Distortion on high-res audio

[Bento]

Hi,

I've searched the forum and couldn't find anything related to the issue I'm having:

I'm using the latest Raspberry Pi with the Hifiberry Digi+ Pro hat. I send digital audio via UPNP processed by Audirvana on my Mac. My active speakers are the Edifier S2000 Pro with a high quality DAC chip supporting resolutions up to 24-bit 216-kHz (PCM9211 Burr-Brown). However, sound above CD quality always get distorted. It subtle, but it's definitely distorted. Hearing audio files on CD quality works perfectly fine. 

I store my music on an external Hard Drive connected to my router. 

Any ideas on what could be causing this issue?

[CallMeMike]

Hi,

I've searched the forum and couldn't find anything related to the issue I'm having:

I'm using the latest Raspberry Pi with the Hifiberry Digi+ Pro hat. I send digital audio via UPNP processed by Audirvana on my Mac. My active speakers are the Edifier S2000 Pro with a high quality DAC chip supporting resolutions up to 24-bit 216-kHz (PCM9211 Burr-Brown). However, sound above CD quality always get distorted. It subtle, but it's definitely distorted. Hearing audio files on CD quality works perfectly fine. 

I store my music on an external Hard Drive connected to my router. 

Any ideas on what could be causing this issue?

1. (I know it is a pretty slim chance) Have you got another Digi type of HAT or another HAT DAC, amplifier and set of speakers (unless there's an inbuilt DAC bypass on the Edifier speakers)?
2. Have you contacted the Edifier speakers manufacturer?
3. Have you contacted HifiBerry (they may hint something like #1)?
4. Have you tried to use your favourite search engine for looking the answers to your issue/

[TheOldPresbyope]

@Bento

Two other things which come to mind are:

1) have you tried eliminating Audirvana, UPnP, and your network from your equation by using a higher-quality source directly in moOde? Say a track or two on a USB memory stick? Do you still get this subtle distortion? Then tried using higher-quality tracks on your NAS?

2) moOde has a nice Audio info button on its menu. What does it tell you about Input processing and Output stream in your two cases of "CD quality" and "higher than CD quality"? 

Regards,
Kent

[Bento]

Hi Mike

Yes, I have contacted Edifier and HifiBerry. So far, no solutions yet.

Yes, I have tried to Google and Duck the issue, but this is a particular question so it seems. But I don't really understand why I shouldn't be able to rely on the forum as my first port of call. It could be a Moode issue as much as anything else.

Thanks for trying to help though.

[Bento]

Kent, these are good suggestions. I've checked the audio info already and it did indicate that the file was being executed at 24/96. That's exactly when I hear static/noise in the audio reproduction in my system. 

Will do some further tests. Thanks.