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[Sky King]

My current setup is a Windows 10 HTPC feeding an iFi Pro iDSD DAC via a USB 3.0 port on the PC.  The audio output device is the iFi (AMR) HQ USB (ASIO) driver.

Whenever I try to play a DSD file regardless of the data rate up through DSD 512, MC says that it can't play the file and recommends a 176khz (PCM I guess) resolution via the DSP Studio function and the files play fine.  The NativeDSD website's database indicates that both my iFi Pro iDSD and MC are capable of playing DSD natively but I can't figure out how to set it up correctly.  As far as I can tell I am not setting the program to do any conversion to DoP.  Also, in the DSP Studio, setting data rates greater than 768khz to 768khz the DSD512 files play okay save the fact that they are converted to PCM.

Any idea where I am going wrong as I am unable to play DSD natively with the setup I am trying?  Maybe playback of native DSD isn't possible?

Thank you.

[Awesome Donkey]

JRiver Media Center supports both native DSD and DoP for devices that supports either one or both. However for native DSD playback you'll have to use ASIO so check and see if a driver is available from the DAC manufacturer, as WASAPI only works with DoP. Since your DAC has a max PCM sample rate of 768 kHz, DoP support for your DAC will max out at DSD256.

I know it doesn't apply here but it's also worth noting that on macOS only DoP is available with CoreAudio as there is no native DSD output capability there. On Linux it'll depend on if the Linux kernel itself supports native DSD output for your DAC via ALSA.

[Sky King]

Hi Awesome D and thanks for the reply.  I am indeed using the manufacturer provided ASIO (as mentioned needed for native DSD playback) driver for Windows 10 as mentioned in my original post.

Sample rates for this DAC are:
PCM up to 768kHz
DSD up to 49.152MHz (DSD 1024)
DXD and double-speed DXD (2xDXD)

In DSP Studio, I can force the output encoding to 1xDSD, 2xDSD, 4xDSD or 8xDSD encoding and the display on the iDSD shows the correct frequency in Mhz (2.8, 5.6, 11 and 22) but the sound is garbage if I select 4xDSD or 8xDSD.

Would Whitebear's renderer analyzer be able to tell me anything?

Thanks,

Joe

[Awesome Donkey]

I wouldn't recommend using the DSP Studio > Output Format > Output Encoding settings. Instead disable the Output Encoding setting (set it to None) then enable DSD bitstreaming and make sure under device settings for the ASIO output in MC's settings that DSD bitstream in DoP format is not checked. Your DSD512 content should play correctly then.

If you're trying to convert PCM to DSD512, especially on-the-fly, it's probably a good idea to do the conversion before trying to play it. DSD conversions are some of the most resource intensive operations Media Center can do, so I imagine trying to do a DSD512 conversion on-the-fly would require a beefy system.

[Sky King]

Thanks much for the quick responses!  I will try your suggestions later this evening or when my insomnia kicks in.

[Sky King]

I wouldn't recommend using the DSP Studio > Output Format > Output Encoding settings. Instead disable the Output Encoding setting (set it to None) then enable DSD bitstreaming and make sure under device settings for the ASIO output in MC's settings that DSD bitstream in DoP format is not checked. Your DSD512 content should play correctly then.

Enabling DSD bitstreaming did the trick!  Thank you sir!