The Announcement All You Guys Have Been Waiting For - It's Official!!!

[bhuskins]

Funny you ask that...

When I was beta testing the software on my C1 a while back I noticed an overall sound improvement that wasn't imagined, it definitely improved it and it was noticeable instantly. I've got $50K worth of other gear associated to this C1 in my house, so needless to say all is top notch in the system. The system hadn't been changed in a couple months which is fairly long for me, but I've got my AMX system tweaked just right so I haven’t wanted to change anything. I watched a movie twice in row before and after the firmware update and noticed several nuances that had me excited. This was before messing around with the new features like the notch filters.

I posed the question to Richard at CES as to whether my mind is playing tricks on me or what and he said that on an established processor that has been in service for a while it could easy help the overall performance. Not because the root code has changed (maybe it has, I'm not sure), but because of the cleansing affect of the clean firmware. My C1 has been in service 1 1/2 years. A good analogy would be similar to a PC that has a fresh install of Windows and nothing else. Once you add office and norton and several other apps it will start to show performance lags compared to when it was fresh out of the box.

Now before you guys get the idea that your going to reflash your memory once a week to get the best out of your system, I would say that's likely not a good idea. I also don't know if reflashing with the same firmware would have the same affect as starting with an older firmware.

Anyway, that's my perception...

Brent Huskins

[Peter Nielsen]

Brent,

In the new firmware, Parasound probably has optimized/improved algorithms and setup parameters for the ADC/DAC and other sound processing components. It is very likely that this could result in audible improvements.

Reflashing in itself obviously has nothing to do with it. It's the new software that helps to improve things. Parasound probably has learned more about their hardware and now we get to reap the benefits of their R&D. :T

Often when a new chip is released by the chip manufacturer, not even the manufacturer knows about all the possible ways to exploit the chip. Often third party manufacturers or developers discover exciting new ways to use the chip or boost its performance...

Peter

[bhuskins]

But per Richard (owner of Parasound) the actual reflashing could affect it as well regardless of the other variables.

Brent Huskins

[Peter Nielsen]

I don't see why reflashing would help... The software should stay unmodified in the flash memory. If it changes, then reflashing will of course help to restore it. But why on earth would it change?

I can imagine that reflashing will also erase some memory banks used for settings, etc. However, even this should not affect performance in any way.

Anyway, I need to install that new software ASAP. Considering the time elapsed since the previous software revision, I'm sure Parasound has made some exciting changes to the DSP

Peter

[smalone]

I will add that the DPLIIx music mode is fantastic! I am a two channel guy when it comes to regular CD listening but since the update has the new DPLIIx I decided to give it a try and was very impressed on my 7.1 system (Totem model-1's signatures all around and QSC EX amps.).

[smalone]

"If you don't restore your Halo Control file, you will have basically performed a factory reset."

I restored my Halo control file that I saved before the upgrade and some of the settings were restored but not all of them... I thought it was strange.

"The Titan Updater still says that it's erasing the MCU, then sending data, and a few seconds later it says the checksum is invalid and aborts."

Chris, have you tried re-downloading the update file? Perhaps yours became corrupt during the download?

[Chris D]

Okay, I got it figured out. I talked with Tony at Parasound's customer service, and we did some troubleshooting. I have the dubious honor of being the first person to have troubles with the update and call Parasound. We couldn't figure out the problem, and were about to call it in and have me ship the C1 to Parasound, but I dragged my desktop PC upstairs and tried it. No problem...update on the first try. All done now!

[Chris D]

Peter- I also suggest that before you change any settings on the C1/C2, you download the default configuration to your computer and save it as the default. Then if you ever want, you can just upload the default and start over!

Also, pressing and holding the front power button as you turn on the unit will display the current software version. (very useful)

Brent - maybe it's just me or a subconsious desire, but I think there's an improvement in audio clarity with the new update!

[bhuskins]

The "cleansing" occurs in the buffers supposedly.

Brent Huskins

[Bugsy]

So Chris...was it just a case of "pilot error"?

[Chris D]

Heheheeeee... no, unfortunately. Otherwise ya'll could just give me a smack on the head and make things better. Since neither Parasound's tech support nor myself can pinpoint where the problem was exactly, and everything indicated that the Radio Shack cable and my laptop should have worked for the update, we still don't know exactly what the problem was. All I know is that it worked fine from my desktop, and update complete.

[nicholtl]

Brent, Chris, doesn't the manual addenum also state that all bass and treble processing occurs at a 96khz (I think) sampling rate now? Wouldn't that be more reason for the perceived audio improvement rather than the cleansing effect?

[bhuskins]

Maybe, but mine are always set to flat...I'm just saying what the main man said.

Brent Huskins

[Chris D]

Me too. Very nice that the processing is at a higher rate now, but I don't use bass or treble controls. I'm more of a purist, I suppose--just make room corrections.