Thanks Paul. What of the observation made a couple of times that the install routine has some bugs with respect to not properly zeroing out (or resetting) configuration parameters? If this is true, shouldn’t it be corrected?
To be really honest I need to note that I’m no longer absolutely sure I have had “bad loads,” I seem to think my penultimate and last loads differed (favorably, a bit) in sound from previous, but I had made system changes in between as well.
I’ve been more frustrated I think that I don’t hear what others hear in the resulting sound from loads. FOMO, sure. But I also just don’t hear “fullness, richness” and I hear increased high frequency and decreased midrange, and it’s a fatiguing listen. Wanting to hear “the magic” I’ve played around with all the playable around aspects of my system (which are many,) and it iss frustrating as Snowmass 3.06 was so “right” and this Windom load sound so not so right. And it’s frustrating in other ways too in that I managed to do what I always fear doing anytime I mess with speaker placement or cabling components: I managed to tear off one of the delicate leads to a Duelund resistor I use to regulate the output of my ribbon tweeters, and I’m now facing suboptimal sound for a week or more until one arrives from Canada and then some break-in time. Sigh.
I’m trying to come to grips with Windom. It took me a while to come to grips with 3.00 and 3.06 as well, though not quite this long. I’m done loading and reloading, and will just try to tailor the system to the firmware and see if I can get to where I was with 3.06. If not, then I’ll be returning to 3.06, having given Windom a concerted effort.
Precisely what I was hearing and experiencing, until it wasn’t. And it was very obvious, not a subtle difference at all, unlike some of the issues, which were hard to pin down or be certain of, not having heard a transition from Snowmass to Windom on anyone else’s system. And the “issues” with the sound changed from album to album. But the overriding thing was exactly what you stated above. I think if it sounds generally “worse” or wrong in some way to you compared with Snowmass, chances are you don’t have it.
As I mentioned though, the size of the delta was greater in my case than it would be going from Snowmass to a good load of Windom. This was from this odd, “not right”, worse-than-Snowmass Thing, to Good Windom. So quite obvious and dramatic, if I may use that word without being, uh…dramatic. It was a larger change than you would experience between a cheapo preamp and a good tube pre.
Can’t recall exactly what tune I was listening to at the time I’d decided, yet again, to compare with Snowmass - no matter. But prior to rebooting (this is still Windom loaded) I had great specificity of the vocalist, though it was very specifically centered between the speakers on all axes. Rebooted without card (this time I’d forgotten to do it, but I’d done it before a number of times), and started the track again, and my head involuntarily tilted up as I looked at the spot a couple of feet above the speakers where the vocal was now coming from. Everything was suddenly full, both in FR and in spatial cues. It was like the singer was standing up behind the speaker plane.
FWIW.
Well if I don’t have it by now I just won’t. I think I have it and it just isn’t right for me.
What seems funny to me is… on the one hand we can load a new update and have problems with that new update load…but when we revert back to a previous update… the loading problems do not exist as in the new one we just reverted from. Why? I haven’t a clue…
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Also where I’d gotten to. I understand. But the fact that you are describing exactly what I experienced for a week or so (however rare our situation may be) along with a majority describing it in terms that I am now experiencing, suggests to me that the bits haven’t dropped into the slot yet.
Okay, but after two weeks I’m done. I may readdress this again later, but I’m not going though all the frustration of loading and reloading again. I’ll work with what I have and see if I can get good sound back. If not I’ll go back to 3.06.
Which website? It would an interesting study to begin posting over there about bad loads and examine how the presence of that information alters the group dynamic. Placebo effect can cut both ways, to the positive or negative. It could be a sociological experiment.
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Timm, have to say I’m with you on this bit except I don’t even bother with a new SD card. I just delete the old files (except the cover art file), unzip directly to the card (under Windows 10), load into the DS, power off, remove the card, delete all but the cover art file, reinsert into DS and restart. Fortunately, I’ve had no load issues.
I feel a need to state I did one load of Windom on my DSD Sr. And one load on my DSD Jr. in each case I loved the sound immediately and have had zero desire to change anything. No drama, zero regrets. Amen.
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tarnishedears, thanks for your thoughts. However, I want to keep up with Ted’s releases - I have faith that each release is better than the previous one. I do question how PS Audio select the compile version that gets released and worry that they probably go via the bridge when comparing compiles (and I gather that Snowmass 0, 5 and 6 were different versions of software that only affected the sound via the bridge). In my view my system’s not at all complicated - each part of the preprocessing is there for a reason and should do no harm (the crossover software specifically aims to improve impulse response and EQ is effectively a free feature). Hopefully PS Audio will work out a way of ensuring that all three of my dacs do the same thing (I was about to pay Australia to dial in and recalibrate my crossover but there’s no point if I don’t know that each dac is doing the same thing). I’ve got masses of PS Audio kit (P10s, BHK amps, dacs, even a GCPH phono stage) and I’m not about to give up on this.
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Ah - so zis iss your motivation. I see. Tell me about your childhood…
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aangen - you should also post this in the Problems thread, and others without problems should as well, if only to balance out the responses. People like me post a whole bunch until they sort the problem out. I appreciate it is in fact a thread for problems, and hopefully solving them. However, it ends up seeming like the end of the world, when it is a few folks posting a lot.
I can recall on prior updates some folks getting very, very upset at first…then nothing. Except then you’d get posts from them about the good SQ.
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After my initial of Windom, I got dizzy listening to music and one of the annoying aspect was that all of the music was located within the space of the speakers and all of the energy was in the mid register.
So, the image had shrunk and the sound was very unpleasant (too much grit).
That is when I suspected having a bad load.
After the follow-up load (RC–>Windom–>re-boot), all was fine.
I mean more than fine: it was amazing: sweet highs, dark background, no listening fatigue, and a renewed appreciation for many of my old harsh sounding CDs that now were taking a new life of sweet music.
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To the extent I’m aware, I’ve never had loading problems… perhaps. In fact, I’ve begun to wonder if I have the best-behaved DS Sr. ever.
The first time I listened to Windom, I was disappointed. It sounded thin and fatiguing. But after a while, things began to settle in, and I could clearly hear all the positive elements that some others have heard.
Even though I began to love Windom, after reading everything here, I went through the rigamarole of backing to Yale and Redcloud, and coming back to Windom. Every load seemed to go perfectly no matter how I approached it. And I kept coming back to Windom.
Even just this morning, I went to Snowmass-original and Snowmass 3.0.6 (I was bored, okay?). The soundstage collapsed, sibilance was very noticeable, and overall it just wasn’t very good.
Another load of Windom, and I’m happy with it.
I’m curious how much of the good load/ bad load issue is about actual sound, and how much is about expectation of a problem generated by the idea that there is a problem…
It is an interesting thought. How you would determine that, I have no idea.
I’m not sure, but it probably involves rats and cheese…
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Maybe it’s the same as the psychiatrist and the light bulb…
There. Are. Four. Lights!