Windows X

Getting the most of Fidelizer Plus / Pro configuration with Roon In year 2016, I wrote about Fidelizer configuration with Roon to recommend audio profiles to use with different Roon software. As some clients asked me lately about options for Roon as media player applications, I decided to write Part 2 to get the most of Roon as below. First of all, I recommend “Purist” user level and “Network Player” audio profile as general recommendation to use in Fidelizer Plus / Pro version. These options are available on both Plus and Pro version and should work optimally as a default option. If you setup dual PC with Roon core and Roon Ready, using “Streamer” audio profile on Roon core device and “Network Renderer” on Roon Ready device is recommended. This way you can maximize RAAT’s streaming performance through networked audio protocol. Next part is optimizing Advanced configuration options for Roon. Although default configuration is recommended and already optimal, it wouldn’t hurt to go into details why I recommended default configuration as shown in this article. First of all, Roon has clock priority option for each audio output so maximizing OS Timer Resolution at 0.5ms for low latency audio will help improving clock priority performance. This will allow Roon core to communicate with audio output devices with higher clock priority better. I recommend “High transparency” option in Core Isolation Policy. This will setup core audio’s thread priority in Windows platform on first core in processor. Combined with “Apply Core Isolation Policy” option in media player application, those processes will be isolated from core audio thread. You can try lowering non-audio process priority more aggressively but I don’t recommend enforcing non-audio process to use only one core because Roon relies on .NET framework and other non-audio processes so it may affect Roon performance and sonic performance too. The last part is Media Player Appplication section where you can choose Roon processes to be optimized with Fidelizer Plus/Pro version where you can locate Roon application files in %LOCALAPPDATA%\RoonServer directory after Fidelizer prompts for each media player application file. The first media player application is RoonServer.exe Using “High” priority with “Apply core isolation policy” option. This will allow Roon to be run after Fidelizer optimizations or apply tweaks on running process with high priority and isolated from core audio thread and non-audio processes. The second media player application is RAATServer.exe Using “Realtime” priority with “Apply core isolation policy” option. This will allow Roon to handle low latency audio performance better and improve audio performance on both audio devices in Roon core and Roon ready devices. The last media player application is RoonAppliance.exe Using “BelowNormal” priority without “Apply core isolation policy” option. This will reduce interference from Roon’s non-audio tasks to some extent without crippling Roon’s performance too much. If you use Roon’s DSP features, skip this part. If you use HQPlayer with Roon, you can select HQPlayer5Desktop.exe instead of RoonAppliance.exe and make sure “Apply core isolation policy” is not checked. HQPlayer needs access to all cores to maintain stable operations with its DSP capabilities like RoonAppliance. And don’t forget to change Wait Time to 15 seconds so RoonServer.exe can launch and load RAATServer.exe and RoonAppliance.exe processes first before applying tweaks. Tweaks in Media Player Application are optional and should not be applied if it affects application performance negatively. After a lot of ups and downs with Roon 2.0 updates that keep affecting sonic performance from time to time, I hope this Fidelizer configuration for Roon can lessen the changes of sound signature in Roon. Using Roon 1.8 legacy is recommended for stable sound quality for audiophiles.

I own $100k+ system and have optimized my system to perform to its full potentials. I thought I heard most if not all the digital audio could have offered. Maybe turntable can deliver zero free jitter experience but Esoteric K1X Grandioso should be good enough to hear 80-90% When I brought my server to compare with reference system way above my league, I heard a lot of information I couldn't have heard from my system despite using the same dac design and same transport drive. After listening to turntable, CD transport, and streaming in high-end reference system, I come back home and open Esoteric K1X Grandioso to listen to CD. The shocking part is this CD in my house lose a lot of sound that I could have heard from streaming in high-end reference system. At this point I realize the limit of my system and despite bringing the most out without fail, there'll be something you can't just hear no matter how hard you try. So I gave some thoughts to my own system and here are the main reasons why I can't hear certain information. 1. I use 2 way speakers design with single 6.5inch driver plus tweeter. Its bandwidth will be limited and I won't hear what I can hear from 3-4 ways speakers designed for bigger room to fill more information. 2. My preamp has out dated design using 1 million input impedance so any source can sound right with this preamp. But ultra high input impedance will suppress micro details and harmonics that can be heard more clearly in high-end system. High-end preamps now use 20-30k input impedance. So most high-end information will be suppressed hard in reconstruction stages. 3. They have dedicated listening room and I setup my system in living room. Acoustics in my room won't allow me to hear music in finer details like in reference room. Sometimes it's not about the limit of your hearing capabilities but also how resolving your system can deliver finer details. You can't hear what system can't reproduce for you. After realizing what I'm missing, I fine tuned my server and now it seems to sound closer to what I heard in reference system. What do you think?

Fidelizer 8.11 released – Improved compatibility with Windows 11, processor with efficient cores, and MajiorityCamisole Due to new changes in hardware and software, Windows 11 with new updates caused Teamviewer failing to work in Purist user level, Intel’s new generation processor with efficient cores messed up hyper-threading detection and have stability issues with some options. To resolve this problem, I bought Intel’s latest generation NUC with efficient cores to test on Windows 11 environment and resolved reported issues now. Since efficient cores are counted as physical cores, hyper-threading detection algorithm was revised to handle these cases better. Rather than assigning non-audio processes to logical cores, Fidelizer will assign cores to latter part of processors with efficient cores leaving more room to physical cores unless user chooses to force only one last core for non-audio process. This version is tested in NUC PC with Windows 11 and client’s machines to make sure everything is working fine and MajiorityCamisole is also recognized by Fidelizer now. If you use Windows 11 or have processor with efficient cores, version 8.11 is highly recommended. Changelog for version 8.11 Free -Fixed Teamviewer not working after stopping/disabling non-audio services in Windows 11 -Improved hyper-threading detection reliability with processors having efficient cores -Improved software compatibility with MajiorityCamisole Plus -Fixed Teamviewer not working after stopping/disabling non-audio services in Windows 11 -Improved hyper-threading detection reliability with processors having efficient cores -Improved software compatibility with MajiorityCamisole Pro -Fixed Teamviewer not working after stopping/disabling non-audio services in Windows 11 -Improved hyper-threading detection reliability with processors having efficient cores -Improved software compatibility with MajiorityCamisole Download: Fidelizer 8.11 Upgrade: Fidelizer Upgrade Program You can download latest version of purchased Fidelizer software from the same download link that we sent in email before. If you are not sure where to download purchased Fidelizer software, feel free to contact us and request software download link.

Tried Atlas OS before due to client's suggestion. It's designed for gamers. It's fast and snappier that's for sure. But some tweaks also applied for gaming and audiophile wise, I don't quite like the changes that boost gaming performance and affect sonic performance. If you want to try debloating with Playbook script, maybe you can consider ReviOS which focus on lightweight and non-intrusive approach. I used to try both AtlasOS and ReviOS and I found more positive results on ReviOS. Not as good as my on NimitraOS in my Nimitra server but I guess free debloating tool on active OS won't go wrong with ReviOS. Regards, Keetakawee

I see. I hope you enjoyed your vacation. :)

Hi. Can anyone get in touch with Phil after new year? I asked him to check about order client placed on website in December but didn't get a word from him since then. I hope he's okay. Regards, Keetakawee

You can still do DoP streaming but yeah Native DSD through uPNP isn't possible with foobar2000 uPNP. Maybe you can try sacd components to convert DoP back to Native and see if it can work. This project is designed to help new audiophiles to transform their PC into streamer with single click since many can't configure software as uPNP themselves. Then again, paid solutions like JRiver and Audirvana might be more preferable for you. Regards, Keetakawee

With pleasure. SDM Type E is newer release after standard A-D for years. There's also "Trellis E" which is used in Merging Pyramix. It's more intensive version and can only work as offline file conversion version. FidelizerServer and FidelizerRenderer is configured DLNA/uPNP solution to work with mobile apps such as mConnect / JPLAY / BubbleuPNP / Audirvana and others that support DLNA/uPNP technology. Spotify doesn't support DLNA so it won't see this. You can download DLNA component separately from website and configure from here. https://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_upnp Regards, Keetakawee

After successful launch of the first release of foobar2000 – setup assistant project that helps resolving pain point in setting up PC as a streamer for so long, version 2.0 with more updates and optimizations is released with the following changes: -Added ASIO+DSD Output 0.3.8 component to support ASIO and DSD playback -Configured default theme to support music library browsing with album art -Configured FidelizerServer to detect all music files in computer automatically -Improved DSD playback with SDM type E modulation and streaming support -Updated DSD Processor to version 1.3.2 -Updated Super Audio CD Decoder to version 1.5.10 If you use legacy device that doesn’t support 24-bit, you can click on File > Preferences > Playback > Output > Devices and change Bits on “Primary Sound Driver” to 16. I considered changing default bits to 16 but that’d ruin most people’s experience with hires DAC in market right now. You can select native ASIO output by clicking on File > Preferences > Playback > Output menu and select ASIO output device for your DAC. You can use recommended apps in mobile/tablet device to stream Tidal/Qobuz and music files in local network to FidelizerRenderer. Download: Fidelizer – foobar2000 setup assistant 2.0 Recommended apps: BubbleuPNP, (Android), JPLAY (iOS), mConnect Player Lite (Android), mConnect Player Lite (iOS)

With pleasure. It's not complicated for logging into streaming service but setting up platform to support one is not commonly known knowledge. I hope this single click solution will reduce another pain point in this hobby. :)

Some people are computer illiterate and don't know where to setup those accounts or even configure bit-perfect audio output. I still see a lot of people using default System output without enabling specific device with bit-perfect configuration in Roon or use default Audirvana output with OS mixer. And let's not forget those apps aren't free. Regards, Keetakawee

Yeah. The main purpose for this project is I realized there're still a few people who can't get started with setting up PC as streamer due to not knowing how to setup to make it work properly. I hope this will help reducing pain points in this hobby. Regards, Keetakawee

I recommended BubbleuPNP / JPLAY / mConnect Player app that can stream Tidal / Qobuz to foobar2000 directly from mobile phone yeah. foo_upnp is based on Platinum UPnP SDK code which is 32-bit only. In this package I setup with primary audio device in exclusive and event mode with standard safe buffer around 25ms. You can install ASIO output plugin and use ASIO driver as an alternative to built-in WASAPI. Personally I'd prefer connecting USB output to DAC directly using foobar2000 as upnp endpoint device. I didn't integrate foobar2000 into Fidelizer by the way. This is a separated setup assistant project to help audiophiles getting started with PC as streamer easier for free. :) Regards, Keetakawee

After releasing Fidelizer 8.10 for a while, I noticed something about computer audio setup. It’s not easy to setup computer as a streamer for most people. Even Roon or Audirvana need some configuration to use Tidal / Qobuz and can be quite complicated for end user. foobar2000 is free easy to be downloaded and installed to use. But to get streaming working with foobar2000, most people don’t know how to setup. JRiver is good and affordable solution that supports DLNA/uPNP too. But most people don’t know how to set it up. Meanwhile in Rasberry Pi and other arm devices have Linux distro pre-configured with streaming feature ready to be used. It’s actually easier for beginner to select firmware image and flash on micro SD card to boot. After realizing this, I checked foobar2000’s license terms again and prepare a separated installer software outside original installer called “foobar2000_setup.exe” This program will perform silent installation of foobar2000 and setup components and configuration after installing. With foobar2000 version 2.0, WASAPI exclusive audio output is implemented by default so you won’t need 3rd-party components to setup. That way, it’s possible to redistribute unmodified installer and apply configuration file separately with high audio performance optimized. Since DLNA/uPNP and SACD input components have GPL license, I hope it’s okay to redistribute those files outside foobar2000 installer for community’s benefits. With foobar2000 setup assistant, you can turn PC into an uPNP streamer with a single click. Download: Fidelizer – foobar2000 setup assistant Recommended apps: BubbleuPNP, (Android), JPLAY (iOS), mConnect Player Lite (Android), mConnect Player Lite (iOS)

Hi. Just heard news about Paul Hynes closing business. Can't believe it's 2 years now. To be honest, I have a hunch that Covid would great affect his business as it did on my Nikola linear power supply design too. The production cost increased a lot during Covid times. several parts shortage from main suppliers and parts increased a lot. If customers already paid for their orders months or even a year ahead of schedule, production cost for their units will likely go higher. I also adjusted the price due to changes on production cost that both technician and I are okay with. As long as people involved in production are okay with it, business can continue as long as it meets demand on market. Regards, Keetakawee