Has anyone compared AudioLinux or Gentoo Player to Windows based optimizers?

Hello,

Has anyone compared the SQ of AudioLinux or Gentoo Player vs windows based optimizers such as Audiophile optimizer or Fidelizer?

I am curious because Windows has the advantage of driver & application compatibility vs these audio optimized Linux versions.

Regards,

Audio_phool

ask 10 people here and you get 12 answers ....

I am in the camp where a carefully optimized Server 2019 core is sounding best with HQPlayer and NAA (2 pc setup)

As explained by Mops911, every user has a different experience.

From my experience, there is a difference between Linux and Windows in that the Windows optimised solutions are just stripped from unnecessary services while in the Linux solutions, a work of optimisation has been done to reduce kernel latency, which is important for accurate music reproduction.

Also you did not precise your use case. Are you expecting a Wysiwyg solution ? Do you like to spend time in computer optimisation yourself ? What player are you using ?

In case you are aiming at HPQlayer, using a Windows optimizer might deprive you from HQPlayer's support, as the conditions for this support are plain vanilla Windows installations.

If you are aiming at using HQPlayer alone, Jussy has done a very good job at optimising his distribution of Linux and optimising his kernel. This is easy to use and install.

If you are aiming at larger use cases, you will get support from the Linux distribution editor (GentooPlayer or AudioLinux). I personally have a good experience with the kernels of AudioLinux which are offering a pretty good latency.

Since version 6.12 of the kernel (which still is in development), the real time patches of the kernel have been merged into the mainstream kernel. So you can also optimise the kernel yourself easily in case you like to dig deeper yourself.

In short, I have a preference for the Linux solutions as they seem more optimised to me. From Jussi's to Audiolinux or your own is a choice of your personal implication.