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[1BusyDad]

Hi All.  I'm VERY new to computerized music servers, so I'd like to take advantage of your experiences.  I have a new Toshiba laptop and am using MC20.  I started ripping CDs using the FLAC format and was able to listen to songs through the computer's speakers that I saved in a playlist, but my goal is to play the music through my stereo system.  My current set up is computer via usb to Teac UD-501 DAC through analog output to Mcintosh MHT 200.  After some trials and tribulations downloading the driver for the Teac, I was finally able to get the music through to the speakers.  My questions are: 1) Are there audio settings other than the default settings within MC20 that I should use to optimize the sound?  I set the Teac to upsample the signal to 192.  And 2) I am backing up the music folder where all the CDs have been saved, but is my playlist also saved?  If not, how might I save it?  Sorry, as you can probably tell, I'm also VERY technologically challenged!  Thank you in advance!

[kstuart]

Why are you upsampling to 192 ?

( Also, IMHO, the Teac has a rather crude analog output section that is way below the standard of the McIntosh - assuming that is made to the same standards as their earlier gear. )

[1BusyDad]

To tell you the truth, I don't really know.  This may sound stupid, but I figured the higher the number, the better.  I've read where the "hi-rez" files are 192 so I thought why not give it a try.  Maybe like upsampling to 1080P for Blu-Ray?

[kstuart]

The DAC can play back any format in their native format, that is one of its major selling points.

A 192khz file potentially can have higher quality, but that happens in the recording process.

So, in Tools->Options->audio->DSP & Output Format,

In Output Format, it should read "no change" for every format in the list.

[1BusyDad]

Thank you!  I also had a question about backing up to an external hard drive.  Will customized playlist be backed up along with my music files?  Thank you again for your patience.

[Windcrest77]

I have the same DAC, the Teac UD501 and the Teac AX501 integrated amp, both these components are my master bedroom system.

First off the "best" setting is when the DSP icon in MC is blue, this means there is no added DSP processing.

The Teac UD501 is a very good DAC for its price, it will stream PCM from SACD/DFF, etc at all standards up to 384kHz with no DSP conversions. This means for the vast majority of commercially available hi-res files you will not need ANY DSP processing from MC. If you buy (or download) hi res audio the UD501 will handle it without any need for MC to convert it. But the same signal path is true if you are playing regular 44.1 16 bit flac files, or 24/96 or 24/192, etc. you really dont want to upsample, upsampling doesnt somehow "add quality", in contrary it can hurt and at best do nothing.

My master bedroom system is as follows and it sounds incredible:

SACD/DFF/DSF/FLAC files on home network --> Microsoft Surface Tablet (in wired docking station) --> Teac ASIO drivers --> USB3 --> UD501 --> XLR Balanced outputs (double ended buffer amp for 4 volt swing) --> XLR balanced inputs --> AX501 Integrated amp --> Golden Ear AON2 speakers with Golden ear Forcefield 3 subwoofer crossed over about 70Hz. Room is about 50% reflective 18x13 foot rectangle.

[Windcrest77]

Thank you!  I also had a question about backing up to an external hard drive.  Will customized playlist be backed up along with my music files?  Thank you again for your patience.

these days hi-res music can be big, Ive been very happy with my Synology NAS system using Western Digital "Red" hard drives (the WD Red line is made for RAID arrays they wont timeout and get thrown out of the array like desktop drives will). On my home wired LAN I use a DS414 with WD Red drives:

https://www.synology.com/en-us/products/DS414

And in my office I have another Synology NAS hooked to the network, that is a small one that uses 2.5 inch drives. If I ever need to bring a lot of music somewhere (for DJ work) I bring that NAS, its the Synology DS414slim:

https://www.synology.com/en-us/products/DS414slim

I run the big NAS DS414 in Synology RAID-5 format.

The small slim NAS I actually run in RAID-0, RAID-0 is not redundant but all the data on this smaller NAS is just a copy of whats on the DS414 anyway, its just all my 4 star (or better) files exported to be portable.

Hope this gives you some ideas on storage.

[1BusyDad]

Thanks again for your replies.  I'll have to take my time to try and digest it all.  I've been trying to read and learn, but it's pretty hard for an old school stereo lover to learn new tricks.  By the way, where is the DSP icon?

[Vincent Kars]

All settings (including playlist) are stored in the library
You can find it in C:\Users\user name\Documents\JRiver

You might try WASAPI (Tools > Options > Audio)
It allows for automatic sample rate switching and it bypasses the Win Mixer.
Might yield a subtle improvement in transparency

[Windcrest77]

Thanks again for your replies.  I'll have to take my time to try and digest it all.  I've been trying to read and learn, but it's pretty hard for an old school stereo lover to learn new tricks.  By the way, where is the DSP icon?

Upper right hand side of screen, it looks like a little 3 channel mixer. If you click it the text box will list all the extra DSP processing MC is needing to modify (or you told it to modify) with the original data in order to get a successful handshake with the DAC. When the icon is blue then you know there is probably nothing listed. Since the UD501 can natively read PCM at all the standard frequencies MC lists on the DSP Output tool, you can eliminate all the sample rate conversions (up or down) except the last one where if the input is over 384kHz then downsample it to 384kHz for the UD501. But out of 260,000 lossless tracks in my library I think I only have 50 that sample above 384kHz.

[1BusyDad]

Thank you Vincent and Windcrest!  I've been playing around with this and I think I'm getting the hang of things.  I was reading some of the other posts from people who had problems and the solutions, and all the acronyms and numbers were very confusing.  I was wondering if there are others who are just as clueless.  I wouldn't feel so bad if I knew I wasn't the only one!

[kstuart]

Thank you Vincent and Windcrest!  I've been playing around with this and I think I'm getting the hang of things.  I was reading some of the other posts from people who had problems and the solutions, and all the acronyms and numbers were very confusing.  I was wondering if there are others who are just as clueless.  I wouldn't feel so bad if I knew I wasn't the only one!

The only difference between you and the people who understand it, is number of hours spent with it.

Anyone can go to Best Buy (or similar store) and buy a simple device that just plays the music, that is easy to understand, and sounds mediocre.

To get better sound quality, either requires a) making it a hobby - which means spending time, or b) paying a professional to setup an expensive and easy-to-use system for you (which is what the wealthy do).

So, no need to beat yourself up.  But there is only 24 hours in a day, and not everyone may feel that knowing about 192khz is worth their time.

[1BusyDad]

Thanks Kstuart!  Looks like it's Option A for me.  I'll be trying to download some higher resolution recordings pretty soon.  Hopefully that will be pretty straightforward.