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[The Computer Audiophile]

Hi Guys, I previously posted about this with MC29 here - https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,133631.msg925631.html

But now it seems that MC processing time for convolution filters has gotten worse. Here are two screenshots. You can see the processing speed and my CPU, which really isn't that stressed. The speed of convolution processing has finally gotten so slow that it dips below 1x and I'm getting dropouts.

[eve]

Sadly, this is a little outside of my area of expertise. However, I'm curious about your first screenshot. Are you running a Ravenna network?

[The Computer Audiophile]

Sadly, this is a little outside of my area of expertise. However, I'm curious about your first screenshot. Are you running a Ravenna network?

Yes, audio is going out via Merging ASIO driver using Ravenna, through Merging certified switch, to Merging hardware.

[eve]

Jealous. The NaDac is something else. Is it really true that multiple NaDac's can be used in 'sync' correctly?

[eve]

Personally, I'm more interested in Hapi but, the NaDac seems like a killer solution to bring consumers into the genius paradigm shift that Audio Over IP can be.

[The Computer Audiophile]

Personally, I'm more interested in Hapi but, the NaDac seems like a killer solution to bring consumers into the genius paradigm shift that Audio Over IP can be.

I’m using Anubis and HAPI Mk2. Fantastic solution.

Yes, multiple NADACs can be synced together.

[eve]

Very cool. This all makes a lot more sense now.

You do a solid job with AudiophileStyle.
It was incredibly refreshing to find your site back in my early days of audiophile learning maybe 13 years ago.  My whole problem was there was a serious lack of crossover between older 'audiophiles' and computer audio nerds who refused to even entertain certain audiophile 'theories' that tend to be harder to quantify and thus it was quite hard to have a serious conversation without talking to someone whose feet were firmly planted in one camp or another. AudiophileStyle kind of bridged that gap. Obviously nowadays even the old guys are really coming around to digital, 'computer centric' audio but back in like 2008, it was very different.


So the Anubis in your situation serving as just the monitor controller?

I assume the quality of the D/A is excellent on the HAPI? I see them pop up on Reverb now and again and they're darn tempting.

[The Computer Audiophile]

Very cool. This all makes a lot more sense now.

You do a solid job with AudiophileStyle.
It was incredibly refreshing to find your site back in my early days of audiophile learning maybe 13 years ago.  My whole problem was there was a serious lack of crossover between older 'audiophiles' and computer audio nerds who refused to even entertain certain audiophile 'theories' that tend to be harder to quantify and thus it was quite hard to have a serious conversation without talking to someone whose feet were firmly planted in one camp or another. AudiophileStyle kind of bridged that gap. Obviously nowadays even the old guys are really coming around to digital, 'computer centric' audio but back in like 2008, it was very different.


So the Anubis in your situation serving as just the monitor controller?

I assume the quality of the D/A is excellent on the HAPI? I see them pop up on Reverb now and again and they're darn tempting.

Thanks so much for the kind words. Much appreciated.

Here’s a little article I wrote about the digital side of my system. https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/immersive/the-digital-side-of-my-immersive-atmos-music-system-r1128/

Anubis is like a digital preamp. Volume control at my listening position and input selection. Out to the HAPI Mk2 with two DA8P cards. Excellent DAC!

Here’s a walkthrough of the system. I need to have the JRiver guys over for a listen.

https://audiophilestyle.com/profile/5-the-computer-audiophile/?tab=field_core_pfield_3

[mattkhan]

Hi Guys, I previously posted about this with MC29 here - https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,133631.msg925631.html

But now it seems that MC processing time for convolution filters has gotten worse. Here are two screenshots. You can see the processing speed and my CPU, which really isn't that stressed. The speed of convolution processing has finally gotten so slow that it dips below 1x and I'm getting dropouts.

it's probably interesting to try it on different hardware so can you share a sample of your setup? i.e. a short excerpt of the track (10s or so?), the filter file(s) and DSP config (DSP > Presets > Save to File)

[eve]

Thanks so much for the kind words. Much appreciated.

Here’s a little article I wrote about the digital side of my system. https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/immersive/the-digital-side-of-my-immersive-atmos-music-system-r1128/

Anubis is like a digital preamp. Volume control at my listening position and input selection. Out to the HAPI Mk2 with two DA8P cards. Excellent DAC!

Here’s a walkthrough of the system. I need to have the JRiver guys over for a listen.

https://audiophilestyle.com/profile/5-the-computer-audiophile/?tab=field_core_pfield_3

Extremely impressive setup mate. Thanks for the detailed writeups. I love your approach to Atmos. For me personally, there isn't really an alternative to the control and flexibility offered by a PC, and thus, I pretty much require decoded audio. It seems quite restrictive relying on a pre-pro for this stuff when you have the skills to do on your own. You're locked into that specific DSP and have no access to the processing power or software improvements that a PC based source can provide.

That's pretty much how I assumed you had the Anubis setup though, maybe this is incorrect but do the audio streams have to even go in to it so to speak?
I was reading your write up and I guess my question is, can't the audio stream go direct into the HAPI with the Anubis just telling the HAPI 'hey pick this stream and here's the volume / channel trim to use'?
It's essentially inconsequential because your system clearly works (and the Anubis is a gorgeous control surface regardless).
The reason I ask is because I'm curious if a system like this would be fine WITHOUT an Anubis if I wanted to integrate my own software controller to handle volume, source selection, etc.

[The Computer Audiophile]

Extremely impressive setup mate. Thanks for the detailed writeups. I love your approach to Atmos. For me personally, there isn't really an alternative to the control and flexibility offered by a PC, and thus, I pretty much require decoded audio. It seems quite restrictive relying on a pre-pro for this stuff when you have the skills to do on your own. You're locked into that specific DSP and have no access to the processing power or software improvements that a PC based source can provide.

That's pretty much how I assumed you had the Anubis setup though, maybe this is incorrect but do the audio streams have to even go in to it so to speak?
I was reading your write up and I guess my question is, can't the audio stream go direct into the HAPI with the Anubis just telling the HAPI 'hey pick this stream and here's the volume / channel trim to use'?
It's essentially inconsequential because your system clearly works (and the Anubis is a gorgeous control surface regardless).
The reason I ask is because I'm curious if a system like this would be fine WITHOUT an Anubis if I wanted to integrate my own software controller to handle volume, source selection, etc.

I'm with you 100%. There's no way I will use a processor in my system.

The audio stream can go directly to the HAPI if you don't have an Anubis, but then you have to control the volume via the knob on the front panel of the HAPI. I suppose you could do volume conotrol on a PC/Mac though, but I haven't tried it.

When using the Anubis, all audio must route through it.

One awesome thing about using a computer as a source without a processor is the ability to use 65,000 tap convolution filters for room correction in the time and frequency domain. No processor in the world can come close to this.

[eve]

The audio stream can go directly to the HAPI if you don't have an Anubis, but then you have to control the volume via the knob on the front panel of the HAPI. I suppose you could do volume conotrol on a PC/Mac though, but I haven't tried it.

Yeah, that's sort of what I was thinking. I write custom web interfaces / integrations for a lot of the things I use to better tie them together. That's actually one of the reasons I find this no nonsense, audio over IP stuff so interesting (the simple packetization & timestamping of audio data is a huge draw as well)

One awesome thing about using a computer as a source without a processor is the ability to use 65,000 tap convolution filters for room correction in the time and frequency domain. No processor in the world can come close to this.

There's just no equal. I completely understand the 'convenience' factor of a dedicated processor but, there's just a hard ceiling on what they can do, they're stuck with very stagnant DSP.
 I'd rather have rock solid D/A and handle feeding it on my own.
I do the same with video, it's almost absurd to NOT take advantage of extremely capable GPUs to handle scaling.

Regardless, we've veered quite off topic. I hope they can sort out these performance issues, your system should be more than capable of handling this if it's the one you've outlined previously.

[The Computer Audiophile]

Yeah, that's sort of what I was thinking. I write custom web interfaces / integrations for a lot of the things I use to better tie them together. That's actually one of the reasons I find this no nonsense, audio over IP stuff so interesting (the simple packetization & timestamping of audio data is a huge draw as well)
There's just no equal. I completely understand the 'convenience' factor of a dedicated processor but, there's just a hard ceiling on what they can do, they're stuck with very stagnant DSP.
 I'd rather have rock solid D/A and handle feeding it on my own.
I do the same with video, it's almost absurd to NOT take advantage of extremely capable GPUs to handle scaling.

Regardless, we've veered quite off topic. I hope they can sort out these performance issues, your system should be more than capable of handling this if it's the one you've outlined previously.

OK one last off topic post. It would be really cool if someone could write a web or other hardware interface that controls the HAPI’s volume remotely. Not sure the API is there, but it’s got to be possible.

[eve]

OK one last off topic post. It would be really cool if someone could write a web or other hardware interface that controls the HAPI’s volume remotely. Not sure the API is there, but it’s got to be possible.

It's almost certainly possible, even if it needs to be done in a bit of a 'round about' manner.
If I ever get my hands on a HAPI I'll probably have something for you.
I've been digging into the idea of incorporating Dante into my setup using Via, I think it shows a ton of promise. The latency is going to be my biggest possible 'hitch' once video is in the mix.

[zoom+slomo]

I’m using Anubis and HAPI Mk2. Fantastic solution. Yes, multiple NADACs can be synced together.

Multiple NADACs? What are they; $11K each? Of course, forums that run DCS banners are bound to have members with money to burn, but what's infuriating about MCH DACs like the Hapi is the paucity of any inclusive, user friendly, cost effective master and basic volume/mute remote. When I suggested issuing such a handheld device, Rune or another Merging support person argued that Hapi is targeted to the Pro Audio market (really?) and who prefer wirED remotes. They suggested adding Anubis (> $2K) or opting for NADAC ($11K). Really? That kind of money to get master volume/mute remote control? And Anubis is wirED box. Indeed, a   well known CE hardware reviewer and Hapi owner recently said that he got the same reply upon making this request.

As for JRemote, my iPhone 7+ has been great as a phone, a flashlight and a quick and nice YouTube player. But as a handheld volume/mute, for what I expect to be a pretty high end sounding 3.1 home theater system, its heavy 3” wide mass would be total hell to fumble with. Seriously, we’ve all had years of experience with Oppo and Pioneer BD player remotes to know what kind of remote would and would not be an ergonomic nightmare, so let’s not kid ourselves or insult anyone’s intelligence over these facts. 

I just wish that more great sounding sensible MCH DAC solutions for home users, like the Okto Pro 8, were available, but which had the Hapi’s range of output voltage, so I wouldn't have to play insane guessing games over any problematic gain loss issues that could arise when applying filters created with DIRAC Live or other room correction software.

At least Okto had no issues including a wireless remote with the DAC 8 Pro, of course.