[chip]

So a few questions on this topic -

Here is my setup where I may want to put a PC as the music source.

Pioneer sc25
Analog to Digital Conversion : Burr Brown 192 kHz / 24-bit
Digital Analog Conversion (DAC) : Wolfson WM8740 192 kHz / 24-bit DAC

Ref 1.5s


In my setup if I switch to a PC as source why would I want a usb dac in the middle if I can hook my PC up hdmi/toslink to my receiver?

[WC]

I wouldn't put a DAC in line. Not sure about your specific receiver, but my AVR sounds much better sending in digital signals than playing analog ones. Get a PC with Toslink out and run it into the AVR. Not sure why you would want to mess with USB.

[Mag]

I run my PC through a dac using usb because the dac upsamples to 192 24 bit. Whereas my processor is only 96.

However if you have like the new Bryston SP3 you would go straight to the processor. USB I think would still be the connection used as I don't see a toslink on my laptop.

[chip]

I run my PC through a dac using usb because the dac upsamples to 192 24 bit. Whereas my processor is only 96.

However if you have like the new Bryston SP3 you would go straight to the processor. USB I think would still be the connection used as I don't see a toslink on my laptop.

Ok so my current MB says the following when using hdmi to reciever -
lso what formats does this support?

Mine reads the following on Supported formats:
Max number of channels 2
HDCP: Not Supported
Bit Depth: 16- bit

Sample Rates: 44.1khz, 48 khz

Encoded formats: Dolby Digital

So yours is 24/96 and mine is 16/44.1 ?

With Playback options as following - Play 16/44.1, 24/44.1, 24/88.2, 24/96, 24/176.4, and 24/192 all bit perfect.

[WC]

Chip,

I think he was talking about using USB or Toslink, not HDMI. If your MB stands for Mac Book, you most likely have Toslink out which can be configured to 24/192 depending on the connection DAC.

[chip]

MB was for motherboard. It has HDMI and Toslink. The HDMI connection showed the above.

[WC]

I would check out Toslink next.

[chip]

Looks like Supported formats are as followed:

DTS, DD

Sample rates: 44.1khz, 48.8 khz, 96 khz, 192khz

So I want to check all of the above as only 44.1khz was checked?

If I go to advanced tab then I want to select 2 channel 24bit, 192? Or do I want 16bit/192

[chip]

Ok add another question -

For software playback there seems to be a good 1/2 dozen options. One option I would like is to be able to control the software from my android device.

This is what I know so far -
J river full version has this - http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Gizmo

Foobar has this with a few apps available from the app store. I like this one so far foobar2000 controller. Has anyone tried any of the other apps for foobar...thoughts/opinions?

Any other of the software available have remote apps for it besides these two.

[Mag]

The SC25 looks like SOTA. Okay from what I understand your computer outputs only in 16 bit- 44.1. I don't know perhaps someone else does of a computer that outputs 24bit.

So even with the HDMI cable you are still only getting a low resolution signal to the SC25 which then upscales.

If you want Hi-Rez then you need something like the Bryston BDP-1 which can output Hi-Rez from Hi-Rez recordings. Which you then can connect direct to your av/receiver without needing an external dac.

[Mag]

Okay I'm back, had to run out briefly for work. I want to clear up the confusion.
Your av/receiver does the upsampling to 192. My multi-channel processor dsp only does 96. So I use an external dac that upsamples to 192 through analog outputs bypassing my processor dsp, using only its analog section.

You can get a computer that supports Blu-ray then output the higher resolution sample rates to your av/receiver either to the dsp or bypass to analog section.
With a typical computer you only get the 16 bit output for wav files or dvd. Which your av/receiver then upsamples. The typical computer does not support Hi-Rez recordings.

[toddbagwell]

I'd be wary of generalizing with a "typical" computer. While a dvd-writer might not read bluray disks it could rip a dvd with 20 or 24 bit data, and the same machine could download higher bitrate files from the web.

Resolution has limits based on optical drive used to rip, but also limits based on computer hardware and motherboard/soundcard firmware.

The type of connection can sometimes limit resolution, as can the outboard dac/reciever's digital chip.

Hope this helps
Todd

[chip]

The SC25 looks like SOTA.

What is SOTA?

[srb]

What is SOTA?

State Of The Art, I think.
 
Steve

[GarfL]

You have the playback option set. jRiver 16 full, Gizmo on Andriod. Set it up for bit perfect playback (WASAPI event), then figure out the best path to get the audio to your receiver. HINT: a PC is a noisy place, you don't want a cheap audio card with shared resources serving audio. Also, HDMI wasn't meant to transmit audiophile quality audio. Toslink is better, but to get a quality card for a PC isn't cheap, it would be better spent in a USB DAC.

With an external asynchronous DAC, all you need is a USB 2.0 slot on the PC. It is money better spent than any audio card you want to put in a PC imo.

[trackball02]

I totally agree with Garf.

 I just acquired a dedicated HTPC and am now running Jriver 16 into a USB DAC (Eastern Electric DAC Plus) with WASAPI Event and used the suggested settings for DACs (http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/DAC_Settings).

I really like the sound plus the Theaterview option is awesome. Investing in a sound card is not required.

I'm using a cheap printer USB cable, I am wondering if there is any benefit in a cable upgrade.

[GarfL]

Was going to edit my post, but decided it would be better to add a new reply.

I am assuming you plan on putting the PC in the listening room, what is it? Tower? Laptop? Another option is to simply buy an Airport Extreme, and stream your music over wireless, using the toslink out from that to the receiver. At $99 bucks, that would remove the noisy PC from your listening area.  There is an open source UPNP Airplay service you can run on Windows (dbPowerAmp Renaissance Air UPnP) that will allow you to push from jRiver to the Airport Express zone.

Still, the external DAC is more fun!

[Andre2]

I also have an EE dac plus, and I am thinking about adding a computer for audio server.  what is your HTPC, if I may ask?

[trackball02]

HP Pavilion Slimline s5xt, quite small and reasonably quiet. I flipped it on its side, and it fits nicely in a standard shelf. I got a fully loaded 2T hard drive, TV tuner with remote, blu-ray, 8G RAM, wireless with bluetooth, Core i3 processor (picked the slower for less heat and power consumption) and 1GNVIDA GT520 card. You can configure one on Costco and they have a great return policy.