[JayNetTech5]

For services such as Spotify, YouTube, Pandora, etc, what bit depth/sampling rate would be best for audio quality/preservation? The highest my DAC goes is 24-bit/96khz, but I notice really high rates cause my music to sound sort of "metallic". I currently have it set to 24-bit/44.1khz, because that's the default, but my computer's built in audio defaults it to 24-bit/48khz. I'm just not sure which one would be the considered the "standard" for computer audio/streaming.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Thank you

 

[PurpleAngel]

The higher the bit rate or sample rate, then the larger the audio file, and I would assume music audio streaming serives would like to keep the music audio files as small as possible.
CD-Audio is 16-bit/44.1K and I doubt most (like 95% or more) audio music streaming serivces do not go above 16-bit/44.1K.
So really there is not much reason for setting your computer's audio above 16-bit/44.1K.

 

[Roseval]

Almost all audio is 44.1 kHz (the CD format), certainly on streaming services
If your DAC supports 24 (most of them do today), use 24
Not because of the audio (will be 16) but it allows for digital volume control up to -48 dBfs before you are losing resolution.
 
Hence 24 / 44.1 is your best bet

 

[JayNetTech5]

  Almost all audio is 44.1 kHz (the CD format), certainly on streaming services
If your DAC supports 24 (most of them do today), use 24
Not because of the audio (will be 16) but it allows for digital volume control up to -48 dBfs before you are losing resolution.
 
Hence 24 / 44.1 is your best bet

I don't know if it's my headphones or not, but I notice that when I select 16-bit, I hear a more noticeable consistent hissing sound when I have audio being played, even if the audio is turned all the way down to complete silence, but once it's muted, the hissing stops, plus, I notice more background hiss in silent parts of a track, or where instruments are playing softly. So, 24/44.1khz it is? I notice that, whenever I set any DAC/sound card to 44.1, I lose a little bit of soundstage, the sound is slightly flatter and closer to the head, but it sounds smoother, and a little higher quality, I think.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  I don't know if it's my headphones or not, but I notice that when I select 16-bit, I hear a more noticeable consistent hissing sound when I have audio being played, even if the audio is turned all the way down to complete silence, but once it's muted, the hissing stops, plus, I notice more background hiss in silent parts of a track, or where instruments are playing softly. So, 24/44.1khz it is? I notice that, whenever I set any DAC/sound card to 44.1, I lose a little bit of soundstage, the sound is slightly flatter and closer to the head, but it sounds smoother, and a little higher quality, I think.

How does the music audio sound if you set the computer's audio to 24-bit/48K?

 

[JayNetTech5]

  How does the music audio sound if you set the computer's audio to 24-bit/48K?

I think it sounds a little bit better, because, the soundstage is larger to me, but, 44.1khz has a slightly flatter sound range, sounds smoother, and less metallic in the treble. Higher rates such as 48khz+ open the sound a little bit more, but they cause the treble to sound sort of fuzzy and "fake", particularly 96khz and 192khz. They make the music sound better and worse at the same time, but 48khz isn't bad, however, I'm not sure if it's the proper setting for listening to music, since windows defaults it to different settings depending on the sound device that's in use. For instance, Realtek defaults it to 48khz, but my FiiO K1 starts out with 24-bit/44.1khz.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  I think it sounds a little bit better, because, the sound stage is larger to me, but, 44.1khz has a slightly flatter sound range, sounds smoother, and less metallic in the treble. Higher rates such as 48khz+ open the sound a little bit more, but they cause the treble to sound sort of fuzzy and "fake", particularly 96khz and 192khz. They make the music sound better and worse at the same time, but 48khz isn't bad, however, I'm not sure if it's the proper setting for listening to music, since windows defaults it to different settings depending on the sound device that's in use. For instance, Realtek defaults it to 48khz, but my FiiO K1 starts out with 24-bit/44.1khz.

 
Somewhere in the 16-bit/24-bit, 44.1K/48K realm of settings should work for most music audio.
Just do not see a reason for your using 96K or 192K, unless you buy music that is 96K or 192K or maybe playing a Blu-ray movie disk
So for 16-bit or 24-bit or 44.1K or 48K, just use whichever sounds best to your ears.

 

[JayNetTech5]

   
Somewhere in the 16-bit/24-bit, 44.1K/48K realm of settings should work for most music audio.
Just do not see a reason for your using 96K or 192K, unless you buy music that is 96K or 192K or maybe playing a Blu-ray movie disk
So for 16-bit or 24-bit or 44.1K or 48K, just use whichever sounds best to your ears.

I'm just trying to get the fullest quality from the recording, even though streaming services aren't the best without any kind of subscription, but Spotify seems to be a little bit better than Pandora, and sometimes YouTube in terms of audio quality.

 

[JayNetTech5]

I changed it back to 24-bit/48khz, because of the "slightly better" sound.
 
 
 
 
 
UPDATE: 24-bit/44.1khz sounds the best, so I changed it back to that. Low noise, cleaner, and purer sound. 24-bit/48khz sounds more metallic and "fake".

 

[jcn3]

almost all streaming services (tidal hi-fi, tidal masters, and qobuz excepted) are less than 16/44.1, so anything you specify will be upsampling -- basically trying to fill in the blanks for the lossy material.  i'm not sure that 16/44 or 24/28 or any other setting will really increase the quality . . . .

 

[JayNetTech5]

For some reason, 24-bit audio causes vocals and some instruments to sound quieter.

 

[JayNetTech5]

  Almost all audio is 44.1 kHz (the CD format), certainly on streaming services
If your DAC supports 24 (most of them do today), use 24
Not because of the audio (will be 16) but it allows for digital volume control up to -48 dBfs before you are losing resolution.
 
Hence 24 / 44.1 is your best bet

You're absolutely right! Anything above 50% causes the music to lose resolution when using 16-bit, while 24-bit keeps the music intelligible at louder volumes.
 
 
Also, I'm stuck between 24-bit 44.1 and 48. I feel like 48 is more spacious and sparkly, while 44.1 is tighter and more straightforward, however, 48 sounds more articulated, even though instruments sound more spacious and far away.