HAL's MS-3 Music Server and dspMusik 6x8 DSP crossover and HiRez DAC's

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HAL

Phil,
Glad you are enjoying it.  You are most welcome!

HAL

Have now tried the new filter selection software and the minimum phase apodising filter selection is my favorite for sound quality.

Have updated 3 systems so far with woodsyi to go to use that filter.  From now on that filter will be the default selection for all the dspMusik units going out.

Very easy to change if the user wants to try the other filter selections.

The MS-2 running Windows Technical Preview just updated itself to the Pro version as one of the updates.  This should be interesting.  Everything is still running correctly.  This one will go out for demo as soon as the next batch of dspMusik's arrive.


stu

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Hi Rich,
Just curious if it is possible to upgrade my MS-1 with the MS-3 mother board. It probably is not possible, but I do like the idea of not needing a fan. Does the MS-3 sound as good as the 1, and does windows 8 have any advantages in sound quality over 7 ? My MS-4 still sounds great, and looks good too.
Thanks
Mark

stu

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Change MS-4 in previous post to 1. :lol:

HAL

Mark,
The chassis for the MS-1 and MS-3 are very different.  That is why the MS-3 can be fanless.

Windows 8.1 sounds better to me than Windows 7.  Windows 10 will be out this year and from the demo version it sounds like Windows 8.1.  There will also be a free upgrade from Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 good for 1 year after release.   It maybe a good idea to upgrade the MS-1 to Win10 since it will be free.  I have not tried it, as I have no MS-1 chassis here to experiment with.  Win10 is working very well on the MS-2 and MS-3 chassis at this time.

There was a series of articles in The Absolute Sound that compared OSX and Windows 7 for sound quality on MAC hardware.  I will let everyone read it to see which they preferred.  :) 

stu

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Thanks for the reply Rich. I will keep an I out for the windows 10 update. Btw, how is Chris Cahill doing? I have not heard anything from him in ages.
Mark.

HAL

Mark,
Last time I talked to Chris he was insane busy. 

Will hopefully talk to him this weekend and see how he is doing.

HAL

Just got off the phone with woodsyi. 

He did the dspMusik filter update and is listening to the results on his VMPS RM40's.


Phil A

Mark,
The chassis for the MS-1 and MS-3 are very different.  That is why the MS-3 can be fanless.

Windows 8.1 sounds better to me than Windows 7.  Windows 10 will be out this year and from the demo version it sounds like Windows 8.1.  There will also be a free upgrade from Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 good for 1 year after release.   It maybe a good idea to upgrade the MS-1 to Win10 since it will be free.  I have not tried it, as I have no MS-1 chassis here to experiment with.  Win10 is working very well on the MS-2 and MS-3 chassis at this time.

There was a series of articles in The Absolute Sound that compared OSX and Windows 7 for sound quality on MAC hardware.  I will let everyone read it to see which they preferred.  :)

That's good to hear about the free upgrade as I have an MS-2, MS-3 and my main PC is Windows 7 Professional.  I'm fairly careful with PCs.  I got rid of a Windows 98 Machine about 18 months back that still worked for the most part and still have an XP machine (and if the OS was still supported it would be connected to the internet as it has 3G of RAM and still works great).  And I also have an old Mac G5 Tower that I bought used.  I have the XP and Mac in the bedroom and use the Mac to surf the web.

HAL

Since I installed Windows Technical Preview it has done multiple large updates.

Right now Windows Technical Preview Pro just installed yesterday on two MS-2 machines.  Lots of additional features.  One of interest is the Remote Desktop.

When I tried Windows 7 Pro on the MS-1 with 4GB of memory and SSD boot drive, it basically killed the machine.   The two MS-2's running WTP Pro are running just fine.

HAL

Contacted the Danville Signal Processing folks yesterday and they are sending the latest 1.0.0.6 firmware to me to update the dspMusik demo unit.  This way everyone hears the same thing as the production units.  Only difference is the demo unit does not have the connector for the S/PDIF input like the production chassis. 

The chassis for building two MS-3's arrive Friday.  Will get them setup and will send one out with the dspMusik to Pez and Tyson. 

The MS-3 will also have Room EQ Wizard installed and a Dayton Audio UMM-6 calibrated USB mic to do room measurements at the listening position. It has a small mic stand in the case to sit it on a flat surface.  A mic stand with a boom is a good thing to have access to in some cases. 

woodsyi

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Just got off the phone with woodsyi. 

He did the dspMusik filter update and is listening to the results on his VMPS RM40's.

Did not have a chance to fire up the amps.  Had to go back up and do more algebra -- big unit test tomorrow (today).  Will listen tonight.


HAL

Hope her test goes well!   :D


HAL

The dspMusik demo unit is now updated with firmware version 1.0.0.6 like all the production units.  Now I will hear exactly what anyone else will with a unit.

The filter update works correctly, so looking forward to latest listening trials.

Best,
Rich

stu

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Since I installed Windows Technical Preview it has done multiple large updates.

Right now Windows Technical Preview Pro just installed yesterday on two MS-2 machines.  Lots of additional features.  One of interest is the Remote Desktop.

When I tried Windows 7 Pro on the MS-1 with 4GB of memory and SSD boot drive, it basically killed the machine.   The two MS-2's running WTP Pro are running just fine.

Rich, are you saying that my MS-1 may not work well if I upgraded to 8.1 or the new 10 when it is available? That would be a bummer.
And if you do talk to Chris this weekend, tell him I said hello.
Mark

HAL

Mark,
I do not install the Windows Pro version on anything, this was something Microsoft did as part of the Windows 10 demo version. 

I have not tried Windows 8.1 Home or Windows 10 on the MS-1, so I do not know.   It is a simple experiment, but I do not have any MS-1's here to check.  I have a blank SSD drive to install to load a fresh copy of Win10.  It can be done without modifying the existing SSD boot drive for Wndows 7.

If you would like me to check your MS-1, I can with Windows 10 until April 15. 


HAL

MS-3 for Pez and Tyson is being loaded with software now.  Once it is completed, will pack it up with the dspMusik and ship it to them.

Hope to have everything ready to ship on Friday. 


HAL

Here is a link to the original Audio Engineering Society Convention paper on the Wolfson Micro WM8741 family of DAC's and the filters used.

http://www.cirrus.com/en/pubs/whitePaper/WP_Ultra_High_Performance_DAC.pdf

stu

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Rich,
Thanks for the offer. My MS-1 is still sounding great, so I am not going to do anything to it for now. But if you do find out that the MS-1 does work with win10, and sounds at least as good as it does with 7, let us MS-1 owners know so we can update when it becomes available.
Thanks Rich,
Mark

HAL

Mark,
Will do.

The MS-3 for Pez and Tyson is doing a 24 hour burn-in to check all the new parts.  Once completed tomorrow, will be packed and the system with the dspMusik will go out Friday.