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Author Topic: Which of these output options should I choose for my particular sound system?  (Read 6166 times)

Supersnake

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I have been wanting to know the answers to these questions for a long time but never knew how to ask.
Perhaps someone knowledgeable can please help me.
Please note the questions I highlighted.

I want to obtain the highest quality output sound I can using MC 16.0.75
I have a high end 2.0 sound system (Harbeth speakers and LFD amplifier).
EDIT: Amplifier - Bit rate specs of the amp are unknown, however I will be using analogue connection only (never digital).
This is what I listen to when using Media Center:
FLAC: (24-bit 48KHz) (24-bit 96KHz)
CD's
Last FM

I do not do any recording.

--> My sound card is a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro. These are its technical specifications. Note the specifications for ASIO

    24-bit Analog-to-Digital conversion of analog inputs at 96kHz sample rate
    24-bit Digital-to-Analog conversion of digital sources at 96kHz to analog 7.1 speaker output
    24-bit Digital-to-Analog conversion of stereo digital sources at 192kHz to stereo output
    16-bit to 24-bit recording sampling rates: 8,11.025,16, 22.05, 24, 32, 44.1, 48 and 96kHz
    ASIO 2.0 support at 16bit/44.1kHz,16-bit/48kHz, 24-bit/44.1kHz 24-bit/48kHz and 24-bit/96kHz with direct monitoring
    Enhanced SoundFont support at up to 24-bit resolution
    64MB of X-RAM
    Analog output Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-weighted): 109dB


Windows 7 (64-bit)
MC 16.0.75
For Audio Output I selected ASIO

For Output Format Resample what should I choose?
No resampling
All sources
Only sources less than 44,100 Hz or greater than 48,000 Hz
Only sources less than 44,100 Hz or greater than 96,000 Hz

For Output Format Sample Rate what should I choose?
44,100 Hz
48,000Hz
88,200 Hz
96,000 Hz
176,400 Hz
192,000 Hz

For Output Bitdepth what should I choose? Or does it make no difference what  I choose for the bitdepth output because "ASIO output ignores this setting and uses the hardware's native bit depth."
Source bitdepth
8-bit
16-bit
24-bit
32-bit
64-bit

Thank you!
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Scolex

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Re: Which options I should choose for my particular sound system?
« Reply #1 on: April 28, 2011, 04:43:15 am »

You failed to mention what bit rates and frequencies are supported by the amplifier and how you are connecting to it (analog/digital).
I personally up sample to the highest bit rate/frequency that is supported by the sound card or amplifier.
Zone 1 Klipsch ProMedia 4.1 connected through analog output of sound card - SC max settings 24bit/192kHz
Zone 2 optical spdif out to Yamaha 7.1 receiver - 24bit/192kHz
With lossy formats I don't notice much difference between 16bit/44.1kHz and 24/192 but with
high bit rate lossless formats the level of detail is surprisingly more pronounced.
This is what works for me anyway but it really boils down to what is most pleasing to YOUR ears.
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Sean

Supersnake

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Please look again at my post.  I have made edits and made green highlights to show the settings I chose.
Selections look okay now?

Thanks
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Vincent Kars

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Bit depth is simple, always choose the highest value supported by your sound card.
Playing e.g. 16 bits on 24 bits hardware is a matter of adding 8 zero bytes to the 16 bit samples.
This won’t affect sound quality.

SRC (Sample Rate Conversion) is another matter.
Often SRC has an audible impact.
DACs might change their sonic signature with the sample rate.

The only thing you can do is try.
Play a CD at its native rate (44.1) and upsampled to 96 and 192.
Check if you hear a difference.

Personally I prefer to play everything at is native sample rate.
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