Beolab 5 & 96khz sources

25 replies
T(
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tom555 (archived2)
Bronze
Posted January 24, 2018 at 05:37 GMT
#2101008

Hello,

I have been playing with my Beolab 5s, High Res audio files and a chromecast Audio.   What I did was connect the Chromecast Audio via a TOSLINK->Coax converter directly to the Lab5s.  The lab5s sound great with 24 bit sources but make small clicking noises if the sample rate is 96khz.   48khz is no problem.  Even 88.2khz is not an issue.  But 96khz at either 24 or 16 bit produces the clicks.   

I know the B&O used to say there they supported 96khz but now the specs say 88.2khz.  There was some speculation on this site that it was accidentally omitted.  My testing seems to indicate that the speaker just cannot handle 96khz inputs.  This is a shame since there is some spectacular Hi-res audio coming out at the higher rates.

Has anyone succesfully run 96khz with clean output?

 

--tom

 

OL
Offline
oli
Bronze
Posted January 24, 2018 at 12:26 GMT
#2101009

I have the same behavior than yours on a BV7-55 (through SPDIF connexion, so using the Beosystem3 DAC). 96kHz files are producing clicking. BTW it seems impossible to find the technical specs of a BS3 regarding this aspect.

B(
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bsantini (archived2)
Bronze
Posted January 24, 2018 at 15:44 GMT
#2101010
I might suspect the Toslink>SPDIF box as well
C(
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cboudier (archived2)
Bronze
Posted January 24, 2018 at 16:26 GMT
#2101011

tom555 wrote:
Has anyone succesfully run 96khz with clean output?

Yes, with exactly the same setup 😂

Did you use a 75 Ohms coaxial cable? (FWIW see this thread here )

And what about the source (file, streaming device) you use?

T(
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tom555 (archived2)
Bronze
Posted January 24, 2018 at 17:29 GMT
#2101012

Barry Santini wrote:
I might suspect the Toslink>SPDIF box as well

I also suspected the TOSLINK->SPDIF converter so I swapped it out for another one.  Same result.  I also swapped cables.  Still clicking. The only two pieces I haven't swapped: the Chromecast Audio and the Beolab5s. 

Oh, and just thought I would add:  I Used Linn Audio reference material.  Looked for clicks in Audacity.  Not there.   Not a source issue.

SE
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seethroughyou
Bronze
Posted January 24, 2018 at 21:26 GMT
#2101013
I couldn’t get high resolution files to play on my BL5.
D(
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davidr (archived2)
Bronze
Posted January 24, 2018 at 21:52 GMT
#2101014

Whilst I don't have a BL5 (yet) is there a particular reason for 96k playback?

Worst case you can bulk convert your 96k files to 48k quickly, I use XACT on my Mac to convert all sorts of formats. http://xact.scottcbrown.org/

Also 96/2=48 so the sample rate reduction is a very simple operation, as well as I sincerely doubt anyone can tell the difference on finished mastered music. So long as the original is lossless like WAV, Flac, ALAC and so on.

Millemis
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Millemis
Bronze
Posted January 24, 2018 at 21:59 GMT
#2101015

davidr wrote:

Whilst I don't have a BL5 (yet) is there a particular reason for 96k playback?

Yes, indeed —- this way the music industry can sell their products (most often once again) at a higher prize ;-(

MM

Location: Flensborg————Danmark

C(
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cboudier (archived2)
Bronze
Posted January 25, 2018 at 17:04 GMT
#2101016
MM "forgot" to say that 24b / 96kHz is also the maximum amount of data that the BL5s can use (so perhaps to produce the most detailed sound)
T(
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tom555 (archived2)
Bronze
Posted January 28, 2018 at 19:41 GMT
#2101017

CB wrote:
MM "forgot" to say that 24b / 96kHz is also the maximum amount of data that the BL5s can use (so perhaps to produce the most detailed sound)

Right.  This!   I am looking to replace my Beosystem 3 with a digital preamp and my understanding is that the Beolab5 digitizes everything to 24/96 when it comes in.  So rather than having a bunch of resampling or A/D D/A going on, I thought it would be best to feed the Lab5s it's native format.  So far, I'm unsuccessful and may end up feeding them 24/48.

 

--tom

 

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