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More => Old Versions => JRiver Media Center 24 for Windows => Topic started by: mikefour on May 04, 2018, 09:45:31 pm

Title: Distorted sound with external DAC with MC Internal Volume Setting
Post by: mikefour on May 04, 2018, 09:45:31 pm

While MC plays to an external DAC, and I am using the Internal Volume control of JRiver to adjust the volume, there is a minimum volume setting that if MC is playing below this volume the sound is distorted. Is this a typical behavior of a digital volume control or there is a setting in MC to adjust it?

Title: Re: Distorted sound with external DAC with MC Internal Volume Setting
Post by: RD James on May 04, 2018, 11:02:13 pm

It would be useful it you specified what type of music you're playing and what that minimum volume setting is, but it is either:

1. Normal behavior of using JRiver's "bit exact dither" rather than TPDF dither, since "bit exact" dither distorts if you perform any DSP (including volume control).
2. Something else unrelated to dither, which is not normal behavior.

Title: Re: Distorted sound with external DAC with MC Internal Volume Setting
Post by: mikefour on May 04, 2018, 11:20:55 pm

TPDF but with DSP (Equalizer) with over emphasis in 3KHz. If I lower it down to -0.0dB there is no distortion. Any special reason why and should it happen in 3KHz?
Volume level around 10. Distortion is in treble or midrange frequencies.
If over emphasis in 3KHz is higher than 0.0dB and I completely disable Dither there is also distortion.

Thank you

Title: Re: Distorted sound with external DAC with MC Internal Volume Setting
Post by: RD James on May 05, 2018, 10:07:35 am

I'm not sure what you mean by "over emphasis in 3KHz".
Media Center's volume control affects all frequencies evenly, unless you have "loudness" enabled. Even then, it wouldn't be boosting 3kHz or pushing the track to clipping.
 
Here's some pink noise playing in Media Center analyzed by the Voxengo Span VST Plug-In (http://www.voxengo.com/product/span/) (averaged, 3dB slope).

Title: Re: Distorted sound with external DAC with MC Internal Volume Setting
Post by: mikefour on May 05, 2018, 11:41:42 am

I apologize maybe I wasn't clear enough. I meant that I use DSP and the slider in the 3KHz is not in the middle which is 0dB gain but about 5dB gain. If it is configured this way if I lower the volume to about 9 or 10 percent there is a distortion heard from the speakers.