28-Aug-2015, 15:46
After having read (and pondered) the very useful posts in this thread, I'm starting to think that Windows 10 does not so much "fix" the AIR problems, as - being a more efficient operating system - plays better with AIR out of the box. In other words, you get more room with Windows 10, before AIR exhibits problems.
That being said, the most important thing is probably to tune the music PC (provided it has a sufficient processing capacity). This tuning may include:
disabling AV
disabling automatic Windows Updates (not just installing them but even checking for them)
turning off screen saver
setting minimum processor power to a higher setting than the Balanced Plan defaults to, or, if worse comes to worst, using the High Power plan.
I'm still on Windows 7, and after over a month of trouble free streaming, I for the 1st time encountered WN with AIR beta-4. When that happened, I noticed the PC screen saver woke up, which confirms @Confused's observations about needing to disable screen saver for stability. To be safe (even though it probably sounds like the very antipode of safety), I also disabled auto Windows Updates checks (I'll run them myself when I feel suitable).
If this does not work, I agree that a NUC with Windows 10 or another small dedicated PC is the way to go (or a MAC Mini, for that matter). And if you still get WN, change the connection from that computer from Ethernet to USB - it'll still sound fine.
Let me also share my experience with Auralic Aries. I got so frustrated after the last WN incident that I immediately loaned Aries from my dealer for a trial, seriously thinking of buying it. In a nutshell, the device sounds just fine, giving one the same SQ as AIR. However, I found the control point (Lightning DS) significantly inferior to JRemote with JRiver. There is simply no comparison. I tried to use JRiver as a UPNP music server and a control point, but while that worked in general, I was not able to solve some irritating issues.
This made me realize that I have to stay to JRiver and JRemote, as there are currently no products better (Foobar and MonkeyMote come close though, from a functional point of view). I'd like to stick to AIR, buggy though it still is. And if need be, I'll get a NUC or MAC mini and switch to USB (which based on my impressions of streaming from Aries to Devialet over that input should sound just as fine). But I'll stream from a computer with JRiver on it. No dedicated network players for me.
That being said, the most important thing is probably to tune the music PC (provided it has a sufficient processing capacity). This tuning may include:
disabling AV
disabling automatic Windows Updates (not just installing them but even checking for them)
turning off screen saver
setting minimum processor power to a higher setting than the Balanced Plan defaults to, or, if worse comes to worst, using the High Power plan.
I'm still on Windows 7, and after over a month of trouble free streaming, I for the 1st time encountered WN with AIR beta-4. When that happened, I noticed the PC screen saver woke up, which confirms @Confused's observations about needing to disable screen saver for stability. To be safe (even though it probably sounds like the very antipode of safety), I also disabled auto Windows Updates checks (I'll run them myself when I feel suitable).
If this does not work, I agree that a NUC with Windows 10 or another small dedicated PC is the way to go (or a MAC Mini, for that matter). And if you still get WN, change the connection from that computer from Ethernet to USB - it'll still sound fine.
Let me also share my experience with Auralic Aries. I got so frustrated after the last WN incident that I immediately loaned Aries from my dealer for a trial, seriously thinking of buying it. In a nutshell, the device sounds just fine, giving one the same SQ as AIR. However, I found the control point (Lightning DS) significantly inferior to JRemote with JRiver. There is simply no comparison. I tried to use JRiver as a UPNP music server and a control point, but while that worked in general, I was not able to solve some irritating issues.
This made me realize that I have to stay to JRiver and JRemote, as there are currently no products better (Foobar and MonkeyMote come close though, from a functional point of view). I'd like to stick to AIR, buggy though it still is. And if need be, I'll get a NUC or MAC mini and switch to USB (which based on my impressions of streaming from Aries to Devialet over that input should sound just as fine). But I'll stream from a computer with JRiver on it. No dedicated network players for me.
JRiver MC20 --> Devialet 250 Expert Pro --> KEF Blades II
