[musicman06]

Just an FYI, Windows XP was the last Windows incarnation to use kmixer for anyone worried about needing a workaround.

[MerlinWerks]

No Kmixer per se in Vista and beyond, but there still is Kmixer functionality via an "audio service" unless you use WASAPI mode as explained in the last couple of paragraphs HERE...

[rtate]

ted_b,  I have just entered the usb dac world and my first dac(probably of many:)) is made by Hotaudio Products using the PCM 2702 chip with the output coming straight off the dac with no op-amps.
My  OS is win xp and I'm not sure it I have the kmixer or not.
The SB will be on my main rig but I do want to get as much as possible out of my PC.
At this point I know nothing about kernel streaming or ASIO or how to implement them...
All advice/suggestions are greatly appreciated 

[hoxuanduc]

The PCM2702 is a USB v1.0 8x over sampling DAC chip which is limited to 48KHz.  Best bet using WinXP in term of sound quality is to use Foobar latest version with Secret Rabbit Code resampler to 48KHz and ASIO4All.  I'm pretty sure the DAC does not have its own ASIO driver.

Google "Secret Rabbit Code" and "ASIO4All" to get the download and installation instruction.  Make sure you also download ASIO and Kernel Streaming support from Foobar and install them.

Turn off all windows sound effects and uncheck "Map thru this device" in the USB speaker device.

Select Kernel Streaming Output & SRC Resampler in Foobar.  Set SRC to 48Khz.  If Volume control is not operative in Windows, you know you have bypassed Kmixer. 

Sound should be very smooth, liquid and dynamic.

Enjoy!

Duc

[chadh]

The PCM2702 is a USB v1.0 8x over sampling DAC chip which is limited to 48KHz.  Best bet using WinXP in term of sound quality is to use Foobar latest version with Secret Rabbit Code resampler to 48KHz and ASIO4All.  I'm pretty sure the DAC does not have its own ASIO driver.

Google "Secret Rabbit Code" and "ASIO4All" to get the download and installation instruction.  Make sure you also download ASIO and Kernel Streaming support from Foobar and install them.

Turn off all windows sound effects and uncheck "Map thru this device" in the USB speaker device.

Select Kernel Streaming Output & SRC Resampler in Foobar.  Set SRC to 48Khz.  If Volume control is not operative in Windows, you know you have bypassed Kmixer. 

Sound should be very smooth, liquid and dynamic.

Enjoy!

Duc

I have two questions:

Why does one need kernel streaming AND asio when using Foobar 2000?  I thought they were alternative ways to achieve the same thing (i.e. avoiding the K-mixer).  This is of particular importance, as the Foobar kernel streaming option doesn't always work well.

And why is resampling to 48kHz a worthwhile exercise?  Is this only optimal when using something like a PCM2702 DAC because the PCM2702 only operates at 48kHz?  Or, when you say the PCM2702 is "limited" to 48kHz, do you mean that that's the maximum sample rate?

Chad

[ted_b]

Yes, KS and ASIO are mutually exclusive ways of skirting around Windows XP's OS sound driver issues (especially kmixer).  The recommendations of turning off Windows sounds, etc are good ones.

To upsample to 48k is an easy choice; try with and without.

[hoxuanduc]

Correct.  It's a either/or situation.  Sometimes KS does not work, the Nuforce Icon for example.  In that case you need ASIO.  That's why I suggested both.

In my experience, resampling to 48KHz using SRC improved the sound in terms of smoothness and dynamics compared to leaving it @ 44.1kHz.  Other resamplers (e.g. SSRC that comes with Foobar) make it sound worse.

PCM2702 operates at 32KHz, 44.1KHz and 48KHz only. I'm not sure if it operates @ those frequency natively or resamples everything to 48KHz.

Duc

[rtate]

Duc,  If SRC and kernel streaming work then I don't need ASIO4ALL, is that a correct statement?

[hoxuanduc]

Right, SRC is in the DSP section which is independent of Kernel Streaming in the output section.

Duc

[rtate]

What is "DSP"?

[mcgsxr]

digital signal processing?

[Hoots]

I have been able to get several players to sound good (i.e. Foobar2000, Media Monkey, Meedio) but my favorite is J River Media Jukebox because I can match the sound of Foobar (ASIO, upsample to 24/96) but I find like the user interface and organization flexibility a lot more.  I probably could do much of the same in Foobar if I wanted to customize and code in Foobar but J River was many magnitudes easier.   

I also like the tagging features.

Media Monkey has some useful tagging as well

Once nice thing about Foobar is that it's a streamlined program: quick to launch and navigate.   Using an external HD with a lot of FLAC GB and tons of cover art graphics can slow down JRiver.