Does 13 offer better sound than 12.3?
#1
Stuck using 12.3 due to issues with music, but just want to make sure I'm not missing out on better sound with 13 (or 14).

Only using the HDMI Linear PCM audio output in my setup (WASAPI).

Have heard J River offers better sound, but don't like their control options with Android. MusicPump (one of the XBMC apps) is just way ahead in terms of slickness and usability. But, music quality is really important and don't want to sacrifice quality--only playing FLAC.

Any noticeable differences? Any advice or suggestions?

Thanks!
Brian
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#2
Always makes me wonder, what amp & speakers people have when they make statements like this. No idea if sound is any better or worse under windows - in any case, most of my audio is passthrough so it's untouched anyway.

Am curious about the gear you are running though.
Learning Linux the hard way !!
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#3
When it comes to music J.River still has a leg up on XBMC due to its support for audiophile features, like sacd, dsd, dff, etc (Note: dsd will soon be supported by XBMC thanks to the upcoming ffmpeg version bump).
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#4
(2014-08-05, 01:14)black_eagle Wrote: Always makes me wonder, what amp & speakers people have when they make statements like this. No idea if sound is any better or worse under windows - in any case, most of my audio is passthrough so it's untouched anyway.

Am curious about the gear you are running though.

Which statement?

For me, nothing in the audiophile crazy arena B&W and Meridian for the main room.

B.

(2014-08-05, 01:35)sialivi Wrote: When it comes to music J.River still has a leg up on XBMC due to its support for audiophile features, like sacd, dsd, dff, etc (Note: dsd will soon be supported by XBMC thanks to the upcoming ffmpeg version bump).

sacd, dsd not important. Just looking to get the most out of what I have...

B.
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#5
This is a highly subjective topic and only you will know which one sounds better for you. Install both and test them out with your favorite album.

On a side note I know a ton of work by talented people has gone into the audio system in XBMC in recent versions so without doing any tests I'd say Gotham would have better sound.
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#6
I've been having issues getting Gotham to work properly and have almost given up--but won't if I know I'm getting something out of it.

B.
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#7
Ive seen your other threads... maybe just add one album to either to test, or play the files in file mode.

Or even better, install xbmc in portable mode (wiki) so you can have both frodo and gotham installed sided by side while you work out your gotham issues, it'll save you the grief of the girlfriend getting cranky. Smile
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#8
The portable mode idea sounds interesting--don't remember if anyone suggested this. So, I install Gotham on an USB stick? Export the music library to a single file from 12.3 and then import to the version on the USB?

B.
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#9
Doesn't have to be a USB stick, it can be on another folder on you HDD. It will save all the user data in the install dir, not %appdata%. I use a batch file to always launch xbmc with the -p argument.
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#10
When I execute the .exe installation file do I need to do something special? (I don't remember XBMC asking where to install?)

B.
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#11
From memory just change the install directory in the installer.
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#12
Did some basic audio listening today between 12.3 and 13.2 and don't hear much (if any) difference in my setup using LPCM HDMI output.
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#13
The audio engine was totally reworked for Gotham and provides for a cleaner audio path, by this I mean XBMC touches audio as little as possible so what you put in is exactly what you get out, this is known as bit perfect playback which is a big deal for audiophiles. For the mere mortals who aren't audiophiles whether you can tell any practical difference will probably depend heavily of the type of equipment you're using for audio.
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#14
Well, I'm currently on 13.2 now. I did not really test with music (only with movie/tv surround). Are you saying that in Frodo the audio was not bit perfect?

B.
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Does 13 offer better sound than 12.3?0