[fire2havoc]

I just received my Audio-Technica AD700s. I was wondering which sampling rate/bit depth I should set them to?

Lowest setting: 2 channel, 16 bit, 44100 Hz (CD Quality)
Highest setting: 2 channel, 24 bit, 192000 Hz (Studio Quality)

Thanks.

 

[leeperry]

on what soundcard? ideally you should try using ASIO/KS/WASAPI and make sure that they run in bit-matched mode...so everything plays bit-perfect/untouched, as resampling inevitably increases harmonic distortion

 

[fire2havoc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by leeperry /img/forum/go_quote.gif on what soundcard? ideally you should try using ASIO/KS/WASAPI and make sure that they run in bit-matched mode...so everything plays bit-perfect/untouched, as resampling inevitably increases harmonic distortion

Using the on-board sound on a Gigabyte EX58-UD5 motherboard. Not really sure what ASIO/KS/WASAPI...I guess I'll leave it on the default setting. The headphones sound terrific either way!

 

[nick_charles]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fire2havoc /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just received my Audio-Technica AD700s. I was wondering which sampling rate/bit depth I should set them to? Lowest setting: 2 channel, 16 bit, 44100 Hz (CD Quality) Highest setting: 2 channel, 24 bit, 192000 Hz (Studio Quality) Thanks.

Great headphones by the way. I have a pair.

Leave the sound as 2 channel 16 bit 44,100 unless you plan to use high res audio - your board has a bog-standard Realtek chip, disable all the effects.

http://asia.giga-byte.com/FileList/M...8-ud5(p)_e.pdf

Don't worry about ASIO/KS/WASAPI unless there is something about the sound you are unhappy with. These are options you can mess around with and are based on the slightly paranoid/OCD view that there is something fundamentally crappy about the way that Windows processes audio data

If you get blips, dropouts or distortion then feel free to obsess, otherwse just enjoy it...

 

[leeperry]

hehe, sure! considering that DirectSound cannot be made bit-perfect on Vista/W7: Homebrew CMI 8738 drivers - Hydrogenaudio Forums

if you want all your audio to be resampled, be my guest.

you're using onboard, and distortion adds up...you REALLY want to bypass the Windows mixer, whatever some uninformed ppl might tell you.

foobar/winamp and most major players will do WASAPI/ASIO(you will need ASIO4ALL).

and if you set it on 44.1kHz, then all your movies will be downsampled from 48 to 44.1...yay o/

 

[nick_charles]

Quote:

Originally Posted by leeperry /img/forum/go_quote.gif hehe, sure! considering that DirectSound cannot be bit-perfect on Vista/W7: Homebrew CMI 8738 drivers - Hydrogenaudio Forums if you want all your audio to be resampled Charlie, be my guest. you're using onboard, and distortion adds up...you REALLY want to bypass the Windows mixer, whatever some uninformed ppl might tell you. foobar/winamp and most major players will do WASAPI/ASIO(you will need ASIO4ALL). and if you set it on 44.1kHz, then all your movies will be downsampled from 48 to 44.1...yay o/

The OP does not mention audible distortion, thus I would conclude that for the OP the Windows audio processing is not an issue that requires adding yet more layers of processing.

Why not allow just one person on this board to be happy with their sound the way it is or is that too much to ask ?

Of course if you can point to some blind tests that provide strong evidence that the difference is audible.....

I experimented by taking ASIO in and out of my FooBar settings. There was one difference, I did get blips when multi-tasking, when single-tasking there was no difference but ASIO *did* make for a more reliable stream, but I am using a USB device so the comparison may not be so helpful, however for the OP seriously if you dont have problems dont worry !

 

[Head Injury]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nick_charles /img/forum/go_quote.gif The OP does not mention audible distortion, thus I would conclude that for the OP the Windows audio processing is not an issue that requires adding yet more layers of processing. Why not allow just one person on this board to be happy with their sound the way it is or is that too much to ask ? Of course if you can point to some blind tests that provide strong evidence that the difference is audible..... I experimented by taking ASIO in and out of my FooBar settings. There was one difference, I did get blips when multi-tasking, when single-tasking there was no difference but ASIO *did* make for a more reliable stream, but I am using a USB device so the comparison may not be so helpful, however for the OP seriously if you dont have problems dont worry !

He's using onboard audio. So obviously he's not the most experienced of audiophiles. What distortion he does hear he could easily just accept as what is meant to be. A bit-perfect setup is easy and best of all FREE. That's rare in this hobby. Why would you encourage him not to use it, even if there's not much proof of it helping or even if he's perfectly happy as is? I say take any chance at a free improvement to sound and run with it.

 

[leeperry]

exactly, free improvements are always good to take...no matter how experienced the listener is.

 

[fire2havoc]

Thanks for all of your suggestions.

I did change it from 2ch, 16 bit, 44.1 kHz to 2ch, 24 bit, 44.1 kHz and it does sound a bit clearer and more crisp, at least to my eyes.

When I was reading the reviews about the Audio Technica AD700s, everyone mentioned that they are a bit weak in terms of base. I updated my on-board sound driver and found out that I can actually partly compensate for the lack of bass with Dolby Bass Boost (which adds just enough bass when it is turned up all the way).

 

[anetode]

Come now, you're using 24 bit with a stock cable, what's wrong with you? Your eyes will see much more of a difference if you upgrade to silver. Copper & 24 bit don't mix.

...And don't get me started about the windows mixer! Why, if I wanted my operating system to handle audio data I'd be using a mac. Everyone knows that Microsoft makes things unmusical!

</troll>

 

[gurubhai]

I am actually of the opinion that windows 7 audio architecture is quite good & much improved from the old windows XP.
To OP : your setup is correct ( 24/44.1) although using Wasapi exclusive mode is recommended.

 

[Omega17TheTrue]

I think the OP use the motherboard sound chip as a source and headphone amp so he can't use bit perfect method because it will disable volume control !

But on foobar you can still control the volume but it doesn't real bit perfect because of this, so it is kinda pointless but useful to block other system sounds.

So don't worry about ASIO/WASAPI but you can try its free.

 

[krmathis]

I would just set it to match the Sampling Rate & Bit Depth of the source material (audio CD = 16-bit/44.1kHz)

 

[leeperry]

yay, lot of misinformation again..

-if he sets 44.1 and plays 48kHz movies in DS, his movies will be downsampled to 44.1 = not good!

-if he uses KS/WASAPI/ASIO, he will bypass the WAVE DirectSound windows mixer, as the windows master volume is ALWAYS hardware accelerated...it's essentially changing the voltage of an output variable gain amp within the Realtek ASIC.

-choosing 24bit is fine, it'll mostly pad 16 to 24...adding zeros in the 8 bottom bits

and I suspect that the Realtek drivers will resample everything at 48kHz ANYWAY...so bypassing the windows WAVE mixer will only improve things, as several resampling passes in a row can only lead to massive SQ degradation

source > 32float conversion to enter the windows WAVE mixer > volume control > possible downsampling from 48 to 44.1 for movies(if he set 44.1 as he was advised in the windows audio config) > reconversion to 16/24bit integer > resampling to 48kHz in the Realtek drivers...haha

he should just use ASIO4ALL, the windows master volume control will still be active and hardware accelerated = no windows resampling WHATSOEVER.

anyway, most of the ppl in this thread are using Xonar soundcards, that resample all over the place...no wonder they can't hear a god**** difference

and some of those ppl like to explain us that all the cables sound the same...when they can't even be hassled to output bit-perfect audio

 

[anetode]

Funny you should mention it, right now I'm using Windows 7 on a notebook out through Realtek mini-optical to Lavry DA11. Windows allowed me to choose the allowable sampling rates, disable volume change and the 44.1/16 casually makes it's way over to the DAC with no harm. Quite convenient, though I am missing out on all those padded 0s from using 24bit.