Bit Perfect Audio from Linux

[cycler2]

Thanks to all who have posted here; very informative.  I've tried Linux before (Mint 10, which was pretty friendly to this newb, and Ubuntu before that.  I abandoned Linux, because I couldn't find a way to get bit perfect playback.  This thread has rekindled my interest in trying Linux again.
 
With Mint 10, I used it on a partition of my main drive and dual booted with Windows.  Worked pretty well, except when I removed the Mint partition I had to rebuild the MBR for Windows.  This time I'd like to just put my toe in the water and install Linux on a thumb drive and access my music library on either my internal drive or an external USB drive.  Has anyone here tried this?  If not, any thoughts on whether this will work?
 
Thanks in advance for your advice.
 
Rich

 

[chickpea]

Sorry if I'm resurrecting an old thread here, but I have a question:  Why can't you simply change the default sample rate in PulseAudio to 48000 Hz?
 
It's a fairly trivial process:  just change the /home/$USER/.pulse/daemon.conf file.
 
Easy to follow instructions can be found here http://www.ubuntugeek.com/howto-change-pulseaudio-sample-rate.html
 
Please note, it's likely better to leave /etc/pulse/daemon.conf alone.  pulseaudio first looks in the /home/$USER/.pulse/daemon.conf for settings, then if none are found defaults to what is set in /etc/pulse/daemon.conf.
 
This may cause some extra CPU load for resampling other (non 48 kHz) audio streams.  With a modern system, however, this should be trivial and not affect system performance.
 
I realize that Pulse works on top of ALSA, so perhaps the answer is that ALSA does something to the audio stream itself?  A little more edumacation would be greatly appreciated.

 

[our martin]

i am about to build a gaming pc just waiting for the new ivy bridge and amd 7990 graphics card to come out..i thought about going down the linux route for my new build but they are not plug in and play and are really for recording music to a adat machine so i am opting for the beyerdynamic headzone game instead with a asus phoebus dolby home theatre 4 as the sound card.. i am a professional dj and when i am recording music i use a korg mr1000 which is one bit one touch recording records in the highest 24 bit setting and i use access virus keyboards and a reactable and 2 pioneer cdj2000s and nexus 900 midi with clear audio concept turntables and a macbook pro with record box adl dac through two krell s-150 monoblocks with bowers and wilkins pm1 speakers which sounds like it was done at abbey road studios it sounds that good!

 

[PhoebeFairchild]

I added the DeadBeef PPA to my Ubuntu 11.10 64 bit and I installed it. I configured it according to the directions and I am getting bit perfect playback. My .FLAC files sound just like the original CDs now that I have bit perfect audio playback. Thank you for the help. I was looking for something like this guide for a while.

 

[andrix]

Hi guys, 
 
First of all I want to say a big THANK for the guidelines here about good player for linux. Then, as a linux user and as a very beginner audiophile I want to improve my sound quality including an USB Dac to my laptop. I don't want to spent a lot of money, just less than 100 USD, which adapter you recommend that works OK on linux & can give me a decent sound quality? My actual soundcard is an Intel, this one:
  card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: STAC92xx Analog [STAC92xx Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
 
Which recommendation can you give me? (I've seen than Fiio E7 and Asus Xonar are recommended a lot)
 
Andres

 

[PhoebeFairchild]

I get good results with my HeadRoom Total BitHead, but it costs $150.00 USD. It's portable so you can take it anywhere with you. I can confirm that it works with Ubuntu 11.10 64 bit. Is this for a desktop or laptop PC? Which GNU/Linux distribution are you using?

 

[soundlikes]

My Audioengine D1 works flawlessly through USB on both my Lenovo E420 and old Compaq desktop with DeadBeaf. Oh yeah and I am using the Ubuntu Studio 64bit.

 

[andrix]

Hi, 
 
I'm using Ubuntu 11.10 64bit on a HP dm4.
 
Andres

 

[PhoebeFairchild]

Andrix:
 
Then, you are looking for an external USB 2 DAC. You can usually find a used HeadRoom Total BitHead for about $105 - $115 USD. It produces good sound quality and you can use it with an Apple iPod Classic which can sync using Banshee or Clementine with .MP3 or AAC files. I recommend this solution for you to consider.

 

[andrix]

PhoebeFairchild:

Cool, thanks! I'll take a look to those ones, the problem I'm in Uruguay and here is difficult to get hardware cheap.. . 
 
Andrés

 

[chickpea]

Using Sabayon Linux x64 and e7 on a Sony Vaio VPCSB.  Works flawlessly, no configuration required, sounds great.

 

[storrgie]

Ibasso D7 sitting on my desk right now. best cheap XMOS based dac for the price that I have found. I'm very happy with it.
 
Does 24-bit/192Khz via USB on ALSA

 

[leomix88]

You made my day!

 

[skamp]

Does 24-bit/192Khz via USB on ALSA

I'm surprised. Even the Benchmark DAC1 USB only supports up to 96kHz. Try listening to some 24/192 material, and run the following command in a terminal:

cat /proc/asound/card*/stream0

When I'm listening to CD audio, it looks like this (look at the "Momentary freq" line):

Burr-Brown from TI USB Audio DAC at usb-0000:00:1d.0-1.3, full speed : USB Audio

Playback:
 Status: Running
 Interface = 1
 Altset = 1
 URBs = 3 [ 8 8 8 ]
 Packet Size = 192
 Momentary freq = 44100 Hz (0x2c.199a)
 Interface 1
 Altset 1
 Format: S16_LE
 Channels: 2
 Endpoint: 2 OUT (ADAPTIVE)
 Rates: 32000, 44100, 48000
 Interface 1
 Altset 2
 Format: S16_LE
 Channels: 1
 Endpoint: 2 OUT (ADAPTIVE)
 Rates: 32000, 44100, 48000

 

[corehun]

hi,
 
I tried, 
 
deadbeff with alsa output and disabled resampling for 24 bit 96 khz flac file
 
when I type,
 
cat /proc/asound/card*/stream0
 
I get
 
Momentary freq = 48000 Hz
 
then I tried qmusicbrowser with gstreamer alsa output for 24 bit 96 khz flac file
 
 
when I type,
 
cat /proc/asound/card*/stream0
 
I get
 
Playback: Status: Stopped and no Momentary freq
 
so I understand deadbeef with alsa output is not bitperfect, right?
 
and what is the reason that I cound't check qmusicbrowser, any suggestions?
 
thanks.