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RE: Interesting

Posted by JBen (A) on January 17, 2024 at 16:18:21

In Reply to: Interesting posted by Feanor on January 17, 2024 at 03:41:55:

That Topping D90 is a very enjoyable piece, indeed. And, if one gives them good clean power, they easily jump in SQ, as a friend of mine once showed me.

So, I went through the same with Fidelizer long ago. At that time, it did not do anything special. Much later, I figured I would give it another chance as I was going through a few test system reconfigurations early last year. As I remember, after testing some stuff, I liked Volumio on a few counts. However, while Volumio was impressing me on SQ, it was disappointing me on features. Daphile, which I would strongly encourage you to try, got close to it in SQ, and it is rich in features.

Still, I yearned for the times past when I had a Foobar2000 setup delivering "SQ-superb" performance as part of an optimized PC system. This was years earlier, running under a cMP-optimized, streamlined WinXP install. (The cMP optimizations setup is only for WinXP). So, I went back to FBk2 to see if I could recover its former "SQ-superb" glory, with a twist. This time, I went for Win Tiny10 as OS. And it was good, really good...but no yet "superb".

As I thought of where to go next, something about Fidelizer kept bringing back memories of cMP, nagging at the back of my head for weeks. Oh well, let's try again. I bought the Pro version and configured it for FBk2 with max SQ settings. Presto! This brought back the beauty that cMP + FBk2 had delivered under WinXP...and then some.

On any comparison - obviously subjective but using very well-known music - going back and forth FBk2 to Volumio, I found that the Tiny10/Fidelizer/FBk2 combo did clearly better. Of particular interest to me, all imaging and sound staging (stuff you can actually look/point at in space) was clearly better. One DOES remember "space" easily when comparing known music in the same room. When Patricia Barber's night club audience applauds or spill glass cups in the "Companion" album, these items have an easy-to-remember distinctly individual place in 3D space, inside and outside the walls. The same goes for well-recorded orchestra and jazz ensembles.

To be clear, I am using speakers. Can't say if all the same dimensions of SQ change (for good or bad) would be present with cans. I should add, this is a music-dedicated PC. It does not even get to see a network/internet most of the time (no protection software - firewall, AV, etc. is enabled to avoid background OS tasks). For a more "open" music-only system, Daphile could be a better choice.

OTOH, the Windows Tiny10 install can be less restricted than I use it. For example, I dusted off an old copy of JRiver, installed it and it ran with no issues (at least to last year's version). I suppose the same goes for a variety of other stuff you may want to install. Then, for best music SQ, switch to a music-optimized config.

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