Affinity settings cont..PCM & DSD rendering solved
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#21 Affinity settings cont..PCM & DSD rendering solved
Hello....
Regarding my previous message I moved affinity settings from 8 & 4 to 12 & 6...I don't really know what this is doing but console states it works with no errors. I tried 16 & 8 and affinity errors came up.
Anyway with affinity at 12 & 6 I get spectacular rendering for the first time via FB2K. SQ is top notch...and all my files play from 44.1khz to DSD 256.
If Didier can explain the technical aspect of what is really happening it would be good. If needed I can send console output for affinity at 8 & 4 and 12 & 6.
Regards,
Feroz
Hi Feroz,
What errors do you have with DSD when affinity is set to 8/4 , exactly ? May you send me the console output (trace level set to 1) ?
Normally, with your 4 cores/4 threads CPU, you can use the 0-15 affinity range only. So 16/8 affinity is not a correct setup. I suppose that in the console output you will find a error message like this one:
PROCESS AFFINITY : SetThreadAffinityMask failure: ret=0
asio buffer read - thread id = 10232, SetThreadAffinityMask failed: check configured asio affinity mask
8/4 affinity setup means that foobar asio thread uses only 1 core and foobar input thread uses only 1 core also.
12/6 affinity setup means that foobar asio thread uses 2 cores and foobar input thread uses 2 cores, with one of them in common with the asio thread. I don't think it is the best config. It would be better to use 1 single dedicated core for the asio thread.
try this config: 8/7: 1 single dedicated core for the asio thread and the 3 others one for the input thread.
Best regards,
Didier
Hello Didier,
Thanks for your prompt reply.
Please find attached DSD 64 playback logs for affinity settings:
Sooo... what happens to FB2K+Asio2_2.0 with affinity @ 12 & 6? The SQ is like I've almost 'never' heard on W10. Absolute holographic soundstage, powerful pitch-correct bass, liquid midrange with depth, silken ultra detailed but smooth highs. The effect of these settings is as if a major amount of jitter has been removed.
My portable playback system; Acer/NX4 DSD/ATH-M50x; SQ prefernces and usability listed from 'best'....
=2. Linux OS -Avlinux distro/Strawberry player - can browse and radio stream in highres etc. Only PCM..no DSD.
=2. Windows 10 - XXHE - ditto...no other usage and no radio streaming. PCM & DSD
Last 2 listening sessions it seems FB2K 1.6.7 beta 17 +Asio2_2.0+Affinity 12&6 goes to =2 spot especially as it alllows full laptop use and highres radio streaming + DSD upto 256 + video music files playback
Let's try and dedeuce what is happening especially the logic says 8&7 should have great SQ, which it does on PCM but cannot handle DSD. Maybe other adjustments need to be made to make affinity 8&7 work with DSD
Hope all this helps....
Regards,
Feroz
Resending the console files......
Resending the console files......
Affinity 10 & 5 is stable with PCM & DSD up to 256.....
Hi Feroz,
it looks strange. I don't see anything wrong in the logs, and I don't understand why there is a problem on a technical point of view except may be an heavy load on your CPU when listening
I have a few questions:
do you have the problem with both wavepack and raw DSD files ?
do you have the problem just at the start of the track or always during the track ?
may you try with the "start only when cache full" checkbox set in asio2 advanced config ? (when checked, rendering only starts when the whole playlist has been loaded in the sample cache or when the cache is full) --> it could help me to know if the problem is due to the cpu peak when foobar reads the dsd track or if there is something else.
By the way, if possible, 10-5 affinity settings should be preferred to 12-6 one, in order to keep cores dedicated to the asio thread.
Regards,
Didier
Didier,
Pls see attached my BIOS settings with turbo boost off. I keep my CPU at a rock steady 2.5 Ghz i.e. green bars...never moving or going to amber or red when turbo kicks in...which it can't as I have blocked it. This is necessary for best SQ in my experience. I had to use Throttle stop to force turbo boost to be really inactive on top of changes in bios.
Now your questions....I switched affinity from 10-5 to 8-7 to test...
Affinity 10-5, is working perfectly from 44.1khz PCM to DSD 256 with superb SQ. Very stable and well grounded with vanishing levels of distortion, if any. FLAC radio streams sound incredible as do my wav., wv., flac., dsf,. dff., iso., files. I have to tell you with full objectivity...highres to me is questionable. I have the same recordings in redbook and highres and my redbook rendering is just superb and makes one wonder why pay premiums for highres. It's the recording tech and engineering and not the format that is making the difference. Another experience is the amazing SQ I get from a blues radio stream at 192kbps/44.1 khz...I called the owner and he explained his streams do not use replay gain, which ruins the SQ. Sure...320kbps and FLAC streams sound even better, but not substantially.
If you need to see more logs of my settings and or combinations thereof, let me know and I can send them. I've also attached for clarity my current settings of Asio2_2.0.
Regards,
Feroz
sorry..forgot these.....
Hi,
I will try DSD with Turbo Boost off next week. (I am in vacation now).
I agree about Redbook vs HighRes SQ: I am not yet convinced that Highres makes a difference, but I have never done in depth tests.
I am surprised that SQ is not as good with "start when cache full" is checked. The only effect is to load the internal asio2 sample cache before starting rendering. reading input and loading cache stresses the CPU so in theory it could not degrade the sound to do it before starting rendering. Do you have the same feeling also with PCM ?
Regards,
Didier
Didier,
Enjoy your break!
I will retry the SWCF option with PCM & DSD and get back.
More important is the issue with updating W10. This causes real problems
where from time to time the SQ just collapses.
In the XXHE forum we all had issues with this and found W10 14393 &
10586 have best SQ by far.
http://www.phasure.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=la5el7r4jf2ufkq9rh5hja4rb5&topic=4220.0
http://www.phasure.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=la5el7r4jf2ufkq9rh5hja4rb5&topic=4220.0
Last night I upgraded W10 to the latest updates, as I usually do, and
the SQ collapsed. I spent several hours, deleting and reinstalling the
latest updates and zeroed into the specific update causing the issues.....
DO NOT install the Optional Quality Update...see attached.
DO UPDATE as per my UpdateWithGoodSQ...see attached
Unfortunately every time there is a windows update you need check the SQ
has not been effected deleteriously.
Lastly, due to very good experience with SQ on LinuxOS, I installed Jack
for windows (https://jackaudio.org/downloads/) which comes with a
Asio64Host driver. In FB2K I can see Asio2: Jack router, but in the
QjackCtl drop down menu in settings, Asio2 cannot be seen. Asio 2.1.2 is
there. Obviously you need to add some code so that Asio2 shows in
QjackCtl settings....when you have nothing to do maybe you can consider
adding this.
The reason I was experimenting with Jack for windows, is that it may
contribute to extracting better SQ; maybe not. But through Asio 2.1.2 SQ
is very good....however PCM only to 192khz. In QjackCtl one can adjust
latencies quite well.
Regards,
Feroz
On Tue, 3 Aug 2021, 14:48 Didier Galardon,
<didier22@users.sourceforge.net <a="" href="mailto:didier22@users.sourceforge.net">didier22@users.sourceforge.net>
wrote:</didier22@users.sourceforge.net>