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Are software players really different ?

If all software players play bit accurate audio then why do they sound different. I was intrigued to answer this question as objectively as possible and came up with a test to do this. The results use quite a few charts so I created a site to display my findings.http://www.audioignite.com/

I am interested to hear if others have conducted similar tests.
ravi1stop

Showing 1 response by audioengr

audioengr
3,282 posts
 
There are diferences, even in different revisions of the same player S/W. I use a specific rev of Amarra, not the latest, because it beats all of the others.

I dont really know what is causing the difference in SQ, but I can speculate:

1) offset differences
2) floating point math is wrong
3) delays and queueing as it executes is different

Some of these things may be causing more common-mode noise on the USB or S/PDIF interface. This can increase jitter.

steve N.
Empirical Audio
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