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[Waynefi]

Hello,

After a few weeks of trying to get things working the way I believe it should, I have a few questions. I see questions looking for more functionality in MC, I personally am overwhelmed by all that is here, it is mind boggling. For me I am just trying to playback/store 2 channel music redbook CD to DSD, in a combination of actual media and downloaded media. This using a new dedicated PC, OPPO 105D, and the rest of my system. I have abandoned my analog system, and am very satisfied with what I have done, after years of indecision. So that leads me to verify some of the things I have read about and setup, and info appreciated. So thanks in advance.

1) I downloaded MC20 version .063, I see all these newer versions just in the last 2 weeks. I do not see where any of the changes really matter in my use. How often should I really be upgrading ?? If I do, do I just run it and it will just load the new version of MC over my old one ?

2) After realizing I needed to pick the OPPO player in Sounds option in the Windows 7 control panel, I also realized that for things to play correct, I had to pick the correct Device option, either OPPO 105D ASIO or the OPPO 105D WASAPI ? That said and after rereading what I could find, Why do I want one over the other ? My uneducated guess is to just stick with OPPO 105D WASAPI, but is this correct ?

3) Like with my SACD discs, I would like to play DSD downloads in DSD.
 
        If I use the DSP option of Output Encoding in one of the DSD picks there, that seems to effect any and all playback, and I do not      
        like the results. While I realize I can save different versions of the DSP setting and change and load them as need, that seems it
        would be a PITA and easily forgotten.

        The other option that seems to work well and only seems to effect DSD is to check   Bitstreaming (YES)DSD  , and my DSD shows    
        DSD in MC and also reads DSD playback in my OPPO front screen, rather then PCM 352.8  . Everything else seems to play as it is
        as it should. I guess the downside is not being able to use any of the DSP Studio options Bitstreaming my DSD. I am not sure that
        matters as I am not using any now ?
        PS: Why is Bitstreaming tagged, NOT Recommended ?

4) Why is it preferred to leave Mixing set to "JRSS Mixing" ? I have it shutoff for 2 channel only, is there a reason I should have it turned on ?

5) DSD or DSD to PCM, opinions

Thanks for any input,

Wayne

  

[6233638]

1. You can specify whether Media Center uses the Stable or Latest update channel in the Help→Updates menu. It is also possible to disable updates there.
Whether you need them or not really depends on how you use the program.
I can certainly understand why someone may wish to stick to a version that works for them and not upgrade until they encounter a problem that requires it.
 
2. You don't need to pick the device in the Windows Control Panel - Media Center's output is independent of the Windows settings. (you can play to multiple devices at once, for example)
I would generally recommend using WASAPI these days.
 
3. This is a little tricky, but I'll try to explain it clearly:

• By default, Media Center converts all formats to PCM, including DSD. The internal rate used is 1/8th that of the DSD rate (which is fine, since it is converted from 1-bit to 64-bit) so for 1xDSD (DSD64fs) that is 352.8 kHz. This is done because you cannot process a 1-bit signal, it needs to be converted to a multi-bit format.
  
• DSD Output Encoding is an option which converts all PCM playback inside Media Center to DSD. That includes the above DSD→PCM conversion. This is done because it allows you to apply processing to the multi-bit PCM signal, and then output it as DSD for DACs where giving them a DSD input sounds better than PCM.
• Bitstreaming, whether DSD or another format (e.g. AC3/DTS) is the option to bypass all processing inside Media Center and output an untouched signal to your playback device. This means that you cannot do any processing to the signal (e.g. room correction, volume control, EQ, upmixing/downmixing) and that your playback device must support that format or else you will receive an error.

4. If you try to play a 4.0/5.0/5.1/7.1 etc channel file to a 2 channel device, depending on how that device handles the input you will likely either receive an error and it won't play at all, or you will only hear the left and right channels.
JRSS mixing will downmix those formats to whatever you specify (e.g. 2 channels) so that you don't receive any playback errors, and things won't sound weird.
A common issue would be if you tried to play a 5.1 DVD to a stereo device without using JRSS mixing, you will only hear the left/right channels and none of the dialog, since that is typically all sent to the center channel.
Keep in mind that if you enable bitstreaming for DSD, you will not be able to downmix 4.0/5.0/5.1 SACD discs, even with JRSS, since bitstreaming bypasses all internal processing.

5. My personal opinion is that once you convert to a multi-bit format, audio should stay multi-bit. The conversion from multi-bit (PCM) to 1-bit (DSD) is not a lossless process.
However that is not a universal opinion, and many people still seem to prefer converting everything to DSD.
So as we have established above, unless you use bitstreaming, everything will have been multi-bit at some point during playback.
 
I don't hear an appreciable difference in quality between bitstreaming to my DAC (a Benchmark DAC2 HGC) or having Media Center convert SACD to PCM.
I use a number of the processing options available in DSP Studio, and wouldn't want to give that up just to enable bitstreaming even if there was a slight difference.
Volume Leveling alone is enough for me to convert everything to PCM.
You can of course use all the DSP features if you then use DSD Encoding rather than DSD Bitstreaming, but as I said above, my opinion is that it's best to stay multi-bit rather than convert that back down to 1-bit.

[Waynefi]

Thanks for the great response, I am going to study your comment over the next few days.