Thanks for that reply. So I am not sure what the default "Player" zone is, but I added a PCM zone for playback of WAV, AIFF, FLAC and MP3 and set audio output option to go to my Rega XMOS device as WASAPI (still unclear about why I should choose WASAPI over ASIO if both options are available in the dropdown menu as well as kernel streaming and direct sound, what virtues one has and how to know which is most appropriate). Then I added a DSD zone and set it to output to the OPPO device, also WASAPI.
What about Exclusive Access in WASAPI? Is this going to create conflicts that will have me fumbling around to try to get my music files to play, e.g. if Windows 10 is trying to output system sounds or sounds from open webpages on my browser while I am wanting to just listen to music? I am fine if all other sound sources on my PC are muted when I'm playing music on MC, but it seems Windows has a habit of trying to commandeer my computer use in conformity with what Windows likes (e.g. switching default settings after an OS update).
So should I set the DSP studio output to stereo in both zones since I am using a stereo setup, not surround (Rega DAC is stereo only, OPPO has multi-channel capacity but I use only the stereo outs)?
Could you tell me how to create a rule that automatically routes playback of DSD files (do I need to specify a list of file formats) to the DSD zone, while routing playback of all other files (95% of my library at this stage since most of my DSD music is on SACD which I play on the OPPO).
I suppose I will be using MC to handle playback of video files stored on my hard drive but I need to get the audio part configured first, since that is what I bought this program for: to listen to music that is stored on my PC.