Funky_Junk
Limp Gawd
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- Oct 1, 2005
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- 353
I was just wondering what exactly Bit-perfect is and whether I would see any actual increase in sound quality if I implemented it.
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Bit-Perfect
- Thread starter Funky_Junk
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you should hear a nice increase in sound quality. some times it is a bit hard to do. however, www.headfi.com has a lot information regarding bit perfect and how to implement it.
Pinipig523
[H]ard|Gawd
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- Dec 1, 2004
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When you go to headfi, just be careful. They suckered me into spending over $1500 on headphones and amps... good thing I got out and got my money back! Phew! 
Basically bit-perfect playback is when a sound card is able to playback audio without changing any aspect of the audio at all.
For example, an Audigy, Audigy 2, and X-Fi all have a SRC (sample rate converter) which takes 44.1khz audio and converts it to 48khz. Since 44.1 divided by 48 is not a perfect ratio and yields an irrational number, it's impossible to get an exact answer by converting 44.1 to 48.
So creative "rounds" the answer as best as it can, although it can never be perfect. This causes the converted audio to sound "different" than the native audio. The audigy 1 had a horrible SRC and degraded 44.1khz audio (basically all music) to the point where it made baby Jesus cry. The audigy 2 had an improved SRC, but still overall pretty low quality, many software SRC were better. The X-Fi has a much improved SRC (better than any software SRC and you can turn off the SRC altogether using audio creation mode and digital out), where even I (not that I have good audio equipment or a hearing expert) can't disgusting between the SRC on or off on certain files.
So will you see a difference? Well first we need to know what sound card you have. I'll assume the X-Fi for right now. Next, do you use the digital out? If not, it doesn't matter since bit-perfect playback only works with the digital out. Third, do you have decent speakers? If you have like the Logitech Z-640's, you probably won't notice a difference. Lastly, what audio files do you have? Using poorly encoded mp3's will also probably not yield a big difference. There are many variables with audio quality, having bit-perfect playback is just only one of them. With audio, you are only as good as your weakest link.
For example, an Audigy, Audigy 2, and X-Fi all have a SRC (sample rate converter) which takes 44.1khz audio and converts it to 48khz. Since 44.1 divided by 48 is not a perfect ratio and yields an irrational number, it's impossible to get an exact answer by converting 44.1 to 48.
So creative "rounds" the answer as best as it can, although it can never be perfect. This causes the converted audio to sound "different" than the native audio. The audigy 1 had a horrible SRC and degraded 44.1khz audio (basically all music) to the point where it made baby Jesus cry. The audigy 2 had an improved SRC, but still overall pretty low quality, many software SRC were better. The X-Fi has a much improved SRC (better than any software SRC and you can turn off the SRC altogether using audio creation mode and digital out), where even I (not that I have good audio equipment or a hearing expert) can't disgusting between the SRC on or off on certain files.
So will you see a difference? Well first we need to know what sound card you have. I'll assume the X-Fi for right now. Next, do you use the digital out? If not, it doesn't matter since bit-perfect playback only works with the digital out. Third, do you have decent speakers? If you have like the Logitech Z-640's, you probably won't notice a difference. Lastly, what audio files do you have? Using poorly encoded mp3's will also probably not yield a big difference. There are many variables with audio quality, having bit-perfect playback is just only one of them. With audio, you are only as good as your weakest link.
You wouldn't.
But it would take many transistors to support both 44.1khz and 48khz playback simultaneously (and still support DirectSound3D/OpenAL with EAX in hardware). It was "cheaper" for creative just to use a SRC. That's why only in a certain mode can the X-Fi bypass the SRC, it simply doesn't have the power to support everything at once.
But it would take many transistors to support both 44.1khz and 48khz playback simultaneously (and still support DirectSound3D/OpenAL with EAX in hardware). It was "cheaper" for creative just to use a SRC. That's why only in a certain mode can the X-Fi bypass the SRC, it simply doesn't have the power to support everything at once.