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[DocLotus]

Now that I have some really great speakers, I'm trying to get the very best sound from MC9.

I've done kXProject drivers...  simply wondeful!

I've done ASIO... very nice!

Now I'm looking for other areas to improve.

DSP shows Bitdepth...

* Source bitdepth
*  8-bit
* 16-bit (recommended)
* 24-bit
* 32-bit

Could someone please explain the difference?

Questions...
* Why not just run Source bitdepth?
* Why is 16 bit recommended?
* My Creative Audigy is advertized as a 24-bit card so should I be using 24-bit?
* Should I hear the difference?

[Matt]

MC handles all audio internally as 32-bit.  At output time, it scales it down to whatever you select.  This is perfectly lossless with no DSP's running.  With DSP's running, the less you scale down, the better the S/N ratio of the output.

So I'd tell MC to use as many bits as your card supports.  

Keep in mind that DirectSound + WinXP will let you output at 32-bit, but then it'll just scale down to what your card supports.  

ASIO always uses the maximum number of bits your card supports.

Why not just run Source bitdepth?

If all you play is 16-bit stuff, it doesn't matter.  If you mix 8, 16, and 24 bit material, you won't be able to crossfade unless you lock MC's output bitdepth.

Should I hear the difference?

It won't jump out at you.

It's important that MC is 32-bit internally, but it's less important that the final output be at such a high bit depth. (but again, it certainly won't hurt)

Hope that helps.

[DocLotus]

Thanks Matt;

Once again you cleared things up.