Hi Mike,
It’s weird that this seems to be hit or miss. When I went to V2 the second time around everything (fingers crossed) seems to have fixed itself. One thing I did notice the second time around was the initialization progress bar went all the way to the end. Don’t think I’ve ever seen that happen before on a download.
Regards,
Joe
Four hours alternately set and listened Redcloud against Snowmass V2.
Snowmass has less dynamic, less emotion, less realism, no rhythm, no involvement. But it sounds cleaner, nicer, calmer, more transparent. Like in these photos -
Redcloud -
Snowmass -
I wouldn’t want my music to sound anything like either of those photos.
This is my ideal for my gear:
or this:
The general opinion of the group and beyond is that Snowmass is much better than Redcloud, I definitely found Snowmass to be so, and nothing like your description.
“”Four hours alternatively set and listened to Redcloud against Snowmass V2”” kinda rules out a bad initial upload of Snowmass files!
Listening to Snowmass in both of my DS DACs being the antithesis of your findings, Snowmass is incredibly musically addictive and much more to my liking.
Play it for a day or more without swapping back a forth to let it settle down! Of course, you might just prefer Redcloud, and that is entirely your prerogative…
I have been away from my system and could only lurk until now 
Just updated to Snowmass v2 and the latest Bridge II firmware, no problems with either update (good thing tho that I had read here about volume being reset to 25. :)) Listening results to follow!!!
Feel free to downgrade to Redcloud. There you get all you want. It’s a great thing that anyone can handle according to his liking.
Hi, since I upgraded to Snowmass v2 I can’t control the volume via DLNA Control App. Using Bridge ii and Bubble upnp or Mconnect hd. Other DLNA commands work ok. Using the latest JRiver 24 build. This was not the case with v1. Anybody with the same problem ?
That “cleaner, nicer, calmer, more transparent” sound is exactly what I want in my system. Every single component from the amp, source, cables, and speakers were chosen because they have the same characteristics. Organic is what I’m looking for the most. I can’t stand edgy, liveliness in my system. To me that just gives the sound a false sense of extra detail that isn’t really there. Sibilance, or an accentuation of it, is one of those things that immediately tells me something is too forward sounding and “fake”. I get why some people like it, but they’re fooling themselves. People who turn up smart sharpening software on TVs or that fake motion crap I can never understand. Same thing…they’re fooling themselves into thinking the source image is better than it actually is. I don’t want that.
Negative, sorry. I’m using the Windows version of JRiver 24.0.65. Used it all weekend without issue running Snowmass V2.
My further tests comparing Redcloud and Snowmass showed that Snowmass was much better. Of emotions, dynamism and life in it accurately not less. Please forgive me for jumping to conclusions.
Closed all Control Apps and Power cycled theDS and that did the trick. Volume Control working.
Thanks for your feedback.
Just to add some weight to the multi install debate I installed Snowmass v3.0.0 when on general release. Contrary to the effusive praise in the forum, especially around bass impact, I found it lean. I went back to Red Cloud and then updated to Snowmass again. I did notice a difference but still it didn’t bowl me over. Installing Snowmass v3.0.4 tonight has really made a difference and I can now hear a marked improvement in soundstage width, depth and the projection of vocals. Bass is tight but powerful. So in effect I did update three times. My DSD Senior is relatively new, the Certificate of Conformance that came with it was dated March 2018. It came with Red Cloud preinstalled. I did reboot the DAC with SD card removed after each install and also disconnected my HDMI input (Matrix X-SPDIF 2) during the upgrade process.
Weird, huh?
As I noted previously (elsewhere?), it took 3 Snowmass (V1) loads from Red Cloud before I could here any significant improvement with Snowmass.
I was going to just stay with Red Cloud. Now I am not looking back at all.
Anyone reading this that has been left wanting with Snowmass, please take the time to cycle back and forth b/t Snowmass and your favorite DSD Sr. iteration at least twice more before giving up on Snowmass. What have you got to lose?
(Not that it changes anything) but did you check to see if the version numbers (particularly the FPGA version number) changed when updating and reverting? I know that in the past, at times the version number did change but things don’t sound right, but I also know that some updates don’t seem to happen even when the Blue light flashes for a while. Just looking for a little more info…
Hi Ted.
Thanks for the inquiry.
FWIW, I am positive that the screen showed the new, correct firmware on two of the three updates (the first and third tries). I failed to pay any attention to the firmware/screen during my second cycle.
Hope this helps…
Keep up the good work.
Scott
Hi Ian,
Why is it necessary to remove the SD card? I’ve never had to do that before.
Thanks,
Joe
I believe Snowmass contains force load.
I don’t mean to be dense but I looked up “force load” and the references are either physics or mechanics. If you mean that whenever you shut down the DAC via the back on/off switch and then turn it on again that the system essentially reboots then what difference does it make whether the SD card is in or out?
Thanks,
Joe
It just means that unless you erase the files on the SD card (or remove it) it will reload every time you boot. Remember, if you remove the SD card, album art won’t work.
Thank you for the clarification. I don’t use the rear on/off switch and do use the Bridge so having the album art is nice. I can always use Gizmo for JRiver or the Foobar2000 controller but I prefer the touchscreen display.
