HRT Streamer II+ , bit-depth/bit-rate adjustments

[MajorFubar]

I've had my HRT Streamer II+ linked to my Mac Mini for a few months and I've been really happy (I still am).
I've noticed however that it's possible to adjust its bit-depth and bit-rate from 16/44 upto 24/96 via the Mac's ‘Audio MIDI Setup’ tool.
Daft question but what exactly is this for?
For example, if I leave it at 16/44, would ‘hi-res’ audio files be down-sampled to 16/44 before being fed to my amp? Seems obvious that I wouldn't want that to happen.
Conversely, if I change it to 24/96, does that mean it upsamples my 16/44 CDs/ALACs on their way to my amp? I wouldn’t expect to notice much benefit from that as surely what’s gone is gone…

 

[MajorFubar]

An unanswerable question?
Surely not?

 

[Julian_b]

I recently purchased a FiiO E17 DAC and changed my Mac settings to 96k 24 Bit and the sound does improve significantly. I also downloaded some test files for different hi res rates too - you really can hear the difference. I have not gone beyond the shift from the headphone out to the USB yet but the move to the optical digital out could release further improvement from what people say.

Have an experiment and hear what you like - it's a journey of experimentation and what you like.....

 

[MajorFubar]

Thanks Julian!
I shall shift it to 24/96 and see if I notice any difference. From a technical perspect I'm not sure why there would be a difference as I've only got 16/44 CD rips atm.

 

[Julian_b]

You are right that there shouldn't be a difference on the 16/44 rips you already have.

My comment was more that when you experiment with 'hi-res' files that you can download e.g. channelclassic.com, by changing the Mac setting to 24/96 you can really hear the difference.

 

[MajorFubar]

Wouldn't you think it would default to its highest resolution setting to start with...
There must be people out there who buy hi-res DACs, download hi-res music and never at all consider fidding with the software-settings to actually enable hi-res playback.

 

[ESP2009]

Wouldn't you think it would default to its highest resolution setting to start with... There must be people out there who buy hi-res DACs, download hi-res music and never at all consider fidding with the software-settings to actually enable hi-res playback.

I know what you mean; it took me some general 'firkling' on my laptop to discover that the default settings were suitable for the lowest common denominator and that it needed me to change them to higher ratings. An 'auto detect' would be better...surely?

 

[MajorFubar]

Yeah you would think so.