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Originally Posted by GreatDane  It all seems to be working properly and i'm using iTunes w/ foobar.
I see that you're using the same amp that I am??? with your PC. I'm trying to understand just how using this "bit perfect" output will give me better SQ into the Porta-Corda MkIII-USB. Is this a correct way to use foobar with ASIO outputing the signal via USB as I am?
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I do use the same amp as you do. The Porta Corda MkIII-USB. You will indeed get better SQ by using ASIO because you are streaming through a virtual device instead of the Kmixer which is the windows default.
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The KMixer is a part of Windows that enables your computer to take multiple audio sources and play them back at the same time and at the same bit rate. The KMixer is also how Windows handles your volume control. Regular CD audio is 44.1 kHz. Many times, due to poorly written drivers, sound cards that will interact with the KMixer will cause this 44.1kHz data to be resampled to 48kHz. Obviously this will result in an undesirable result when trying to achieve the utmost in sound quality. The mixing algorithm as implemented by Microsoft has been shown in many cases to only have a signal to noise ratio of about 92dB. CDs have a signal to noise ratio of about 96dB (technically 97.5dB). The KMixer effectively reduces the data from 16bit to 14 bit.
To bypass the Windows KMixer you either need to use ASIO or Kernel Streaming. |
This part was taken fromt the original post. It says that the Kmixer will resample your data even if this is not necessary. Resampling (all resampling - upsampling, downsampling - sampling to the side if you like
) will decrease the SQ. The Kmixer even resamples when you change the volume. ( I am talking about the the slider that says "wave" - not the one that says "volume") You want to avoid all the resampling since you do not have a need for it. You want a file which has 16-bits and 44.1 kHz to play like this. You do not want it to play like 14-bit / 48 kHz. If it does play like the latter it will have a decrease in SQ since it has been resampled. (without the need for it)
ASIO4All is not the best way of doing this. There is a better program right now. It's called USB-ASIO. There is a link in the original post. This program will provide true ASIO for USB devices. It does not use a virtual device like ASIO4All does. By creating the virtual device it will still have to use the OS. The main downside of USB-ASIO is that it costs $76USB. I wrote a little piece about it in the original post.
I am sorry if you missed some of these things. Some things have been edited after you read it most likely. Thanks for replying. I hope I made some things clear here since it is kinda hard to explain all this in plain english.
Edit: Here is the answer in plain english: YES!
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