Quick check and Question on trascoding flac to WAV

[PSAS]

Hi,
I realise this is not a support request as such just but I have just setup up transcoding.
Can you tell me if there is any advantage transcoding to say wav32 rather than WAV if I am converting flac files?
Thanks.

[DavidHB]

I think so, and so, I believe, does Simon. There is, on my system, a small but noticeable improvement in sound quality, perhaps associated with a lowering of the noise floor. Not everyone shares this perception and results will vary between systems, so it is best to try different transcoding settings to see which ones work best for you.

David

[simoncn]

This depends on the DAC you are using to play the transcoded audio. Your Naim Muso supports 24-bit WAV but not 32-bit WAV, so you should get the best result on this device by transcoding to wav24. Your Naim Atom and Nova support 32-bit WAV, so it is possible that transcoding to wav32 might sound better on these devices than transcoding to wav24.

As DavidHB has said, the only way to be sure about what sounds best on your system is to try different settings and listen to the results. When doing this, it is often difficult to overcome "expectation bias" where you have a preconceived expectation about what will sound better and your brain subconsciously reinforces that expectation.

[GreenMtnGringo]

I feed my 32-bit Auralic Vega G2 DAC with transcoded wav32 (thanks again for adding this great feature, Simon!).

To my ear, wav32 sounds better than wav24, but I have not performed a double-blind test to see if I can truly tell the difference.

[lyapounov]

(12-07-2022 16:51)GreenMtnGringo Wrote:  I feed my 32-bit Auralic Vega G2 DAC with transcoded wav32 (thanks again for adding this great feature, Simon!).

To my ear, wav32 sounds better than wav24, but I have not performed a double-blind test to see if I can truly tell the difference.

Don't forget that, if you transcode to wav32, long tracks won't play if once transcoded they are bigger than 4G ....

I have this experience: I used to transcode to wav24:192 but this meant that 7 tracks in my library who were about one hour each where not played.