Best way to maintain Tidal sample rate through Equalizer APO on Windows?

[mike7877]

So obviously you can't send the digital stream directly to the DAC when you want to equalize. What that looks like on my system right now is this:

The thing is, on Tidal, the bitrate changes between things - sometimes 44.1, 88.2, 96, 176.4 (rare), 192.

When I send using Windows' mixer where Equalizer APO modifies the audio signal before sending it for output, I have to check the bitrate in Exclusive mode on my DAC, then go here:

To match the bitrate.


And it's a bit of a pain in the ahs!
(to put it mildly... yes, I do know my favourite albums by now, but it's not like you can make a shortcut to the Advanced Speakers' Properties for the currently chosen DAC)

Is there a way to make a virtual device which I could send to Equalizer APO, and then that virtual device is always "Exclusive Mode" so that the bitrate will change on my DAC with Tidal?

How do people who equalize their speakers match the source bitrate automatically?

This is what I do to my speakers:

Not always, but when I want full-range speakers (-2dB @ 40Hz, -6dB@ 27Hz) this is what I apply
{{{If you've got sealed speakers and would like to be able to extend the low end of your speakers by a full octave losing [usually] 3-8dB headroom (except for rap/hip-hop or bass heavy pop which is closer to 10-12dB, let me know in a PM and I'll tell you how to go about it}}}


Yeah, so that's all... Is there a tool which emulates a hardware audio output device which you can select in a program like Tidal which Equalizer APO can work on, and then that emulated audio device uses "exclusive mode" or WASAPI or whatever to your chosen audio device?

 

[staticV3]

AFAIK you can't decouple Equalizer APO from Windows' Resampler.

One option would be to connect your Tidal account to Roon, then use Roon's built-in EQ.

Another would be to outsource your EQ to an external Hardware EQ solution, like a miniDSP or Topping's new D50III.
Then you could keep using Tidal's own player, set it to Exclusive mode, and still have EQ.

 

[Jimbob54]

Static covered what I was going to say- but one possible option is to set the playback in the Tidal app to "Lossless" vs "Max"( or whatever the top level is called these days) - which will stream everything at 16/44.1 then set Windows to the same rate and depth- so no resampling involved.

 

[mike7877]

Static covered what I was going to say- but one possible option is to set the playback in the Tidal app to "Lossless" vs "Max"( or whatever the top level is called these days) - which will stream everything at 16/44.1 then set Windows to the same rate and depth- so no resampling involved.

That's something I've considered as well, though I don't know how good of an idea it is, because: how sure are we that those 16/44.1 files are rips from the originally released CDs (or the source for the master for the originally released CDs)? Not very!
It's likely that a lot of the time they are, but from some of the things I've heard in various places over the years, it's probably likely that in way more than a few cases, 16/44.1 files are automatic creations -creations of a script running on the server which processes the new library additions: when 24/96 is received, sans the official 16/44.1 version, resampling occurs. The sick joke? It's using a basic transcoder designed to run in real time with minimal CPU load. What was it that I heard to make me think this was a possibility? That a portion of the "hi-res" content is really just upconverted 16/44.1. Though unsubstantiated (at least I wasn't offered any proof or didn't see any floating around), these things make you think all the same. Tidal does have a MASSIVE AMOUNT of previously unavailable high resolution recordings... Many of them from

 

[Jimbob54]

That's something I've considered as well, though I don't know how good of an idea it is, because: how sure are we that those 16/44.1 files are rips from the originally released CDs (or the source for the master for the originally released CDs)? Not very!
It's likely that a lot of the time they are, but from some of the things I've heard in various places over the years, it's probably likely that in way more than a few cases, 16/44.1 files are automatic creations -creations of a script running on the server which processes the new library additions: when 24/96 is received, sans the official 16/44.1 version, resampling occurs. The sick joke? It's using a basic transcoder designed to run in real time with minimal CPU load. What was it that I heard to make me think this was a possibility? That a portion of the "hi-res" content is really just upconverted 16/44.1. Though unsubstantiated (at least I wasn't offered any proof or didn't see any floating around), these things make you think all the same. Tidal does have a MASSIVE AMOUNT of previously unavailable high resolution recordings... Many of them from

I also suspect a lot of their 16/44.1 streamed as lossless is likely just downsampled at source. Can't imagine they have (at least) 2 versions stored. But it would mean no resampling at your end.

Fwiw I really doubt I'd hear any meaningful difference in any scensrio.

Ps check out the massive windows sound quality thread for tips on how to get the "best" out of windows sound stack including resampling.

 

[mike7877]

I also suspect a lot of their 16/44.1 streamed as lossless is likely just downsampled at source. Can't imagine they have (at least) 2 versions stored. But it would mean no resampling at your end.

Fwiw I really doubt I'd hear any meaningful difference in any scensrio.

Ps check out the massive windows sound quality thread for tips on how to get the "best" out of windows sound stack including resampling.

What I do with Windows (10/11) is go into Control Panel > Sound, open the properties for the output device/channels, go to Advanced, select "disable all enhancements".
In Tidal use "Exclusive Mode" or whatever, and in foobar2000, I use WASAPI output and sometimes resample. I just got into experimenting with DSD output with my E70 Velvet, because I read a review of it on PS Audio's website, and it said while the E70V is a good PCM DAC, it's an especially good DSD DAC (which, after looking at the AK4191EQ's datasheet, which is the digital side of the AK4499EXEQ {basically the AK4499EX and AK41918EQ, collectively called the AK4499EXEQ, are the updated version of the AK4499, but instead of remaining in a single package, they split up the processing and delta-sigma modulation from the analog portion of the resistor DAC}, I believe it should be, because when rendering DSD, all of the PCM processing circuitry is bypassed. Compared to many, probably most, other DAC chips which just turn DSD into PCM before delta sigma-ing again (which is a lot of redundant and ultimately lossy conversion when done with limited processing speed and on less than ideal design), what's going into the final stage of the DAC is much closer to the original signal. Well, not closer... the DSD stream is sent straight to the DAC, so it's just done properly! Lol. And the AK4499EX 7-bit resistor DAC is a good specimen - I believe. It sounds good to me! I don't know if I've got fb2k doing the best PCM to DSD conversion yet, though, because in my limited 20 minutes of listening so far, I've noticed some obvious problems, the worst of which are transients like sharp snare sounds of electric drum sets. I ended up a little off topic lol!

Is there more than what I mentioned (disabling enhancements, exclusive mode, and WASAPI), to get bit accurate output from Windows? I thought I was doing it! Oh, I also select leaving the volume alone in Tidal (or whatever the option is called which leaves the volume at maximum)