New software mods for the Squeezebox Touch...they work.

[Gazjam]

Originally Posted by magiccarpetride
How would spdif changes affect the sound if one is not using the spdif outs?

I wouldn't know as I've not tried the mods and don't know what they entail.I won't bother asking in future..

Alex,
Maybe some Dacs are less able to show these mods as others for whatever reason so I'm sure thats why Ali was asking and trying to help you out.
Also,
You said you were typing the "chrt -f -p 51 367" command to tweak your SPDIF value, so someone asking about your Dac is a fair question I'd have thought?

Just sayin....

[magiccarpetride]

I wouldn't know as I've not tried the mods and don't know what they entail.I won't bother asking in future..

I didn't mean to brush you off... I was asking in all earnestness. It looks like many of these things appear related, once you dive deeper into the underlying Linux and Alsa in the Touch. So even if one is not using spdif, it is conceivable that the changes in the spdif thread priority might affect other parameters. I don't know, that's why I was asking. But please do not think that I was being a prick there

[magiccarpetride]

Originally Posted by magiccarpetride
How would spdif changes affect the sound if one is not using the spdif outs?

I wouldn't know as I've not tried the mods and don't know what they entail.I won't bother asking in future..

Alex,
Maybe some Dacs are less able to show these mods as others for whatever reason so I'm sure thats why Ali was asking and trying to help you out.
Also,
You said you were typing the "chrt -f -p 51 367" command to tweak your SPDIF value, so someone asking about your Dac is a fair question I'd have thought?

Just sayin....

Absolutely. It was a bit of a miscommunication on my part; I didn't mean to dismiss any possibilities, that's why I asked the question. It is conceivable that even if someone is not using spdif, the changes to its priority could influence other parameters. What I was asking is -- how?

I know next to nothing about digital sound processing, and am just now discovering the wonderful brave world of digital audio, and what makes it tick in a system such as Linux. Naturally, I will continue with many, many dumb questions...

[magiccarpetride]

Alex,
If you can hear Soundcheck's mods you can hear these - I suspect your not doing something right!
Your Caiman (like mine) is "good enough" and you have better speakers than I've got...
So...
lemme have a think...

You say your sitting at the laptop applying different values using the "chrt -f -p 51 367" command at the console, changing values as you go and aren't hearing anything?

Couple of things to check/think about:

You need to reboot the Touch for each change in value to take effect, sounds like maybe your not doing that?
Also,
The "address values" in the commands "chrt -f -p..." for Real time clock and SPDIF can vary dependant on which firmware your Touch is running.
The "address" (367) of the SPDIF value given in Dynobot's webpage example can change...so if your just typing in "chrt -f -p 51 367" command and changing 51 to whatever...you using might not be doing anything - even if you WERE rebooting after every change

Dynobot does suggest in the "small print" that you check these values in YOUR system first and change the address values (i.e 367) to what matches your system.
You did do that, right?

Keep the faith brother, these mods DO work.

How would I know which value in my system matches the 367 value?

I so want this to work for me!

[Gazjam]

How would I know which value in my system matches the 367 value?

I so want this to work for me!

Hey Alex

When you think that with these mods, the SPDIF value is only one of 5 that make it work, there is (as you say) a lot of stuff going on - NOT just the digital out.
As an experiment I took my Caiman out of circuit and went back to analogue out using the Touch's internal Dac.
With the mods there are still improvements, hard to say what though as its a completely different Dac - BUT - compared to the non-modded sound, the mods bring good improvements.

You asked about the 367 value for SPDIF?
To check yours - and therefor the correct value for your SPDIF, type this in a Terminal window whilst SSH'd into your Touch:

ps -eLo pid,cls,rtprio,pri,nice,cmd

This will list all the startup processes, what their "address" value is and also what their priority value is.
Your interested in the first and fourth column as well as the "description" column under the heading CMD.

Your looking for the values for SPDIF and Realtime clock.
(Under the CMD heading they are [IRQ-47] and [IRQ-25]

Two columns to the left (under "PRI") is the value that you change.
(My IRQ-47(SPDIF)=471* and IRQ-25(RtC)=414*

THESE are the values I have put in my rcS file as they exactly match my config, NOT the ones on Dynobot's website as stated.

So its:
1) check your values using ps -eLo pid,cls,rtprio,pri,nice,cmd
2) Take note of numbers under "PID" heading for [IRQ-47] and [IRQ-25]
3) Edit your rcS file, save and type "reboot" in a terminal window to activate the new values.

I know you weren't changing your rcS file but were doing it "on the fly", but if your sitting with the laptop in front of your system you might as well do it this way IMHO.

Have a go, let us know how you get on.

[magiccarpetride]

Hey Alex

When you think that with these mods, the SPDIF value is only one of 5 that make it work, there is (as you say) a lot of stuff going on - NOT just the digital out.
As an experiment I took my Caiman out of circuit and went back to analogue out using the Touch's internal Dac.
With the mods there are still improvements, hard to say what though as its a completely different Dac - BUT - compared to the non-modded sound, the mods bring good improvements.

You asked about the 367 value for SPDIF?
To check yours - and therefor the correct value for your SPDIF, type this in a Terminal window whilst SSH'd into your Touch:

ps -eLo pid,cls,rtprio,pri,nice,cmd

This will list all the startup processes, what their "address" value is and also what their priority value is.
Your interested in the first and fourth column as well as the "description" column under the heading CMD.

Your looking for the values for SPDIF and Realtime clock.
(Under the CMD heading they are [IRQ-47] and [IRQ-25]

Two columns to the left (under "PRI") is the value that you change.
(My IRQ-47(SPDIF)=471* and IRQ-25(RtC)=414*

THESE are the values I have put in my rcS file as they exactly match my config, NOT the ones on Dynobot's website as stated.

So its:
1) check your values using ps -eLo pid,cls,rtprio,pri,nice,cmd
2) Take note of numbers under "PID" heading for [IRQ-47] and [IRQ-25]
3) Edit your rcS file, save and type "reboot" in a terminal window to activate the new values.

I know you weren't changing your rcS file but were doing it "on the fly", but if your sitting with the laptop in front of your system you might as well do it this way IMHO.

Have a go, let us know how you get on.

Brilliant. Thanks so much, bro!

[camtwister]

I've varied SPDIF and Real-Time Clock values using the suggested RCS file alterations and I've heard sonic differences, particularly at the top-end when changing the SPDIF values by more than three integers. However, the process IDs for both jive_alsa processes change each time I boot up my Touch. Is there a line of code that I can add to the RCS file, that will automatically detect and set the value to 55 for example, rather than the default of 35 and 45, so that I don't have to manually change them in a terminal window at the beginning of each listening session?

[DaveK]

Hi Guys,
I'd be interested in anybody else's opinion on this. Late last night I switched on my Logitech Touch, only to be advised that a new version of the software was available. I downloaded and installed it and then began to listen through my AKG IEDs - I was immediately struck by how much better the sound seemed to be from how I last remembered it from perhaps a week or so ago.
I would describe the sound as being much more 3D, greater depth of the sound stage, if that is possible with IEDs?
Am I deluding myself or has anyone else noticed any improvement?
I am aware that there are 3rd parties coming up with software mods to improve the sound and I wondered perhaps whether Logitech had taken notice of these mods and developed their own version as an update - any thoughts?
Cheers,
Dave.

[Gazjam]

Hiya Dave,
good to see you back.

Ive found that firmware changes CAN affect the sound and is usually an improvement.
Not all of the changes make any difference though?
My take is that every now and again the Logitech engineers make some change that makes the Touch work more efficiently or something, which messing about with CPU priorities etc in the mods have shown can improve the sound.

I don't rely on it though, as not all firmware changes make any difference. Theres firmware upgrades frequently if your running 7.6.1 software, but I ignore them mostly and like to update every couple of weeks if theres anything new.

Its possible that the software mods are being looked at by Logitech engineers I suppose...but I wouldn't think they trawl the forums like we do!

Have you tried themods yet Dave?

[Dynobot]

Hello everyone, I just wanted to share and UPDATE to my modifications.

I added one more file to be modified, see 2nd step. It entails adding two lines to the asound.conf file.

Also
**Note: It is not recommended that you use these mods in conjunction with any other software modifications.**

I also recommend that you install the latest firmware on the Touch via Firmware update.