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Post by jcisbig on Apr 26, 2013 20:08:26 GMT -5
Hey All,
I recently downloaded some songs from HDTracks. Some are 24/192, others are 24/96. I'm playing them with Winamp in Windows 7 via optical from my motherboard to my UMC-1.
I need some advice on what to set my audio "supported formats" to for the best results. (Right click on the sound icon in system tray, select playback devices, select playback device, click properties). Currently I have all the boxes checked in the "sample rates" section. If I deselect everything except 96.0khz, there is a high pitched buzzing noise that accompanies any audio coming from my computer. With everything checked, all is good.
Also, in the "advanced" tab, there is some more sample rate stuff that I can choose from. The highest I can select is 2 channel, 16 bit, 192000 Hz. Should I have that selected, or something else?
Also, since changing some of these settings I have had intermittent audio dropouts when playing a variety of content, not just music. Any ideas why this might be happening?
Thanks!
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Post by Chuck Elliot on Apr 26, 2013 20:54:51 GMT -5
The only time I have heard something as you describe was when I attempted to play 5.1 audio by mistake to my XDA-1. These are the settings that my SPDIF sound card displays. Note that I disable the surround sound modes on purpose. These settings vary depending on card and driver.   |
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KeithL
Administrator 
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Post by KeithL on Apr 26, 2013 21:22:04 GMT -5
I can think of a few possibilities: The check list tells Windows what sample rates you think are supported. If, for example, your S/PDIF output really doesn't support 192k, but you tell Windows it does, and Windows tries to send it 192k, you could get odd noises, or silence. (This would be a function of the hardware in your sound card.) The setting on the right (default) tells Windows to resample everything it plays to the sample rate you set. This means that your files are NOT playing bit-perfect; it also means that Windows may be doing a lot of extra work (resampling to or from 192k requires a lot of processing). This could cause dropouts if your computer isn't fast enough to keep up. You want to be running Windows 7 in WASAPI (bit-perfect) mode, which requires a plugin in WinAmp (I've never tried it, but here is a link to how to do it). Most people I know use either FooBar2000 (free), or jRiver Media Player or Media Monkey (free and paid versions available), but WInamp should work too. Most of these will also ingore and override those settings anyway, and will play in bit-perfect mode IF you configure them to ...  (Since you took the trouble to buy HD Tracks, I would assume you would want to get the most from them, so you really should use WASAPI mode.) www.head-fi.org/t/588677/a-short-audiophile-guide-to-winamp-w-maiko-wasapiHey All, I recently downloaded some songs from HDTracks. Some are 24/192, others are 24/96. I'm playing them with Winamp in Windows 7 via optical from my motherboard to my UMC-1. I need some advice on what to set my audio "supported formats" to for the best results. (Right click on the sound icon in system tray, select playback devices, select playback device, click properties). Currently I have all the boxes checked in the "sample rates" section. If I deselect everything except 96.0khz, there is a high pitched buzzing noise that accompanies any audio coming from my computer. With everything checked, all is good. Also, in the "advanced" tab, there is some more sample rate stuff that I can choose from. The highest I can select is 2 channel, 16 bit, 192000 Hz. Should I have that selected, or something else? Also, since changing some of these settings I have had intermittent audio dropouts when playing a variety of content, not just music. Any ideas why this might be happening? Thanks! |
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Post by Chuck Elliot on Apr 26, 2013 21:45:02 GMT -5
I use iTunes for 16/44.1k files and J River for everything else. With J River Media Center you must also set the sound card (and JRMC) to exclusive access to properly use WASAPI.  It has been my experience with JRMC that if the playing format is not supported as a native format ( left window of my first post) that JRMC will request that files of this format be down sampled. |
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Post by garbulky on Apr 27, 2013 6:33:04 GMT -5
+1 for WASAPI output. You use it to get a bit perfect signal from your computer to your DAC/reciever.
Media monkey is free and does it. Just have to select it manually. So does foobar but you have to download the wasapi component and manually tell foobar to use it.
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Post by GreenKiwi on Apr 27, 2013 11:45:37 GMT -5
Chuck Elliot I'm curious as to the split solution of iTunes and jriver? I would have thought that you'd want all files in one or the other.
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Post by Chuck Elliot on Apr 27, 2013 12:07:21 GMT -5
Chuck Elliot I'm curious as to the split solution of iTunes and jriver? I would have thought that you'd want all files in one or the other. I have so many iDevices that iTunes is needed to support them for music. iTunes is good enough for casual listening. For critical listening I just play the Apple Lossless files with JRMC. And, yes they sound much better than iTunes. |
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Post by jcisbig on Apr 27, 2013 12:25:04 GMT -5
I tried installing the maiko WASPI plugin for WinAmp. For some reason, it was able to play my FLAC files just fine, but it couldn't play any of the songs I had gotten from HDTracks (some 24/96, some 24/192) It also jammed up Winamp when I was messing around with the maiko and Winamp was super slow and crashed a couple times. Ideas?
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Post by Chuck Elliot on Apr 27, 2013 12:28:30 GMT -5
I tried installing the maiko WASPI plugin for WinAmp. For some reason, it was able to play my FLAC files just fine, but it couldn't play any of the songs I had gotten from HDTracks (some 24/96, some 24/192) It also jammed up Winamp when I was messing around with the maiko and Winamp was super slow and crashed a couple times. Ideas? Give the JRMC trial version a shot and see if you have the same results? WASPI is builtin. I can't speak to WinAmp, but JRMC is a great program. |
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Post by jcisbig on Apr 27, 2013 12:31:29 GMT -5
The only problem with that is that I'm no where near ready to shell out $50 for a media player. : )
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Post by Chuck Elliot on Apr 27, 2013 12:39:06 GMT -5
The only problem with that is that I'm no where near ready to shell out $50 for a media player. : ) No problem, it's a trial version. Something like 30 or 60 days use. Use it as a diag tool. |
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Post by jcisbig on Apr 27, 2013 13:01:32 GMT -5
Oh, should have mentioned this before, but the maximum that my computer can output is 16/192, not 24/192. This is probably the source of a lot of my issues.
Is the only way to do this 24/192 thing right to add a soundcard that can handle that? If so, what do you recommend?
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Post by GreenKiwi on Apr 27, 2013 13:04:59 GMT -5
Chuck Elliot I'm curious as to the split solution of iTunes and jriver? I would have thought that you'd want all files in one or the other. I have so many iDevices that iTunes is needed to support them for music. iTunes is good enough for casual listening. For critical listening I just play the Apple Lossless files with JRMC. And, yes they sound much better than iTunes. Ah. That makes sense. Guess its the same way I'm using it. I had thought that you were swapping back and forth for playback.  yeah I just have the auto import pointed at my iTunes directory. |
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Post by GreenKiwi on Apr 27, 2013 13:05:40 GMT -5
Oh, should have mentioned this before, but the maximum that my computer can output is 16/192, not 24/192. This is probably the source of a lot of my issues. Is the only way to do this 24/192 thing right to add a soundcard that can handle that? If so, what do you recommend? Yeah or a USB dac that can handle it. |
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Post by GreenKiwi on Apr 27, 2013 13:06:39 GMT -5
Actually any chance you have an extra HDMI output from your computer? You could hook that upto the umc-1 and use it for audio. It will happily pass 192/24
And I would second getting jrmc, even if only as a diagnostic tool for the 30 day trial. Though you may find you really like it.
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Post by jcisbig on Apr 27, 2013 13:21:22 GMT -5
I have two Sapphire ATI 5770's in my computer that can pass audio and video (obviously) out of their HDMI ports. I'm not sure what they will pass audio wise though?
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Post by Chuck Elliot on Apr 27, 2013 13:35:16 GMT -5
One last question: what is your computer and what is the SPDIF sound card chipset. There may be a newer driver that gives you 24 bit?
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Post by jcisbig on Apr 27, 2013 14:00:10 GMT -5
My computer was custom built by my brother, and it has an Asus P6t Deluxe motherboard. I'm not sure what audio chipset it has? How would I check that?
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Post by Chuck Elliot on Apr 27, 2013 14:20:58 GMT -5
My computer was custom built by my brother, and it has an Asus P6t Deluxe motherboard. I'm not sure what audio chipset it has? How would I check that? Asus web site shows: Realtek ALC1200 Audio Driver V6.0.1.5859 Are you up to rev? www.asus.com/Motherboards/P6T_Deluxe/#support_Download_30Current can be found under: Control Panel - System - Device Manager Sound Card - Right Click for properties - driver details |
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Post by jcisbig on Apr 27, 2013 14:54:58 GMT -5
My computer is saying that the audio is controlled by "SoundMax" from Analog Devices. I can't see realtek anywhere, so the driver you list above doesn't apply. Here's what the properties of my sound device shows. Attachments:
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yeah I just have the auto import pointed at my iTunes directory. 
