jmacdonough

So, my brother gave me an older Astell & Kern AK100 Digital Audio Player, and I wanted to see if I could use it as a DAC to output audio from my PC into my stereo. Here's how I set it up: USB from PC into AK100 > Use As USB DAC selected from the device. Optical Out from the AK100 into the Optical SPDIF input on my A/V Receiver. I configured the stereo receiver to use Optical 2 (my TV is plugged into Optical 1 on the receiver). Windows 10 found the iRiver USB DAC with no problem, and I configured JRiver Media Center to output through the AK100 DAC rather than my Xonar Essence STX sound card. On my receiver, when configuring the Optical Audio output, there's the option for using Optical (PCM) or Optical (DDS) or just Optical. I've tried every conceivable configuration, but can't get any audio to output from the stereo. Am I missing something? Is this not how the AK100 can be used as a DAC? I've confirmed the Optical output from the device (which is also the headphone output). Nothing seems to work. Any ideas?

Enable the Windows Update service. That'll stop it. Why would you disable it? It keeps your machine updated.

Which is great if you're running Linux. If you're on a Windows machine or Mac, it doesn't matter whether it sounds good or not.

I finally bit the bullet and purchased the Plus version of Fidelizer a couple of weeks ago, and recently got the 7.1 update (very nice options added!). So yesterday I just turned on JRiver Media Center to play some music without running Fidelizer first, and I'm thinking, 'man, this sounds kind of muddy'. But after a few minutes, I just got used to it. Then I decided to stop it, close JRiver, and run Fidelizer first. That's when I really noticed the difference in audio quality. I was really blown away. Mind you, I don't have the most impressive audiophile setup - I have a Asus Xonar Essence STX audio card running out through a digital coaxial cable directly into my amp, which powers some modest Polk Audio Monitors and Subwoofer. No extra DAC, no super high-end speakers or amp. But the crispness and clarity in the sound (I started playing the same song I had originally played) was phenomenal. I would definitely recommend this app for anyone, even if they have only a modest setup. Granted, my audio card is a great piece of hardware, but Fidelizer really brings out the best in my entire setup.

I've been using JRMC on my Windows PC for about 4 years now, and while I can't speak about Audirvana (not a Mac user), I think its sound quality is very good. Of course, I have a Asus Xonar Essence STX card, which certainly helps, but the customizability of JRiver is beyond reproach.

Why not just WASAPI Event output? Frankly, who needs a virtual ASIO device if your sound card natively supports ASIO? I tell you what, if you want to have the best audio experience (IMO), you need to get Bughead Emperor. That's a fantastic product. Ugly as heck, but sonically awesome!

Many years ago, I had vintage equipment - an awesome Yamaha integrated amp and a pair of original KLH Model 6 speakers (these puppies looked handmade). And the sound was phenomenal. At the time, I primarily bought them for the price, at a store in Brooklyn called Innovative Audio, which sold new equipment in the mid-upper end (NAD, Adcom, Rotel, Naim, etc.), but they also had a good selection of used equipment. When I saw those speakers, and he hooked them up for me to listen, I was sold. And I think I paid $100 for the pair! Many years later (24 or so), I've got probably less audiophile equipment, but am very happy with it - a pair of Polk Monitor 40s and PSW10 subwoofer, powered by my Onkyo AV amp. I still love the sound, and have always liked the sound of Polk Audio speakers.

Great site, thanks for the link!

If you have an ASIO compatible sound card, the drivers that came with it should have ASIO drivers as well. ASIO4ALL is a driver that accepts ASIO output and converts it to Kernel Streaming. This would be used if your sound card doesn't natively support true ASIO.

That did it! I don't know why I couldn't get it to work, but now I've got PCM audio from the SPDIF out on my card, and the subwoofer is working. Thanks for the help!

Thanks for the response Daren, I'll try that. I had it set on PCM on the ASUS Audio Center, but I'll turn off all DSPs in JRiver also and tweak things on the receiver.

So, here's my situation: I recently purchased a powered subwoofer and have it hooked into my A/V Receiver via the subwoofer Pre-out. My audio collection is on my PC, and I use JRiver Media Center 19. However, I've found that I can't get anything from the subwoofer unless I set the DSP output to Dolby Digital. If it's not enabled, even if I set it to output stereo as 2.1, nothing is heard from the subwoofer. At first I thought there was an issue with my receiver, but it outputs to the sub with any other audio, and works fine if I have the audio output from JRiver via HDMI. Any ideas why this is so? Thank you in advance!