Newbie Bit Perfect Windows 10 Topping E30

[BlueMarblePA]

Sorry for this elementary question as I am a beginner. For Christmas I bought myself a Topping E30 and Asgard 3 headphone amp Grado SR80e. I am confused on how to get bit perfect output from my Windows 10.

It seems that through advanced properties in Windows 10, I can select specific bit rates and this is exactly what is sent to the Topping E30 (DAC mode) regardless of input source. I have tried Foobar and tried MQA, DSD, FLAC files and regardless of file type 44.1, 44.8, hires, etc, it just reads what I set the Windows setting at. Is there a way to send it in the native format without having to anticipate the file and then set it manually? WASAPI? Not sure.

 

[Patrick1958]

Wasapi and/or ASIO being the keyword here.
Set the sound manager in windows for exclusive use.
In any music-player you use set output to Wasapi or ASIO.

 

[Thalis]

in Foobar2000 install the WASAPI component then in the Windows setting check Allow Exclusive Mode. You mentioned MQA so I assume you have the Tidal app... you can also output Exclusive Mode in the Tidal settings.

 

[BlueMarblePA]

Thank you for the amazing quick response. It is still weird. I allowed exclusive mode, and I installed Wasapi download. The E30 DAC mode still only reads the selected from the dropdown - 32 bit 96 kHz when I play music from foobar. I can see in the bottom left part of foobar the kHz of the selected playback and it does not seem to match. Sorry I am struggling here.

 

[Jimbob54]

Sorry for this elementary question as I am a beginner. For Christmas I bought myself a Topping E30 and Asgard 3 headphone amp Grado SR80e. I am confused on how to get bit perfect output from my Windows 10.

It seems that through advanced properties in Windows 10, I can select specific bit rates and this is exactly what is sent to the Topping E30 (DAC mode) regardless of input source. I have tried Foobar and tried MQA, DSD, FLAC files and regardless of file type 44.1, 44.8, hires, etc, it just reads what I set the Windows setting at. Is there a way to send it in the native format without having to anticipate the file and then set it manually? WASAPI? Not sure.

Yes, a player that uses wasapi or asio and bypasses the windows mixer. Musicbee is free and I believe has that option.

 

[Vincent Kars]

You get DS because you have this selected in Foobar.
In your first screen shot: Playback > Output
Select the DAC with WASAPI and you will have automatic sample rate switching
https://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/SW/Players/Foobar.htm

 

[Patrick1958]

Thank you for the amazing quick response. It is still weird. I allowed exclusive mode, and I installed Wasapi download. The E30 DAC mode still only reads the selected from the dropdown - 32 bit 96 kHz when I play music from foobar. I can see in the bottom left part of foobar the kHz of the selected playback and it does not seem to match. Sorry I am struggling here.
View attachment 101619View attachment 101618View attachment 101619 View attachment 101618

In the foobar settings set the output mode to wasapi. Just installing it is no guarantee that is will output bit perfect. Click on the output tab and select WASAPI.
In soundmanager 24/32 bit 41.1 (44100).

 

[Thalis]

in Foobar2000 Output you can try either WASAPI event or WASAPI push <DAC name>

 

[BlueMarblePA]

I tried selecting output "Wasapi: E30 (push)", "Wasapi: E30 (event)", "DSD-Wasapi: E30(push and event)", but keep getting this error, "Unrecoverable playback error: Unsupported stream format: 44100 Hz / 16-bit / 2 channels"

I switched to just trying regular CD quality to be sure.

If I switch back to "Default E30" it works fine. Maybe I didn't install Wasapi correctly.

 

[Vincent Kars]

WASAPI talks straight to the audio device.
As a conseqence the output of the media player should match the properties of the audio device.

As DS plays with 32 bit, you should set Foobar to output 32 bit in the same panel as where you select the device.

As it is a modern DAC; Wasapi: E30 (event) is probably your best bet.

 

[Thalis]

did you set any DSP or resampling in Foobar?

 

[BlueMarblePA]

There is still a lot to play with. I selected 32 bit DSD output in FOOBAR. I downloaded SACD plug in to read DSD files for free. I am getting sound, but the DSD still outputs as 44.1 PCM. This will take some time to figure out

 

[Patrick1958]

Thank you for the amazing quick response. It is still weird. I allowed exclusive mode, and I installed Wasapi download. The E30 DAC mode still only reads the selected from the dropdown - 32 bit 96 kHz when I play music from foobar. I can see in the bottom left part of foobar the kHz of the selected playback and it does not seem to match. Sorry I am struggling here.
View attachment 101619View attachment 101618View attachment 101619 View attachment 101618

I tried selecting output "Wasapi: E30 (push)", "Wasapi: E30 (event)", "DSD-Wasapi: E30(push and event)", but keep getting this error, "Unrecoverable playback error: Unsupported stream format: 44100 Hz / 16-bit / 2 channels"

I switched to just trying regular CD quality to be sure.

If I switch back to "Default E30" it works fine. Maybe I didn't install Wasapi correctly.

Have you installed the E30 drivers? If not do so. Foobar not only needs the Wasapi driver but also the Dac's drivers.

 

[Patrick1958]

Here are some good guidelines for DSD setup in foobar by Solderdude.

 

[Vincent Kars]

Have you installed the E30 drivers? If not do so. Foobar not only needs the Wasapi driver but also the Dac's drivers.

Topping says

Drivers for Windows 7 or above (MAC, IOS, Android needn't a driver)

As Win10 is UAC2 compatible, it will probably run fine using Wins native UAC2 drivers.

 

[Patrick1958]

Topping says

As Win10 is UAC2 compatible, it will probably run fine using Wins native UAC2 drivers.

It will, but the UAC2 win10 do not support DSD playback. For the Topping DX7pro i had to install the topping drivers to get DSD to play in Foobar and JRiver.

 

[BlueMarblePA]

It will, but the UAC2 win10 do not support DSD playback. For the Topping DX7pro i had to install the topping drivers to get DSD to play in Foobar and JRiver.

I downloaded the latest drivers and then everything stopped playing. I removed the drivers and I can't play dsd as you predicted. Can you confirm which drivers you downloaded? Version? Date?

 

[Patrick1958]

Driver from the topping site.

 

[ABH]

Hi Bluemarble,
You need to install Topping Driver for foobar. I am using ASIO, component should show foo_out_asio. Then select output- ASIO:foo_dsd_asio . select output>ASIO double click foo_dsd_asio. Next go to tools>SACD select DSD and apply. Now you should be able to run the DSD with correct bit rate up to 512 if you have one. I only managed to find DSD256 samples.

 

[ralph]

Have you installed the E30 drivers? If not do so. Foobar not only needs the Wasapi driver but also the Dac's drivers.

Thanks @Patrick1958, that fixed the problem I had with my Topping DX3 pro.