4.4.9-rt17 series

[agent_kith]

Today I tested the sound quality again but now using my speakers instead of my headphone. And as I already expected it was immediately clear that the sound stage has indeed extended a lot! Difference is more than subtile. Never have been able to create such a room filling sound stage with my setup before. Really impressed by that!

Downside however is that I must also say that this benefit comes at a price. The sound is also a bit aery and thin. The singers and instruments don't have enough body and because of that the music is also a bit less engaging.

Bigger sound stage is what I noticed too..

Do you mean airy and thin? As in perhaps more "treble energy"? If yes, that's what I find too. A lot of the music I was used to listening now sounds harsher for me too. But I reckon it's the recording itself (Still a guess at this stage, as I'm still testing).

Do you have any recording of shattered glass, something like the following video:

Listen to the "timbre" of smashed/smashing glass is a good indication of how good the presentation of the upper frequencies are. Another would be wooden flutes (from China and Japanese).

Difficult to make a choice between both kernel versions. For me this is another proof of how important good  tuning of the software is for the sound you get out of your system. As I think of it now, after listening to both versions for a while, I think I will go for the impressive soundstage of the new PXE version you created and try to tweak my setup to see if I can enhance the weight/body.