24bit ASIO with SB Live?

LfmC

Is it possible to make the kx driver work in 24bit with SB live cards?
Will we have to wait for an update from kx or is it just impossible?
I'm sorry for the silly question but I really don't know much about hardware so I was wondering can it be done @ all.
And what about higher sample rates (96Hz)?

Max M.

>I was wondering can it be done @ all.

in short: No.

>And what about higher sample rates (96Hz)?

not on SBLive...

Daniel Drummond

Ok, but wouldn't it be possible to "fake" it? I mean, something like this: a filter (or something like that) divides a channel input into two separate channels and each one of this is sampled with 16bit quality (simultaneously). Than, this information is put together to make 24bit or 32bit recordings... Something like that...

Max M.

Yes, this is how it is done (in kx) with Audigy models now (in pre/alpha mode) - but that won't work with emu10k1 due to some glue in hardware when each sample gets masked by its neighbourhoods (e.g. kind of "resampling") - so such method will produce "pseudo 24bit" sound (which has nothing to do with original and even objectively worse then current 16bit one)... i think we will keep to investigate this problem but... also (and maybe this is more important then above reason) what a sense to play 24 bits to 16bit DAC (as well as record 24 bits from 16bit ADC)?

Daniel Drummond

Yes, makes no sense... But it's fun anyway! hehe Well, at least for us who are not into programming... Or maybe the real fun is in programming such weird stuff and see it work.. hehe

Mata Hari

The sense in it, might be recording software synths at 32 bits... As one of the big things I use kX for, is to be a virtual audio cable... Being able to do this in 24/32 bits, would get "scientificly" better music... (although, maybe not playable by the live, mastering from 24/32 bits samples, is always better then from 16 bits)

Only better increase ofcource would be a higher sampling rate, wich brings me to a thing I have just come up with...
the internal dsp is 48.000kHz, but the input and output can be sampled higher and lower...
is a signal splittable in frames, to have 2 sampleblocks be processed the same time? (so, having 16 bits 96 input, splits the signals in 2 blocks of 48000, then, when going out to recording, turn it back to 1 of 96)

the use of this all is pure and alone, for internal asio recording, I know this... but it IS a good way to produce the highest possible internal recordings of software synths possible (for programs, not capable of recording/exporting themselfs)

The use? probably close to 0.... but such a thing would go above and beyond the "accaptable" uses of the live... (32 bits, 96 khz, on a emu10k1... with the tram memory copy, it should be possible)

Daniel Drummond

Mata Hari, I guess that was what I was trying to say. Let's see what this crazy folks will do about it...

Eugene Gavrilov

unfortunately, there will be no support for >16\48 recording -- live's spdif inputs are truncated by design
however, it might be [theoretically] possible to implement 24\96 playback for all the 10kx cards provided the 'splitted' 24/96 signal is merged again -- but one will need an external device for that

that is, a special 'merger' connected to the digital outputs of the card...

however, I doubt this is interesting, simply because all the functionality of the 10kx chip will be disabled -- no realtime effects, no volume / pan control, no multichannel etc.etc.

so, probably, the only thing I promise to implement is 24/48 playback -- as soon as we discover the 'magic bit' (ac-3 bypass) for 10k1 -- (might be of limited use due to the limitations of the digital outputs of the card...)

/Eugene

Max M.

yep, although it would not be to hard to make pan/vol for "24/96 splits"...
BUT... an "external merger"?! guys, you must be crazy... :)