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[sdawson]

Using MC 10.0.155 and ASIO with an M-Audio Transit USB. I've tried setting up the output format in DSP studio to something other than 16bit/44KHz. The Transit has a control panel to set its format, and I've set that to match. So I might have 24 bit/96KHz in MC and 24 bit/88200 to 96000Hz in Transit. But anything other than 16bit/44KHz results in no sound at all. Using an analogie output from the Transit.

Anyone have any pointers? Thanks.

[Alex B]

At first, why are you resampling? If the source has 44100 samples for a time period of one second there is not going to be more information if a software calculates extra samples in-between.

When we are talking about bitrates things can be different. Ideally, for lossless audio formats you should use whatever the source is, e.g. 16-bit and disable any signal processing at all stages. For lossy formats (MP3, Ogg Vorbis, MPC, etc) you can use 24- or 32-bit because the sources are stepless (I think the correct word here is "floating").

In any case, you should trust your own ears instead of theory.

I have a Terratec DMX 6 fire 24/96 sound card and it changes sample rates automatically. When I switch MC to e.g. 96 kHz Terratec's control panel shows that value. Isn't there an automatic setting in the M-Audio's control panel?

[sdawson]

Yes, I'm sure I'll end up sticking with the source rates etc, since I'm trying to achieve bit-perfect reproduction to a high-quality hi-fi system. But I just wanted to "play" with things to see what effect they have, and was mystified as to why anything other than 16/44 didn't work.

The Transit doesn't seem to automatically adjust. You have to select various options via its control panel. If I select an option which doesn't match what MC is trying to put out, MC gives me a nice message that the sound card can't handle it, which is good. But when they do match MC merrily plays tracks but I can't hear anything. I wonder whether there's some incompatibility between MC at other than normal settings and the Transit.

BTW, I'm using APE format for my rips. What do you use, since it sounds like you're acheiving what I'm after too?

[Alex B]

BTW, I'm using APE format for my rips. What do you use, since it sounds like you're acheiving what I'm after too?

I would like to use only lossless, but I have found that it is going to use too much HD space and LAN bandwidth for my purposes (including backups).

So I have decided to keep my old files as they are (mostly MP3 VBR) and rerip only if I hear too much artifacts. I am ripping new CDs to APE, but I think I will convert them to high bitrate MPC or Ogg Vorbis (both are transparent for me) and keep the APE files only in the archive for now.

[Alex B]

Here are a couple of links to Gamingforce Interactive Forums.

I am not sure if the links help with your specific problem(s), but they are very interesting reading anyway. The authors don't mention MC (I think), but otherwise there is a lot of good information.

FAQ/Guide: Getting the Best Possible Sound Quality From Your PC

Guide for Encoding CDs into *Supa-High Quality* Lossy Audio

[skeeterfood]

I am ripping new CDs to APE, but I think I will convert them to high bitrate MPC or Ogg Vorbis (both are transparent for me) and keep the APE files only in the archive for now.

In order to save you the pain I now face, please consider if you will ever try and play multiple songs at the same time using MC's zones.  If you think you might ever do this, don't waste your time with MPC.  The MPC decoder used by MC doesn't support multiple decoders running simultaneously...  I don't know if Ogg Vorbis has the same problem, but I do know that the MP3 decoder can handle multiple decodes simultaneously.

-John

[Alex B]

In order to save you the pain I now face, please consider if you will ever try and play multiple songs at the same time using MC's zones.  If you think you might ever do this, don't waste your time with MPC.  The MPC decoder used by MC doesn't support multiple decoders running simultaneously...  I don't know if Ogg Vorbis has the same problem, but I do know that the MP3 decoder can handle multiple decodes simultaneously.

Thanks for the warning. Actually, I have already noticed that when analyzing files and with Library Server. I haven't thought about multiple zones yet. However I don't quite accept that limitation story without further explanation:

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=24034;start=msg168429#msg168429

I have seen that "MPC architecture limitation" error message before when I tried to analyze some MPC files during the playback of other MPC files. For some reason Foobar2000 can play and analyze MPC files at the same time, so I don't think that is actually an MPC architecture limitation (anymore?). What does the word "safely" mean here?.

I hope it gets fixed. Otherwise I have to use Ogg Vorbis. It works with multiple decoders. For me the audio quality is transparent with the newest 1.1 encoder and my "much over brain-dead" setting (q9 & impulse_noisetune -15). It is nice to see over 600 kbps bitrates from time to time. Though they average at 320 kbps. MPC is transparent at somewhat lower bitrates.

That is one of the reasons why I will keep APE files in the archive. It is easy to change formats without reripping. I can even keep my old library statistics.