[Big Red Machine]

So I have a wonderful new MS-2 server and a Oyen 1 TB eSata external drive so I can get better sound than a Squeezebox setup.

I've tried Foobar and it sounds wonderful except that the higher rez music pops loudly when transitioning from track to track or you manually change tracks or hit stop and play.  I don't really like the interface in Foobar but it does sound very nice through the Lampizator.  Rich has helped me tremendously with debuggung but I think there is an incompatibility between the dac chip and this software and its drivers.

So I tried Mediamonkey and I have no noise issues whatsoever but I can tell the sound is more like the SB Touch level and not as engaging.  The interface is so-so and I am exasperated that it sees my playlists but will not play them even if I change the drive letter in the file.  So smooth operation but just okay sound.

Then late yesterday I loaded the free JRiver version and really like the interface.  Seems very user-friendly and to have many inputs driven by user feedback.  Unfortunately the popping and clicking has returned.  Not as gross as Foobar but now a more aggravating issue that I am sure someone here knows how to set up: when playing a song it stops and starts buffering a song and it does this every 20 seconds throughout the song.  I have adjusted the buffer? time from 50 ms to 250 ms but it still persists.  Is this the cause or is it the sampling rate for the song resolution setting?  I set all the resolutions to 384 as I believe the program said that would maximize your sound output so that the highest the song was capable of would be played if you set them to 384.  The sound is as good as Foobar but I need to resolve buffering and popping sound and I might have a winner.

I assume the AmenaroCombo 384 dac chip should use the Wasapi driver to get best sound?  Or is the Asio driver just as adequate?  I want to say from memory that the Asio did not sound as clean.  Any suggestions here are welcome.

[DTB300]

The JRiver Support forum is a great place to get help with JRiver.   

Popping and clicking can be caused by many things from Driver settings for your DAC, other audio buffer settings, disk drive settings, background services running on OS, background services on JRiver (auto Import, update thumbnails or other TAG info, Auto Update functions, etc.).   It just takes some time, effort, reading, trying, to get the final configuration to run smoothly with your setup.

JRiver has a Wiki for all the info, but it can be a little daunting to find the right stuff.   Go into the 19 support forum and post your issues and JRiver will assist.   Remember JRiver only has a 30 day trial, so do not wait for them to help you out.

[Vincent Kars]

Your best bet is not to up-sample but to play bit perfect.
If you use WASAPI (recommended in case of a USB DAC), set all sample rates to “no change” in DSP studio.

Wouldn’t be surprised if this cures the pops and clicks as the IMHO rather excessive sample rate of 384 might hog the system somewhere.

You can only use ASIO if the Amanero comes with ASIO support.

[Big Red Machine]

Trung, I think you nailed it!  So far, so good.  The logic that the dac is capable to 192 and that 44.1 should be upsampled to 192 seems to be working.  I had tried 384 once thinking that was the proper number but 192 is the correct value.  So now all my sampling rates are set at 192 and the player does not puke when changing from one rate to a different rate.

Keep your fingers crossed fellas.  Thanks Trung!

[srb]

If you're going to upsample, I think it makes more sense to upsample to an even integer multiple and avoid interpolation.

44.1Khz and 88.2KHz upsampled to 176.4KHz
48KHz and 96KHz upsampled to 192KHz
176.4KHz and 192KHz = unchanged.

J. River lets you set upsampling (or not) individually for each sample rate.

Steve

[*Scotty*]

You may also be able to get an improvement in sound quality by going to Tools, Options, under Audio, Settings, be sure to check the box for PLAYBACK FILES FROM MEMORY INSTEAD OF DISK.
Scotty

[TrungT]

You are welcome. 
I had fingers crossed.

[HAL]

Your best bet is not to up-sample but to play bit perfect.
If you use WASAPI (recommended in case of a USB DAC), set all sample rates to “no change” in DSP studio.

Wouldn’t be surprised if this cures the pops and clicks as the IMHO rather excessive sample rate of 384 might hog the system somewhere.

You can only use ASIO if the Amanero comes with ASIO support.

I installed the Amanero ASIO driver when I built the MS-2.  It works well with my DIY DAC and Amanero USB board.

BRM,
Glad that you have the DAC working and not making sample rate change noise.