Stoopid MP3 DAC question

[downhiller80]

OK I'm looking to buy a DAC to use with my digital out on my SB live platinum. First of all:

1) what resolution are by MP3s or how do I find out? (i.e. 16bit, 24bit, 32bit etc)

2) and what resolution does my sb live platinum output?

thanks,

seb

 

[downhiller80]

hmmm, something went a bit squirrelly there.

seb

 

[Howard]

No, he's neffing. Damn you, Lucifer.

 

[Workin']

The resolution/bitrate/etc. of an mp3 is irrelevant to the external DAC. The sound card's digital output when playing stereo music is a 16-bit 44.1khz Pulse-Code Modulated (PCM) digital stream. Mp3's are decoded before the digital output.

Why do you want an external DAC? Why not just use the DAC built in to the soundcard (i.e., use the analog outputs)? It's not like you are going to get better sound quality from an mp3 file.

 

[divinemartyr]

The SB Live! outputs at 16-bit. If you use an optical out to go to a receiver, you bypass the DAC on the soundcard, and will use the one in your receiver which will MORE THAN LIKELY be better, but not necessarily.

There are a few soundcards out there, such as the Delta 2496, which can allow for 24-bit output, and will improve the quality of your music somewhat, but as Workin' said, you're going to be a bit limited by the source. Unless you're making your own mp3's with a LAME encoder at proper bitrates, you won't really be utilizing much benefit. Also, to decode at 24-bit, not only will you need a soundcard which can do it, but you'll need something such as the MAD Plugin for Winamp as it can do up to 32-bit streams. Make sure you read the page, if you plan to decode at this bitrate, on how to properly set this up.

Also, the site appears to be down right now, not sure why but it should be back up soon.

Almost forgot to mention, if you are interested in how you can make your own cd-quality mp3's (i'm not wanting to debate this right now but suffice it to say, it's damn close, close enough you won't notice), make sure you read The r3mix Files for some great information on where to get your tools, which ones to use, and how to set them up.

dm

 

[Eug]

How much is a standalone DAC these days? For a reasonable one last time I checked it was actually no cheaper than buying an entire receiver. I'm sure you would hear no difference with an MP3 file.

If you're on a budget, then just use your sound card's built-in DAC, although the quality isn't the greatest there. With my Sound Blaster Live Platinum the difference between analogue and digital is pretty obvious, and that ain't a cheap card for a consumer card.

 

[downhiller80]

divinemartyr - I've already read your page on "true cd quality" mp3's, and have always encoded at 256kbit NORMAL on the fraunhofer codec in MMJB5 (which I think was stated on that page to be second only to LAME).

seb

 

[Johnnie]

hey divinemartyr... any experience with .shn files ?? I have downloaded a few.. and they blow the mp3's away!! input?

 

[divinemartyr]

<< hey divinemartyr... any experience with .shn files ?? I have downloaded a few.. and they blow the mp3's away!! input? >>



Actually no, the only other file format I've used is VQF which I enjoyed, but it never caught on as a standardized format. I'd be curious to evaluate the quality of the .shn files though, any links on encoders and players?

dm

 

[Johnnie]

you can play .shn files on winamp using This plug-in

Here is a decompressor for .shn files

pm me back and lmk what ya think..