JRiver owners: do you ever use DSP effects?

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p59teitel

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SSIA. My new Symphonic Line Belcanto CDP has optional DAC inputs (USB, coax and toslink) and accepts up to a 96kHz 24 bit signal. So I finally have joined the computer audio world by buying JRiver Media Center 20 and playing files from my laptop (already thinking a separate media server will be the next step).

JRiver comes with a "DSP Studio" suite that allows custom equalization, among other things. While I haven't fully explored all the possibilities, I am finding that adding a slight bass bump by using the low-shelf bass filter can make lean recordings that are light in bass more enjoyable.

Does anyone else use this sort of function during playback, or am I now officially an audiophile renegade?
 
I am just a beginner also with JR20 and playing with settings but cannot at this time give any real useful feedback.

I however wanted to say Kudos on the nice Symphonic Line Gear. My trickle down Stratos amp is the red headed stepchild of this fine German Gear.
 
Yes, I use it full time. I love that I can employ DSP with any additional A/D, D/A or adding another device to the chain.
 
Yes! I use the parametric EQ to fix a nasty room node at 30HZ which bass traps can't touch. I have also been converting redbook files to DSD128 and feeding the DSD to my DAC. It seems to improve the sound quality of those files.

A little hint - You can set up multiple zones which output to the same device. Each zone can have different DSP settings. I have zones set up to allow me to apply PEQ and output as PCM, apply PEQ and output as DSD128, and another zone that doesn't apply any DSP,
 
Davkj said:
Yes! I use the parametric EQ to fix a nasty room node at 30HZ which bass traps can't touch. I have also been converting redbook files to DSD128 and feeding the DSD to my DAC. It seems to improve the sound quality of those files.

A little hint - You can set up multiple zones which output to the same device. Each zone can have different DSP settings. I have zones set up to allow me to apply PEQ and output as PCM, apply PEQ and output as DSD128, and another zone that doesn't apply any DSP,
Click to expand...

Very cool! What are you using to transcode? JRMC?or do you do it offline..if offline, yes then.. How much more does the DSD files take up?
 
o0OBillO0o said:
Very cool! What are you using to transcode? JRMC?or do you do it offline..if offline, yes then.. How much more does the DSD files take up?
Click to expand...

I am using JRiver to transcode on the fly, sounds pretty good! I want to try HQPlayer. A lot of people think this does the best PCM->DSD conversion, but it is not as flexible as JRiver.
 
Davkj said:
I am using JRiver to transcode on the fly, sounds pretty good! I want to try HQPlayer. A lot of people think this does the best PCM->DSD conversion, but it is not as flexible as JRiver.
Click to expand...

I do the same. My understanding is that most DACs internally up convert from the native bitrate. Also, by doing the upconverting in the PC (Jriver) one can take advantage of the PC's ability to "lighten the load" of the DAC resource limited capacity. Most DACs go even higher bitrates internally. No ruling if this makes better sound. There is a part II to this, that Jriver or HQ Player may be more precise and use the computer's ability to do "slow math" (lots of calcs) much more than the DAC can muster. Hence, the subjective responses to better sound.

Remember bit depth is just how low the noise is from the maximum level and sample rate is the bandwidth, neither one alone or together can tell you if a recording is good or not. However, by upsampling we are presenting high bitrate music with the maximum signal to noise ratio and bandwidth- and that a good thing!
 
o0OBillO0o said:
Very cool! What are you using to transcode? JRMC?or do you do it offline..if offline, yes then.. How much more does the DSD files take up?
Click to expand...

JRiver has 2 options.
In Tools > Audio > Advanced > Configure input plug in, you can set the filter to be used. If you convert to PCM you need one to get rid of the quantization noise.
As far as I know this setting is honored when transcoding on the fly or converting DSD to a PCM file.



In the Format Conversion dialog you can invoke DSP studio.
Here you can choose a sample rate.
If you don't JRiver produces something ridiculous as a 24/352 pcm file and that is a huge one indeed.
It depends a bit of the filter used but analyzing a DSD to PCM conversion with Musicscope, there isn't much live above 44kHz
 
Davkj said:
Yes! I use the parametric EQ to fix a nasty room node at 30HZ which bass traps can't touch.
Click to expand...

I am considering Dynaudio XEO-3 speakers for desktop- without first hearing them. If bass is a bit 'boomy', will the JRiver DSP function allow me to manage it? My room is lively with tile floor and windows. I can live with lean bass, but not the opposite.
Thanks.
 
Vincent Kars said:
JRiver has 2 options.
In Tools > Audio > Advanced > Configure input plug in, you can set the filter to be used. If you convert to PCM you need one to get rid of the quantization noise.
As far as I know this setting is honored when transcoding on the fly or converting DSD to a PCM file.



In the Format Conversion dialog you can invoke DSP studio.
Here you can choose a sample rate.
If you don't JRiver produces something ridiculous as a 24/352 pcm file and that is a huge one indeed.
It depends a bit of the filter used but analyzing a DSD to PCM conversion with Musicscope, there isn't much live above 44kHz
Click to expand...

Hi Vincent,

I think you may have misunderstood my question, but are pointing out a fact that JRiver does not transcode to from PCM to DSD?

I was talking about the methods in which to transcode to a different bitrate-

2 Methods:

  • Live/ On-the-fly: Where a file in one encoding is converted to the other, using the CPU of the host computer. Then inturn, the DAC receives the data at the specified bitrate (bitdepth * samplerate).
  • Offline: Using a piece of software to execute "slow math" or greater calculations to render the audio file in the specified bit rate that you want your DAC to process. There is unconfirmed benefits such as better precision and a few others by choosing this method. Of course, this has a small penalty of increase usage hard drive space.
 
Smile said:
I am considering Dynaudio XEO-3 speakers for desktop- without first hearing them. If bass is a bit 'boomy', will the JRiver DSP function allow me to manage it? My room is lively with tile floor and windows. I can live with lean bass, but not the opposite.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Yes, it shouldn't be an issue.
 
o0OBillO0o said:
Hi Vincent,
I think you may have misunderstood my question, but are pointing out a fact that JRiver does not transcode to from PCM to DSD?
Click to expand...

No, you can do both
Transcode: JRiver will do the format conversion on on the fly
Format Conversion: JRiver converts a file to another audio file format
 
I'm not familiar with this product
Unfortunately nobody publish any measurements of the performance of their DSP
Hence the quality remains a bit of a guess
 
o0OBillO0o said:
ok cool!

Vincent have you seen this? AuI ConverteR 48x44 - Hi-End audio converter high resolution files

I wonder how it compares to JRiver's transcoding?
Click to expand...



Vincent Kars said:
I'm not familiar with this product
Unfortunately nobody publish any measurements of the performance of their DSP
Hence the quality remains a bit of a guess
Click to expand...

Hi o0OBillO0o,
Hi Vincent,

I’m developer of AuI ConverteR 48x44.
Today I watched this thread and can give some information about third party's comparison of audio conversion software

archimago.blogspot.ru/2014/04/analysis-comparison-of-dsd-encoders.html

archimago.blogspot.ru/2015/04/analysis-dsd-to-pcm-2015-foobar-sacd.html?showComment=1428926408403#c6196240508548468877


Best regards,
Yuri Korzunov
 
Joe,

Thank you for connecting me to AudioShark.

I always try participate in such discussions. It help get live feedback and find right directions of work.

Thank you again,
Yuri
 
YuriKorzunov said:
Hi o0OBillO0o,
Hi Vincent,

I’m developer of AuI ConverteR 48x44.
Today I watched this thread and can give some information about third party's comparison of audio conversion software

archimago.blogspot.ru/2014/04/analysis-comparison-of-dsd-encoders.html

archimago.blogspot.ru/2015/04/analysis-dsd-to-pcm-2015-foobar-sacd.html?showComment=1428926408403#c6196240508548468877


Best regards,
Yuri Korzunov
Click to expand...

Yuri здравствуйте!

I've followed your comments on other forums. Your software of offline conversion is certainly intriguing.

From what I understand, by converting the music file to the format that is either best or at the maximum rate for a given DAC, the software allows a resource limited DAC to run in a less constrained mode. The is as a result of using even more precise calculations, using a CPU, through the software.

This is all under the concept of how a DAC handles data. Most DACs automatically, by design, convert the audio files to very high bit depths and sample rates inside the DAC. By "priming" the DAC in advance, with a pre processed audio file that has been calculated with greater precision that what the DAC could achieve on it's own resource limited capabilities, we may experience an increase in DAC performance.

No ruling on increase of sound quality. but as you say, try your software before you buy ;)

Is this accurate?

Bill
 
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