Post by michaelhifi on Jan 8, 2016 22:08:27 GMT -5
I really tried to avoid the world of computer audio. It's time consuming and drains the life out of me. It has since its inception. I feel like a pioneer 
I had given it up for the Lumin which operated flawlessly and amazed all who heard its virtues. But I sold it for financial reasons and went back to my Oppo 105. But the 105 although sounding good, lacks the magic I've been accustomed too. So vinyl had become our medium, not such a bad thing but I missed the Lumin, but got close with my current setup briefly.
I think my primary frustration with the XMC is its finicky USB software. I've tried no less than 3 OS's and 3 computers and every time I return to get something stable working, its the same old "play with settings reboot multiple times, 6 hail Mary's and maybe you'll get lucky". Ya I'm frustrated. On 2 occasions over the last week I got the computer to recognize the C-Media Emotiva driver, the one that says "SPDIF" while it's actually playing through a USB cable. But when it works and I get it playing through the SoTM card and my CAPs server running Windows 10... whoah. The soundstage is HUGE and the clarity is noted not just from me and my wife but from my 5 year old. You don't want to go to bed when this works. You want to explore your familiar music in ways you hadn't for a long time if ever. It is nuanced, dynamic, textured, really doesn't make bad recordings good but seems to lesson the over indulgence of current recording engineers BS. You can go scary loud and still maintain a rock solid image and startling dynamics. It tells me what I already knew, that the XMC is a capable performer with a good DIRAC profile but still not ready for prime-time streaming. I sort of get it. A Linux based system trying to handshake a Windows based system through JRiver 21 using a SoTM USB reclocker sending bits through a USB Hi-Diamond cable... what could possibly go wrong :/ , but I just want to see that XMC SPDIF in hardware audio management.
I see this occasional after reboots, unplugging the Emotiva, rebooting the server, trying different ports in the hopes of seeing some pattern emerge such as, turn stereo on, reboot computer, unplug, reboot Emotiva, spin twice, something, but no pattern has emerged. Being an X IT-guy I usually figure its user error, me being the user of course. But aside from hacking the OS, I thought maybe someone has the magic power to unleash the full potential of the Emotiva in a streaming mode. I would welcome a stable "XMC SPDIF" in my Hardware audio management settings
Yes I know I rant.
I had given it up for the Lumin which operated flawlessly and amazed all who heard its virtues. But I sold it for financial reasons and went back to my Oppo 105. But the 105 although sounding good, lacks the magic I've been accustomed too. So vinyl had become our medium, not such a bad thing but I missed the Lumin, but got close with my current setup briefly.
I think my primary frustration with the XMC is its finicky USB software. I've tried no less than 3 OS's and 3 computers and every time I return to get something stable working, its the same old "play with settings reboot multiple times, 6 hail Mary's and maybe you'll get lucky". Ya I'm frustrated. On 2 occasions over the last week I got the computer to recognize the C-Media Emotiva driver, the one that says "SPDIF" while it's actually playing through a USB cable. But when it works and I get it playing through the SoTM card and my CAPs server running Windows 10... whoah. The soundstage is HUGE and the clarity is noted not just from me and my wife but from my 5 year old. You don't want to go to bed when this works. You want to explore your familiar music in ways you hadn't for a long time if ever. It is nuanced, dynamic, textured, really doesn't make bad recordings good but seems to lesson the over indulgence of current recording engineers BS. You can go scary loud and still maintain a rock solid image and startling dynamics. It tells me what I already knew, that the XMC is a capable performer with a good DIRAC profile but still not ready for prime-time streaming. I sort of get it. A Linux based system trying to handshake a Windows based system through JRiver 21 using a SoTM USB reclocker sending bits through a USB Hi-Diamond cable... what could possibly go wrong :/ , but I just want to see that XMC SPDIF in hardware audio management.
I see this occasional after reboots, unplugging the Emotiva, rebooting the server, trying different ports in the hopes of seeing some pattern emerge such as, turn stereo on, reboot computer, unplug, reboot Emotiva, spin twice, something, but no pattern has emerged. Being an X IT-guy I usually figure its user error, me being the user of course. But aside from hacking the OS, I thought maybe someone has the magic power to unleash the full potential of the Emotiva in a streaming mode. I would welcome a stable "XMC SPDIF" in my Hardware audio management settings
Yes I know I rant.
