XXHighEnd

Hi Peter,
is there a function in xx that keeps the bit depth untouched? It would be nice to have it, because I like 44khz/16bit still the best and if I chose my dac is a 96khz/24bit it is automatically set to 44.1khz/32(24)bit. I can work around by chosing I have a 44.1khz/16bit dac but if I like listen to highres, I must change this setting. And then I must change it back if I listen to normal CD again.
Greetings Adrian

Can't try it right now, but I'd say FX=1 (the slider) would do just that ?

The slider changes the sample rate only, or not? That is no problem. But the bandwidth is changed from 16to32(24)bit. I like to use 16bit for 16 bit files and 24bit for 24bit files. A "no expanding" button would help.

:oops: Misunderstood ...
So no, impossible for the bitdepth. Not going to make that either. :)

A related question: Do you use dithering for expansion to 32(24)bit?
If I use 16bit in xx, my dac expands to 24bit using a dither algorithmus. If xx would not use dithering that could explain the sound difference. Because if xx expands to 24bit, my dac will not.

Nope. And no reason to either !

Now I hope this helps you afterall ? :whistle:

You give away a possibility to improve the sound? :scratching:
From theory it should be better and I am pretty sure it sounds better too.

Look at the cat!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dither

Don't believe all you read, and first investigate *when* dither is needed. And this is not here ...

Hmmm...I thought it would work for expanding too. Then I am wondering what the dither does in my dac.

Same as XP ?

Just apply dither always with the result of ... the not being bit perfect hype !
(whatever that's worth exactly)

I can turn it off. I will see how the sound changes with and without. I need more time to reed into this topic but dithering is not only used for truncate high bit rates. There are some special technical applications, where it is used to create higher bit rates. There is also a paper suggesting applying dither always after processing the data in the digital domain. Unfortunately, it was only written in the abstract and I could not reed the complete paper. Everything is unclear so far, so take it with a grain of salt :)

That's ok ! :)

Btw, I didn't say your DAC doesn't "need" it, because it depends how it performs the further processing (what about the DSP in there).
But when all is approached as could, dither is only needed when going the other way around : from higher to lower (and even then it can be avoided when done "properly" (or in certain ways)).

Ok ?
Peter

Yep, you didn't. I assumed it had something to do with the expanding. But it is not like this.
The sound difference between dither on and off is not small.

I would agree, to the point that it is a technique to improve the signal if you dither 24bit to 16bit. But what exactly "my" dither does, is unclear but might have something to do with noise reduction. At least, what I hear when I disable dithering, sounds like worse snr. I know this sounds a little odd but I know that for certain frequencies, you can improve snr by adding noise. If this works for a wide range of frequencies too, I don't know. Maybe the dither is some kind of noise shaping (UV22). So far so unsure what is realy is.

To make the picture more complete ... I think "approaches" exist which claim that applying dither to even the plain 16 bit data, will yield a couple of more bits resolution. Although I can see the sense of that to some degree, I also see that the first thing what happens is that you'd destroy the 16th bit with that (or even the 15th, depending on the type of dither).

So, although it could be for the better (net), I never "believed" in that much, and so chose not to apply it.
Also not to forget : right from the start I have been on the path of improving redbook by other means, and although that needs an 18 but DAC at least, the result is better. This certainly counts for the Arc Prediction of today. Now think ... First we need additional bits (and higher sample rate of course) to next throw them out and turn them into noise ? my senses tell me I should never do that.
And so I don't.

Peter