Why USB to SPDIF and not optical?

"If there is no additional software other than the native drivers, I would suspect that the upconversion still happens. Do you concur? Does your converter get 44.1 out of iTunes?"

No, not with Vista and my converter. It changes 16/44.1 into 24/44.1, so Vista is bit-perfect.

With XP, there is something changed if you dont use Kernel Streaming, but it is not necessarily 44.1 to 48. I believe there is volume adjustment DSP, just like Vista does with 16-bit data.

I dont recommend using iTunes on any PC with any device, even WiFi. Use Mac with iTunes.

Have you tried Jriver?

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

I just installed J River Media Center 13 last night and am still getting 48 MHz output on XP. I installed ASIO4ALL and upconversion still happens. I still need to do some experimenting to be sure I have everything set up correctly. Do you get 16/44.1 out of J River? If I read your comment correctly Vista converts 16/44.1 to 24/44.1, so I would not call that bit-perfect. Is your software adding the bits or is Vista? The purist in me would still like to get the original 16/44.1 out to my DAC without the any changes happening in the PC. I sometimes feel like I am losing the battle with this. Might try foobar next, but I am not sure I can live with the interface. Thanks for your help.

Hey dtc.

"The purist in me would still like to get the original 16/44.1 out to my DAC without the any changes happening in the PC."

Why do you prefer 16/44.1 over the higher resolutions? I am under the impression that 16 bits is better than 24 and 48kHz is better that 44.1 and 96 is better than 48, etc...
Am I missing something?

Hey Steve.

Why is Kernel Streaming better than ASIO for KMixer avoidance?

Mmarvin19 - I would rather have my DAC (Musical Fidelity) do the upscaling rather than some unknown software buried in the PC. So I am looking for a simple USB to optical or coax converter that will bypass the XP upscaling. The 44.1 to 48 upscaling may not have much effect on the final sound, but I would still prefer to be able to control it. I would think you would also prefer 44.1 for files ripped from CD for your NOS DAC. Part of the idea of a NOS DAC is to not do any upscaling. Can you tell if your Behringer is putting out 44.1? I assume with ASIO it probably is. I have tried a couple of devices today with J River Media Center and ASIO4ALL but they do not work with ASIO4ALL. So I am still looking for new options. I am very happy with what I am currently getting, but want to see if I can get it to another level.