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[RickC555]

Last night we were listening to music on my downstairs system. It is a Windows 10 system, and I was using an external DAC, the Schiit modi multibit (Bimby) with USB. We listened with JRiver for awhile,my hen switched over to Winamp and it sounded a lot better. I'm using flac files. I must have something set wrong in JRiver? How could there be that much of a difference? JRiver sounded sort of muddy and lifeless, switched over to Winamp and it was clear and great sounding.

I'm not trying to troll or anything, sincerely wondering I'd there are settings I need to tweak. There seems to be a lot of bells and whistles in JRiver.

[JimH]

Are you using DLNA?  Or just playing straight to a DAC?

What are your audio settings? 

[blgentry]

Last night we were listening to music on my downstairs system. It is a Windows 10 system, and I was using an external DAC, the Schiit modi multibit (Bimby) with USB.

The Modi Multi-bit is the Moby or Mimby.  Bimby is the Bifrost Multi-bit.  Not that it matters for this discussion. 

We listened with JRiver for awhile,my hen switched over to Winamp and it sounded a lot better. I'm using flac files. I must have something set wrong in JRiver? How could there be that much of a difference? JRiver sounded sort of muddy and lifeless, switched over to Winamp and it was clear and great sounding.

I'm not sure what your settings differences are.  My first guess would be that either you have a volume difference between the players, or that you have equalization applied on one or the other player.  You'll have to check your settings in Winamp and MC.

The Schiit DACs tend to be really good performers for the money.  The multi-bit line though is "special" in that it uses the proprietary filter and real multi-bit chips instead of Dela Sigma chips.  As such, to really get the sonic benefits, you should be doing absolutely no processing at all in MC.  This means you should not be doing any of the following:

1.  Sample rate conversion.
2.  Equalization.
3.  Volume leveling or Adaptive Volume.
4.  Volume adjustments with the volume control.
5.  Any other DSP processing at all.

Any of the above will alter the digital signal and really make the benefits of the multi-bit DAC moot.

Of course, set it up how ever you want, listen however you want, and enjoy.  I'm just telling you how the moby should be used if you want the benefits of the filter.

For the record, I own a Schiit D/S DAC and I use volume leveling, volume controls, and sometimes Parametric equalization.

Brian.

[RickC555]

I'm just plugging the mimby into a usb port, nothing else. Gosh yes I knew it was mimby and not bimby, must have been a typo or autocorrect. I agree, what a marvelous device!

In the JRiver options I selected the Schiit USB audio Gen 2 [WASAPI]. It still doesn't seem like it's got the same sound quality as the old winamp. Also, the volume control (within JRiver) doesn't affect the sound with this setting. I adjust it and nothing happens.

Addendum, it seems like when I select Schiit USB Audio Gen 2 [Direct Sound] I can use the volume control now. It seems the sound quality has improved as well, hmm. I wonder if there are any other settings I should tweak. I'm a newbie to JRiver (obviously), so I suppose I should study all of the audio settings.

We need the volume control on JRiver, because we use monkeymote to control it on music nights.

[blgentry]

In theory, DirectSound is the worst option in terms of sound quality because it goes through the Windows Mixer.  WASAPI or ASIO are the highest quality options.

With either of those options, you can still control volume if you want, by setting:

Tools> Options > Audio > Volume > Volume Mode > Internal Volume

I'm not sure what accounts for what you are hearing.  Again, I'm guessing that Winamp is using equalization or some other processing option; but that's just a guess.

Brian.

[RickC555]

I tried some more last night, with both players, this time on my surface pro 4 (and still using the mimby plugged into a usb port) instead of the desktop computer downstairs, and was having the same problem. I checked winamp to see if I was using eq and what not, but I didn't see anything checked (if anything winamp is more confusing than anything), so I don't know what the problem is. I don't think I'm using any "special" sound enhancements in Winamp.

 I know most audiophiles use JRiver without problems, so I can only assume it's something with my DAC maybe? I tried to re download the schiit driver and reinstall it. It's not like the sound quality is way worse, just subtle. Winamp seems clearer across the board so to speak. I went into the JRiver audio settings and made sure I selected WASAPI instead of direct sound, and went into the JRiver tools menu and selected internal volume, but it still wasn't the same. Maybe JRiver is still running through the windows mixer maybe and degrading the sound? Windows is a mystery as well, lol. My goodness.

I'm open to any more suggestions. Heck, if anyone has the modi multibit or any of the schiit dacs maybe they could download winamp and see if they can duplicate the problem? Or see if they can notice a sound difference on a windows 10 system? Winamp is still a good program and all, but I much prefer the JRiver interface, I like how it's laid out and it's easier to read/navigate, more enjoyable to use. So I hope I can eventually get this figured out. Then again, maybe I'm crazy? lol. Still, we all noticed a sound difference between the two on saturday night, so I wasn't the only one.

[RickC555]

I wonder if any of my problems are related to Windows not having support for USB Audio 2.0 devices? I saw something today, that it's been added to a preview of the next windows 10 update or something like that. Hope that solves my problems.

[Awesome Donkey]

I wonder if any of my problems are related to Windows not having support for USB Audio 2.0 devices? I saw something today, that it's been added to a preview of the next windows 10 update or something like that. Hope that solves my problems.

That shouldn't be an issue, as Schiit DACs have drivers available which enable USB Audio Class 2.0 support on Windows (otherwise you'll get up to 24-bit/96 kHz).

Windows (finally) natively supporting USB Audio Class 2.0? That's news to me - any sources?

EDIT: Oh snap, there's initial support for USB Audio Class 2.0 finally (playback only right now) in the Redstone 2 Insider builds! YAY! Unfortunately, it'll likely be nearly a year before Redstone 2 goes stable.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/forum/insider_wintp-insider_devices/windows-support-for-usb-audio-20/0d633b9f-3193-4c63-8654-fb10b3614a04?page=19

[Nikkel]

Hi. I know this is my 1st post...been a long time lurker...

Did you by chance select JRiver as your default playback device in Windows10 Sound panel? If so... go to properties tab check advanced settings and see what quality playback is selected there...? The default is normally on 16bit 44100Hz (CD Quality)

Right click on the sound icon in taskbar on the right> select playback devices> Set JRiver Media Center 22 as default device> select properties tab>advanced> and choose the highest quality available to/for your setup...

I don't own a USB DAC, still use an internal sound card (Asus Xonar Essence ST) so not too entirely sure if the above applies to you as well but worth a try if you haven't already.