I was giving you a bit of hard time but I did want to point out that each miniDSP will asynchronously convert the incoming signal. ...
No problem, it was good to me understand. I red about it and found out that it's usually done ASRC way mostly to avoid jitter, which can create some quality problems too.
So now I figured that the higher and more constant I can keep the khz rate through the chain of all devices, less the original music signal changes in percentage due to the small random noise that the ASRC process always creates by not being bit perfect.
Also since converting 96 => 48 => 96 in any case also includes the ASRC, to me it's logical that then I should at least avoid the frequency conversion part.
Btw, when my Umik-2 will arrive, I'll have a handy way to check from the speaker if the response goes to, for example 25 khz or over. If it does, then the whole chain must be operating above 48 khz and everything is in order. I already have the Umik-1, but it cannot not measure so high.
We all know how easily one setting can be accidentally wrong, so I am really looking forward to this.
I will of course also try to reduce the number of devices in the future as new hardware come out, but now I will have to go with the SHD Studio + nanodigi + Okto combination. I cancelled the order of 22D, since Studio has the same internal 96 khz resolution and added features which might come handy later. Also with SHD studio I don't have to use the computer soundcard since the Studio seems to have usb streaming. I am guessing that leaves out one ASRC compared to the other digital inputs. So right away this conversation has started to bear fruit regarding optimizing the signal path...
I've used Dirac for years in software form on Windows and it has a big impact also on the sound on the mid and high frequencies.
I certainly would not approve any kind of audible warping if there is such a thing. In software version I never noticed anything like that and I always ran it full range. Only thing that was a bit weird, was how the UMIK-1 compared to my traditional analog high quality measurement mic. I felt Umik was not so good in results. And now, behold, the UMIK-2 came out. Very interesting to see if that works better, or was it just my imagination.
I also sent the question to Dirac in Sweden about the 48 vs 96 khz internal processing, they now answered that they have got two kinds of opinions, some people notice and some don't notice any difference. Well that of course is true on almost any audio device out there... I was hoping to hear more kind of an engineering aspect with measurement etc. results.
However, if one device has to process 8 channels and the other only 2, there might be a difference in delay or some other parameter, since there is more work to do. Hard to say, but probably certainly there is no beneficial effect, so I will be on the safe side with just 2 channels.
FYI, dac8 PRO order 208 shipped today.
Allright, then there is over hundred orders waiting.