Best PC settings/hardware for bit-perfect reproduction?

[DNO]

Hello, I'm a new member and I just purchased a license for this amazing program, after playing around with it for a week. I was so impressed, I created a purpose-built jukebox, and it works really nice.

Although this topic has been covered , I have additional questions on the subject.

I would like to be able to play Silverjuke on an XP PC such that all music will be rendered 44.1K>44.1K, with no upsampling by Windows to 48K. (A close second would be upconversion to 96K, which should induce minimal artifacting). It is a common, but not-well known issue that Win PC applications that use Kmixer will sometimes result in 44.1Khz sampled audio to be resampled to 48Khz. For the audiophile, this further degrades playback of already compromised fidelity from any MP3.

I've read the forum postings/wishlists regarding ASIO4All compliance, and it sounds like that would solve my issue.

So, here are my questions:

a) Under Win XP, is Silverjuke married only to only Kmixer, and if so, will the end result be MP3's will be transcoded to 48K with no recourse?

b) If Silverjuke can indeed output 44.1>44.1K via Kmixer, will volume/tone settings invoke 44.1K>48K transcoding? I fear that enabling Silverjuke's EQ (or any Win App EQ) will trigger Kmixer to default to 48K. Also I fear that setting Silverjuke (or Windows Volume Control) to anything less than maximum may truncate 16 bit reproduction and degrade audio.

c) Can Silverjuke select any other path other than Kmixer, such as Kernel Streaming? I've heard that mode is easier to assure bit-perfect, but perhaps at the expense of other apps not being able to output non-44.1K sources simultaneously.

I'd be willing to purchase any soundcard you'd recommend if this would help in my quest. I would be willing to go SPDIF>Outboard DAC as well.

DNO

PS; if you don't believe how easy it is for both XP and OSX to mess up the audio stream, see what STEREOPHILE magazine has to say about forced upconversion and Bit truncation. This link from a review of a $1000 Audiophile USB Headphone amplifier, Jan 2008. Even iTunes/OSX has issues!

[Service-Team]

Hello DNO,

first, welcome aboard and thank you for your review.

To some of your questions:

> a) Under Win XP, is Silverjuke married only to
> only Kmixer

Currently, yes.

> [...] and if so, will the end result be
> MP3's will be transcoded to 48K with no
> recourse?

We try to open kmixer/the audio drivers with the frequency selectable at "Settings / Playback settings / Samplerate".

If needed, resampling can be done by the "hardware" (I think this will be the OS's kmixer then) or by "software" (normally, Silverjuke then). Try the "Use hardware" switch at "Settings / Playback settings".

> b) If Silverjuke can indeed output 44.1>44.1K
> via Kmixer, will volume/tone settings invoke
> 44.1K>48K transcoding? I fear that enabling
> Silverjuke's EQ (or any Win App EQ) will trigger
> Kmixer to default to 48K.

All "FX" settings are completely Silverjuke-internal and do not affect the samplerate. If you use eg. the equalizer, this has nothing to do with kmixer.

> Also I fear that setting Silverjuke (or Windows Volume Control) to
> anything less than maximum may truncate 16 bit
> reproduction and degrade audio.

We have an option for this, see "Audio output: use system volume" at "Settings / Advanced / Further options".

By default, this switch is set to "Yes", depending on the audio driver, Silverjuke changes the device's volume directly which should not affect the bit resolution in the best case.

If you set this switch to other values, to "No" or to "Init only", this will result in lower bit resolutions - with the advantage that you can easier share the audio output with other programs.

> c) Can Silverjuke select any other path other than
> Kmixer, such as Kernel Streaming? [...]

Currently, our programmers re-check ASIO - there is nothing more we can tell you at the moment ...

Best regards,
Your Silverjuke Team

[Service-Team]

> All "FX" settings are completely
> Silverjuke-internal and do not affect the
> samplerate. If you use eg. the equalizer, this
> has nothing to do with kmixer.

A little addition: Internally, Silverjuke uses 32 bit processing whereever possible and useful.

Imaging two effects: One reduces the volume by 50% and the next raises it again by 50% - with 16-bit processing, the outputted signal will have a large bit-loss. This is avoided by adding additional 16 lower bits.

[DNO]

Thanks for the prompt and informative replies! I've got an M-Audio 5.1 Soundcard on the way, as it supports ASIO and I'll be ready if/when the Silverjuke teams comes up with a bit-perfect solution under XP.