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[cecko91]

Hello,
I'm new here and recently i bought CA dacmagic plus.
I want to know what settings i have to choose for best sound, the dac is connected with usb with my pc.
In JRiver there is different connections WASAPI, ASIO (the output is 32bit) and Kernel Streaming (the output is up to 24bit).
I dont know which of theese options i have to choose...
Shoud i change bitstreaming too.... if someone tell me i would be very greatfull. 

[kr4]

If you are running under Windows, you should download and use CA's USB driver.
See info here: https://techsupport.cambridgeaudio.com/hc/en-us/articles/207434895-Windows-Audio-USB-Class-2-Driver-

[cecko91]

If you are running under Windows, you should download and use CA's USB driver.
See info here: https://techsupport.cambridgeaudio.com/hc/en-us/articles/207434895-Windows-Audio-USB-Class-2-Driver-

I've downloaded it. Yeah.. I have installed Windows... and i set up dac to USB Class Driver 2.0 with the driver but there are several options in Audio Device (WASAPI, ASIO and Kernel Streaming) which of theese i have to select for better sound?

[Awesome Donkey]

As long as you're using WASAPI exclusive or ASIO it shouldn't matter. Kernel streaming is a leftover from the XP-era that's depreciated, so best to avoid it if possible.

https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/ASIO
https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/WASAPI

[eve]

As long as you're using WASAPI exclusive or ASIO it shouldn't matter. Kernel streaming is a leftover from the XP-era that's depreciated, so best to avoid it if possible.

https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/ASIO
https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/WASAPI

Shouldn't matter. WASAPI is more 'modern' and tolerant. ASIO depending on the implementation can be 'slightly' more challenging. The DacMagic ASIO driver worked well back in the day IIRC.
JRiver's way of 'talking to' ASIO drivers is really good, and I actually have been surprised at how it's handled professional interfaces that other, playback only software has struggled with.

The reason ASIO was created, the primary reason it still exists is latency.
So back in the day, it was almost impossible to 'tune' windows for really good, near real time latency during recording and production.  If you're doing playback, if the WASAPI driver provided for your target device is good, there's not much reason to go with ASIO.

Latency re: playback isn't a huge concern. A) you can be off by like a few ms and there won't be a difference (look at frame times for the kind of content you consume) B) unless you're doing something weird, the target D/A is using it's own clock anyways.

[Gl3nn]

Hello,
I'm new here and recently i bought CA dacmagic plus.
I want to know what settings i have to choose for best sound, the dac is connected with usb with my pc.
In JRiver there is different connections WASAPI, ASIO (the output is 32bit) and Kernel Streaming (the output is up to 24bit).
I dont know which of theese options i have to choose...
Shoud i change bitstreaming too.... if someone tell me i would be very greatfull. 

I'm using "CA DacMagic [WASAPI]" and it works perfectly.

[cecko91]

Shouldn't matter. WASAPI is more 'modern' and tolerant. ASIO depending on the implementation can be 'slightly' more challenging. The DacMagic ASIO driver worked well back in the day IIRC.
JRiver's way of 'talking to' ASIO drivers is really good, and I actually have been surprised at how it's handled professional interfaces that other, playback only software has struggled with.

The reason ASIO was created, the primary reason it still exists is latency.
So back in the day, it was almost impossible to 'tune' windows for really good, near real time latency during recording and production.  If you're doing playback, if the WASAPI driver provided for your target device is good, there's not much reason to go with ASIO.

Latency re: playback isn't a huge concern. A) you can be off by like a few ms and there won't be a difference (look at frame times for the kind of content you consume) B) unless you're doing something weird, the target D/A is using it's own clock anyways.

Thank u!
So, there is no difference in output sound between ASIO and WASAPI..., i don't know for sure but i think only with ASIO connection i get 32bit output, WASAPI is playing only up to 24bit.. i think the dac has only up to 24bit... and still.. is there any difference between theese types of connections (the one is up to 32 and the other one is up to 24), i still can't hear the difference ?

[JimH]

Either output would be fine.  No difference in sound.

[cecko91]

Thank u to everyone for the answers 
And one last question: Do i have to make any other changes when i'm using the dac.., for example do i need to change bitsreaming (by default is noone and it says "recommended"), and for ASIO connection in Device Settings there are checkboxes, shoud they stay unmarcked or i have to check them...

[Awesome Donkey]

If you plan on playing back content like DSD, then you can enable bitstreaming. However, looking at the tech specs of your DAC it doesn't mention support for DSD, so you probably won't need to use any sort of bitstreaming.

Probably best to leave it all as-is.

[Axilian]

Got a few different models of DAC magic here ( even the Pink triangle designed original) as I used to work for Richer Sounds
 
With the USB ones - if you're on a a old windows version install the Dac magic driver as you need teh driver to output at higher bitrates ( if I remember Win 7 can only natively handle up to 96Khz on native USB output)

Later versions 10 /11 can  handle  much higher bit rate outputs and probably won't need the driver (the Dac magic will tell you the bit rate it's receiving to check) - you'll need to switch it to USB 2.0 mode (in the DAC manual)

  - just use WASPI and you should be fine - btw the 32 bit ASIO is just padded with zeroes to fill the bitword length for output for a 24bit file - the DAC just ignores them - as it only has 24bit DAC chips (Dual Wolfson WM8740 24bit DACS)

If the DAC is the Dac magic plus model I'm thinking of (Dual Wolfson WM8740 24bit DACs) then it can't handle DSD so bitstreaming won't been possible

[cecko91]

Thank u for the answers and i have one more question, about preferred buffer size in CA Control Panel, when i choose ASIO the buffer is changing to big value and if i don't use ASIO connection shoud i change the buffer to the lowest value, for example 8 samples. Which samples are better lower or the higher? And under the samples i have checked box Safe mode, shoud it stay marked or i have to unmarked it? Thank u again.

[Awesome Donkey]

Generally it likely doesn't matter in real-world use what the buffers set at. However one thing to keep in mind is that the lower the ASIO buffer is set, the more prone to hiccups audio playback becomes when background tasks and apps like web browsers are running. I personally just leave it on whatever the default ASIO buffer number is (with safe mode enabled if your driver control panel has an option) and all is well. If you have issues with hiccups with audio playback due to background apps and whatnot, you might then try increasing the buffer, otherwise there's likely no benefit from changing it from the default (with safe mode enabled, which I also have enabled). In addition increasing or decreasing the ASIO buffer has zero effect on how the audio will sound.