28-Mar-2016, 11:56
(22-Mar-2016, 13:46)jmorrell Wrote: I stream using foobar using the kernal service. I have quite a few 24bit 96khz high res albums, but none @ 24bit 192khz. I haven't suffered the white noise problem since changing the Devialet-eth bitrate from 24bit 192khz to 24bit 96khz. Ymmv.
I now have the D200 and the NAS, configured as follows:
1. Windows 7 Enterprise (yes I have a legitimate licence for this..) SP1 with an absolutely minimal install, running as an 8Gb memory four core VM on the QNAP TVS871. I have installed the Redhat Virtio drivers for the disc and network drivers.
2. I have customised the VM with the standard Digital Audio Workstation recommendations you can find on the internet from vendors like Presonus or Sternberg, e.g. background tasks given priority, minimal GUI etc.
3. The VM sits on a dedicated gigabit network port, going into a gigabit switch along with the D200. This and the D200 both have fixed IP addresses.
4. All of my 'normal' NAS traffic goes into a different port, if I didn't do this the result was loosing communications with the NAS frequently when streaming.
5. I am running Air 2.1.3 on 192khz 24 bit default setting.
6. Roon Server is the only other thing running on the VM, it is using exclusive mode.
7. From my time spent leading software development teams and doing a lot of IT infrastructure work, when I hear about pieces of software (especially real-time device drivers) that work for a while and then explode, my mind always turns to buffer overruns, counters overflowing etc etc, and / or a host of conditions nobody ever quite gets to the bottom of (unless they are very clever with top-class developers, and a pile of money and time) but which are often fixed by a reboot. I have seen some very big software platforms doing some quite worryingly serious tasks that are rebooted every night to clear such issues. I have not had a white noise problem yet but reading the various posts about white noise it seems like this sort of problem.. therefore I reboot the virtual machine every night using Windows scheduler.
So far so good. This sounds literally stunning through the small relatively cheap speakers (still thinking about the white noise and effects on my tweeters !) I am using for my tests (KEF iQ3's) - 3d imaging, spooky 'in the room' type sounds. Extraordinary levels of low level detail, all without any hint of digital harshness, in fact a delicate nearly warm sound.
I am trying to provoke white noise by leaving 24 bit 192 kHz tracks looping through Roon, but so far no trace of it. Am I lucky...or does the software lie in wait!?
