Transcoding flac:wav odd sound

[DavidHB]

(23-12-2013 12:28)Foxman50 Wrote:  Sorry to my point, when i set transcoding = flac:wav i get a very dull sounding playback. Its like all the high frquencies have been stripped away and its lifeless. Changing to flac:wav24 sorts the issue out. There is definitely a slight difference between media server's playback and minimserver's playback when transcoding, even with Minimstreamer set to flac:wav24.

To be honest i wasnt expecting there to be a difference, as i thought one setting just converts flac to wav keeping bit depth and the other does the same but up samples everything to 24bit. I wondered what others have found and what the reasons maybe for the difference in sound quality im getting.

This would be consistent with other reports, that the aural effect of particular types of transcoding will vary from system to system and from player to player. There are a number of threads on this forum that discuss different aspects of this issue. Simon's advice in the MinimStreamer User manual is:

"For best sound quality, it is recommended that you use the output sample bit depth that matches the maximum capabilty of your music player. For example, if your music player is a Linn DS, the best match is wav24. Results may vary with different types of music player."

I don't think that the cause of the variation is fully understood.

David