|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
99.233.12.5
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
I was doing some digging, trying to understand how deleting DLLs can have such a profound impact on SQ, and came across a registry change that forces DLLs to be unloaded. I added it to my CMP XP SP3 machine. I don't know if it is my imagination, but I think its quite positive. Give it a try and see if you concur. Here is the tweak:
When programs run in Windows XP, they frequently use (Dynamic-Link Libraries), which contain shared programming instructions that different applications use in order to run. DLLs are stored in RAM whenever the system summons them; when you quit a program, XP is supposed to release the DLL from memory. But sometimes DLLs can get stuck and do not get released.
You can force Windows XP to release DLLs by adding a Registry key. Run the Registry Editor and go to My Computer-> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE-> SOFTWARE-> Microsoft-> Windows-> CurrentVersion-> Explorer. Create a new subkey called AlwaysUnloadDLL and set the default value to 1. Restart Windows to activate the change or reload registry this way.
I set the default value to 1.
here is the reference http://www.dq.winsila.com/windows/windows-xp-tips/speed-up-your-pc-force-windows-xp-to-release-dlls.html
Follow Ups:
I have now toggled it on "1" and off "0". There is no question on my system that this makes a very noticable change. Sound stage came forward and a little more 3d. Main change is more air and less congestion.
I was out of town for a few days. Listened briefly to 3 well known cuts. Booted back to explorer, into regedit made the change and rebooted to cmp and listend to same 3 cuts. Immediate and not subtle degradation with setting at "0".
I am thinking the difference is I am running USB out to a DAC. Perhaps this has more impact then with the more conventional @Julie configuration.
I have had no instability issues and I am leaving this one in.
I think it is especially important since I cannot implement AWE.
Thanks for your research and suggestion.
One wonders if this will be less useful once we have discovered all of the .dll files that can be eliminated?
For the time being one would have to think this is a boon.
Theob has accurately pointed out that there is lots of debate on this one. Many posts say that it was used for pre win2000 systems and is no longer used by XP. It is applicable to Explorer so logically it may do nothing for CMP. Others say it is intended only for programmers to help them in debugging, implying it is still there but not publicized. Could be my imagination, but I believe it had an impact, so I'd be interested in your listening impressions. It is easy to do and easy to reverse. Take a registry export to be extra safe.
No troubles booting up.
There have been so many improvements realized lately with the .dll and driver deletions (along with files ...) that I hesitate to say that I heard something.
If I do it is subtle (duh).
I think this is part of the cumulative gains made with this new initiative. It is likely an important building block. I still wonder, depending on how many of these .dll files we find we can delete if this will become less important? Going in circles, I know.
My machine is minimalist so I can only speak for machines in similar states of tune.
Adding AlwaysUnloadDLL set to 1 somehow caused cPlay to freeze if left unused for awhile. Deleting the key and also reinstalling cPlay did not fix this so I had to reinstall the whole system from backup.
The problem appeared in the reinstalled system so it must have been latent...about to happen even aside from this key being added. ksuser.dll is needed for Weiss driver installation and, it seems, proper functioning sooner or later.
I was going to write the same thing as Rick that any change is subtle but seemingly no harm. But now I have noticed that if I leave cPlay running but idling for an extended period, when I go to close it or try to play a track it freezes and a hard system restart is needed. This has happened two or three times now but never before. Sometimes in the past if left it idle I would have to reload cPlay to reset the asio driver but never a freeze. I am going to remove the AlwaysUploadDLL key. Please note I use a Lenovo laptop not the full cMP2 build, and I use a Weiss dac not the julia card.
is it Weiss DAC Asio compatible ?
Of course. Weiss has his own asio driver for it, and I have been using it for years now.
Fantastic!!! Just curious , are you using Firewire conection ?
Yes, firewire, which the Weiss DAC202 sounds best with, as did the DAC2 before it.
Thanks for the feed back. I'm out on business for a week. I'll try removing and reinstalling when I return to see if it is the same on mine. I have all the CMP mods, but it is a laptop as opposed to the target configuration.
so have not encountered an idling problem.
We'll see what else might develop.
Little confused here. Your link does not work on my pc. Also googling AlwaysUnloadDLL indicates in many cases: does not work or creates other problems.
Interesting.. I really just tried it and it seemed like a positive step in micro detail and balance. However, at this point one could argue its just hearing what you want to hear. I had no expectations of success, so I was pleasantly surprised.
I figure, we want to get down to only what is required to run this one app and the sound card. Everything else is overhead that seems to degrade performance.
When you say it did not work, did it cause a problem, or just not produce any change at all? Should be easy enough to back out. Just delete the key.
No just the link you provided did not work. When I did my own search I came up with '...does not work...' and '...may cause boot problems...' as a result of the search. I did not try.
Post a Followup:
FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: