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[Greyish]

A quick question from a total newbie please: What setting should I use for best sound quality?

I’m using JRiver for playing CDs only.

My setup: Sennheiser HDVD 800 amp/dac hooked via USB to a good PC laptop (I use Sennheiser HD 800 headphones)

HDVD 800 handles sampling frequencies of up to 24-bit/192kHz

So, under ‘audio device’ I selected ‘HDVD 800 ASIO Driver’

Under ‘output encoding’ I selected ‘none’ (when I tried any of the DSD options, JRiver stopped playing - apparently HDVD 800 doesn’t support DSD – is it true and would I get better sound quality with DSD and if so which of the DSD options should I select?)

Under ‘sample rate’ I selected 192,000 Hz for all ‘output’ (is this correct?). I use JRiver for playing CDs only. Under ‘audio path’ it now shows ‘input 44.1Hz 16 bit’ (from CD) and ‘output 192 kHz 32 bit’ Is this correct for best sound quality?   

I didn’t select Headphones crossfeed (should I select it?)

Under ‘channels’ I selected ‘source number of channels’ and thus ‘no upmixing and downmixing’

Any other tips how to increase sound quality will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot.

[6233638]

when I tried any of the DSD options, JRiver stopped playing - apparently HDVD 800 doesn’t support DSD – is it true and would I get better sound quality with DSD and if so which of the DSD options should I select?

If it doesn't support DSD, you don't enable any of the DSD options.

Under ‘sample rate’ I selected 192,000 Hz for all ‘output’ (is this correct?). I use JRiver for playing CDs only. Under ‘audio path’ it now shows ‘input 44.1Hz 16 bit’ (from CD) and ‘output 192 kHz 32 bit’ Is this correct for best sound quality?  

Do this if you want Media Center to upsample from 44.1kHz to 192kHz.

Set them to "no change" if you want to send a 44.1kHz signal to the DAC.
Which sounds best depends on the hardware. If you can't really tell a difference, I would send the DAC an unchanged signal.

Set the 352.8 / 384 / >384 kHz options to the highest factor that the DAC supports. (probably 176.4/192/176.4)

I didn’t select Headphones crossfeed (should I select it?)

Do you want crossfeed?
 
Try changing the options while you have music playing to see if you like it or not. Crossfeed can make headphone listening a bit more natural sounding.

Under ‘channels’ I selected ‘source number of channels’ and thus ‘no upmixing and downmixing’

You should select "2 channels (stereo)" with JRSS mixing enabled, or else you will probably get errors if you try to play mono or multichannel tracks.

[Greyish]

Thanks a lot for such a prompt reply. 

Are there any other important options I should tweak/select for best sound quality? As per my earlier post, I use JRiver only for playing CDs.

Regards

[6233638]

If you are using the ASIO output and follow the instructions above, that's pretty much all you need to do if it's working correctly.