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[Jamil]

I am using a USB DAC.  The Fostex HP-A3 is connected to my laptop, and I have Sony MDR-7520 headphones connected to this DAC.

I have configured Media Center to use WASAPI - Event Style output.  I have not changed any of the default buffer settings.

When I first attempted to play any audio, I received errors stating that my hardware may not support the format.  My DAC natively upsamples everything to 96k Hz, so I used the DSP Studio to output all frequencies that are less than 96k Hz as 96k Hz.  Playback now works.

However, I am noticing a lack of emphasis in bass for the same APE file played on Media Center that I also play on another media player.

Is there something else I need to set?  I have channels set to 2 channels (stereo).

Also, is there something that shows the status of the buffers?  How do I know that my buffers are set correctly other than listening to the sound?

Thanks.

[Jamil]

I auditioned this same track several times on MC 18 compared to another media player.  The beginning of the music starts with vocals, followed by percussions with upright bass and drums that lead into the melody.

Everything sounds betters on MC 18 except the bass carries more weight on the other player.

I am noticing that there is an option for Subclarity checked off on the DSP setting page.  I cannot uncheck this, but I have no subwoofer and would not think this comes into play?

[jimmy neutron]

Is MC upsampling your files? What bit and sample rate is MC set to? What rate does your DAC handle on the USB input? Probably max of 24/96. Your DC may also upsample the music too. Do you have any other EQ settings in MC ON? Also, look at the Windows audio properties and make sure Windows is not also upsampling the files.

Jimmy

[Jamil]

Yes -- MC is upsampling.  I am using WASAPI - Event Style, and MC has to upsample to play back audio to my DAC.  If MC does not upsample, I get errors instead.  WASAPI is bit perfect, so Windows is not upsampling audio.  This is Windows 7, by the way.

The DSP Studio is set to output 96k Hz for any frequency less than 96k Hz.  All other frequencies are set to No change, but I suspect these higher frequencies will need to be down sampled to play correctly.  I have not tried playing any of my greater than 96k Hz files (if I even have any).  It is also set for Bitdepth to be the Source bitdepth.

Also, I forgot to mention that I do not EQ any of my audio.  I am using replay gain in MC18, if that is of any relevance.

[kstuart]

"Everything sounds betters on MC 18 except the bass carries more weight on the other player."

It's also possible that something is set on the other player that is over-emphasizing bass response...

[Jamil]

That is a possibility, but it is not an option I set.

I am going to play around with this some more tomorrow.  I am going to try setting the channels in MC18 to 2.1 with the Subwoofer option set to Send all frequencies to the subwoofer.  Also, I will turn off subclarity to see if this changes the sound.

I am wondering if low bass is not being sent to my headphones by MC.

[6233638]

If you are using headphones, the output should be set to 2 channels (stereo)
You should set the bit-depth to the maximum that your DAC supports, which is probably 24-bit (with dithering)
Typically DACs will support everything from 44.1kHz up to their maximum, so if your DAC supports up to 96kHz, you probably want to set "Less than 44,100 Hz" to upsample the audio, leave 44.1/48/88.2/96 set to "No Change" and anything above 96kHz set to 96kHz.

Disable any other DSP functions - especially the "Headphone" DSP, as that makes a very noticeable change to the frequency response.

[Jamil]

Yes -- 2.1 output is not supported by the DAC.  I got errors trying this.

However, I identified what is causing the difference in sound output.  It is volume leveling that is doing it.  As soon as I disable it, the bass levels match between the two players.  The difference is in replay gain, it seems.

[mwillems]

Yes -- 2.1 output is not supported by the DAC.  I got errors trying this.

However, I identified what is causing the difference in sound output.  It is volume leveling that is doing it.  As soon as I disable it, the bass levels match between the two players.  The difference is in replay gain, it seems.

Overall volume can affect your perception of bass response.  We are less capable of perceiving low bass and high frequencies (both) at low volumes.  For more information look into Fletcher Munson curves and equal loudness contours (here's a good start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fletcher%E2%80%93Munson_curves).

Although it sounds like your other player is simply playing louder, you could address the issue by enabling JRiver's loudness adjustment (under audio options).  It adjusts for the equal loudness contour using the international standard (but it does so dynamically based on how far down your current volume is from your reference level).  If it "over adjusts" try lowering your reference volume (also in audio options) until it sounds right.  

[Jamil]

I really do not need volume leveling, so turning this feature off is a quick fix.

I have a unique setup for recording from my CD collection (I do not rip CDs with my computer at all).  I have Tascam CD-01U CD player that has a digital connection to my Denon DN-F650R solid state recorder.  I simply play a CD while recording it digitally onto an SD card.  The recorder automatically adjusts the recording level.  I chop the file up in Sound Forge to then encode all WAV files to Monkey's Audio using DbPowerAmp.  The result is that my APE files are already at a high sound level.

MC is actually decreasing the level of all files it plays, which results in loss of bass when I listen.  The other player is playing the file as is, so there is no apparent loss.

[Jamil]

If you are using headphones, the output should be set to 2 channels (stereo)

2.1 did not work for my laptop having my USB DAC connected.  I got errors when I attempted playback stating that 2 channels (stereo) will probably work.  When I click the option to not fix this, I then see an error about 6 channel output failing.

For my home desktop computer, I also have 2.1 set in the DSP Studio.  My home computer uses ASIO output to my firewire audio interface.  I don't understand why 2.1 works on my home computer but not my laptop.  I actually do have a subwoofer for my desktop, but Windows doesn't know about it, and neither does my audio interface.

[Jamil]

I see what is going on, so nevermind.  2.1 is actually not working correctly for my desktop computer.  What MC is doing is sending sub output to the wrong output channel that I guess it thinks is the sub.  As soon as I changed the output back to 2 channels (stereo), this bogus incorrect output stopped.

I am not sure why it is sending sub output to the analog 5 output channel, but it is not overly important as my sub woofer is manually controlled.