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Does re-sampling (up-sampling) affect sound quality?
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I am also doing some listening tests on that, and while they are not yet conclusive, here is my 2cents:
Upsampling / Oversampling is a very popular process in modern DACs, it involves stuffing the missing data on the added bits using some algorithm.
The individual algorithms result in different sound results. Not only from DAC to DAC, but even on the same DAC, selecting different "filters'.
Some people don't like the idea of upsampling, thus some manufacturers support the so called NOS (Non OverSampling) DACs.
It all comes down to whether the upsampling algorithm of the Media Center is better than the upsampling algorithm of the DAC!
I am not through my listening tests using
a) Media Center upsampling everything to 24/192 and sending it through USB to my Antelope Zodiac+ DAC, which accepts 24/192 through its mini-USB port (This solves the clicking on the DAC)
b) Media Center sending the standard 16/44 data stream to the Zodiac where it is upsampled to 24/192
The next step will be to use my Sound Card's (ASUS XONAR Essence STX) SPDIF output to feed the Zodiac.
Another concern of mine is jitter.
If the upsampling algorithm of the DAC is at least as effective as the one on Media Center, I suppose that sending 24/192 over the Toslink or SPDIF Coaxial will induce more jitter than sending a simple 16/44.1. Various tests have shown that (especially cheap) digital cables don't perform very well with 24/192 streams.
If this is true, it may be a bad idea to send upsampled streams to a mediocre DAC where jitter is not properly addressed.
I'll keep you posted....