Windows sound default format

[u4ea]

Prefacing this with that I'm an audiophile noob. Sorry if I'm asking a stupid question.

 

So, to boost my newly acquired HD 58X a bit and to get rid of some audio issues (crackling etc) with my Surface dock, I purchased an AMP/DAC to go with it. A Fiio K5 Pro.

One of their selling points is up to 32bit, 786Khz audio. The volume knob LED colour even changes depending on the current sampling rate. Neat!

 

I know my ears aren't good enough to notice any difference between the 16-bit, 44Khz and the ridiculous 32bit, 786Khz. (Can you even stream music at this rate?)

So my question is:

 

Are there any pro's or contra's to setting the Windows Sound Default Format to:

• The default setting, at which I think most music/audio is delivered (16bit, 44Khz ?)
• The highest my DAC supports (32bit, 786Khz) 

Next to using it as convoluted way to change the LED colour. 

I've heard something about "resampling", but not sure if this has an impact for better or worse?

[The Flying Sloth]

There is no measurable difference (let alone audible difference) between 24bit 44.1khz and whatever high number it is that DAC claims to run at and no, there is absolutely no benefit to running it that high.
Just run at 24 bit 44.1, trust me, you'll save yourself a lot of trouble later down the road when things start acting funny.

[homeap5]

16 bit 44100 is enough.

 

24 bit in theory gives you less noise level (in signal), but 16 bit has noise at so low level that you can't hear it at all.

 

Also, most of sound (music) is 44100 @16 bit, so input format will be your output format.

 

Of course there is also your soundcard distortions, but this is completely independent and you cannot change it by change format.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIQ9IXSUzuM

 

This is what every should watch before becomes audiophile. :)

 

[u4ea]

35 minutes ago, The Flying Sloth said:

There is no measurable difference (let alone audible difference) between 24bit 44.1khz and whatever high number it is that DAC claims to run at and no, there is absolutely no benefit to running it that high.
Just run at 24 bit 44.1, trust me, you'll save yourself a lot of trouble later down the road when things start acting funny.

Alright, putting it to 24 bit, 44.1 Khz. Thanks! 

7 minutes ago, homeap5 said:

16 bit 44100 is enough.

 

24 bit in theory gives you less noise level (in signal), but 16 bit has noise at so low level that you can't hear it at all.

 

Also, most of sound (music) is 44100 @16 bit, so input format will be your output format.

 

Of course there is also your soundcard distortions, but this is completely independent and you cannot change it by change format.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIQ9IXSUzuM

 

This is what every should watch before becomes audiophile. :)

 

Yeah, already watched the video before today when looking into the subject (or tried watching it). But it's already a bit too in-depth for me as I don't understand most of the terminology yet.

Thanks!

[rice guru]

run whatever format your music is at. 

[homeap5]

3 hours ago, u4ea said:

Alright, putting it to 24 bit, 44.1 Khz. Thanks! 

Yeah, already watched the video before today when looking into the subject (or tried watching it). But it's already a bit too in-depth for me as I don't understand most of the terminology yet.

Thanks!

You may find also article this guy writes (which he mention at the beginning of his video).

 

Basically it's all about nonsense of using any "better" formats than 44100 @16 bit. For many reasons like: - it can produce various kind of distortions, your files will be bigger (if you want to prepare or download high res music files) without any sound quality improvement etc.

[HumdrumPenguin]

@u4ea I'd leave it at 16/44.1 on Windows output, not 24/44.1 as suggested above. Let your dac alone do the upsampling, instead of leaving it for Windows algorithms to put a finger on it. If you had a Roon subscription, there would be a few extras to consider as side options. If you play your songs from Foobar or Tidal, set the software to take full control over your dac. It will set automatically the proper sample rate for each song you play. There may very well be other softwares that do the same, I'm just not aware of them.