In another thread Im learning how to make bitperfect (or as close as possible) backups of my CD collection. Im also considering making a lossless copy on my HD using FLAC or WMAL and Ive read that you cant do lossless (bit perfect) playback because everything is upsampled through kmixer to 48khz instead of 44.1

Is there anyway to do say PCM over SPDIF and bypass kmixer? What about ASIO?

Thanks in advance.

Software resampling using SSRC during playback will solve this problem. It's available in most (good) players.

That's the case with some soundacrds, often Creative Labs one (the SB Live, or the Audigy one), or onboard AC97 chipsets. The kmixer doesn't resample, but it messes with the last significant bit of the audio (in Windows XP only).

There are two solutions :

Play audio through Kernel streaming, or Asio. You need a player with Kernel Streaming or Asio support (like Foobar2000), and a soundcard that also supports kernel streaming or Asio.

Use a pro or semi pro soundcard that can run without WDM support. I've heard that RME soundcards can do this. The Marian Marc 2 can do this too (it comes with both WDM and MME drivers and has both coaxial and optical SPDIF output). The advantage is that you don't need your software player to support Kernel streaming or Asio.

Good software resampling can avoid crappy hardware or software resampling, but the result is not bit perfect, since it is resampled.

Resampling isn't bit-perfect as it's a lossy process (unless you properly resample to frequency twice as high as original, say 48KHz to 96KHz).

Edit: Pio was faster

I have 3 sound cards sitting on my desk (4 if you count the onboard sound).

M-Audio 7.1
M-Audio 24/96
Turtlebeach Montego (newest card I own because it supports DDL, though I havent really used DDL as much as I thought since I rarely game on the HTPC).

Off hand will any of these cards work or do I have to shell out for something nicer?

The M-Audio ones with Envy24 chip should do nicely with Kernel Streaming and/or ASIO support.

M-Audio 24/96 which is Envy24 chip does work OK with Foobar's kernel streaming. When I researched this card I learned that this is bit perfect. I cannot tell to be honest.

Triza

Ive learned that all 3 of my cards support kernal streaming, but the Turtlebeach card doesnt support ASIO. Is one better than the other or is kernel streaming just fine?

If you're not gaming on the machine very much, I would go with either of the MAudio cards. Which one would depend on what your setup is -- I would use the 24/96 if connecting the sound card to a receiver via digital, or the 7.1 if using analog.

As for kernel streaming vs ASIO, it's kind of a toss up. ASIO is even more bare metal direct-to-hardware than KS is, and has lower latency. But low latency means small buffers, which means the process has to be run at very high priority. ASIO also has more frequent odd issues, though the Envy chip should support it pretty much perfectly. I personally feel that KS is good enough; it's certainly easier to use. And with either of your MAudio cards it will result in perfect untouched audio.

..and if you do do gaming you could always use 2 soundcards...one for gaming, one for music I use my Soundstorm for gaming and Chaintech AV710 for bit perfect out (since soundstorm resamples in hardware to 48khz).