To feed the D/A chip with the highest admissible sample rate and/or the optimal rate from a design perspective (most current D/A chips will take at least 24-bit/384kHz). To reduce jitter (oversampling reduces jitter noise by 3 dB for every doubling of the sampling rate). To improve the effectiveness of the brick-wall filter, indispensable to correctly reconstruct the original signal and avoid aliasing. Upconverting involves upsampling and format conversion, for example 16/44.1 Redbook can be upconverted to DSD256 or higher. It is also possible to oversample or upsample DSD64 to higher DSD rates, for example DSD256 which is again 4x. Some designers defend that this will improve performance. If I'm not mistaken the difference between Oversampling and Upsampling is that the latter doesn't convert into a multiple rate (f.e. Most CD players since the mid 80s have been converting CD's Redbook standard sample rate of 44.1kHz to 176.4kHz (or 4x oversampling). Oversampling is the up-sampling of the source's sample rate to a multiple of the existing sample rate. Bit-perfect playback is a cross between a myth and a marketing pitch. Something I intend to try out at the October show.Ĭlick to expand.All but a few DACs up- or over-sample. So it is indeed surprising that so many people report SQ variances. I reckon top-tier DAC manufacturers are up to it, possibly by subcontracting to a specialist audio software house. and the (elaborate, carefully designed by experts) Class 2 protocol will correct transmission errors (just as scratches on physical CD's were corrected by redundant data on the disc). For DAC manufacturers, achieving that means your device is interoperable and should sound the same when switched between other conforming components.Ī decent DAC will take over the clocking of the USB transfer, correcting timing variances computer/DAC. I reckon $INTEL, $MSFT and $APPL are up to it. Conformance to a class standard is no mean feat. For Windows 10 this is WASAPI, for OSX this is Core Audio HAL. Said player needs to use the operating system's audio API to deliver this PCM to a DAC via USB Class 2. FLAC and PCM are relatively straightforward programming standards so everybody should get this part right.Ģ. Doesn't matter if it came via the internet, from a CD or any lossless audio format. Any player (possibly a web browser player), on any computer, is capable of recreating the original master 16-bit, 44100Hz PCM audiostream in memory. ![]() The Right Question (I, Robot) - YouTubeġ. I am currently using a "headless" Mac mini (no display, mouse or keyboard) which sits on the rack and is controlled by a laptop that I keep next to me.Ĭlick to expand. The major downside of a laptop is that it produces more "electrical noise" and run hot triggering the fans and generating audible noise in the listening room. That way we avoid the "electrical noise" generated by the processing computer. R-Pi, Cubox, etc.) with minimalist dedicated OS and software that works as a network endpoint which buffers the stream before it's fed to the DAC. HQPlayer also allows one to use a network bridge, a small and low processing power computer (i.e. In my opinion/experience the improvement is significant, particularly when HQPlayer used with a high-res NOS DAC. and those I will download in the future.There are music players like iTunes and then there are file processors like HQPlayer which upsample, filter and noise shape to the highest admissible input of a DAC, thus bypassing its internal sample rate converter, filters and sigma-delta modulator. And of course I look forward to easy access to what hi res files I currently own. I understand there is an advantage to moving my iTunes library to Audirvana many of my 11,000 tracks are ALAC encoded. So far, I see nothing but upside to this solution. I understand it can handle streaming audio and video while, with my bluetooth keyboard and mouse, giving me a computer in the living room with a 50 inch monitor. Plus the mini will sit quietly in my box until needed. ![]() The Macbook belongs to my wife, and I want no sharing issues. ![]() Once I get the mini, I will try both solutions, but if you can steer me in the right direction, I will appreciate your input! The Macbook has no HDMI output, of course. I can run the mini thru the USB input or HDMI, I assume. I had one of the early models, but the hard drive finally gave out and I replaced it with the iMac I am currently using. While I started this thread talking about a Macbook Pro, I am now seriously thinking about buying a mac mini as a media server.
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