44100hz 16bit vs 44100hz 24bit - 16bit causes White/Static noise..

[all-air]

Hi!

Does anyone know why I'm getting static/white noise with all of my 16bit settings on my PC through optical/toslink out? Static with 48000hz 16bit, 4100hz 16bit etc... To "really notice" the static I need to turn the gain up on my amp (it's there on lower gain aswell, just not that noticeable).

My motherboard is a Asus Crosshair Vii Hero, and I've tried uninstalling, installing and tried every supplied audio driver through Asus... I also just created a support ticket with Asus (I'm a bit disappointed).

RME-ADI2 get static and so does Hugo 2. With USB it's completely gone.

 

[_thelaughingman]

Seems like you have some sort of electrical noise bleeding into the sound card from the motherboard.

 

[Deleted member 28849]

Could also be the Toslink cable. I noticed an improvement when going to a $50+ cable from a cheaper one. I would chalk it up to the connectors and not so much the cable.

And I don't believe my PC has a Toslink out.

 

[all-air]

Probably the motherboard connector then? I have a Supra Zac optical, but I've also tried much more expansive cables that I returned since they did not help. This kinda bugs me!

 

[mansr]

Could also be the Toslink cable.

No, it could not. There is no way a poor Toslink cable could have the described effect.

 

[all-air]

Isn't it wierd 24bit is without static noise and 16bit is full of it... Is 16-bit just a format prone to high noise floor?

 

[daftcombo]

No, it could not. There is no way a poor Toslink cable could have the described effect.

It can I think. Not a problem of bits transmission, of course. But a problem of conducting interferences.

 

[daftcombo]

Hi!

Does anyone know why I'm getting static/white noise with all of my 16bit settings on my PC through optical/toslink out? Static with 48000hz 16bit, 4100hz 16bit etc... To "really notice" the static I need to turn the gain up on my amp (it's there on lower gain aswell, just not that noticeable).

My motherboard is a Asus Crosshair Vii Hero, and I've tried uninstalling, installing and tried every supplied audio driver through Asus... I also just created a support ticket with Asus (I'm a bit disappointed).

RME-ADI2 get static and so does Hugo 2. With USB it's completely gone.

If there is no static with 24bit though, it could be caused at 16bit by a weird noise-shaping or absence of dithering.

 

[mansr]

It can I think. Not a problem of bits transmission, of course. But a problem of conducting interferences.

Toslink cables are non-conductive. Besides, a cable issue wouldn't be dependent on the bit depth. The number of transmitted bits per sample is always the same.

16-bit dither noise can be audible with the volume turned up high. It's not normally an issue since the background noise of just about any recording is higher still.

 

[all-air]

Toslink cables are non-conductive. Besides, a cable issue wouldn't be dependent on the bit depth. The number of transmitted bits per sample is always the same.

16-bit dither noise can be audible with the volume turned up high. It's not normally an issue since the background noise of just about any recording is higher still.

Thanks! So the noise I hear is pretty normal and has to do with 16bit rather than my motherboard? If i turn my THX887 to full volume on normal gain or full volume at high gain i hear "static" with 16bit (44k, 48k all of the 16bit settings) , but not at all with 24bit. The noise is more noticable with more sensitive headphones.

To achieve this I have to pause the song or video, turn up the gain and volume, and the white noise is pretty loud.

 

[all-air]

https://www.spektrummastering.com/audio-blog/24bit-depth-16bit-depth-audio/

"THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 16-BIT AND 24-BIT AUDIO
When just listening to music this difference is hard to notice but if you turn up the volume during a fade out of a song (16-bit) you can actually hear the noise floor sooner than in a 24-bit depth sound.

To recreate this I have lowered the audio of a drum beat and then faded it out slowly, I then bounced it to 16-bit and imported it to a new project. After that I turned up the gain and bounced it again at a 24-bit depth resolution. I did this first without dither, then with dither and finally with dither with noise shaping."


"It’s hard to hear the difference between 24-bit and 16-bit audio during music, especially when you don’t know what to listen for. In mastering it’s really important to know your problems and how they actually sound. The main difference is the lower headroom and the higher noise floor (in the 16-bit version). To this day I haven’t found any material that present this difference in a good audible way. That is why I decided to attempt to do this."


Is this what I am experiencing with 16bit? Hmm, should this apply to both optical and usb out?

 

[daftcombo]

Toslink cables are non-conductive. Besides, a cable issue wouldn't be dependent on the bit depth. The number of transmitted bits per sample is always the same.

Sorry but I experimented ground loops issues due to a Toslink cable.

Not the issue here though.

 

[tw99]

Sorry but I experimented ground loops issues due to a Toslink cable.

Not the issue here though.

Not sure how an optical non conducting cable can contribute to a ground loop...

 

[mansr]

Thanks! So the noise I hear is pretty normal and has to do with 16bit rather than my motherboard? If i turn my THX887 to full volume on normal gain or full volume at high gain i hear "static" with 16bit (44k, 48k all of the 16bit settings) , but not at all with 24bit. The noise is more noticable with more sensitive headphones.

To achieve this I have to pause the song or video, turn up the gain and volume, and the white noise is pretty loud.

I'd say you're hearing dither noise. Leave the setting at 24-bit and be happy.

 

[daftcombo]

Not sure how an optical non conducting cable can contribute to a ground loop...

That's what I was also thinking before my experience.

 

[daftcombo]

dither noise

Dither noise should be well under -96dB. I'd say he's hearing noise because of the absence of dither.

 

[mansr]

Dither noise should be well under -96dB. I'd say he's hearing noise because of the absence of dither.

Did you miss the part about pausing the music and cranking up the gain? Lack of dither wouldn't affect silence.

 

[abdo123]

why not just keep it at 24 bit then?

do you hear the same noise when you use a headphone jack from another device? ( or the motherboard even) this would quickly determine whether you're hearing the 16 bit noise floor or not.

 

[mansr]

Thanks! So the noise I hear is pretty normal and has to do with 16bit rather than my motherboard? If i turn my THX887 to full volume on normal gain or full volume at high gain i hear "static" with 16bit (44k, 48k all of the 16bit settings) , but not at all with 24bit. The noise is more noticable with more sensitive headphones.

To achieve this I have to pause the song or video, turn up the gain and volume, and the white noise is pretty loud.

Here's a 24-bit FLAC with 16-bit TPDF dither noise. If you play it with settings at 24-bit, does it sound the same as the noise you're hearing with the 16-bit setting?

 

[MC_RME]

Does anyone know why I'm getting static/white noise with all of my 16bit settings on my PC through optical/toslink out? Static with 48000hz 16bit, 4100hz 16bit etc... To "really notice" the static I need to turn the gain up on my amp (it's there on lower gain aswell, just not that noticeable).

My motherboard is a Asus Crosshair Vii Hero, and I've tried uninstalling, installing and tried every supplied audio driver through Asus... I also just created a support ticket with Asus (I'm a bit disappointed).

RME-ADI2 get static and so does Hugo 2. With USB it's completely gone.

So you have the level meter right in front of you and all you have to do is watch it. Read the (peak) values in the 'pause/stop' mode. If you can hear it then you can measure it. If you can measure it (the level meters showing signal) you know that the Asus' digital output spits out such sounds in 16 bit mode.