DPS 2.0 Testing (OSX)

[xaqmusic]

Glad to hear you guys are having success!

Here are some of the known issues we are working on for the next (hopefully final) build:

• Users who are logging in for the first time on a computer will get the spinning wheel of death until reboot.   This is why we forced the reboot in 2.0.0.14.   But instead of being a driver issue this is related to something else.  So when we fix this first time login issue we will again remove the reboot requirement from the installer.
• Stereo Controls are indeed a little broken in 2.0.0.14.   Fixing that…
• Some users are seeing “Your Profile Directory is Read Only”.  This is leftover from 1.0.7 and is no longer necessary.   We will remove this message.

[3rik]

xaqmusic,

Thanks for your hard work 🙂

I’m concerned by the reboot stuff, but it’s not a big problem.

 

When the final build is released, will we have access to the EQ and the Stereo settings ?

Regards,

Eric

 

[xaqmusic]

3rik,

Since we are testing the BASIC version for release, we don’t have a build that has unlimited controls.  However, as soon as we begin testing the PRO/FULL version you will have access to those builds.   Also, you will receive a free activation of the FULL version when it is released.  The FULL version will include:

• Unlimited EQ controls
• Unlimited Stereo Enhancement Controls
• Access to our full library of custom profiles.

[hrvoje31]

Hi,

Just to report there was definitely an update to CoreAudio in the third OS X 10.11.4 beta yesterday. The “crackle” and re-sync is definitely not a service issue (Spotify, IPTV – flash) as I assumed. I have experienced it several times today. I am not expecting fixes/updates regarding this. Just for heads up.

On the other note I hope you are aware of Sparkle Updater vulnerability. Just in case you are not using latest framework. https://vulnsec.com/2016/osx-apps-vulnerabilities/

Regards,

h.

[xaqmusic]

hrvoje31,

Thanks for the heads up!  I will ask our team to begin testing 10.11.4 right away so se can stay on top of any changes.  I also looked into the Sparkle vulnerability:

In short, all applications that use the Sparkle Updater framework and are connecting over HTTP instead of a secure HTTPS connection are vulnerable. Since Sparkle throws an error in case of an invalid SSL certificate by default, it helps to protect against MITM attacks when used wisely.

We are most definitely serving the Sparkle xml and our updates via SSL with EV and we have remained aware of the possibility of man in the middle attacks for any auto update process.  Also, the pkg is code signed and the user must manually walk through the install process.   So in the unlikely event anything fishy is going on the user can cancel the update.

While this makes for a less slick update (you can see the auto update window hang out over the installer) we feel this is best for the short term until we are 1000% confident in the process.

Version 2.0.0.17 is now available for update

There are several tweaks to this final beta release.   We feel this is a solid release candidate:

• The main UI is now opened on first run.
• The stereo widening values are now always pulled from the current selected profile.
• Fixed a hang with the login window if the user has not added name info to their mybongiovidps account.
• Removed the restart requirement from the installer.
• Removed the read-only warning for the profiles directory.
• The DPS application folder is now opened in the Finder after installation.
• Added an alert dialog at launch if the app couldn’t connect to the DPS driver, with an option to reboot the system.
• Changed the notification message at startup to be the same as Win version.

[Anonymous]

Any idea why it shows 59 as the output for desktop speakers and headphones?

http://imgur.com/prTbaXx

[hrvoje31]

xaqmusic,

Thanks for taking time to look into the issue and for reading up on the Sparkle Updater vulnerability. It is very much appreciated.

Last night Apple updated developer beta which resolved the following issue: “Known issue with this build:
Applications that dynamically update their executable after installation may encounter an invalid code signature resulting a crash on launch”

I have not tested it throughly, but I have not had issues today. Although, I have not been listening to music much and I did update to latest DPS last night as well. If there is a way I can help in this matter to let me know. There were some changes to CA inside Xcode (7.2.1) and with the third beta. Then again…it could be my system. 🙂

You are correct about Sparkle. Potentially, any application that does not use HTTPS for updates is vulnerable. They did patch this in 1.13.1, but if HTTPS is used then it is non-issue regardless of version used. Older versions would not throw an error in case of an invalid SSL certificate by default, as far as aware of. Thanks for taking time to investigate this and confirm that the DPS is secure. 🙂 There are a lot of applications using Sparkle and most of them developed by a single developer so security is not really a priority. I personally have 4 applications which use both outdated framework and are updated via HTTP. Happy to hear you have secured your users before rolling out public release.

I updated to the newest beta last night and update process went without a hitch. I did not have to reboot the system and was able to continue to use the system as usual. That is great news. I really do like the tweaks and fixes you have incorporated in the last two releases.

I did not do clean reinstall so I cannot confirm if the freezing issue with login window still exists.

Regarding this:

• The DPS application folder is now opened in the Finder after installation.

Is it possible to do the following:

If DPS is already running and is (being) updated, do not open the application folder. If the application is closed or disabled open it. I realize why this is implemented and it is great. Especially if you download and run installer manually. It is preferred behavior. But if updated via internal updater, I would just want it to install and relaunch. This is just an idea. Updater downloads full installer rather than delta updates so this might not be possible.

One thing I do have to report, and it is not related to just current build, is that sometimes I answer my calls on my Mac (via FaceTime) and the volume gets low during/after ending a call. Re-sync does boost the volume and restores it. It does not happen all the time though. As if “volume boost” gets disabled. Increasing decreasing volume does not change things, only re-sync.

@ wzrd8kd, I also have that happening. I do not know why, but it does not seem to affect the application when switching between the outputs.

Regards,

h.

[MightyBoo]

[quote=63151]Hi, Just to report there was definitely an update to CoreAudio in the third OS X 10.11.4 beta yesterday. The “crackle” and re-sync is definitely not a service issue (Spotify, IPTV – flash) as I assumed. I have experienced it several times today. I am not expecting fixes/updates regarding this. Just for heads up. On the other note I hope you are aware of Sparkle Updater vulnerability. Just in case you are not using latest framework. https://vulnsec.com/2016/osx-apps-vulnerabilities/ Regards, h. [/quote]

 

FYI, the crackle sound do occasionally appear on the first version of boom. I’m surprised that this issue is still present in this second version of boom beta.

[vukodlak75]

[quote=63154]Any idea why it shows 59 as the output for desktop speakers and headphones?

http://imgur.com/prTbaXx

[/quote]

After each update mine says 72

[hrvoje31]

[quote=63158]FYI, the crackle sound do occasionally appear on the first version of boom. I’m surprised that this issue is still present in this second version of boom beta. [/quote]

Thanks! Yes, there are issues with previous versions of OS X and v1. The only software that I did not experience this was Hear. But that is off topic. V2 should be ok under 10.11.2/3 as I only started having glitches when I upgraded to beta version. But…we will see about that. You should be ok using/upgrading to v2 once is released.

I do have a few things to report:

Regarding receiving (voice) calls through FaceTime, manual re-sync is needed every time to restore sound/volume to default. The issue is not occasional as I thought. I did not previously observe the behaviour closely.

I presume this is intentional behaviour, but when you turn off computer/restart with headphones plugged in (in headphone listening mode) when computer is turned on without headphones plugged in, it stays that way. It does not automatically switch to built in speakers.

Stereo controls do not stay “on” after unplugging/plugging back in headphones in headphones listening mode. I do not know if this has any effect as I personally cannot hear the difference with option turned on/off.

Regards,

h.

[xaqmusic]

Core Audio Issues:

It seems the crackles are manifesting at a low level in Core Audio.  We are testing a few external DACs that exhibit this even without DPS.  Crackles seem to be related to devices that do not use the default Apple audio drivers.  There seems to be some “drift” where the digital clock becomes out of sync over time.

According to our Pro Audio expert, Phil Fuller, El Cap has been notorious for poor support of third party audio drivers.   I’m really hoping we are not entering Mavericks territory!  Some of you may recall it was impossible to resolve some of the Mavs issues.  It wasn’t until the release of Yosemite the issues were resolved.  We didn’t have to do anything as the problems reside deep inside Core Audio and we do not have access to that code.

We will all be keeping our eye on the Core Audio issues.

Regarding switching modes:

The behavior is DPS saves the last mode you were using at the time the app quits (computer shutdown).    So, instead of detecting the headphone jack on launch, it is simply recalling the last mode used.

We can make the behavior better by first recalling the last used mode then polling the headphone jack and following the user’s preference.  I’ll add it to our issue list.

Regarding numbers showing up in the Output Device list:

We are aware of this and are looking into the solution.  It seems to only happen during update so we will focus our attention to that case.  It is only the label that is affected and selecting the output resolves the issue.

[hrvoje31]

xaqmusic,

Thanks to both you and Phil for looking into it and providing feedback on what is going on regarding Core Audio. Let’s keep our fingers crossed this issue will not repeat with El Capitan. I hope anyone reading this is aware I personally have issue on beta/developer build of OS X so many of you should not hesitate to upgrade/use DPS on current release of OS X. 🙂

Modes switching:

“We can make the behavior better by first recalling the last used mode then polling the headphone jack and following the user’s preference. I’ll add it to our issue list.”

If this is not too much of a problem from programming perspective and does not add (significant) overhead to application launch/startup, I, personally, would love this solution.

Suggestion for future releases:

Regarding launching Finder window upon installation/upgrade. My previous suggestion is somewhat confusing and might not have sense.

Would it be possible to suggest to your team to consider to add the following checkbox option to installer/updater:

• Open/Run/Launch application after installation (or however you want to word it)

This way whether installing an application for the first time downloaded from your website or upgrading DPS using internal updater will allow user to run application after installation avoiding opening Finder window, launching application, closing Finder window. Unchecking that option would not close the app if it is already running, it would simply “do nothing”, or if it checked it would leave it as is without opening the main window. I do hope this explanation makes sense. This is simply to avoid window clutter. Nothing else.

[vukodlak75]

I like to have the stereo control off (always) in the Music profile. But when I switch to the Movie profile and back to Music the stereo control is set to “on”. Why can’t it remember that I had it off?

[MightyBoo]

Is there an estimated time when this version 2 app will be available for paid users?

[xaqmusic]

vukodiak75,

DPS should be remembering your selection for stereo enhancement on movies/music.  However, at this time it does not yet do that.  It is currently setup to read the status of stereo enhancement parameters from the bgvx profile.  In the next version (and importantly for the FULL version) it will remember the individual settings you have chosen for a given output mode based on this hierarchy:

• Output mode (built-in, headphones or external speakers)
  • Profile
  • Output volume
  • Listening mode (music or movies)
    • Stereo enhance on/off setting
    • Stereo enhance amount (FULL version only)
    • Bass settings
    • Treble settings

These values will be reset to those contained in the profile when a new profile is selected.

The desired values will be saved when the app is quit or switched to a new output mode.

MightyBoo,

Our target for release of the FULL version is beginning of June.

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