Roon Down Samples 96KHz to 48KHz for BW MM-1 Speakers [48khz is the max sample rate]

I have an iMac with the latest version of the OS and have noticed that Roon will down sample 96KHz files to 48KHz because it says the MM-1 can only handle 48KHz. I’ve checked with Bowers-Wilkins tech support and they say their USB speaker/dac can handle up to 96KHz. The samples are 24 bits, but Roon doesn’t change to 16. So it seems fine with the data width, just not the sample rate. The MM-1 has the latest firmware (last release was at least a year ago).

Can you go into Settings > Audio and click the gears icon next to the speakers and check your General and Playback tabs?

Under Playback, I’m wondering if Max Sample rate was changed to Up to 48kHz, instead of Disabled.

Also, do you have Exclusive Mode checked? Maybe post screenshots of the two tabs.

Cheers, Greg

Exclusive mode was enabled. Max sample rate was disabled. Roon is convinced the MM-1 only supports up to 48KHz.

Screen shots attached.

Interesting. Let’s flag @support for some help.

Cheers, Greg

Sorry, not well versed in who does what and how to get formal support. Do I need to submit a ticket somewhere else or will this magically be logged and no further action on my part is required?

I flagged support by using @support. They will respond soon.

We will just wait.

Cheers, Greg

FYI. I have the same speakers. I just tried a DSD file and it down sampled it all the way to 44kHz. So you are not the only one. I did not have Exclusive Mode checked.

Hi @allenvexler ----- Thank you for the feedback and my apologies for the slow response here.

I have been doing a bit of searching around to try and locate what sample rates can be handled by B&W MM-1 speakers. I have checked the B&W website for the devices specs as well as the user manual and I am not seeing this information listed anywhere. Can you verify where this can be located outside of contacting the B&W support team?

I am asking because I stumbled across this posting on computer audiophile today where the below was mentioned…

Moving forward, can you verify for me what configurations you have tried using when setting up the MM-1’s playback settings in Roon?

-Eric

I ran into the same problem you did i.e. no posted information concerning maximum sample rate or bit depth. I contacted B&W technical support to get an answer. They were the ones who said it could handle 96KHz. That being said, I wouldn’t stake my life on this being true. Regardless of what B&W says, have you been able to verify that the MM-1 actually responds with a 44KHz upper limit when interrogated? If the USB analyzer says 96KHz, then it’s pretty clear where the problem is. If Mr. USB analyzer shows 44KHz, then I can go back and beat up B&W.

I just checked Audio Midi Setup under Utilities in my MAC to see what the max rate was that I could feed to my MM-1. The max rate is 48KHz. I too was under the impression that the DAC in these speakers supported 96KHz but if my MAC will not send 96KHz to them then I have to conclude that 48KHz is the max rate. I am a bit surprised.

“Regardless of what B&W says, have you been able to verify that the MM-1 actually responds with a 44KHz upper limit when interrogated?”

@allenvexler ---- I just checked with our tech team to see if we have a set of these in house to try and confirm this for you and unfortunately at this time we do not. I can put a request in for the gear, but I will be upfront with you, in that there is no telling when we would obtain them.

As @John_Aiello has mentioned, his Midi control on his MAC is reporting that the max sample rate that can be sent to the speakers is 48Khz.

Allen, have you tried taking any measurements on your end? If so, are you noticing the same readings as John?

-Eric

Just checked. 48KHz is what the MIDI player thinks is the upper limit. However, it also only shows 16 bits as the sample size and I know Roon is happy to send 24 bits to the MM-1s. So I’m not sure if the MIDI player just tops out at 48Khz regardless of what’s hooked up or this is really the MM-1 limiting things. I can ping B&W tech support again, but this sounds like one of those things where I’ll just go round in circles. If you get a chance to test on MM-1s sometime in the future, let me know if you find anything. Otherwise I’ll consider this closed for now.

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One final piece of data: I downloaded and installed Audirvana on my Mac to see if it would play at higher bit rates than 48KHz. It had the same “problem” as Roon i.e. thinks the MM-1s can’t go above 48Khz. So, I’m going to assume B&W tech support don’t know what they’re talking about and the MM-1 only supports up to 48KHz.

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