[bigbeard]

Hi all. I just did a bit of reading on WASAPI. i use spotify premium to stream music, and downloaded an app that uses your spotify account and lets one use WASAPI. i noticed an immediate difference it sound quality and even frequency range/intensity. Literally night and day. I still don't understand why is this?
 
The way my setup is, i use the spdif out to enable wasapi, because i have spdif out from my sound blaster z going into my bifrost uber. 

I want to be sure that this doesn't add any sound card 3d effects i have enabled on my soundcard for when i game, right? Sincme iuts spdif out, it all gets bypassed? I ask because as i said, there seems to be a major (positive) change in EQ. 

Secondly, i also have my speakers connected to my SBZ, so if i want wasapi on my speakers, ill jsut select speaker output for wasapi? But now, how would i know if, again, is 3d simulation being applied to my music (something i would not want)?
 
 
Lastly, i have a lot of lossless music files on my pc. What program would you recommend i use to play these files using wasapi? 
 
I feel like i have been missing out a lot on my dac and amp because of this. feels like my ears were unclogged.

 

[bigbeard]

I downloaded foobar and the wasapi plugin. works great. previous concerns are still not clear to me, but, an issue i have with foobar is that it will not play in 32bit mode, even though my dac supports it. is this because i am using spdif out and is thus a limitation of it?

 

[PurpleAngel]

  I downloaded foobar and the wasapi plugin. works great. previous concerns are still not clear to me, but, an issue i have with foobar is that it will not play in 32bit mode, even though my DAC supports it. is this because i am using spdif out and is thus a limitation of it?

 
CD audio is 16-bit/44.1K, so can't see a good reason for using 32-bit.

 

[castleofargh]

from shiit audio page
Input Capability: up to 24/192 for all inputs, including 24/176.4
there you have your answer. a 32bit dac chipset never meant you could use 32bit music. but as mentioned by purple angel it serves little purpose anyway except to make the data you send to the DAC bigger, turning a 16/44 into 24/44 or 32/44 is just adding a few zeroes to each sample, making the number bigger for no reason.
 
now I suggest you keep wasapi on 24bit, that way you can use a little of your computer's or foobar's volume control without risking of crushing some bits. it's not an audio tweak, it's a practical one for lazy people (like I am ^_^).
 
 
about 3D effects and stuff, you should bypass it all thanks to wasapi, now if you can't sy by yourself if you hear it or not, then you probably aren't so much bothered by it

.

 

[Fabithierry]

Wasapi allow you a Direct Connection with your hardware. So the best way to use it is with the highest bit depth of your DAC to get the best precision and sound quality

 

[barid]

   
CD audio is 16-bit/44.1K, so can't see a good reason for using 32-bit.

 
because bigger numbers are super cooler broheim.

 

[bigbeard]

thanks to all who replied and helped me learn.
 
I have read some opinions online about bit-perfect sound not sounding any better and only being placebo. all i can say that is when i first tried playing music by wasapi, i noticed an immediate difference, and i was completely unaware of the proposed benefits of using it. it was truly a blind-study, eliminating any placebo. It feels like my DAC finally came alive. God knows what windows was doing to my sound prior to this. 

 

[Fabithierry]

Bit-Perfect doesn't mean a better sound quality (maybe in some cases) but with this way, you will get a "perfect" output to your DAC.