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Author Topic: DSD MCh Files will not downmix to stereo  (Read 462 times)

jacobacci

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DSD MCh Files will not downmix to stereo
« on: March 28, 2020, 10:58:43 am »

I am happily streaming stereo files from SACD ISOs as DoP to my USB DAC. DSD Bitstream is turned on in Tools/Options/Audio. Trying to do the same with MCh files in the ISO fails. I have set the number of channels to 2 in DSP Studio.
Multichannel PCM files are happily downmixed to stereo and then passed on the DAC.
Am I missing something here, or is this a bug?
Thanks for any help.
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Awesome Donkey

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Re: DSD MCh Files will not downmix to stereo
« Reply #1 on: March 28, 2020, 11:14:09 am »

Bitstreaming bypasses DSP Studio with, as far as I know, no way to do multichannel DSD to stereo DSD without doing a conversion (which is always going to be a lossy conversion).

So, the only workarounds I can think of right this moment are;

1) Avoid trying to play multichannel DSD files and stick with stereo. Probably the easiest, most straightforward solution.

2) Turn off bitstreaming and let MC do a on-the-fly DSD to PCM conversion with DSP Studio > Output Format > Channels set to 2 Channels (stereo), which is a lossy conversion, of course.

3) Turn off bitstreaming and use DSP Studio > Output Format > Channels set to 2 Channels (stereo) and DSP Studio > Output Format > Output Encoding set to whatever DSD setting you desire. This is also a lossy conversion step with a PCM conversion in the middle (so DSD > PCM > DSD).

You can probably create a new zone (with bitstreaming disabled on it) and use the ZoneSwitch feature with a rule for DSD files with channels greater than 2 to perform the second or third options automatically.
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jacobacci

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Re: DSD MCh Files will not downmix to stereo
« Reply #2 on: March 29, 2020, 06:22:11 am »

Thanks, o awesome one.

makes absolute sense. Stupid me, didn't think that a channel mapping involves DSP and a mandatory conversion to PCM.
 
Luckily I have 2 channel versions of the files.
 :)
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