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How do I optimize J.River with quality sound card

I've been doing a bunch of reading on this site and it's been very informative. I'm trying to wade into the PC audio arena and I would like to do so initially on a small budget.

I currently have a two channel setup with a Rotel CD/integrated amp and Linn speakers. I do not have a stand alone DAC and I would like to set up my PC using a quality sound card initially. I read a good article in the Absolute Sound on the subject and the author used an Echo/Mia Midi soundcard and Foobar2000.

I purchased an Echo Gina sound card which has an internal PCI card with a breakout cable to an external box. The external box has a DAC and both analog and digital I/O connections.

After messing around with Foobar, I find the user interface a little lacking. I think J.River is easier to use and I would like to use that as my software.

So, the question is what steps must I take to use J.River and bypass the KMixer in WinXP. Most of the other posts on this subject reference setup with USB DACs. I may go that route one day, but not yet.

Thanks to all in advance. This is a great site.
bmdduck

Showing 6 responses by bigamp

bigamp
219 posts
 
How to unmap your device in Windows XP to bypass the kmixer (and so you don't need an ASIO driver):

Control Panel - Sounds and Audio Devices - Hardware tab - Double click on your adio device - Properties tab - Double click on "Audio Devices" - Double click on your audio device (or click Properties button) - Check box for "do not map through this device" - Click Apply
bigamp
219 posts
 
If you're not using an ASIO device, which you're not, you shouldn't need an ASIO driver. ASIO drivers are used when you have an ASIO device. A lot of people use them because they have the added side benefit of bypassing kmixer. But you can bypass kmixer in control panel, so you shouldn't need an ASIO driver.

If your dac or usb device works with Direct Sound, then I recommend using that option and no ASIO driver. Direct Sound does not modify the bits during playback, unlike most ASIO drivers which will modify the bits. If you do need to use an ASIO driver, I recommend using Jriver's built in ASIO driver because it doesn't modify the bits (you don't need another driver like ASIO4all in addition.)
bigamp
219 posts
 
JRiver has a built in ASIO driver. I recommend using that one. JRiver has said that it does not modify the bits during playback - other ASIO drivers do. I've never used the ASIO4all driver, but I seem to recall reading in this forum that ASIO4all modifies the bits during playback (take that for what it's worth.)

When you use an ASIO driver, I believe you avoid the Kmixer. The other way to bypass the Kmixer is to go into control panel, find your audio hardware device, and uncheck the box for mapping through the device.

Send me an email if you have any more questions about optimizing jriver -- I've been using it for a few years.
bigamp
219 posts
 
BTW - if you bypass kmixer through the windows control panel, you don't need an ASIO driver. In this case, in jriver - options - output mode: select Direct Sound instead of ASIO. Direct Sound does not change the bits during playback, giving you an untainted bit stream to your dac.
bigamp
219 posts
 
I was describing jriver media center (the one you have to buy), not jukebox. Sorry, I've only used media center, so I don't know the differences.
bigamp
219 posts
 
Yikes! If I was wrong about the ASIO driver being built in, then I apologize. It's been over a year since I used an ASIO driver. I'm becoming and "old listener" too.

In any event, I still recommend using direct sound output if it works with your device. Otherwise, you're just introducing more overhead than needed.
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