound up.
Sorry if I was using hi-fi babble terms when describing the new sound, got a bit enthusiastic! Guess what I mean by 'inner detail' is hearing more of what is inside the mix, the multi-layering, instruments that were there before, but vague and indistinct now sounding clearer, new nuances or sounds that were before undetectable, that sort of thing... It's like, you can hear the whole, but also more of what's making it up.
I've tried other Cmp tweaks from here before, stripping down Windows even further, but I think this is the first one that has genuinely made much of a sonic difference. Do you know of any others (or links to pages here) that improve the software side? Not sure how much better it can get though?
A problem I used to seem to get, is that the sound quality of Cmp / Cplay after a few days (from fresh) seemed to 'go off' (get worse), loses its tightness and clarity? No idea why, suspected it was something to do with Windows doing its thing in the background? Re-installing Windows, doing the software optimisations and re-setting up Cmp used to bring it back to life again... Anyone else have this issue? May have even been due to 'winspool.drv' being used, who knows?
Steppe (is Serge also involved? -whoever created this file) have done a superb job on these improvements. Bit confused why a printer spooler driver was ever needed as a dependency in the first place?
Please PM me also.
Thanks
Well Serge... thank you AGAIN for pushing the boundaries of cMP^2 !!
This is a transformation of no small consequence... at least in my JW-Home_Uber-Slimmed_XP-OS it is !
I really like the way the system sounds so much clearer in complex passages than before the change - as if some low level noise has been washed away. New details have revealed themselves, and everything occupies its own space, distinct from other elements in the mix. And yet, this does not deconstruct the song, diluting the musical intent, but rather lets me hear the care and finesse the producers put into making my favorite albums.
I'm going to enjoy getting accustomed to the new ("expensive") sound of the system.
Highly recommended to all cMP-ers, but most emphatically for those on the Ultra-Slim-XP diet.
Thanks again.
Grant
That's not a Toy... IT'S A TOOL !!
Hi serge, I also experience a fan-tastic sound improvement using your cicsMemoryPlayer.exe (1.exe)The soundstage improved right away, and rythm and pace is even better!
Seems you found a friend who could "remove" winspool requirement from the source code! Impressive. I also had a fellow who assumed he could do certain things with the CMP source (Bibo... I am sorry!) about half a year ago, but canceled the idea (things got too complicated w/ requirements of CMP as a shell replacement) With things now über-slim for best sound, the idea seems not viable anymore, as certain big (deleted) dlls required for i.E. jpeg decoding are no longer hooked by CMP anymore. At last. As we know, the design goal of CMP/Cplay was sound over visuals. Even if it would be nice for some to have display of cover images, which I understand perfectly.
BTW, I have to say that using the SPDIF-out of Juli@ which I had until 1 month ago, did "hide" many of the improvements that I made upstream. With the posts of GStew and Theob I managed to change to the I2S interface with the DAC (AK4396) inside my CMP case. I had to pick my jaw off the floor w/ the improvement, no kidding. (Although the transport-dac combo is not galvanically isolated anymore, and inside the case there is much RFI which i plan to shield against using crystals and ERS paper if money allows)
Again thanks to Serge & JW & team, best wishes and happy listening!
Edits: 08/15/12 08/15/12
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