Asset or Bubble to Transcode to WAV?

Posted by: sjt on 19 November 2018

I have Asset UPnP server, and bubble to do the proxying. It seems both can transcode to WAV, so any thoughts on which one is better to do the transcoding? I am controlling a 272 with Linn Kazoo.

I dont know if it makes any difference, but at the moment Asset and Bubble are both on the NAS, but I am going to try moving bubble to a raspberry pi because a) I read on here that it might sound better and b) its a bit of fun to play with the raspberry pi.

Thanks for any advice

Posted on: 19 November 2018 by Simon-in-Suffolk

Transcoding is transcoding... it doesn’t matter what software you use.. as the codecs you are transcoding are lossless the transcoding is totally deterministic.

Posted on: 19 November 2018 by Guinnless

I have Asset set to transcode so I can use the Naim app should I wish do so. However I normally now use Bubble for both Tidal and local streaming so I could probably turn Asset's transcoding off and let the RasPi do the transcoding.

I don't think it affects SQ either way though.

Posted on: 20 November 2018 by Rich 1

It shouldn't make any difference, but, as you have both why not compare and let us know your thoughts afterwards! Rich

Posted on: 20 November 2018 by Guinnless

Rich 1 posted:
It shouldn't make any difference, but, as you have both why not compare and let us know your thoughts afterwards! Rich

If Bubble already receives a WAV file from asset then Bubble (I don't know if it can detect the MIME type) should either just pass it through unprocessed or re-transcode it to exactly the same file; I suspect the latter. Either way the ND5XS will just see a WAV file.
I did have a very brief test of a couple of tracks though and nothing jumped out.

Bubble is definitely better than using the Naim App, especially for Tidal. And as a bonus you can set the track list view and it won't get its knickers in a twist unlike the Naim app.