1. 

   jimboden
   Moderator

   I have a 2 year old Toshiba Netbook computer, with an Intel Atom 1.66GHZ processor, 2GB RAM, and Windows XP 32 bit. I decided to try DPS on it over the weekend and was very surprised that I got no audio drop outs when listening to iTunes. This is completely the opposite of my experience with my Intel 2.8GHZ quad core, 8GB RAM, and Windows 64 bit system. I can’t get through a single song on the Windows 7 system without getting audio drop outs. I have documented all my observations in other threads on this forum. Also, while listening to iTunes, I had 6 application updates, so I downloaded them all while still listening to music. The CPU utilization spiked up to around 100% and stayed there for a while. Once again, not one audio drop out.

   Playing music on the Netbook utilizes 2 to 3 times the CPU resources than it does on my desktop. It tends to jump around between 15% and 20%, whereas, on the desktop, it tends to be between 5% and 10%. Because I installed DPS on the Netbook, a second computer, I’m not able to activate it. I guess I need to buy a second copy. Because of this, I wasn’t able to test the profile for my headphones, so used one of the default cities ones, which sounded pretty good.

   In another thread, Joey Butera suggested that DPS might benefit from an INI file where buffers could be assigned possibly to help with the drop out problem.

   After my experience with XP and Windows 7, I’m wondering if there is something more fundamentally different, possibly in the architecture. I would expect that Win 7 would be mostly superior to XP, but it sure has me wondering. Of course, the main difference for DPS is that XP is using a 32 bit version, and Win 7 is using 64 bit. At least I think Win 7 is 64 bit, because DPS gets installed in the regular Program Files library, where 64 bit applications go. 32 bit ones go into Program Files (X86).

   I don’t know if I’m onto something here, but am fascinated by this. While I was composing this message, I listened to a complete 12 song album on the Netbook and there wasn’t a single drop out.

   While I’m on this subject (again), I’m wondering if there are any other DPS for Windows users on this forum. The threads are mostly about DPS for the Mac and I seem to be the only one posting comments about DPS for Windows. It sure would be great if any other Windows users out there would chime in with their experiences.

   Posted 7 months ago #
2. 

   Joey Butera
   Audio and Computer Systems Engineer

   Jim,

   It turns out the Windows 64bit architecture is MUCH different from the original 32bit XP era architecture. I also get the feeling it is a bit more unstable due to it's newness. Dropouts seem to be fairly uncommon with our Windows users but it does seem to happen more in 64bit Windows 7 than XP. There are still too many variables to pin down the actual causes though.

   I added another activation to your account for your netbook. Attention like yours to our tech does not go unnoticed!

   And it does seem to be true, our Mac users are much more vocal here than our Windows users. We just have to get the word our more! :)

   Posted 7 months ago #
3. 

   jimboden
   Moderator

   Hi Joey:

   Thanks for letting me activate DPS on my Netbook, I really appreciate it. Now I have a reason to use the Netbook, which has been sitting around for a long time. I used it for business away from home a couple of years ago, but haven't used it much since. The Bose QC15 profile for my QC3 headphones sounds awesome. From now on, no more music on my Win 7 system, but I'll continue to use DPS for movies and games. For some odd reason, it works much better for everything but music.

   One other problem I had on Win 7 was using an external USB Sound Blaster HD device. Similar to DPS, it couldn't do audio without drop outs. I attributed it to not being able to keep up using a USB I/O port but, obviously, my thinking was wrong because it works flawlessly on XP. I ended up getting Sound Blaster's high end internal card which has the 5.25" I/O drive mounted in a bay. The drive has front controls for headphones and microphones, plus an input for a device with RCA jacks. I have no regrets going with the internal card because I'm a gamer and it has all the good stuff for games which the external one doesn't. The interesting part about my drop out problem is that DPS and the USB Sound Blaster both seem to be the “victim” of something else and aren’t causing it themselves. I noticed that the audiodg.exe process in Win 7 doesn’t exist in XP. Who knows, maybe it’s the culprit. These operating systems are getting way too complicated for me.

   DPS and the USB Sound Blaster make a great pair. Creative claims that the Sound Blaster is designed for music and has professional grade components, especially for its headphone output. I’m sitting here listening to Metric's Fantasies album and am hearing things that I never have before with 256kbps music. Amazing!! Ozzie's Strange Endevour sounds great too. In her rounds, I see she's performed in Montreal. If she ever comes to Toronto, I'll be there in a heartbeat. :-)

   Posted 7 months ago #

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