Wi-Fi Limitations and Sample rates...16/44.1

Also routers only route and do not implement algorithms for down sampling data streams so if you are hearing the music play without dropouts, you are most likely getting all the bits delivered that should be.

This is excellent - thank you all, for clearing that up. After reading that, "...most WiFi routers are limited to 16/44.1..." I was concerned that all of my 24/48, 24/96 downloads, not to mention the additional cost, had been in vain.

My music server is just not at the level I want it to be, so before I do any more tweaking/modding, I wanted to cover the basics to make sure I don’t gratuitously stimulate the economy!

with respect to routers, it is all about thru put. Packets. The content of these packets isn't the issue.

it's like loading a truck, on in WY Fi, maybe loading a plane with materials. What the amterials are isn't important. It's their size, and or overall weight, and speed of the plane that matters... With Vista you may need to make some other tweaks to speed up the passage of these 'packets'. Another thread here about that is more well suited to describe the steps needed to do this.

Signal strength as was said is important for securing good speed and avoiding drop outs or intermittent playback over a wireless connection.

Thanks Blindjim. I'm going with the Mapman's take on this matter - If I experience no dropouts and the music being played sounds fine, I will assume that I am hearing the entire sample rate of the file being played (with exception to the limitations of the other electronics - i.e.: SB3 and Duet are limited to 24/48).

2chnlben,

It is possible that software on your PC source could reduce the sample rate even though the router is not an issue.

For example, I have read (unconfirmed) that some older (pre Vista) versions of Windows may reduce sample rates implicitly in some cases. I believe this is possible though I do not recall specifics.

To avoid these kinds of problems, stick with newer computer platforms that are well suited for multimedia type apps, like Windows Vista or newer similar server versions of the OS (yes Vista gets a bum rap in corporate corners but it is essential to problem free playback off of PCs, I believe) or Apple.