diff --git a/src/CubicSDRDefs.h b/src/CubicSDRDefs.h
index 4829712..729d09f 100644
--- a/src/CubicSDRDefs.h
+++ b/src/CubicSDRDefs.h
@@ -3,6 +3,22 @@
 #define CUBICSDR_VERSION "v0.01a"
 #define CUBICSDR_TITLE "CubicSDR " CUBICSDR_VERSION " by Charles J. Cliffe (@ccliffe)"
 
+#ifndef __BYTE_ORDER
+    #ifdef _WIN32
+        #define ATTRIBUTE
+        #define __LITTLE_ENDIAN 1234
+        #define __BIG_ENDIAN    4321
+        #define __PDP_ENDIAN    3412
+        #define __BYTE_ORDER __LITTLE_ENDIAN
+    #else
+        #ifdef __APPLE__
+            #include <machine/endian.h>
+        #else
+            #include <endian.h>
+        #endif
+    #endif
+#endif
+
 const char filePathSeparator =
 #ifdef _WIN32
                             '\\';
diff --git a/src/sdr/SDRPostThread.cpp b/src/sdr/SDRPostThread.cpp
index 2b3b76a..1fa8896 100644
--- a/src/sdr/SDRPostThread.cpp
+++ b/src/sdr/SDRPostThread.cpp
@@ -7,6 +7,20 @@
 
 SDRPostThread::SDRPostThread() :
         iqDataOutQueue(NULL), iqDataInQueue(NULL), iqVisualQueue(NULL), terminated(false), dcFilter(NULL), num_vis_samples(16384) {
+
+    // create a lookup table
+    for (unsigned int i = 0; i <= 0xffff; i++) {
+        liquid_float_complex tmp;
+# if (__BYTE_ORDER == __LITTLE_ENDIAN)
+        tmp.real = (float(i & 0xff) - 127.4f) * (1.0f/128.0f);
+        tmp.imag = (float(i >> 8) - 127.4f) * (1.0f/128.0f);
+        _lut.push_back(tmp);
+#else // BIG_ENDIAN
+        tmp.real = (float(i >> 8) - 127.4f) * (1.0f/128.0f);
+        tmp.imag = (float(i & 0xff) - 127.4f) * (1.0f/128.0f);
+        _lut.push_back(tmp);
+#endif
+    }
 }
 
 SDRPostThread::~SDRPostThread() {
@@ -82,8 +96,7 @@ void SDRPostThread::threadMain() {
             }
 
             for (int i = 0, iMax = dataSize; i < iMax; i++) {
-                fpData[i].real = (float) data_in->data[i * 2] / 127.0;
-                fpData[i].imag = (float) data_in->data[i * 2 + 1] / 127.0;
+                fpData[i] = _lut[*((uint16_t*)&data_in->data[2*i])];
             }
 
             iirfilt_crcf_execute_block(dcFilter, &fpData[0], dataSize, &dataOut[0]);
diff --git a/src/sdr/SDRPostThread.h b/src/sdr/SDRPostThread.h
index c76aecf..142c04b 100644
--- a/src/sdr/SDRPostThread.h
+++ b/src/sdr/SDRPostThread.h
@@ -32,4 +32,7 @@ protected:
     std::atomic<bool> terminated;
     iirfilt_crcf dcFilter;
     int num_vis_samples;
+
+private:
+    std::vector<liquid_float_complex> _lut;
 };
diff --git a/src/sdr/SDRThread.cpp b/src/sdr/SDRThread.cpp
index 0d47918..82838e5 100644
--- a/src/sdr/SDRThread.cpp
+++ b/src/sdr/SDRThread.cpp
@@ -255,9 +255,7 @@ void SDRThread::threadMain() {
             dataOut->data.resize(n_read);
         }
 
-        for (int i = 0; i < n_read; i++) {
-            dataOut->data[i] = buf[i] - 127;
-        }
+        memcpy(&dataOut->data[0], buf, n_read);
 
         double time_slice = (double) n_read / (double) sampleRate;
         seconds += time_slice;
diff --git a/src/sdr/SDRThread.h b/src/sdr/SDRThread.h
index 032178f..f6bd976 100644
--- a/src/sdr/SDRThread.h
+++ b/src/sdr/SDRThread.h
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ class SDRThreadIQData: public ReferenceCounter {
 public:
     long long frequency;
     long long sampleRate;
-    std::vector<signed char> data;
+    std::vector<unsigned char> data;
 
     SDRThreadIQData() :
             frequency(0), sampleRate(DEFAULT_SAMPLE_RATE) {