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Topic: M-Audio Transit (Read 9666 times) previous topic - next topic
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M-Audio Transit

Hey all,

    I just purchased an M-Audio Transit USB soundcard with 24bit/96kHz and ASIO 2 and was wondering if anyone had some suggested settings for the optimal sound quality (Output format, dithering, DSP, etc.). Currently I use:
  • 24bit fixed-point
  • No dither
  • Volume Control -> Resampler (48000) -> Advanced Limiter
  • ASIO Output
  • 2in, 2out, 24bit, 8000 Hz to 48000 Hz operating mode with Low latency
Thanks for your help. 

M-Audio Transit

Reply #1 –
What's the resampler for?
AFAIK this card doesn't do hardware resampling.
And is there any specific reason for using ASIO?
"To understand me, you'll have to swallow a world." Or maybe your words.

M-Audio Transit

Reply #2 –
Quote
What's the resampler for?
AFAIK this card doesn't do hardware resampling.
And is there any specific reason for using ASIO?

I don't really know why I have the resampler on... mostly just testing to see if i played back more smoothly i guess. If it's unnecessary I will disable it. I am using ASIO because I was under the impression it is a better output method if you have a card that supports it. I don't know, I'm probably wrong. Which settings would you suggest?

Thanks for the help.

M-Audio Transit

Reply #3 –
Just remove resampler from DSP chain and use Direct Sound 2 output plugin.

M-Audio Transit

Reply #4 –
Actually,
  The guys over at Head-Fi.com "think" (parts of audiophillia are purely placebo, but if it sounds better to you, weather proven otherwise or not, it still sounds better to you right?) that KS and ASIO are better then direct sound or waveout. So, in a sence, for "better sounding" choose KS or ASIO.

M-Audio Transit

Reply #5 –
Quote
Actually,
  The guys over at Head-Fi.com "think" (parts of audiophillia are purely placebo, but if it sounds better to you, weather proven otherwise or not, it still sounds better to you right?) that KS and ASIO are better then direct sound or waveout. So, in a sence, for "better sounding" choose KS or ASIO.

Just don't listen to guys on head-fi.com. If they think and "feel" that asio or KS sounds better than DS output just ask him to do some abx tests and post results here. At this moment most HA members just don't care about their claims....

M-Audio Transit

Reply #6 –
Ah, well. I stuck with your settings, WILU. Playback seems to be better with DS. ASIO was causing cracks and popping if i had the latency below "high." I changed the card's operating modes to "0 in, 2 out, 24-bit, 88200 Hz to 96000 Hz" with "Very Low" latency and things seem to be going well. Would you recommend using 24bit fixed point or 24bit fixed-point padded to 32bit (i've read other forums where people use this, though i don't know how helpful it would be to me)? Sorry, i'm new to all these different output options, but I appreciate the feedback.

M-Audio Transit

Reply #7 –
I agree with WILU.

I have the M-Audio Audiophile 2496, which is comparable to your card (except of course it's PCI instead of USB).

I use 24-bit fixed-point, no dither, directsound 2.0 and only the advanced limiter DSP.

Some people recommend using 24-bit padded to 32-bit, since this would be more efficient for the CPU. However, I have my doubts about the usefulness of this mode. I don't think it will make any noticeable difference, and foobar2000 itself actually discourages the use of these settings (you get a warning when you select this mode)! Look at my post here, where I questioned the use of padded modes. Unfortunately, nobody replied to my inquiries.
Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind.

M-Audio Transit

Reply #8 –
I hope you don't set your playback properties to 96000hz - it's totally overkill and useless, since all your files are (?) cd rips with sample rate 44100hz.
About "24bit fixed point padded to 32bit" setting: AFAIK when this setting is enabled data is sent  at full speed (32bit) during playback so you may experience lower system resources usage. Don't know if it is capable to usb devices. Maybe someone else here could give you more detailed information.

M-Audio Transit

Reply #9 –
Quote
I hope you don't set your playback properties to 96000hz - it's totally overkill and useless, since all your files are (?) cd rips with sample rate 44100hz.

No, I certainly didn't do that . I think it just means it's capable of playing back at that high -- I didn't change any properties (resampler or otherwise) to up playback to 96000. Well, playback seems to work fine at 24bit padded to 32, but I can't tell if it's actually working or making a difference, but oh well. Again, thanks for the input.

M-Audio Transit

Reply #10 –
I have a Transit as well and tried it with foo_output_asio(dll). It did'nt work very well except when using very high latency.

KS doen't work on my system (Toshiba A30 laptop) so I use Direct Sound (V2) with Foobar and 24 bits output (padded to 32 just in case) and on the soundcard : 24 bits  8 to 48kHz and medium latency.

It sounds OK but with scratches sometimes that could be due to the card being plugged on a USB hub

Any advice to avoid these scratches is welcome !
 

M-Audio Transit

Reply #11 –
I believe that the 2496 drivers pad/dither to 32-bit internally before sending to the card, as it'll only let me use 16 or 32-bit on KS output (I think). So it's probably worth padding to 32-bit in foobar.

M-Audio Transit

Reply #12 –
Ok, so far i've achieved the best results with these settings. They may differ according to your computer specs, so keep that in mind.

foobar playback settings:
  • Replaygain: disabled
  • Output data format: 24bit fixed-point padded to 32bit
  • Dither: disabled
  • DSP Control: Volume Control -> Advanced Limiter
  • Output: DirectSound v2.0 -> Device: M-Audio Transit USB, No hardware mixing, buffer length: 1000ms, fade length: 50ms
m-audio transit usb device settings:
  • Operating Mode: 0in, 2out, 24-bit, 88200 Hz to 96000 Hz
  • Latency: Very Low
Playback seems to go smoothly without any cracks or pops and while minimized foobar only uses about 3 - 4 MB of RAM and 0 CPU. The operating mode I have might be overkill(?), but everything seems to be ok.

M-Audio Transit

Reply #13 –
Why You use hardware oversampling 88.1 kHz to 96kHz? I mean, You are listening 44.1 kHz files mostly. I think, M-Audio is self-setting sample rate, depending of foobar's playlist. (I have Audiophile 2496)

M-Audio Transit

Reply #14 –
Some people do perceive a difference when upsampling even mp3s to 96000 or above.  Of course, you would have to have a very good setup to achieve that.  But just head over to head-fi and there are many people there that would share their experiences with upsampling.  As for me, I do it just in case.  Doesnt hurt does it? lol

M-Audio Transit

Reply #15 –
Quote
Some people do perceive a difference when upsampling even mp3s to 96000 or above.  Of course, you would have to have a very good setup to achieve that.  But just head over to head-fi and there are many people there that would share their experiences with upsampling.  As for me, I do it just in case.  Doesnt hurt does it? lol

So do you mean that resampling may improve sound quality?
If yes, then you should read FAQ first very carefully -> "What resampler settings should I use?".

M-Audio Transit

Reply #16 –
I am not claiming that it improves sound quality.  I am just reiterating what more than just a few people over at Head-Fi have noticed when upsampling.  They did in fact notice an improvement over 44100.  I don't understand why it would seem so weird to think that upsampling could make an improvement as many audiophile components upsample as well.  I haven't done tests but many others have noticed (may not have tested) improvements and to me it is no loss to upsample so why not.  Thats all I'm saying.  And yes perhaps for certain sound cards it doesnt do any good to resample but for others it does, and the Transit being a 24/96 card should be able to take advantage of it.

M-Audio Transit

Reply #17 –
Head-Fi = Placebo Heaven.
Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind.

M-Audio Transit

Reply #18 –
As long as it sounds good...I'm sure most dont care whether it really is placebo or not.

M-Audio Transit

Reply #19 –
Upsampling is like encoding; it definitely does not make music sound better. If you think you can hear an improvement, that's right: you're only THINKING it.

M-Audio Transit

Reply #20 –
I just recieved my Transit today, I have been mucking with settings, but I am still getting clipping.  What else can I change to effect this?

I am running this off my 700mhz laptop.

Scott

M-Audio Transit

Reply #21 –
Quote
I just recieved my Transit today, I have been mucking with settings, but I am still getting clipping.  What else can I change to effect this?

I am running this off my 700mhz laptop.

Scott

Put advanced limiter at the end of the DSP chain. Replaygain your files, enable "use peak info to scale down tracks that still clip after applying replaygain".

M-Audio Transit

Reply #22 –
Quote
I just recieved my Transit today, I have been mucking with settings, but I am still getting clipping.  What else can I change to effect this?

I am running this off my 700mhz laptop.

Scott

You , mean you are getting clipping from your soundcard output, or a clipping warning in the FB2K console? They are not the same thing.

Clipping in the FB2K console refers to clipping before the signal is passed on to the soundcard and not after. To avoid this either use one of he limiters, or set up replaygain corectly.  Using replaygain will most likely as a side effect get rid of clipping.

To test your actual xoundcard for clipping use Udial.wav. Read this thread for some more information on that.

Judging by the card you own, it is most likely though that the clipping you mean is the one that happens before the signal is passed on to the card.

M-Audio Transit

Reply #23 –
Quote
You , mean you are getting clipping from your soundcard output, or a clipping warning in the FB2K console? They are not the same thing.

Clipping in the FB2K console refers to clipping before the signal is passed on to the soundcard and not after. To avoid this either use one of he limiters, or set up replaygain corectly.  Using replaygain will most likely as a side effect get rid of clipping.

To test your actual xoundcard for clipping use Udial.wav. Read this thread for some more information on that.

Judging by the card you own, it is most likely though that the clipping you mean is the one that happens before the signal is passed on to the card.

Could very well be, solution I found was to resample to 96000 and the noise and crackling (maybe using the term clipping wasn't quite right here).  Now it sounds great, now if I could get foobar2000 to go to work for me it would be perfect! 

Scott

M-Audio Transit

Reply #24 –
Did you try the settings I posted about halfway through the thread? Those are what I've found to be the best, but I don't know if the difference in our processor speeds will have an affect on this.