Bandwidth and file formats- clarification needed please!!

[bec143]

This issue came up in my thread in the audiophile section about dropouts I'm having, but I still need a little clarification.

I'm using a Mac and a Airport Extreme Network, and having bad dropout problems (that do not occur with internet radio). I want to make sure that I've got everything setup to play lossless files in a way that requires the least bandwidth. I have been using either AIFF or Apple Lossless, and my understanding is that the Slimserver automatically convertsthese to FLAC before sending the music to the SB2. So my two questions are:

1. It seems as if there are multiple decoding options inthe server setttigs for AIFF and Apple Lossless. Should I uncheck everything but FLAC- does this make a diffeence.

2. Is there a difference in the bandwidth required for AIFF versus Apple? Is it better for me to rip the files in FLAC myself?

Thanks,

Bruce

[radish]

1. It seems as if there are multiple decoding options inthe server setttigs for AIFF and Apple Lossless. Should I uncheck everything but FLAC- does this make a diffeence.

No, because the device will favour FLAC. If that's enabled it will use it, only looking at other options if FLAC is disabled.

2. Is there a difference in the bandwidth required for AIFF versus Apple? Is it better for me to rip the files in FLAC myself?

I believe AIFF is uncompressed PCM, so the disk space requirements are certainly higher. However, the server will still transcode both to FLAC so it shouldn't make any difference from a bandwidth point of view.

[slimpy]

I believe AIFF is uncompressed PCM, so the disk space requirements are certainly higher. However, the server will still transcode both to FLAC so it shouldn't make any difference from a bandwidth point of view.

I'm not so sure about that. Looking at the specs and the server settings ( AIFF --> AIFF (built in) ) it seems the squeezebox handles AIFF on its own and the server streams AIFF 'as is' (=uncompressed). This roughly doubles the used bandwidth compared to compressed lossless formats like FLAC et al.

s.

[kdf]

Quoting slimpy <slimpy.1vbb7z (AT) no-mx (DOT) forums.slimdevices.com>:


> I'm not so sure about that. Looking at the specs and the server
> settings ( AIFF --> AIFF (built in) ) it seems the squeezebox handles
> AIFF on its own and the server streams AIFF 'as is' (=uncompressed).
> This roughly doubles the used bandwidth compared to compressed lossless
> formats like FLAC et al.

check the log with d_source debugging checked and you can see for yourself which
format is being used. SB2 should request FLAC first and the server will send
that if there is an enabled way to do so.

-kdf