Open-source USB interface: Audio Widget

.question even with UAC1 the windows sees it as a headphone...is it normal?

Linux so far only UAC1 is able to work....


V

1. Uac1 headphone is correct.
2. Under Linux make sure you have a high speed usb2 port connection. Also when in Linux uac2 set quirk type to quirk_Linux.

Or you.can download and flash the latest experimental firmware which works under all OS's without having to change quirk type.

http://code.google.com/p/sdr-widget/downloads/detail?name=audio-widget-2012-08-09.elf&can=2&q=

Alex
 
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Or you.can download and flash the latest experimental firmware which works under all OS's without having to change quirk type.
Alex

Hi,
what exactly changed in the new version? Only quirk options?

Now I have a problem with LCD - is frozen: (

Metallic sound I heard only twice at 24/96 and 24/192 (Win7-64),
at 16/44.1 everything seems work fine so far ...

Under Linux, everything works correctly :)
 
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1. Uac1 headphone is correct.
2. Under Linux make sure you have a high speed usb2 port connection. Also when in Linux uac2 set quirk type to quirk_Linux.

Or you.can download and flash the latest experimental firmware which works under all OS's without having to change quirk type.

audio-widget-2012-08-09.elf - sdr-widget - Firmware for audio-widget. From latest audio-widget-experimental branch. Workaround for Linux sampling rate change quirk. This firmware works for Linux, Windows and OSX alike. There is no need to set Quirks

Alex

for UAC1 sound is not that great against the UAC2 in my current windows system or is it my placebo effect....
 
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for UAC1 sound is not that great against the UAC2 in my current system or is it my placebo effect....

Check the sample rate in use. If your content is recorded at 44.1 or 48 it should be no difference between UAC1 and UAC2. If your content is recorded at higher sample rates, the OS will resample it into 44.1 or 48 to work with UAC1. That will change the quality of the music.

It may also be that your OS resamples per default in UAC1. I know that Win7 will do that.

Which OS are you using when you get this effect?

Børge
 
Check the sample rate in use. If your content is recorded at 44.1 or 48 it should be no difference between UAC1 and UAC2. If your content is recorded at higher sample rates, the OS will resample it into 44.1 or 48 to work with UAC1. That will change the quality of the music.

It may also be that your OS resamples per default in UAC1. I know that Win7 will do that.

Which OS are you using when you get this effect?

Børge


In windows...first things i noticed and again its my opinion

if you use spotify /groovehark etc for music only way to work is UAC1 which is enough for streaming music yes or no i dont know..

I have some files which are 24 bit 192 bit and they sound really different between UAC1 and UAC2...

V
 
Any content is best played back with the sample rate of the actual file. So 24/192 resampled to UAC1 will sound very different.

One thing is that there might not have been all that much information above 22kHz to begin with. But the downsampler will introduce things in the time domain in order to sqeeze in the content with the available bandwidth.

Do you hear a major difference in the originally 24/192 when playing it at 48 or 44.1? I suspect yes since 48 is a simple 4:1 downsampling while 44.1 uses much larger integers.

In fact, 48 was chosen as the sample rate in DAT players to make it impractical and expensive to copy CDs, and impossible to get a bit-correct recording.

Børge
 
Any content is best played back with the sample rate of the actual file. So 24/192 resampled to UAC1 will sound very different.

One thing is that there might not have been all that much information above 22kHz to begin with. But the downsampler will introduce things in the time domain in order to sqeeze in the content with the available bandwidth.

Do you hear a major difference in the originally 24/192 when playing it at 48 or 44.1? I suspect yes since 48 is a simple 4:1 downsampling while 44.1 uses much larger integers.

In fact, 48 was chosen as the sample rate in DAT players to make it impractical and expensive to copy CDs, and impossible to get a bit-correct recording.

Børge

I didn't wanted to bring comparision out right now till i thought i setup this DAC correctly...

So i have a peachtree Decco2 that uses sabre dac chip..and i am replace AB 1.2 against it...in windows when AB1.2 is used as OAC1 this sound like headphone certain beats are clear precise but human vocal are coming from like far like headphone nothing like decco2 ...swithcover this to UAC2 and it makes me think decco2 has to go...

even on streaming content one to one comparision i can humbly say decco2 beats this guy by miles under UAC1 as i cant use this as a streeaming DAC under UAC2...

again this my humble opinion so far and it is my subjective...and one reason i ask about being shown as headphone on windows was this..voice was very far....

any help to correct this is helpfull thats all i can ask for....

V
 
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For Windows I would suggest you download JRiver as a player before you go much further, it will run for 30 Days before you need to pay for it.

JRiver has a lot of flexibility in its audio outputs. If you use that with the ASIO driver you should be able to play everything at native rate eliminating any host DSP stuff. There are a few settings to get it all aligned right but they are well documented on the JRiver site.

Also the AW has no isolation on the grounds between the PC and your audio system. This can lead to mysterious noise problems and other degradations if not carefully managed. If you have a laptop you can run on batteries to isolate the grounds.

The AK4430 won't drive a headphone directly. Its a very good sounding basic DAC chip. The OEM price is about 1/50th of the ESS chip. The Peachtree has a pretty sophisticated DAC (ESS9012 I think) and a much more complex implementation so comparisons are not all that fair.
 
For Windows I would suggest you download JRiver as a player before you go much further, it will run for 30 Days before you need to pay for it.

JRiver has a lot of flexibility in its audio outputs. If you use that with the ASIO driver you should be able to play everything at native rate eliminating any host DSP stuff. There are a few settings to get it all aligned right but they are well documented on the JRiver site.

Also the AW has no isolation on the grounds between the PC and your audio system. This can lead to mysterious noise problems and other degradations if not carefully managed. If you have a laptop you can run on batteries to isolate the grounds.

The AK4430 won't drive a headphone directly. Its a very good sounding basic DAC chip. The OEM price is about 1/50th of the ESS chip. The Peachtree has a pretty sophisticated DAC (ESS9012 I think) and a much more complex implementation so comparisons are not all that fair.


As i said i was not comparing till i had set it up correctly...

i am using foobar and its working fine with ASIO addon ...as i said its working fine when it is configured as UAC2 my issue is when this is connected as UAC1 and thats why the question i raised...

its not about money i am asking how to setup properly under the UAC1 with windows and UAC2 in Linux...am i asking something wrong here...and reason to talk about peachtree was thats the only other DAC i have ...

at UAC2 it holds preety good against the DAC....

V
 
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I assume you have installed a driver for your other DAC. That driver will let it operate at a higher sampling rate than the AB-1.2 at UAC1, and you won't really have a head-to-head comparison.

My suggestion is to use 44.1 or 48ksps content when comparing DACs at UAC1. Otherwise you'll be including the OS's downsampler in the equation. And that isn't fair to any DAC!

Børge
 
I assume you have installed a driver for your other DAC. That driver will let it operate at a higher sampling rate than the AB-1.2 at UAC1, and you won't really have a head-to-head comparison.

My suggestion is to use 44.1 or 48ksps content when comparing DACs at UAC1. Otherwise you'll be including the OS's downsampler in the equation. And that isn't fair to any DAC!

Børge

stupid question but thought to ask would following things be fair to compare

  1. 320 kbps mp3 file
  2. Spotify streaming music
  3. grooveshark music
  4. 16/44.1 flac files
are the 4 above worth the check in uAC1 mode?

V