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Alternative to SB Touch for playing hires Flac files ?

post #1 of 16
10/9/12 at 12:27pm
Thread Starter 
I am looking for something better than the Onkyo NR3007 for playing 2 channel FLAC files stored in my computer . I therefore need a decent stand alone network audio player with option to add ext DAC .

I was planning to get the SB Touch plus an Ext DAC for playing hi res flac files but now the SB Touch is discontinued.

I have also used my WDTV Live for playing Flac files( HDMI connection) to Onkyo NR3007 (therefore still using the internal Burr Brown DACs in the Onkyo)

An alternative is to use my WDTV Live with optical out to the an Ext DAC . Would the WDTV Live with Ext DAC be as good as the SB Touch with Ext DAC ?

Tks
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post #2 of 16
10/9/12 at 8:02pm
I think in most cases the optical out of one device will be the same as the optical out of another. As long as they are both functioning properly. So, if the WD works, use it.

What's wrong with the Burr Browns that you are looking for an external DAC?
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post #3 of 16
10/9/12 at 8:38pm
Hi Sportflyer,

As Baniels said, one optical should be like any other. But that is assuming that the device isn't down-sampling the music.

Down-sampling doesn't bother many people, but since you mentioned high-resolution FLAC, I thought it might be important to you.

S/PDIF was originally specified for up to 24-bits at 96kHz. There are some devices that have pushed the spec to accommodate 192kHz, but not many. And then there are many devices that will down-sample to either 48kHz or 44.1 kHz. I think the WD might down-sample to 48kHz.

It's not necessarily bad, depending on how well it is implemented. As well regarded as the Sonos is, it down-samples everything to the CD resolution of 16-bits at 44.1kHz.
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post #4 of 16
10/10/12 at 5:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkHotchkiss View Post

It's not necessarily bad, depending on how well it is implemented. As well regarded as the Sonos is, it down-samples everything to the CD resolution of 16-bits at 44.1kHz.

The good news is that there are no known audible problems with this kind of down-samping as it is usually done in quality equipment today.
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post #5 of 16
10/10/12 at 5:16am
In my system everything going to the front speakers is resampled to 48kHz by the miniDSPs I use as active crossovers. I cannot detect any difference but this might just be me.
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post #6 of 16
10/10/12 at 6:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Theresa View Post

In my system everything going to the front speakers is resampled to 48kHz by the miniDSPs I use as active crossovers. I cannot detect any difference but this might just be me.

It is not just you!

48 KHz sampling of audio is widely used in audio and video production.

Pros treat it like it dosn't matter, because decades of experience has shown them that it doesn't matter.

Both theory and actual experimentation shows that this has no audible effects.
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post #7 of 16
10/10/12 at 10:11am
Since you mentioned WDTV, you have TV or monitor connected to your system. In this case you can continue to use WDTV with HDMI out. That would be the best, as your receiver will do audio processing completely in digital domain, and has good DACs already. You can also look at new OPPO 103 player, which can play music from DLNA server or SMB share.
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post #8 of 16
10/10/12 at 10:09pm
Thread Starter 
Almost everything is routed through the Onkyo receiver then to the TV using HDMI for video and either Toslink or coax for Audio except for those components that are 3D capable because the Onkyo NR3007 cannot handle 3D signals. These 3D components are connected to the TV directly via HDMI and their respective audio outputs to the Receiver via Toslink .

Previously the WDTV Live was connected to the Onkyo Receiver via HDMI . However today I decided to route the WDTV Live audio to the Receiver via Toslink .

The sound is quite similar whether the music stream is going thru WDTV or directly to Onkyo Receiver for 2 channel music. I think this is expected because they are both using the same DAC and analog processing of the Onkyo. I am still unsure whether WDTV Live down samples to 16/44.1 . (I asked that question in the WDTV forums so hopefully I get answers in a day or two) . One advantage of using the Onkyo directly is that the display shows the Type , bit depth and sampling rate of the Music stream whereas that info is not displayed when using WDTV Live's optical output .

With Movies , I think the Surround audio is better using TOslink to Receiver than HDMI . Not sure why .

Nothing wrong with the Burr Brown DACs , I just wanted to try Wolfson or ESS based DACs .
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post #9 of 16
10/13/12 at 8:16am
Thread Starter 
From my search of the WD Community threads, I found out that the WDTV Live does indeed downconvert everything to 44.1Khz sampling rate . There is no option for a pass through so far . Too bad .
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post #10 of 16
10/13/12 at 9:10am
I do not know which version does this. But my WDTV Live (which is previous generation) plays 24/96 FLACs in native 24/96 resolution. It does not support multichannel FLACs though.
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post #11 of 16
10/13/12 at 10:10am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ap1 View Post

I do not know which version does this. But my WDTV Live (which is previous generation) plays 24/96 FLACs in native 24/96 resolution. It does not support multichannel FLACs though.

I checked and my WDTV is still outputting 44 KHZ through Optical . I am using 1.03.49 . My WDTV is also the previous version WDBAAN0000NBK.

Can you please check which version firmware you are using ? Thanks
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post #12 of 16
10/13/12 at 12:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sportflyer View Post

I checked and my WDTV is still outputting 44 KHZ through Optical . I am using 1.03.49 . My WDTV is also the previous version WDBAAN0000NBK.
Can you please check which version firmware you are using ? Thanks


WDAAN0000NBK
Firmware 1.06.15_V

I recall that downsampling was fixed in one of 1.05.xx versions. I used HDMI for audio though.
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post #13 of 16
10/14/12 at 8:28am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ap1 View Post

WDAAN0000NBK
Firmware 1.06.15_V
I recall that downsampling was fixed in one of 1.05.xx versions. I used HDMI for audio though.

With my current firmware both HDMI and Toslink downconverts to 44.1 khz sample rate .

Are you having any problems with 1.06.15 ? Lots of complaints in the WD TV Forums.

I suppose the only way to try is to install the firmware and try it out . At worse I rollback to my current version.

Tks.
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post #14 of 16
10/15/12 at 11:12am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ap1 View Post

WDAAN0000NBK
Firmware 1.06.15_V
I recall that downsampling was fixed in one of 1.05.xx versions. I used HDMI for audio though.


I installed 1.06.15_V and I still cannot get 96Khz Audio through Toslink . The good news is that I can get 96KHZ Audio via HDMI ( same as you did)

There is nothing in the ONKYO manual that indicates that it will not accept 96Khz via Toslink . Now I am puzzled.
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post #15 of 16
10/15/12 at 12:10pm
I think limited resolution on toslink/coaxial is limited by the HDMI spec/rules.
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post #16 of 16
10/15/12 at 3:28pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Theresa View Post

I think limited resolution on toslink/coaxial is limited by the HDMI spec/rules.

I thought Toslink is specified to 24/96khz . Perhaps even when setting Audio to pass through , WDTV Live plays it same by downsampling to 44.1khz. via its Optical out.
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