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Which bit and sampling rate to feed a minidsp?

tiagobdonoso

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I tried to understand this, and looked for answers all over, but couldn't really. I'm lost at the beginning of the learning curve and can't find my way back.
I use DDRC24. I stream directly from Qobuz in my notebook, then to the DDRC, then to amp (a hypex nc252), and to jbl arena120 and svs 2000pro sub.
My question is: what bit rate should I set as standard, and why?
Qobus has three options: hires 24 bits, upt to 192khz/ hires 24 bits, up to 96khz/ cd quality, 16 bits/ 44.1khz.
With Dirac Live, which I use, 48khz is max. So:
Should I leave at max and let the minidsp do the downsampling?
Should I choose any of the 24bits, just to use minidsp capabilities in terms of bit rate?
Or should I choose cd quality and be done with it?
I guess there won't be a lot of difference, if any, but I would like to know objectively, which one is better?
Thank you guys for all your patience!
 
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tiagobdonoso

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Well, I'm using the 96khz and 24 bits resolution as max, to have at least the 24bits used. The minidsp might downsample to 48khz, but when the album is 48khz and 24bits, it gets the most out of it.
If anybody has any info, I'd apreciate it. After some more reading, I'm guessing it doens't really make a difference.
 

radix

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You're using USB to the DDRC-24? I would not bother trying to out-think the DDRC24. The usb will go up to 192 kHz, and then the DSP will do whatever it needs to do.

Really the biggest audible difference will be which master you're playing, not how it was encoded. IMO, anything 48 kHz/24-bit or more is plenty. Even 44/16 is fine, as the DDRC is going to up-sample it to 32-bit float and then apply volume control and use a 24-bit DAC for output.

In Amir's review, the DDRC-24 HD only has 15- to 16- bits of linearity anyway. Remember, the main reason to use one of these is to do room correction, which is a greater benefit than the other limitations. The newer units, like the SHD or Flex, have better measurements, but I'm not sure how much you would notice that. They begin to go off beyond human hearing.

Marc
 
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tiagobdonoso

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You're using USB to the DDRC-24? I would not bother trying to out-think the DDRC24. The usb will go up to 192 kHz, and then the DSP will do whatever it needs to do.

Really the biggest audible difference will be which master you're playing, not how it was encoded. IMO, anything 48 kHz/24-bit or more is plenty. Even 44/16 is fine, as the DDRC is going to up-sample it to 32-bit float and then apply volume control and use a 24-bit DAC for output.

In Amir's review, the DDRC-24 HD only has 15- to 16- bits of linearity anyway. Remember, the main reason to use one of these is to do room correction, which is a greater benefit than the other limitations. The newer units, like the SHD or Flex, have better measurements, but I'm not sure how much you would notice that. They begin to go off beyond human hearing.

Marc
Thank you Marc!
Yes, it's via USB.
And I had a Gustard X16, I sold to buy the DDRC. The difference was incredible as I had no eq or bass management whatsoever.
I'll leave at max resolution then.
Thanks again!
 

Tangband

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I tried to understand this, and looked for answers all over, but couldn't really. I'm lost at the beginning of the learning curve and can't find my way back.
I use DDRC24. I stream directly from Qobuz in my notebook, then to the DDRC, then to amp (a hypex nc252), and to jbl arena120 and svs 2000pro sub.
My question is: what bit rate should I set as standard, and why?
Qobus has three options: hires 24 bits, upt to 192khz/ hires 24 bits, up to 96khz/ cd quality, 16 bits/ 44.1khz.
With Dirac Live, which I use, 48khz is max. So:
Should I leave at max and let the minidsp do the downsampling?
Should I choose any of the 24bits, just to use minidsp capabilities in terms of bit rate?
Or should I choose cd quality and be done with it?
I guess there won't be a lot of difference, if any, but I would like to know objectively, which one is better?
Thank you guys for all your patience!
You have to listen what sounds the best . Put the settings to 24 bits. The rest ( the sampling frequency ) might differ in quality and you cant say for sure whats best without listening , because SRC can be done in a less good way, depending if its done in the Minidsp or in the computer .

You can start with the highest allowed sampling freq rate, and also try 44,1 KHz to hear what you prefer.

Anyway - having the right digital and analog gain settings are more important.
You should have a very high digital input signal into your Minidsp, otherwise you loose bits and resolution.
 
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