"Bit-perfect" DSD output with gain in Korg AudioGate Options

[tahaa7]

Hi everyone,

Just a quick question: if I set a gain (negative), say -3dB in Korg AudioGate while playing a .dff file, will the output still be "bit-perfect" (or of the same quality, if you will) or will AudioGate degrade the signal quality because of the gain?

The reason I'm asking this is because with the gain set to 0, I get clipping at the output. At first, I assumed this was due to bad mastering and compression, but apparently with the DSD-to-PCM conversion, this may not be the only reason, due to the sheer nature of the DSD recording.

Thanks.

P.S.: I'm using an ASIO driver. AudioGate is set to PCM sampling rate of 192kHz.

This post has been edited by tahaa7: Nov 21 2011, 22:42

[DVDdoug]

I don't know why you're getting clipping... If the PCM is clipped and the DSD is not, the conversion is obviously not bit perfect.

say -3dB in Korg AudioGate while playing a .dff file, will the output still be "bit-perfect"

Well... If you digitally reduce the volume, you are altering the bits... And, something similar happens with an analog volume control, so I wouldn't worry about it...

I'm not DSD expert, but I don't think bit perfect DSD to PCM is possible. (I think if you convert from DSD to PCM and then back to DSD, the new DSD data will be different.)

This post has been edited by DVDdoug: Nov 21 2011, 23:34