Upsampling on multiple devices


I have WAV files on PC outputting to a Bryston BUC via a USB cable then from the Bryston to an Ayon s3 DAC via an XLR digital cable.  Then from Ayon to preamp using XLR analog cables.

I can set upsampling on the PC itself, outputting 24bit 192khz to the Bryston.  

The Ayon s3 DAC can also upsample.

Should upsampling be set on both the Bryston and the Ayon?

Seems odd, as I would be upsampling the upsampling....

mdomnick

Showing 1 response by erik_squires

No. :) You also can’t.

I mean, there’s an upper limit to what the DAC will accept, so you can’t do 8x and 8x upsampling for instance.

Try both and use the one that sounds best. With older DACs upsampling made a much bigger difference than it does now.

There is a possibility in diffferences in upsampling technology. How exactly they each calculate the intermediate samples varies.

With modern DACs it seems that the biggest difference I hear has to do with the roll off filters and how upsampling affects that frequency response.  With older DACs (10 years or older) upsampling would make a huge difference, and hi rez files were a big improvement over Redbook CD playback