[fufula]

I've always sticked to 24 bit-depth (since -- from what I've read -- it shouldn't really have any effect on the sound) and 44.1kHz sample rate to match the sample rate of the music I listen to (16/44.1kHz FLACs).

My question is, would increasing the sample rate to 48, 96 or 192kHz impact the sound in any way? The reason I'm asking this is because I've noticed that the barely audible yet still annoying hiss (which I thought was the result of the sound card picking up some interference from all the other components) disappears when I switch the sample rate in the audio center to any value higher than 44.1kHz, so I'd prefer it to keep it at, say, 48kHz if it doesn't do anything. Why is there a hiss at the 44.1kHz setting and not 48, 96 or 192 anyway?

Also, a bonus question for 10 extra points; what is the difference between resampling in foobar (through PPHS for example) and changing the sample rate in the driver settings?

 

[Hybrys]

Okay, I'll attack this in a variety of ways.

1. That hiss might just be a combination of a dirty PSU in your computer, and low resistance headphones. If this is the case, look into an inline attenuator.

2. Resampling is a weird issue. Some people actually prefer it. Some people loathe it to the very core of their beings. As long as you're not too OCD about the purity of your music, it can lead to some subtle changes, like smoothing out the bottom/top ranges. There was something I was reading a while back that suggested trying to maintain ratios. Thus, 44.1/88.2/176.4. But, even then, I can't hear the difference between 176 and 192. I'd recommend trying it for yourself. If you can't hear the change, PERFECT! If you can, and it's positive, EVEN BETTER! There's no major negative to it, so just give it a try. You can always change it back. (I'd recommend looking into the SoX resampler for Foobar, though, and setting it to 192. That's how I run my Foobar when it's hooked into my Zero DAC.)

3. Depends how you do things in Foobar. I think it tries to resample at BOTH sides, if it can. I think it was previously recommended you do it with software, because you can use more advanced algorithms that you can actually choose instead of a simple one forced upon you.

 

[fufula]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hybrys /img/forum/go_quote.gif That hiss might just be a combination of a dirty PSU in your computer, and low resistance headphones. If this is the case, look into an inline attenuator.

Yes, but if it really is the case of a dirty PSU and low resistance headphones, wouldn't the hiss also be audible at higher sample rates? Like I said, at 44.1kHz it's there, but goes away as soon as I switch to 48, 96 or 192.

I can only really hear it when listening to some really quiet music or when I'm not listening to anything at all (in which case resampling through foobar wouldn't change a thing.)

But anyway, I can't say I've noticed any changes at 48kHz (other than the fact that the hiss is gone). I'm not obsessed with having bit-perfect sound if I can't hear it, so I guess I'll just leave it like this for now and do some more listening.

 

[Hybrys]

Different settings do strange things to some devices. Think of it this way. Running at 44.1, it might pull a certain about of power, less than usual. But running at 48-192 takes up a little bit more power, because it adds a little processing. This allows the device to better manage it's power, and the buzz goes away.