I have noticed that when one examines the signal quality panel of live radio stations, most show that the signal is 24 bits in terms of bit depth. This is so even though I have all DSP functions disabled, specifically upsampling/resampling. It is my understanding that most internet radio station broadcasts are natively 16 bits.
Why do Live Radio stations show up as 24 bits when most are only 16 bit transmissions? Is this an error in the signal quality display function for Live Radio or is there some behind-the-scenes resampling taking place?
Certainly the sound of many stations through Roon’s Live Radio function differs from the sound of the same station through, for example, Lumin’s radio function. Lumin’s radio function displays 16 bits as the bit depth for most internet radio stations which, as I understand it, is the native bit depth of most internet radio transmissions. I’m not saying that Roon’s signal is better or worse in sound quality, but it’s hard to deny that the sound quality differs between the Roon and Lumin versions of the same station even when I’m reasonably sure both are playing the same stream from the station.
I find no way to change the bit depth of Roon Live Radio signals from 24 bit to 16 bit. I would like the option to listen to Live Radio signals in their native bit depth which, as I said, to my understanding is usually 16 bits. Could a function be added to allow overriding the resampling of internet radio stations from16 bit to 24 bit?
Thanks for your consideration and response.