Hi Laurence,
First off, you surely can be right that something is amiss, because I have no way since long to check for genuine 16 bit output as I have no DAC for that. Otoh, I feel that you are not obeying "rules" or "laws" at the same time. So, not sure
increasing the SFS to about 0.5 or greater reduces it to basically nothing but the odd pop/click is still audible, and lower SFS is desired.
We can't just "require" to cross the boundaries of physics. I mean, yes, we might like that for perceived SQ reasons, but if something can't cope, it can't.
Ever back the lowest we could go was 1.00 and the fact that we now can do 0.06 or some times (not me) 0.05 is because special prerequisites were created, found in various other combined settings (don't ask).
Im using a multibit 16 bit DAC chip. Bit padding in software for redbook is having some slight negatives effects on SQ so avoiding that is desired
Same thing - you can't pad bits on a 16 bit DAC beyond 16 bits. Maybe you can tweak the lot alright like telling the program the DAC is e.g. 18 bits, but then you are cheating or lying and nothing
can work as intended.
So you see, you are a bit prone to pilot error.
Check the KS Mode setting; If that is set to Special, I'll bet you that's the cause. Set it to Adaptive instead. Note : Special uses a special KS buffer means; Not each DAC can handle that which actually is a deep down inherent OS bug (our own NOS1 can't either).
Notice that not only the SFS, but also the net result of Q1 are buffer(-length) settings and at knowing that, you may be able to detect which of them "doubles" the time a glitch etc. stays away by doubling the number of the setting (this works out almost linearly). A driver control panel for your DAC - if existent - may also influence buffer lengths. The ClockRes may also influence slightly, but I would not blame that easily. Still it can imply "resonant" OS behavior, the OS choking at regular intervals (which can easily be at more than 30 seconds).
Q3,4,5 influences as well. The implied internal settings are eased when they are all set to 0.
I feel like I read somewhere, either in help box or on the forum, that KS requires 24 bit or greater DAC but cant find it again...
Unlikely. At least I never heard of it.
Regards,
Peter