2. pc-audio
  3. 1139784453

Bit perfect digital output from pc

I'm hoping someone can help me grasp the difficulty in getting a 44.1KHz signal from my pc to dac. I'm putting together my first 2 channel HT/audio pc.

Reading this forum, I gather you firstly need a sound card that will output 44.1KHz without first resampling to 48KHz. Any recommendations?

Secondly, it appears Windows will not in fact allow a 44.1KHz output. Can someone explain why this is? Is this something that will be corrected in Vista? Are Macs similarly handicapped?

Thirdly, there seems to be some very complicated ways of bypassing whatever it is in Windows that prevents the 44.1KHz signal using ASIO or kernel streaming. Can someone please explain what these are and how to use them?

Lastly, it seems you need a software player capable of a 44.1KHz signal - I see Winamp mentioned a lot. Will Windows Media Player not do the job? Any other software recommendations?

Thanks for your help. I just want my computer to output a standard cd signal and I really don't understand why it should be this complicated.
baileyincanberra

Showing 3 responses by ckorody

ckorody
643 posts
 
And no - Mac is not similarly handicapped :-)
ckorody
643 posts
 
Bailey - the Mac is a very easy way to go. Reason being that iTunes does a really nice job integrating the ripping with the library management functions. And while a few very expert people may argue the point, you get this ease of use with absolutely no loss of quality. It is vastly to get great results from the Mac then from EAC, Foobar and all the rest...

The Mac is also very open - you have all the standard ways to get the data out of the Mac - USB, Squeezebox via Ethernet or WiFi and Airport Express to name the three most common. And iTunes will also support your iPod.

FWIW Apple sold 14 million iPods in Q4 2005. iTunes is a robust format that is well supported with continuous development (albeit mostly to drive sales for the iTunes store). IMHO a lot of people are going to be targeting this market with software and hardware offerings that extend the usefulness of the base product.

If you don't want to mess with it, this is the way to go
ckorody
643 posts
 
Maybe - for one thing iTunes and iPod are platform agnostic...

I am in agreement with you that MP3 sounds like crap on a high end system

The magic starts after you get past MP3 - which means encoding in Apple Lossless or something of its ilk to get the superior results everyone is enjoying. That's when eliminating the transport from the equation pays off.

BTW I am also not going to argue that the iPod is the best way to go - but a Waveterminal or a Squeezebox into a quality system might change your mind.
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