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[the nightfly]

This is one of those problems where things seem to be fixed, but then suddenly aren't again, and no solution seems apparent.

I was flipping between bitstreaming DSD to my Geek Out 450, and taking it to PCM so I could use various plugins.  (At this time, I was in WASAPI mode.)  I finally decided to go back to bitstreaming...except, when I tried to play DSD tracks, I would get a very loud stream of white noise (loud enough that I had to make a grab for my volume control to prevent damage to my speakers, with the music itself playing faintly in the background.)  Any attempts to get it to play properly failed.

I went online, and found a thread at LH Labs about how to configure the Geek Out in JRiver.  They said, basically, to use the Light Harmonic [ASIO] driver in MC, make sure "DSD bitstream in DoP format" is checked in driver settings, select Bitstreaming->Custom in settings and checking only DSD, and then making sure output encoding is set to "none" in DSP Studio.  I did all those things, and DSD started playing properly again.

But...I had no volume control slider available.  After trying various things to get it working to no effect, I switched back to the "LH Labs Geek Out [WASAPI]" driver.  To my non-surprise, the white noise on bitstreaming came back.  Fine, I decided, I'll go back to ASIO mode and forget about the volume control.  However, when I replicated the steps above to switch back to the ASIO driver, made sure "DSD bitstream in DoP format" was selected, and went back to bitstreaming, this time I was still getting the white noise.  I tried everything I could think of to reset it:  unplugged and replugged the Geek Out.  Shut down MC and reopened it.  Turned off the computer and turned it back on.  Even uninstalled and reinstalled the Geek Out's device driver.  All to no avail...when I try to bitstream DSD, no matter what the settings or whatever I try to do, I still get a loud wave of white noise with the music playing faintly in the background.

To add insult to injury, I'm able to get DSD playing just fine through the Geek Out using Foobar2000, which suggests to me it's something in the interface between MC and the Geek Out, as opposed to the DAC itself, that's causing the problem.  But I can't figure out how to fix it.  It almost feels like something's "stuck" in the MC settings, and changing the settings on-screen isn't fixing it.

If anyone has any idea how to get this running again, I'd greatly appreciate it.  Right now, I could care less about plug-ins or anything like that -- I'd just like to get MC to play audio to the Geek Out in direct mode, DSD included.

[JimH]

Welcome to the forum.  Sorry about your problem.

Make sure you're using the latest version of MC.  It's 20.0.70 and it's at the top of this board.

MC has several volumes.  The wiki has a topic on Volume.  Internal should work.

[yoyoc]

I had the same problem.

Once you install the drive you have to follow a combination settings of what is detailed in the wiki and at the geek out  jriver page info..  On audio select geekout  wasapi as device on the device setting deselect deactivation of  event style,  that means it will be event style.

Then on bitrate,  select active...

On dsp...  Sample rate...   Right click and select set all to 384,000.  But only for...

 Sample rate "over 384,000" ( the last on the list)  right click and set to 174,000.

Since pcm music will also be out the geek out

Save and exit the settings.

On the the pane view,  the main windows,  go to the volume slider,  and right click the mute button and select adjust volume when bitrate ( or something like that,  im doing this out of the top of my head)

Close jrmc and reboot..  Sometimes the noise is due to changes that require reboot and reset of the usb dac.....

Hope this helps....    Mine sounds superb....   Geek out with JRMC20 is excellent.

[yoyoc]

I am preparing a setup guide for geekout with MC with screen shots to post at the geekout forum..

Mine is set on Windows Server 2012 r2, the setting is the same on w7 and 8.  A friend of mine set it up on OSX and is equally awesome.

Once set up...   The two side buttons operate te two digital filters that kind of customizes the timbre of the highs.

[the nightfly]

Thanks very much for your help.  I'm a bit confused about a few steps here...  ?

On audio select geeout  wasapi as device

Already done.

on the device setting deselect  deactivation of  event style,  that means it will be event style.

If I understand this, you mean make sure the "Disable event style (required by older hardware)" box in Device Settings is unchecked?  If so, once again, already done.

Then on bitrate,  select active...

I can't find a "bitrate" section where you can "select active" -- could you please point me to where it is?

On dsp...  Sample rate...   Right click and select set all to 384,000.  But only for...

 Sample rate "over 384,000" ( the last on the list)  right click and set to 174,000.

So, I'm supposed to set every PCM mode to upscale to 384,000?  I'd normally prefer keeping them at native resolution, and letting Geek Out handle it from there, particularly since it seems to me that the process for upscaling resolutions causes latency and sync problems when playing video and using the MC audio device.  (In fact, my many attempts to try to fix the sync issue were what first caused all these other problems -- before that, my system was working fine.)  Also, sample rates above 384,000 are supposed to be downscaled to 174,000?  I'm not finding that option available in MC -- I can change the rate to 176,400 or 192,000, but not 174,000.

If you could clarify those questions, I'd be ready to proceed to the rest of your instructions.  Once again, thanks!

[the nightfly]

Welcome to the forum.  Sorry about your problem.

Make sure you're using the latest version of MC.  It's 20.0.70 and it's at the top of this board.

MC has several volumes.  The wiki has a topic on Volume.  Internal should work.

Thanks.  Just got the latest version -- no improvement.  And, while the matter of how to set the volume will become important for me once everything else is working, the problem right now is that I can't get bitstreaming DSD working at all, with either the WASAPI or ASIO driver, even though I was able to get it working with both before.

[6233638]

But...I had no volume control slider available.  After trying various things to get it working to no effect, I switched back to the "LH Labs Geek Out [WASAPI]" driver.  To my non-surprise, the white noise on bitstreaming came back.  Fine, I decided, I'll go back to ASIO mode and forget about the volume control.  However, when I replicated the steps above to switch back to the ASIO driver, made sure "DSD bitstream in DoP format" was selected, and went back to bitstreaming, this time I was still getting the white noise.

It sounds like you are trying to bitstream and adjust the volume on the PC.
You cannot use digital volume control on the PC when bitstreaming.
That is the whole point of bitstreaming. You don't process the signal at all.
 
And it sounds like the LH Labs ASIO driver does not bypass the Windows Mixer.
So because you have volume set to less than 100% on the PC, you'll just get noise.
This is because the bitstream is a data stream, not an audio signal, and trying to adjust the volume of the bitstream as though it were an audio signal corrupts it.
 
In Media Center's WASAPI device options, you need to have the "maximize device volume" option enabled.
If you want volume control, use Media Center's internal volume control, not the system volume control.

And you still won't get digital volume control when bitstreaming.
If you want digital volume control, you must convert to PCM.
EDIT: Or use the "enable volume when bitstreaming" option, since the DAC apparently supports this - which is not the same as regular volume control, because this is handled inside the DAC.

[JimH]

Try going to Windows Control Panel > Sounds, and see what you can learn there.  Make sure sound works there before trying in MC.

[yoyoc]

I said it was from memory.....   So some stuff I forgot

Whrn setting the volume at right click the mute button on the standard view  select volume when bitstreaming and system volume.....    The geekout drive supports the MC controlling it this way.  I have it like that and I control the geek volume though the MC.


TO CLARIFY

Go to tools menu......  Then option...   Then audio..   Audio device select lh labs geekout wasapi...   There on device settings...  Under device only  open device for exclusive access and play alittle silence on DOP stop  should be selected....   Bit depth should be 32 bit integer....   Buffering should be 100 miliseconds and not larger or the geek will start to click on audio like a dirt LP....   THEN SELECT Ok to get out of audio.

Still in the optiins window...
Down to settings.... Select bitstreaming : yes dsd......   Then ondsp and output click to open the options.....  Select custom...  And then dsd....  And OK

Click DSp  &  output format...   This will open the DSP studio....  When it opens...  On the left click pane select uotput format.....   Now on the right large pane....    Output encoding select none ( that way PCM will play on PCM format and DSD will play on DSD 1 bit format).....   On channels  select source number of channels....   
On sample rate I have elected to resample every PCM to 384,000  you dont have to,  but to me they sound best that way....   To do it place the cursor pointer over the output colum...  Righr click there...  Select set all to 384,0000....   If not you csn leave it or select individually by left clocking each input and selecting what you desire....
The one one you do need to change is....   The ladt on the list....   Greater than 384,0000  ( all dsd are greater)  click it on the output column and set it to 176,400....  Then click the red x to close the pane.

Further down on settings menu  I have selected  play files from memory instead of disk and dissable display from  turning off ( that way if an hdmi display is off music can still play ( otherwise turning off the display will turn off the music,  its an hdmi protocl matter).

Further down on volume select the option of system volume as the option.

Select OK TO EXIT OPTIONS AND SHUT DOEN THE PROGRAM......


ON the control panel go to sound.....  On the playback tab set MC as defafault..... On andvanced select allow apllication to take control of the device and give exclusive mode application priority...   Apply and OK.

RESTART THE SYSTEM...    Thats the way I have it and works great....   I hope it helps.....   MC further has other capabilities in cluding the option to set the speakers distance and active dsp to correct the interaction with the room for better sound  taking into account the reverberation effect of the room the the sound the priduce,  but that another more advanced aspect......