Fidelizer Useful or snakeoil?

Discussion in 'Computer Audiophile: Software, Configs, Tools' started by kirayamato, Nov 1, 2015.

?

fidelizer actually works?

  1. yes

    20 vote(s)
    52.6%
  2. snake oil 101

    18 vote(s)
    47.4%
  1. rott

    rott Secretly hates other millenials - Friend

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    Such as what specifically?

    Using Audirvana+ I just take it for granted that bypassing OS X's CoreAudio probably does result in better sound overall, but never bothered testing its "SysOptmizer" feature of disabling background processes.
     
  2. bixby

    bixby Friend

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    Well, that took a while. Just loaded the free Fidelizer on my Elitebook pc this past week when trying to eliminate ticks from the fussier than shit USB sections of the Gungnir Multibit and M2U. Fidelizer did not fix the usb ticks, another setting did.

    Compared to what I was getting before on a tweaked pc turning off all the usual stuff, I feel Fidelizer has taken the sq up a decent notch. More transparent and less muddy overall. This effect has opened up the sound both with the Gungnir Multibit and M2u 4490 as well as Havana.

    A bit of a pain to run it each time I boot but, hey it is free and it does more positive to my foobar based pc than any USB decrapifier ever did.
     
  3. AllanMarcus

    AllanMarcus Friend

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    I tried it. Made no difference, but I don't tax my Mac's CPU at all. $1 says in a blind test you would not be able to hear a difference, and if you did, it would just be different, not necessarily better.
     
  4. SSL

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    If tiny improvements in audio quality matter that much to anyone, that means it's time to stop using a PC as an audio source. Just imagine how transparent and opened up the sound would be then. Seriously; modern operating systems are not designed with audio reproduction in mind. No matter what software you run, you can't get away from the non-realtime nature of the underlying system.
     
  5. AllanMarcus

    AllanMarcus Friend

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    Interesting thought. I know the guy that runs Mojo Audio in Albuquerque, and he swears his "music servers" are far superior to a PC. I wasn't able to hear a difference, but I'm less sensitive. Has anyone done any blinds tests to prove/disprove the crap spouting from marketing departments about the audio benefits of vibration control for PC with a SSD, or that different hard drives in a NAS can affect sound?
     
  6. SSL

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    Franky, I don't think it makes a difference either way. My point is that the differences of a dedicated music PC are much greater than nuking a few background processes. Also, I would be wary of f'ing around too much with services on a PC; that is a great way to introduce instability if you don't know what you're doing, which can't be good for audio either.

    This is assuming the bare minimum of competent hardware; again, if that isn't the case, just get a better machine.
     
  7. bixby

    bixby Friend

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    Allan, When did Fidelizer come out with a version for Mac? o_O Or are you talking about sysoptimizer in A+?

    If so, not sure if it (A+ sys optimizer) ever made a difference for me on my Mac setup, since I had all those sys optimized things turned off already.

    Oh and the Mojo guy sells ridiculously priced crap and I am not surprised you did not hear any meaningful difference. Macs are easy to tweak and they don't sound any better when someone adds some slightly different tweak and charges a freaking fortune for it.

    Wonder how much better his mini sounds on his atomic lucite base for $350 vs my $12 herbies feet.
     
    Last edited: Jul 3, 2016
  8. AllanMarcus

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    A+

    I agree with the ability to easily tweak. I do it for a living -- I used to write security software for the Mac, so I'm pretty familiar with what's going on in there from a simple process level perspective. I supposed if you CPU or PUR are taxes, there might be some issues (fan sounds, microprocessor harmonics, or other sounds that might leak into the audio stream, but meh. Maybe if I had golden ears and $100k system and a perfect listening room, it might make a difference, but for the average audiophile joe with a decently powerful system, probably not. If you are using a cheap (<$1000) laptop as a your source, maybe.
     
  9. bixby

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    You are correct like the tiny improvement in cables, especially headphone cables, wires, power, vibration control, etc. They all add up. And using computer os is not the brightest way to solve a music playback problem. Unfortunately, the folks building audio optimized music servers are on another planet when they price these things.

    Megabuck music servers in the past decade that sounded just a bit better than an optimized computer have been all we could get until the last few years. Even with some of these things coming down to the $1-$2k range, we still get awfully close with a sub $1k computer.

    When they can do it as reliably as a computer with no obsolescence and price it competitively, I will be the first to throw in the towel on OS and computers.

    Until then, I am happy using a hammer to turn a screw. :D
     
  10. AllanMarcus

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  11. bixby

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    @AllanMarcus

    Please do not take offense, but I have used a number of non-pc based sources, from Sonos, to Squeezebox, to Airport Express and could not live with the sound quality any of them offer at this stage in the journey. And yes, I have looked into the pi, but until I get someone to bring one over, will not invest my time with another "potentially good, but perhaps not as good as what I have already" source.
     
  12. AllanMarcus

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    @bixby Fair enough. As you can tell, those set-ups aren't really audiophile quality. My main system is a little better (Yamaha 2050, Monitor Audio GX-100), but I still stream with Airplay or use DNLA via ethernet off my linux server.

    I just skimmed your blog; you are definitely at a higher level than I am!
     
  13. SSL

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    So as an example of things that Fidelizer does which may be questionable - it sets the kernal timer reoslution to 1ms. This basically means that the interrupt timer is firing an additional 936 times per second, wasting processing resources and consuming more power. Yes, increasing the kernel timer resolution reduces performance due to the extra overhead. And it still doesn't change the fact that Windows is not a real-time OS and music playback isn't a real-time task.

    Leave well enough alone. Foobar and similar "audiophile" music players already use MMCSS, thread prioritization, and appropriate buffering to ensure an uninterrupted audio stream. If that still isn't "transparent" enough for you, it's probably time to go full analog.
     
  14. bixby

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    No! untweaked is not transparent enough and that is why I listen to the Mac in my main setup.

    As for analog, I will never go back there: snap, crackle, pop, haha :p

    EDEIT: I'll bow out of this thread now. I know what I hear and like it. No need to try to convince me otherwise, this is not Hydrogenaudio.
     
    Last edited: Jul 4, 2016
  15. SSL

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    That's fine. Though I'm sure the people around here who listen to vinyl will take issue with the notion that it is prone to "snap crackle pop".

    To the OP; just be aware that some of the methods that Fidelizer uses are questionable at best. Others are going to be redundant if you are already using an "audiophile" music player. For my part, the free version didn't do anything perceptible on my system.
     
  16. ColtMrFire

    ColtMrFire Writes better fan fics than you

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    I personally did not like Fidelizer. The affect was subtle but I did not care for the sound. Its hard to describe.

    I got much better results with Process Lasso. The change was positively revelatory. I try to avoid hype and hyperbole but it was literally like I'd gotten a new (better) DAC. I did not expect that at all. I was very surprised. Using the software as is made a good improvement but it wasn't until I checked "classify as a game" and "exclude from Probalance restraint" on my music player (Bughead Emperor) that the changes became extraordinarily positive.

    It made me realize just how terrible computers are at rendering audio. They are incredibly noisy with all the internal moving parts and chips generating EMI/RFI. I also got excellent results using ERS paper in strategic places on my laptop to eliminate what was a considerable amount of EMI which was manifesting itself as harshness and digititus. Those tweaks combined with Process Lasso seriously transformed my listening experience.

    People talk about realism but it's like I could reach out and shake the musicians hands now. I dont make those claims lightly. This also depends on ones chain ( I have a fairly resolving system that did not truly reveal itself until I made the changes)
     
  17. bixby

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    @ColtMrFire
    Looks interesting, just skimmed the page on audiophile guide, but says it is for servers not workstations. Are you using pc as a standalone music device or serving up another device? Kind of confusing.

    And it is not clear that you can run or not run at will, once you run the executable I guess I will have to delve into the nits and bolts.

    EDIT: Does it support win 7 64 bit?
     
  18. AllanMarcus

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    Seems that Process Lasso and ProBalance are simply managing process priorities is some (proprietary) efficient manner. If your computer is powerful enough, with enough RAM that you rarely swap, Project Lasso shouldn't make that much of a difference. If your computer is struggling under load, then it might help.

    @ColtMrFire , please try this. Reboot with Project Lasso off. Give the system a few minutes to complete booting (much happens even after you log on). If possible, have the process monitor running and see if there are any spikes in CPU usage that might be anywhere close to taxing your system, then make sure you have no other apps running except your player, and listen. Turn on Project Lasso, then try again. Logic would suggest that if your system is not taxed, it should sound the same with Project Lasso on or off.
     
  19. ColtMrFire

    ColtMrFire Writes better fan fics than you

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    I use a laptop. Works fine with it.
     
  20. ColtMrFire

    ColtMrFire Writes better fan fics than you

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    I have done this before. There were no major spikes. My laptop is older though so it doesn't havr a lot of RAM and doesn't have a fast processor.

    If you're suggesting this is placebo, its not. The change was extremely obvious and I have had expectation bias with other programs (like fidelizer) that were subtle and unlikeable. Not sure why expectation bias would favor one program over another either. Especially when I was not expecting anything better than fidelizer.

    I also hear Lasso brings benefits even to faster computers. Best way to know is try it yourself.
     

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