the back story- when selecting our home entertainment gear, I decided we would be happy with an audio request piece. In terms of its analog output we are very happy with it. It integrates extremely well into our crestron system. I also figured since it has a digital output, I could plug it into my Meridian digital theater and get the best of both worlds. I ripped any music I really cared about as FLAC and the other stuff that the family likes and kids music, etc at 192kps MP3. I figured the slight difference in sound when played through the Meridian would be acceptable for the convienence of not having to get up to switch music and to make playlists.

At first I thought the digital output of the request sounded fine going into the Meridian. But as time wore on, I thought something wasnt quite right, but I wasnt sure of what. I started looking at the display on the 861 and low and behold it reads 48khz as the source- not the 44.1 it should be. Checking on the digital speakers, it reads 96khz- as it is upsampled.

I decided to compare a few albums I had near by- the first was Abacab- on the title track when played through the request from a FLAC file, the resulting sound with Trifield is strange- the drums are pulled into the surround field. When the original CD is played into the Meridian the resulting sound is much better and the drums stay up front. I went through the whole Abacab album and found that sonic cues like the drum beat were changed in the request version.

As Ive been reading through the archives here I stumbled upon some discussion about many sound cards need to resample to 48khz.

It seems to me that is what's going on here. And I am not happy about it. My theory is that in the process of resampling, these audible cues that Trifield uses to create its effect get shifted and therefore cause trifleld to produce a different sound.

Am I correct in this?

I spoke with Request about this- and they say they are aware of it and are working on a firmware update to allow the card to output 44.1khz- but I wonder if this is just a cosmetic change. I think I am not their typical customer- that most people get this kind of thing for multi room ease of use- which was my primary reason.

But Ive been spoiled by the ease of use in my digital theater.

If so, I am thinking about building a music server of my own.

My objectives/ requirements are as follows:

1- get bit for bit data into the Meridian. I realize the resulting sound might not be at the level of the 800- but most of my listening is classic rock so for this purpose its OK.

2- the computer will be in another room so I need a good remote control solution that can be programmed into my crestron.

3- since the computer will be in another room, I need to have a nice interface, and it would be helpful if it could be output on composite video since all the projector inputs are taken. I could always add a switcher but thats more complication.

I have a few spare computers on hand so I can go with either PC or mac. Im more of a mac user right now, but I have no aversion to using a PC for this purpose.

Any thoughts and input are welcome. Thanks!

Best regards,
Jerry
Main System: 861v6, DSP8000s in corners, DSP7000s Center and Sides, 1-9 humans.