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Author Topic: Stupid Question about bitstream  (Read 2796 times)

jrdiandrea

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Stupid Question about bitstream
« on: September 07, 2013, 01:17:48 pm »

If I do NOT chose "bitstream", which I believe says is not recommended in the menu, is jr converting to analogue then sending the signal to my DAC? I have jr on a dedicated Caps Zuma connected via USB to my DAC. I want to be sure I'm using my DAC for convsion.

Thx
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InflatableMouse

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Re: Stupid Question about bitstream
« Reply #1 on: September 07, 2013, 01:35:28 pm »

Bitstreaming is not recommended because it will prevent MC from processing the signal for volume leveling for instance. That said, there are valid reasons to use bitstreaming.

Output over USB will always be digital, but if you do not bitstream, you can use DSP studio to use volume leveling and other processing like room correction for instance. In this case MC will decompress the audio into memory, but it will still be digital, not analog.

You can find more info in the wiki.
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jrdiandrea

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Re: Stupid Question about bitstream
« Reply #2 on: September 07, 2013, 01:48:50 pm »

Bitstreaming is not recommended because it will prevent MC from processing the signal for volume leveling for instance. That said, there are valid reasons to use bitstreaming.

Output over USB will always be digital, but if you do not bitstream, you can use DSP studio to use volume leveling and other processing like room correction for instance. In this case MC will decompress the audio into memory, but it will still be digital, not analog.

You can find more info in the wiki.

Big help. Thx Mouse.

For my primary dedicated listening room, Zone 1, I do not believe I use any processing and have avoided setting anything that would do anything to the signal other than send it straight to my DAC. I say this well aware that there are endless options and configurations available in MC and there may be an area I'm unaware of that MC is providing processing. For my Zone 2...this is set up for many rooms in my home & for this I use a Dragonfly & definitely need processing for volume leveling and volume control via JRemote. 

I did look at the wiki last night albeit very late. I'll look again to see what I missed.
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InflatableMouse

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Re: Stupid Question about bitstream
« Reply #3 on: September 07, 2013, 01:59:14 pm »

Are we talking audio only?

In that case, for PCM sources (mp3, flac, etc) if you disable all DSP Studio tickboxes and set Volume Mode to Disabled Volume, your audio will remain untouched. MC will simply decode any encoded files and send untouched PCM to your DAC.

I can't think of other options that would touch audio if its setup like that.

For DSD sources, you need to enable bitstreaming under Tools/Audio and tick DSD or DoP.

If you wish to bitstream certain audiostreams from video sources as well you can tick them in the bitstream options as well along with DSD.

Things get a little bit more complex if you wish to bitstream audio but use DSP studio on videos. You'll need to setup different zones and enable automatic zone switching based on Media Type. If this is the case and you need help with that just ask.
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jrdiandrea

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Re: Stupid Question about bitstream
« Reply #4 on: September 07, 2013, 02:23:06 pm »

Are we talking audio only?

In that case, for PCM sources (mp3, flac, etc) if you disable all DSP Studio tickboxes and set Volume Mode to Disabled Volume, your audio will remain untouched. MC will simply decode any encoded files and send untouched PCM to your DAC.

I can't think of other options that would touch audio if its setup like that.

For DSD sources, you need to enable bitstreaming under Tools/Audio and tick DSD or DoP.

If you wish to bitstream certain audiostreams from video sources as well you can tick them in the bitstream options as well along with DSD.

Things get a little bit more complex if you wish to bitstream audio but use DSP studio on videos. You'll need to setup different zones and enable automatic zone switching based on Media Type. If this is the case and you need help with that just ask.

Again, thx much, mouse. Great stuff. I do have volume disabled and am operating in exclusive mode. For now, I only use MC for Audio in my listening room & zone 2. However, I soon will be using another dedicated server with MC on it in another part of the house & plan to use it for Video. Eventually i may also use it in my dedicated listening room which is also my home theater, but not ready yet. Trying to take it one step at a time. I have a fairly robust & complicated home network & equipment system. I get around really well BUT I am not good at computer stuff intuitively. Once I find directions or am shown & understand stuff, as with your help, I make progress. But it is very frustrating ...I often feel as though I'm navigating in the dark!

Really appreciate your help and will reach out to you once I'm ready to get to the video portion. I've just spent the last year ripping my entire CD & DVD Audio collection. It's pretty big. I spent the last couple weeks researching & trying to learn how to rip Blu-ray Audio from Audio only & concert videos. Just started with those & it's going quite well. Now I'm working on trying to figure out the best way to rip or copy my Bluray movie collection to store on my server. I have gotten some tips from Matt & a couple others the other day & will be experimenting with that in the next week or 2. Oncxe i get all of my ripping done I will move to video to set up video streaming throughout my home network.
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