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[beburi]

What is the difference between play files from memory and load files to memory? When would it make sense to check one but not the other?
How does this compare to/interact with the Prebuffering setting? Should I compare memory playback to a longer Prebuffer for audible differences?
What are user experiences so far with this feature? When is it most useful vs not really necessary?

[ssands]

I came for this same question. so <BUMP>.

Can anyone explain?

[Matt]

They sort of duplicate.

The new option is "Load files to memory at the start of playback".

That loads the entire file into RAM so file reads come from RAM.  We're brainstorming about how to expand this to work on the full playlist.  Haven't done it yet, but we're thinking.

The older option is "Play files from memory instead of disk".  This loads the full data from the song as 64-bit into memory at the start of playback.  Then there's not even decoding running when the file is played.

[ssands]

Thank you, Matt.

I'm still a bit confused. So, I'll try to re-phrase:

The older option, "Play files from memory instead of disk", loads MC-processed files from disk to memory (so any DSP is already applied). Is that true?
The new option"Load files to memory..." copies the file straight from disk to RAM. MC processes as it reads from RAM. Correct?

Is there any issue with both of these options being checked? Or should we only use one or the other?

[Matt]

Thank you, Matt.

I'm still a bit confused. So, I'll try to re-phrase:

The older option, "Play files from memory instead of disk", loads MC-processed files from disk to memory (so any DSP is already applied). Is that true?

It loads the decoded data, but DSP is still applied as the data is played.

The new option"Load files to memory..." copies the file straight from disk to RAM. MC processes as it reads from RAM. Correct?

Yes.

Is there any issue with both of these options being checked? Or should we only use one or the other?

I'm probably more keen on the older option because it takes decoding out of the picture.  That way playing an APE or a WAV is exactly the same after a couple seconds.  So there's just no way there could ever be any difference.

[ssands]

Thanks!

I get it now.

[freddie40]

Can use use both at the same time, or do you have to use one or the other?

Dave

[Artmon]

I have the same question.      Artmon

[dtc]

Not sure why you would want to try to use both methods.  You should use one or the other.  One decodes before putting  the data into memory, the other after. 

If you check both boxes, I believe the old behavior is used.

[thecrow]

Curious to know if either of these settings do anything in a Client-Server setup when no audio is played on the Server?

As this effectively separates Disk I/O from playback hardware I was wondering whether there is anything to be gained here.
 

[Dawgincontrol]

I use to play files from memory, but at some point something changed.  I started noticing occasional pops, click, and/or crackles while playing flac music files.

Set it back to playing from disk only and it fixed this problem (using WIndows 10 on an I3 processor).

[dtc]

Did you try the new option - Load files to memory at start of playback?

[Miracle1980]

What do you think is the best option for a bitperfect playback? I don't use any dsp and I would like to achieve "ram play"/

[PirateIce]

in response to Miracle1980, these options are fine for bitperfect play, they have no effect on bits, its more about performance and removing electrical noise (extremely small effect in most cases... if any is even provable. Without audio playing I can just barely hear my hard drive but its there, although I never noticed it when something is playing.)

to achieve "ram play" you could use "Play files from memory instead of disk" as it does play from ram obviously, but it has also already done decoding, so actually either work, as "Load files to memory at the start of playback" is also "ram play" except it hasnt already decoded the entire file to even more memory.
Either case removes hard drive noise, but "Play files..." reduces some noise from the cpu while it decodes audio (which I have never heard)

I use "Load files to memory at the start of Playback" because a) its new and im trying it out, and  b) I dont think there were any audio improvements with "Play files from memory instead of disk", so its not worth the extra wasted ram or processing you may notice cause a delay when you first start playback.

[bulldogger]

Love this! It's worth the upgrade just for this!