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Are you computer audiophile? If so, Fidelizer will help you enjoy the music on computer even more.

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Developer’s self-interest scribbles

Introducing AccurateFix, the way to use AccurateRip correctly

 in Article

When I rip with Plextor Premium 2 drive, it told me to use +30 offset. This is the most accurate drive in the world so how come it needs 30 more samples shifted? It doesn’t make sense so I googled and found info about AccurateRip having 30 samples off.

So today I tried ripping with Sony bluray drive I have with -30 Sample from AccurateRip database. It recommended +79 so I ripped with +49 instead and here’s the result. (I’ll call AccurateRip – 30 as AccurateFix from now on)

 

AccurateFIX

 

With AccurateRip minus 30 sample, I get the exact same file as ones ripped from Plextor Premium 2 drive. If AccurateRip fixed this 30 sample off, I’m sure most people in the world won’t notice significant changes between Accurately ripped files and Plextor Premium with PlexTools ripping.

However, I found plextor ones sounding better from initial listening tests. But after copying files to different path to clear previous write effects, both files sounded the same to me. It appeared writing stream from Plextor drive sounds better than Sony drive despite having the same data.

You can study this effect from this article about improving data writing mechanism. Some studios also promoted about direct disc cutting technique to reduce jitter effects from media sources. I hope this will help improving data correctness with your CD ripping collection.

Improving sound quality by optimizing micro SD storage performance for free

 in Article

I’d like to share simple tips to improve micro SD for better sound quality, more reliable performance and save your DAP and micro SD’s lifespan. Sounds too good to be true? Let’s find out. 🙂

1. Format micro SD with exFAT filesystem with 128kb cluster size

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2. Copy your music to micro SD card

3. Use DiskFresh to refresh data writing from physical drive directly without partition mapping

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They’re all free and and you can notice that device will becoming more stable with less playback glitches and also sounds great. Share this tips to your audiophile friends if it works for you. 🙂

Regards,
Keetakawee

Windows 10 Creators Update’s UAC2 driver – Is it better than OEM driver?

 in Article

Warning: This is purely subjective listening tests. Please keep in mind this is personal opinion and speculations.

I’ve been eagerly to test this for a long while but I have been so busy lately with lots of things to do now. Today I finished some works and have some free time to do some small tests. I’ll use Hiface Two to test between new UAC2 driver in Windows 10 Creators Update and M2Tech USB Audio Driver.

Windows 10 Creators Update’s UAC2 Driver: It works. It doesn’t sound that bad. I find Windows 10 sounding a lot similar to Linux/OS X now. Maybe it’s sound from mapping to UAC2 interface in firmware. Hires and DSD DoP formats worked too.

M2Tech USB Audio Driver: Are you kidding me? This makes Windows 10’s UAC2 driver sounds duller. It brings better transparency and cleaner sound with this driver. I also enjoy music better with improved transient attack and slam of dynamics.

The sound improvement is no less from Windows 10 v1607 to v1703 to my ears. If you set to streaming buffer to Low Latency option, it’ll sound much more closer to real instruments. It’s a shame that OS X/Linux audiophiles won’t be able to compare and experience this greatness.

Since the result is so obvious, I tried to find the reason why and this is probably why. Here’s how Windows 10 Creators Update’s UAC2 driver works.

UAC2 OS driver -> UAC2 interface driver -> kernel driver

Windows 10’s UAC2 driver will route to UAC2 interface provided in firmware to interact with actual kernel driver. This UAC2 driver is more like a mapper to UAC2 interface driver in hardware device. And here’s how M2Tech USB Audio driver works.

USB Audio driver -> kernel driver

Native UAC2 driver will interact with kernel driver directly. It can stream 24/192 format at 3ms latency. I tested “Minimum Latency” and I can stream 24/192 file at 256 samples as advertised. Impossible on UAC2 driver.

This generic UAC2 driver thing is good to have. It can make Windows based server solutions much easier for those who can’t build a real turnkey Windows based server like Nimitra. However, I recommend to use OEM driver because it’ll be better for most of the times.

A+ Technology in Daniel Hertz’s Master Class software and future of highend audio

 in Article

Yesterday I had lunch with Mr. Mark Levison. Now he found his forth company after Mark Levison, Cello, and Red Rose Music. What piqued my interest is his A+ algorithm in Master Class software. It seems to be remastering tool using applied technology from Cello Audio Palette. You can read more about A+ technology and test with sample files from website below.

https://www.danielhertz.com/master-class-software

He claimed it will improve sound quality by filling the gap between digital block with the original data for more analog sound. It sounds like dithering to me but his engineer told me it’s not dithering. I wonder how A+ works and will it provide any benefit measurable with scientific data.

I also discussed with his engineer about Master Class software and its potential to bring A+ technology into other platforms and possibly DAC/Network Player. Companies like Weiss and Meridian also started to promote digital filter features in their products like DAC501 and MQA. I wonder if future of highend audio will revolve around digital filter from audio mastering solutions to consumer audio products.

Regards,

Keetakawee

Optimize MQA sound quality for Tidal Masters Guide

 in Article

After Tidal launch Tidal Master update that works only on desktop applications right now, there’s a few Fidelizer users asking about getting the best sound with Tidal Master so I think it’s good idea to write up step-by-step guide here.

 

STEP 1: Get Tidal for Windows app

Download most recent version of Tidal for Windows then sign up or login with your account.

 

STEP 2: Setup Streaming audio for best sound quality

Click on “Streaming” tab, you’ll see Streaming dialog with Quality and Sound Output options. Select “HiFi / Master” for Quality and audio output device of your choice. Don’t choose “System Default” because it doesn’t support exclusive mode.

You’ll notice settings icon when you move your cursor to audio output item. Click on that icon and select all options there. If your audio output doesn’t support MQA, uncheck “Passthrough MQA” option so Tidal will perform software decoding of MQA instead.

 

STEP 3: Use Fidelizer with Tidal

After setting up Tidal software, you can improve Windows sound quality further with Fidelizer software. You can run Fidelizer, click “Fidelize” button, choose “Yes” to launch music player application after optimizations, and select Tidal shortcut icon on Desktop.

If you’re using upgraded version, you can choose “Network Player” audio profile for better streaming audio performance.

 

And now you’re ready to play music with best sound quality from Tidal Masters. If you want to use Tidal Masters with JPLAY, I recommend ASIO Bridge software to allow bridging audio output with JPLAY ASIO driver.