Advice on music server

[KazmanN]

I'm new to these forums and I've been very very impressed with the amount of information and knowledge here.

 

So heres my situation. I'm a pc gamer and an audiophile. I have my computer hooked up to my Arcam avr600 receiver via hdmi for both audio and video. Is it possible to have bit perfect audio transfer with this method? My motherboard does have a toslink connection which I haven't really experiemented with yet. For now i would really like to get my current setup optimized for both games and music.

 

To give you an overview of what my sound manager is set to in windows 7 64bit, I have the following features set:

 

-All enhancements are turned off

-Device has full priority

-Bit/Sample are set to 24/44.1khz

 

I am using a trial version of JRMC 16 set to "direct sound" output.

 

I can have my computer setup so it has both hdmi and toslink connected simultaneously for audio for whatever reason. This is assuming that toslink will be the better option for bit perfect transfer. It would just be a matter of switching device priority in the sound manager whenever I'm playing music or games. I know toslink only supports 2ch (well atleast on my motherboard it does).

 

I am however planning on getting a dedicated dac in the near future. So far I'm considering the Ayre QB-9. I have a dealer near me that carries these and although I have never demoed it, I have heard their transports, amps, and pre-amps in the past. Very impressive stuff.

 

Much appreciated guys. If you need anymore info from me regarding my setup let me know. Thanks

 

[stuarth]

OK, your PC has both HDMI and TOSLINK outputs. HDMI doesn't seem well regarded for high quality 2-channel audio, so best keep that for your gaming? TOSLINK is also more prone to jitter than a coaxial SPDIF output, so not that great an option either.

 

Sounds to me like the QB-9 DAC you plan to buy will be the best solution, it has a well regarded USB interface.

 

Chris' CAPS 2.0 articles elsewhere on this forum can help with getting the best out of JRMC and Windows 7 (e.g. using WASAPI rather than DirectSound)

 

Hope that helps.