Audio CD playback using USB DAC...

[sureshkn]

Hi,
I am planning to purchase a USB DAC (192kHz/24bit) and use it with my laptop for playing Audio CDs primarily.

I belive music players like foobar or Jriver have options to set 192kHz/24bit output format. Is it really worth to set 192kHz/24bit, meaning will it improve the sonic quality of audio CD playback ? Audio CD itself is 44.1kHz/16bit, upsampling will improve audio quality ?

Thanks,
Suresh.

 

[regeHA]

Hi,
I am planning to purchase a USB DAC (192kHz/24bit) and use it with my laptop for playing Audio CDs primarily.

I belive music players like foobar or Jriver have options to set 192kHz/24bit output format. Is it really worth to set 192kHz/24bit, meaning will it improve the sonic quality of audio CD playback ? Audio CD itself is 44.1kHz/16bit, upsampling will improve audio quality ?

Thanks,
Suresh.

Upsampling/resampling does help, I've seen it do wonders in both audio as well as video, but a lot depends on the software/hardware that's involved. I've also seen instances where it did not make any difference.

More importantly, focus on your source. I would work on a less noisy (electrical noise) source, especially a PC/laptop. In this regard USB is also inherently noisy, as it carries both data as well as power. Look at tools like USB Regen or taking the optical or wireless route.

You will get a lot more purchase by fixing the noise floor of the system more than by upsampling/resampling data.

 

[Nikhil]

I belive music players like foobar or Jriver have options to set 192kHz/24bit output format. Is it really worth to set 192kHz/24bit, meaning will it improve the sonic quality of audio CD playback ? Audio CD itself is 44.1kHz/16bit, upsampling will improve audio quality ?

Software like Foobar and JRiver do help improve sound quality quite nicely.
But this is not entirely due to upsampling alone.

Upsampling 16/44.1 to 24/192 does not always improve the sound. In fact some people prefer to play files in native format. You really need an impressive system to fully extract the full benefits of 16/44.1 provided your source material is good quality. It also goes without saying that a poorly recorded 16/44.1 file will not be improved by upsampling to higher sampling rates.

Using a software player improves playback for the following reasons:

• Bit perfect playback by extracting the files from the CD format and to a large extent eliminating CD mechanism related issues like laser read issues.
  
• Providing optimized feed to the external USB DAC with appropriate filters and dither if using upsampling. There are also a variety of DSP options which help.
  
• Extensive library management for handling music files. This is an extremely useful feature as your collection grows.
  

Hope this helps.

 

[prankey]

Non integer multiplier may introduce unnecessary IMD. Better to upscale to 176.4kHz to get the best upscaling results.

More than Upscaling, bit perfect audio makes a HUGE difference in audio quality on a good quality DAC/Amp on quality headphones and speakers.

Use ASIO4ALL plugin to get Bitperfect audio on any device including HDMI Audio. Many other ways to achieve this.

 

[sureshkn]

Thanks regeHA, Nikhil, prankey for your information and ideas.

My friend kindly gave his iFi Nano Dac for this weekend. It is 32bit 384Khz capable. I used Foobar from my Laptop. Installed Wasapi, Wasapi2, Asio2, Sox resampler, Resampler-V components. I was not able to achieve 32bit, 384Khz with the upsampling components. Max I was able to get was 192Khz, but I used x4 (176.4Khz). Waspi allowed me to change the resolution till 32bit. Waspi2 kept crashing. So, I compared Wasapi & Asio2. Asio2 produced only the standard 16bit, 44.1Khz output. This what I liked. Other configurations were not better or worse. I could not make any difference. May be my setup is not that revealing.

 

[rikhav]

Totally agree with regeha as I have experienced it my self that decreasing the noise floor with whatever means (usb relocker, linear supply for source and dac, mods to power line like dedicated power line for audio) gives the maximum improvement

As it goes, everything is not possible to do

Also software does play its part and so does upsampling
As others said some prefer it some dont