Features
What bitwerk does today and what you get out of it. Questions about a feature for your venue or studio? Talk to us.
Playback
Section titled “Playback”Bit-perfect all the way to the DAC
Section titled “Bit-perfect all the way to the DAC”bitwerk never processes your files on the way. The server delivers the original file byte for byte, the player decodes it and hands the samples straight to the DAC, with no system mixer and no hidden resampling. The DAC is set to each track’s own rate, and only when the rate changes, so an album in 96 kHz plays through without clicks.
Every room shows whether it plays bit-perfect: next to “96 kHz / 24-bit” is the green badge “Bit-Perfect”, or the amber “DSP” as soon as anything is computed.
When the badge says DSP
Section titled “When the badge says DSP”Tap the amber badge: it lists every reason, what the player does and how to avoid it. DSP is not a fault: each step runs in 64 bit with dither and is sonically uncritical. It only means the samples at the DAC are no longer the ones in the file.
| Reason | What happens | To stay bit-perfect |
|---|---|---|
| Volume below 100 % | The player lowers the level digitally. | Leave the volume at 100 % and turn down at the amplifier, or use the DAC’s own volume (below). |
| Muted | The player silences the signal. | Unmute. |
| ReplayGain | The player evens out loudness between tracks. | Set ReplayGain to “Off” in the player settings. |
| Resampling 192 → 96 kHz | The DAC’s profile lacks the file’s rate, so the player converts it. | Add the rate to the player’s supported rates if the DAC clocks it. |
| Bit depth 32 → 24-bit | The file is wider than the DAC’s maximum bit depth. | Raise the maximum bit depth if the DAC accepts wider words. |
| Float → 24-bit | Floating-point files are always converted. | Play an integer version (e.g. 24-bit FLAC). |
| DSD → PCM | DSD output is “None”. | Set DSD output to “DoP” or “Native DSD” if the DAC supports it. |
| Lossy source | The file itself is lossy (MP3, AAC, Spotify). | Play a lossless version. |
| Indirect output | The player does not write to the DAC directly. | Choose the DAC itself as the player’s output. |
| Mono, L−R, Dim, Trim | The monitor controller changes the signal. | Switch the function off. |
| A/B loudness match | The A/B comparison levels both sides. | End the comparison when you are done. |
| Room sync | The room follows its group’s leader by repeating or dropping a single sample now and then. | Let this room lead the group, or play it alone. |
| PEQ | Room correction filters the signal. | Deactivate the profile under Settings → Studio. |
Formats
Section titled “Formats”| Source | Support |
|---|---|
| FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF | up to 384 kHz, 16/24/32 bit, including 32-bit float |
| DSD (DSF) | DSD64 to DSD512: native, as DoP (DSD over PCM) or converted to PCM |
| MP3, AAC, Ogg Vorbis, Opus | yes, gapless |
| Cue images | an album in one file with a cue sheet appears as individual tracks |
If a DAC cannot play a rate, the player converts it with high quality and says so honestly: “DSP”. For DSD without a DSD-capable DAC there is a conversion to PCM.
Gapless
Section titled “Gapless”Live albums and DJ mixes run from track to track without a pause: the player prepares the next track in time and keeps the music flowing.
Volume and ReplayGain
Section titled “Volume and ReplayGain”- Volume per room: digital (64 bit with dither), in the DAC’s own volume control (stays bit-perfect), or fixed for a line out to a preamp.
- The DAC’s own volume: many DACs have a volume control in their chip. With the volume mode “DAC hardware mixer” the player sends the samples unaltered and the DAC sets the level. Most HATs of the PCM512x family and many USB DACs offer it; the DAC compatibility list says which.
- ReplayGain 2.0 per player: off, track or album. If tags are missing, the server measures loudness itself (EBU R128). Clipping protection prevents overload.
Library
Section titled “Library”- Upload folder: copy files over the network, upload them in the browser, or plug in a USB drive. The server waits until a copy is finished, reads the tags and sorts each file into Artist / Album.
- Large libraries: the library becomes browsable first, and the loudness analysis follows in the background. USB drives and archives are indexed in place and never written to.
- Cover art: embedded images or the cover file in the album folder, and online cover art if you allow it.
- Search: fast, typo-tolerant and accent-insensitive: “pnik floyd” finds Pink Floyd, “bjork” finds Björk. Even with 100,000 tracks a search takes tens of milliseconds. Filters for hi-res, format and years.
- Albums and artists: a grid of all albums with cover, year and the best quality of each album, sorted by artist, album or recently added. One click plays the album or queues it.
- Playlists and favorites: create playlists, sort them by drag & drop, mark favorites with the heart.
- Quality check: the scan flags lossy files, low bitrates, fake hi-res and clipping.
- Cue sheets are split sample-accurately into tracks; the file stays unchanged.
More: Managing music.
Multi-room
Section titled “Multi-room”Every room has its own queue with the current track, Up next and History. Everything survives a restart, and every change appears at once on all devices: the web UI on a phone, the touch display in the room, the Stream Deck on the desk. Up next can be reordered, and a queue saved as a playlist.
Synchronous rooms
Section titled “Synchronous rooms”Group rooms and they play the same music at the same moment. Play, pause, skip, seek, shuffle, repeat and the queue act on the whole group; volume, monitor controller and room correction stay per room.
- In sync to a fraction of a millisecond: all players share the server’s clock and start together; afterwards each room follows the first room of the group, the leader, so even DAC clocks that drift apart stay together.
- Honest about bit-perfect: the leader stays bit-perfect. The other rooms follow its clock by repeating or dropping a single sample now and then, and their badge says so (“Room sync”).
- Room delay: active speakers with a DSP, or a listener far from the speakers, hear the sound later. Enter that delay for the room, and it plays that much earlier.
- Gapless track changes stay gapless in every room.
How many rooms one server feeds: Capacity.
Crossfade
Section titled “Crossfade”For a shop, a bar or an event, where a pause between two tracks sounds like a fault, a room can fade each track into the next, up to 12 seconds. It is off by default. Consecutive tracks of one album stay gapless, so a live album or a symphony is never faded. While two tracks overlap, the badge says “Crossfade”. In a room group every room fades together.
Sleep timer
Section titled “Sleep timer”A room can stop by itself: after a number of minutes, at the end of the current track or at the end of the queue. The minute timer fades out over the last seconds and puts the volume back for next time.
Touch display
Section titled “Touch display”A Raspberry Pi with a touchscreen runs the native bitwerk interface: large cover, title, artist, format badge, Bit-Perfect or DSP with the signal path behind it, progress, volume and Up next; Queue, Albums, Radio and Search with a Spotify fallback; synced lyrics in full screen with “About this song”; linking rooms from the display; and a far view with a large cover and title. It starts by itself when the player boots. Control → Touch display.
Display only: in a bar, a shop or a waiting area, an admin can switch a display to only show what plays. It ignores every touch, and nobody can change the music there.
Song requests: an admin sets a room to “request”: guests signed in with a listener account ask for a track (with a short note), and an admin or the room’s touch display accepts it into Up next or declines it. Each guest has a limit of open requests, and unanswered ones expire. The buttons in the web UI and on the touch display arrive in the next releases.
Smart Studio
Section titled “Smart Studio”For everyone who works with studio monitors or mixes:
| Function | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Monitor controller | Mono check, L−R (side signal), Dim (−20 dB), sub mute, trim, output selection |
| A/B comparison | Your mix against a reference, switched at the same position, with automatic loudness matching |
| Room correction (PEQ) | Import a filter export from REW or Equalizer APO; the player filters in 64 bit |
| Stream Deck & OSC | Keys and faders for play/pause, volume, mono, Dim, A/B … |
| Triggers | Signed webhooks and MQTT on play, pause, stop and track change, e.g. for a recording light or Home Assistant |
Security
Section titled “Security”- Login for the web UI, with passkeys over HTTPS, and API tokens for scripts and Stream Deck.
- Pairing: every player gets its own key. Players on your network pair by themselves; with Extended security each new player waits for your approval.
- Signed stream links: guests on the Wi-Fi can neither control the system nor grab music.
- Accounts: besides admins, a Listener account plays music in any room but changes no settings, for guests or a shared tablet.
Spotify
Section titled “Spotify”Link a Spotify account to start Spotify in a room from the web UI, with search, playlists and saved albums. A player can also appear as a Spotify Connect device for private listening. Spotify is lossy, so its badge never says “Bit-Perfect”.
AI song and artist texts
Section titled “AI song and artist texts”Off until an admin switches AI on and picks a provider: Google Gemini, Claude, OpenAI, another compatible service with your own key, or a local model. “Ask AI” in About this song and on the artist page then writes a short text from sources bitwerk already holds (Wikipedia, MusicBrainz and the song’s connections). The text is labelled as AI, cites its sources and names the model. No audio and nothing from Spotify goes to a model, and bitwerk never generates music, voices or images (AI and artists).
Internet radio
Section titled “Internet radio”The Radio tab plays internet radio in any room:
- Lossless picks: a curated list of stations that stream FLAC, from 16/44.1 up to 24/192.
- Search the community directory radio-browser.info by name, genre and country, optionally lossless only.
- Favorites and your own stream URLs, saved on the server and available as presets on the Stream Deck.
- Honest badge: “FLAC 24/96” can reach the DAC bit-perfect; MP3 and AAC never get “Bit-Perfect”.
- Robust: if a stream drops, the player reconnects or switches to the station’s backup stream.
Playing radio in bars, shops or at events usually needs a performance licence (for example GEMA/GVL in Germany, PPL PRS in the UK). An admin can keep the licence number and its end date in the server settings. Not legal advice.
Coming next
Section titled “Coming next”Next releases: a mobile app for iOS and Android; Qobuz and TIDAL in hi-res through UPnP control apps; automatic updates with approval and patch notes; quality badges in the web UI; BPM and key per track; listening statistics; crossfeed, loudness compensation and FIR room correction.
Later: multichannel routing with inputs (turntable, microphone, TV); amplifier control and speaker protection; events with scenes, cue lists, jingles and announcements; guided room measurement; demo and comparison mode for dealers; the bitwerk Control console; AirPlay 2; artist and album info, ratings and reviews; lighting in sync with the music; a vinyl and CD collection.
Something on this list matters for your business? Tell us: customer needs set the order.