More > JRiver Media Center 23 for Windows
I've done something to the sound, but don't know what...
FenceFurniture:
Wowee, that is excellent and very well explained help Roderick. Thank you very much indeed for this!
To answer/respond:
"If you want to play Hi-res music, you have to use the Realtek driver (output device) and connect the Onyx Studio using the 3.5 mm jack."Yes. A week or so ago some 172k was dropping out over bluetooth and I figured that was because of BT bandwidth restrictions. I've been told since that apparently BT 5.0 is good for up to 176k
"You should use WASAPI Exclusive mode for best audio, but you could certainly try ASIO. However, with the Onyx Studio I'm not sure you will hear a difference."Agreed, but more about the headphones. The Koss BT540 are not top of the line, but they're pretty good - would use a cable
"Bluetooth supports multiple audio formats, known as Profiles. It sounds like your HARMON (HK Onyx Studio 2 Stereo) [WASAPI] output device is an A2DP Profile, which simply means it uses better quality audio. Google that (A2DP) if curious. The "Headset Earphone (HK Onyx Studio 2 Hands-Free AG Audio) [WASAPI]" output device is, as it says, a Hands Free Profile, which is a low quality usually mono format. I'm surprised that MC thought it could use WASAPI. I'm not surprised it failed to play with an error. Don't use that output device. If you want to use Bluetooth to the Onyx Studio, only use the HARMON (HK Onyx Studio 2 Stereo) [WASAPI] output device."Gotcha. Yes, two devices can be connected to the Onyx, and it has a microphone, obviously for Phone call use, but I've never done that. Perhaps next time I'm in the shed with the woodwork machinery going....(which is what I really bought the Onyx for)
"I suspect that in the past you haven't made any settings changes to allow MC to resample music to 48 kHz for the Onyx Studio. If the audio was playing correctly via Bluetooth without skips, then I have to assume that the Audio Device you had selected in MC was the Default Audio Device [Direct Sound]. Then in Windows, the default audio device was set to either "Speakers - Realtek High Definition Audio" or the Bluetooth audio driver, named something like "HARMON (HK Onyx Studio 2 Stereo)". Ahhh, I guess so because I didn't touch nuffink! BUT, I have only had music ABOVE 16/44 in the last few weeks, but apart from some 176k fouling on BT, the problems have only crept up in the last 7-10 days.
"So, what do you do to get Bluetooth audio working again? Set MC to play the "Default Audio Device [Direct Sound]" Audio Device. You should not need to make any other settings changes, such as "Output Format" mentioned above." Yep, that's fixed it for a 16/44 track! In fact, I can also play a 24/176 via Bluetooth without any error msg or request to downsample it. Whether or not it will drop out at times due to BT bandwidth is another story, of course
So when I was checking the Audio Device (which was set to HARMON I had a look in the Device Settings and "Exclusive Access" was checked, as was Maximise Device Volume. I have subsequently learnt that the latter is what was causing the volume to be on Full every time I started a playback - apart from frightening the hell outta me, it was very aggravating having to change the vol every time. O'course now that I have Default Device that dialogue box is different anyway.
So Roderick, I think that has solved all the issues! You're a champion! Thank you.
RoderickGI:
--- Quote from: FenceFurniture on September 04, 2019, 10:59:08 pm ---I've been told since that apparently BT 5.0 is good for up to 176k
--- End quote ---
I would be interested to see a reference for that. But actually I suspect you are confusing the bitrate of audio, measured in kbps, and the sample rate of audio, measured in kHz.
Bluetooth 5.0 Low Energy (LE) does support higher data transmission rates, or greater transmission distance, than earlier Bluetooth versions. Not both at the same time. But that doesn't mean that anyone is supporting higher sample rates for Bluetooth 5.0 LE audio.
In fact, the best Bluetooth audio currently available is using aptX or the higher standard, aptX HD. Both only support 48 kHz, but aptX HD supports 24 bit 48 kHz LPCM while aptX support 16 bit 48 kHz LPCM.
I can't find anything that suggests that any Bluetooth products support greater than 48 kHz sample rate. The Sony LDAC used in lots of phones (like mine) and other devices can support higher Bitrates, but not sample rates. Even so, the Sony LDAC tops out at 990 kbps, which is less than the Bluetooth 4.2 maximum rate of 1 Mbps.
While manufacturers claim that 24 bit 48 kHz audio is high definition, or indistinguishable from it, that is stretching the truth quite a bit. It is more true to say that the human ear can't take advantage of higher sample and bitrates, in many cases. But let's not go there!
So unless someone can produce evidence, 48 kHz is the best you will get, and mostly 16 bit resolution.
Besides of which, the Bluetooth Utility and driver running on your Toshiba P50-A only supports A2DP and not aptX. https://support.dynabook.com/support/driversOSResults?freeText=PSPVTU-00G009
As best I can figure out, as I can't find the exact specifications, your laptop is using Bluetooth 2.1 EDR, which is quite old though capable, but only supports A2DP.
Also your Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 2 Wireless Speaker System only supports Bluetooth 3 and the A2DP Audio Codec.
FenceFurniture:
Yes, I'm just repeating what I was told, which may or may not be accurate. But it is good to have these things challenged, corrected etc.
JimH:
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FenceFurniture:
So, following on from this, I finally got around to installing an ASIO driver today. As I understand it an ASIO driver goes direct from the sound card to the speakers with no interference.
To save the reader from trawling the thread for info:
1. The problems that I was having before (that caused me to post this thread) were essentially caused by a Windows update, and those problems were all resolved with some excellent help from RoderickGI.
2. I'm running a 2016 model Toshiba Laptop P50-A (the sticker underneath says P50W-C anything that looks inside the Laptop says it's a P50-A).
3. The driver I have been using is a Realtek High Definition Audio, 19th July 2016, Version 6.0.1.7885 which AFAIK is the latest.
4. The speaker I am using is a Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 2 which is a Bluetooth capable speaker, but these days I only use a high quality 3.5mm cable because of the restrictions that BT has carrying Hi-Res music.
5. We have previously discussed that I may not hear much difference using an ASIO driver with such a speaker, but its sound quality is surprisingly good. There will come a time when I upgrade the sound system, but not yet.
Thus, I am keen to try this new ASIO driver to check it out. The driver I have installed is
Realtek High Definition Audio Codec (Windows 7/8/8.1/10 64-bit) from here:
https://download.cnet.com/Realtek-High-Definition-Audio-Codec-Windows-7-8-8-1-10-64-bit/3000-2120_4-77507761.html
I have been enjoying no sound issues since fixing them back in September 2019.
When I tried this ASIO driver it was ok for normal res music but for 24-176 it came up saying it couldn't play it and would I like to play it at 48kHz sampling? This was an error I was getting for a while earlier in this thread, but was resolved.
Speaking to a friend about this, he seems to think that my sound card cannot output more than 48kHz, and that the only reason I was able to play 24-176 before was because Windows was synthesising the sound from 176 down to 48. I can very readily hear the difference between 16-44 and 24-176 (same album in two formats) but is this due to only hearing the difference between16 and 24 bit?
When I look at Advanced option in Settings>Speakers>Additional device properties there are no options above "24 bit, 48000Hz (Studio Quality)".
So how do I determine what the sound card is capable of? By using that shown above, which means that 48kHz is the limit that I can get on this laptop?
Would this also explain why I can't hear any difference between a Roxy Music SACD at 24-176 and 24-96?
Also, as you can see from the attachment, the ASIO driver is no longer available to select, yet I have not deleted it. Where can I check to see if it still exists?
I'm using MC 26.0.18 (64 bit).
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