New firmware for DS: Cara

Music Lover · Post by **Music Lover** » 2009-06-11 07:15

No, I don't think it's possible to draw conclusions with just a few KDS's, we just have some indications.
Hence my interest hearing feedback from all DS owners so we can later on.

We had the same firmware discussion regarding Unidisk SC, Unidisk 2.1 and 1.1 some years back.

monkeydevil · Post by **monkeydevil** » 2009-06-14 00:43

How do I flash my ADS with .06 software?
Linnconfig only shows .09 as possible update.

sommerfee · Post by **sommerfee** » 2009-06-14 07:56

Get LinnConfig 1.3-0.3 and the firmware for the Akurate DS (AkurateDs_1.1-0.6.zip) from here:

http://products.linn.co.uk/VersionInfo/ ... /Releases/

Unpack the firmware and install LinnConfig 1.3-0.3.

in LinnConfig right-click your DS and select "Reflash...". In the upcoming dialog click "Select ROM..." and choose the xml file located in the "bin" directory. Check "Device Recovery" and click "Reflash" afterwards.

You actually don't need LinnConfig 1.3-0.3 for reflashing (you could also use the actual one), but to configure the DS afterwards. Trying to configure Bute 0.6 (Note: for the Sneaky DS it's called 1.1-0.4) with the actual LinnConfig could result in errors.

HTH,
Axel

Music Lover · Post by **Music Lover** » 2009-06-14 08:43

Just noticed Cara 3.1.17 beta was released some days ago.
Anyone tested it?

sommerfee · Post by **sommerfee** » 2009-06-14 11:19

Music Lover wrote:Just noticed Cara 3.1.17 beta was released some days ago.
Anyone tested it?

Sounds still ok on my Sneaky DS, maybe even better than 3.1.16. (At least better than Bute 0.9, haven't compared it with Bute 0.6 yet but must be very close.)

Axel

Ducky · Post by **Ducky** » 2009-06-14 14:24

I just installed Cara 3.1.17 on my ADS and I like it so far. I too found Bute 0.9 hard on the ears (got tired quickly and wanted to lower the volume). Neil Young (Live at Massey Hall) is again sounding as he should :)

Lennart

Nicolav · Post by **Nicolav** » 2009-06-14 16:30

Hi all, nice to see than new Cara 17 sounds better than Bute 0.9.
But is very strange that 0.9 sound very good on my system, indeed better than Cara 14 and 16. I'll try the 17 soon, maybe this is the right time? :D

Nicolav · Post by **Nicolav** » 2009-06-14 23:07

Tried Cara 17 today: as first impression it's not bad at all!
Not sure if it's better than Bute 0.9 or 0.6, I'll done a better listen in the next days.

Regards, Nicola

jajo · Post by **jajo** » 2009-06-15 09:32

Very interesting.

I am running the standard Bute 0.9 that came with my ADS. I have always thought that it sounded "harder" and a bit uneasy on the ears in comparison to my LP12. Cara 17 seems to have solved this issue. Also the musicality appears to be better!

/ Jacob

monkeydevil · Post by **monkeydevil** » 2009-06-16 08:09

Axel, thank you for the walkthgough!
Installed 06 yesterday, and it is soooo much better than 09! Every record I played suddenly was a lot better, tighter, funkier, better musicians. My wife commented on one record we listen to quite often "is this a live version?". It wasn't...
I'll hang on a little longer before I'll try Cara. I don't need it unless someone says it is clearly better. This is good! It feels a bit like going from Ikemi to 1.1, witch sounds a bit extreme of course but definitely bigger than 2.1->1.1. I think the improvement in tune was huge!

One thing though, after I installed 06 the ADS suddenly started to react seemingly on IR commaInds. It went in standby, skipped songs paused etc. I think these commands may have come from my laptop, so I disabled the IR port on it and the problems stopped. But it is strange.

Music Lover · Post by **Music Lover** » 2009-06-16 16:25

Nicolav wrote:Tried Cara 17 today: as first impression it's not bad at all!
Not sure if it's better than Bute 0.9 or 0.6, I'll done a better listen in the next days.

Regards, Nicola

I upgraded yesterday and went between Cara 17 to Bute 0.6 and back. Cara 17 is the best Cara version no doubt.
More detailed than Bute 0.6, a tiny bit more musical but lost the analogue nice sound in 0.6.
This is definitely a good step forward from all firmware’s after 0.6 that have been off in different ways.
I was little sad after testing Bute 0.9 and the two first Cara's but this makes me feel better again.
Keep it up Linn. :mrgreen:

I stay on Cara 17 and wait on the perfect Cara that has the best from both 0.6 and 17.

Nicolav · Post by **Nicolav** » 2009-06-30 07:53

Cara 18 is out. Anyone have tested it?

Music Lover · Post by **Music Lover** » 2009-06-30 11:01

Nicolav wrote:Cara 18 is out. Anyone have tested it?

Quite busy for the moment, have a few new ethernet cables to test and then I'm waiting on the switch feedback so I can test the top ones and judge myself - what are the changes in Cara 18?

sommerfee · Post by **sommerfee** » 2009-06-30 20:22

Cara 18 seems to be a tiny bit worse than Cara 17 on my Sneaky DS. :(

Music Lover wrote:what are the changes in Cara 18?

At least this bug is fixed in Cara 18:
http://forums.linn.co.uk/bb/showthread.php?tid=2842

Axel

Nicolav · Post by **Nicolav** » 2009-07-01 13:17

Tried Cara 18 yesterday. 17 is more tuneful and generally more alive. 18 as more relaxed and warmy sound but musically less involving.
Cara 17=exciting and involving. Cara 18= rather boring and uninteresting (compared to 17) although better than Bute 0.9 from my memory!

Juuso · Post by **Juuso** » 2009-07-01 15:26

Have you used tune dem to get the correct speaker positions before actually comparing the different Cara versions? I have noticed that I had to alter speaker the positions after a cara version update. The voicing is so different. After repositioning I find the 18 better to the 17

sommerfee · Post by **sommerfee** » 2009-07-01 17:48

Nicolav wrote:although better than Bute 0.9 from my memory!

Same here on my Sneaky: Bute 0.9 was definitely out-of-tune for me (at least with default settings) while Cara 18 is only very slightly out-of-tune.

Axel

P.S.: The speaker positions are +-1mm exact, have done this tune-dem using my Unidisk 1.1.

Post by **lejonklou** » 2009-07-02 21:38

Juuso wrote:Have you used tune dem to get the correct speaker positions before actually comparing the different Cara versions? I have noticed that I had to alter speaker the positions after a cara version update. The voicing is so different. After repositioning I find the 18 better to the 17

That's very interesting. I haven't heard any Cara yet, but what you're describing is something I've found in many other areas; with a clear difference in sound, the optimal speaker position can be slightly different.

This can be used in AB demonstrations to favour one unit. If you tune the entire system with that unit, it will get an advantage over the others. Sometimes small, sometimes more significant.

sommerfee · Post by **sommerfee** » 2009-07-19 07:09

I re-checked this using my headphones instead of speakers but got the same result: On my Sneaky DS firmware 3.1.17 is ok but 3.1.18 and 3.1.20 are slightly out-of-tune, at least when using the UPnP Linn interface to contol the DS (Kinsky, LeiaDS, ...).

But when I use the UPnP A/V interface (by using MediaStreamer or any other UPnP aware software) firmware 3.1.20 is definitely more in-tune! :shock: Very strange... Well, I think that's one of the reasons why it's called beta.

Axel

sommerfee · Post by **sommerfee** » 2009-07-24 17:57

Just checked the version 3.1.23 which was released yesterday, and now it's in-tune again. While 3.1.17 was ok in tune I always thought it sounds a little bit too high - this is now ok, too.

So in total this seems to be the best sounding firmware ever (at least on my Sneaky DS), and I'm confident that the final version of Cara will be amazing.

Axel

P.S.: Beware of the new LinnKonfig 3.1.23, it will delete all previous installed versions without asking!

Music Lover · Post by **Music Lover** » 2009-07-24 18:21

sommerfee wrote: P.S.: Beware of the new LinnKonfig 3.1.23, it will delete all previous installed versions without asking!

Good as multiple Linnconfig introduce issues.

Did you test DS firmware .20?

sommerfee · Post by **sommerfee** » 2009-07-24 18:29

Music Lover wrote:Good as multiple Linnconfig introduce issues.

What issues? I never noticed problems with that, at least so far.

Did you test DS firmware .20?

Yes, see http://www.lejonklou.com/forum/viewtopi ... =6390#6390

Axel

Music Lover · Post by **Music Lover** » 2009-07-25 00:05

issues having more than one Config is that sometimes the firmware installation becomes corrupt resulting in that one firmware is displayed in Config, another is in the DS.

So in worst case your firmware test results aren't valid...

I suggest you delete all Linn related SW's, then install Config&Kinsky and test again.

sommerfee · Post by **sommerfee** » 2009-07-25 06:32

Music Lover wrote:issues having more than one Config is that sometimes the firmware installation becomes corrupt resulting in that one firmware is displayed in Config, another is in the DS.

I had some problems in the very past (and did not thought this is because of having more-than-one LinnConfig installed), but I could solve them by always deleting the contents of the "Temp" directory (\Documents and settings\<user name>\Local settings\Temp) prior to flashing the firmware. Because sometimes there were old fragments of the last firmware update in the Temp directory left.

Furthermore I always double-checked this, the version number in LinnConfig and the one in the DS shown by the Info dialog in LeiaDS. And the result was reproducable, if I went back to the last good one, it was in-tune again.

So in worst case your firmware test results aren't valid...

Since the installation of LinnKonfig 3.1.23 deleted all the previous ones, at least the very last firmware test should be valid. And since this version is in-tune the tests of the older Cara stuff became irrelevant anyway :lol:

But thanks for the tips, I will follow them for the next tests.

I suggest you delete all Linn related SW's, then install Config&Kinsky and test again.

What is Kinsky? :mrgreen:

Music Lover · Post by **Music Lover** » 2009-07-25 07:49

sommerfee wrote: Since the installation of LinnKonfig 3.1.23 deleted all the previous ones, at least the very last firmware test should be valid. And since this version is in-tune the tests of the older Cara stuff became irrelevant anyway :lol:

I'm going to upgrade from .20 to .23 later today, get back with my thoughts.

LeiaDS? :mrgreen:

New firmware for DS: Cara

Reflashing to Bute 0.6