When you say “plays up to DSD128” is this through Roon or the Auralic player app?
Roon (both)
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I checked with the folks at Aurender who were helpful, the below is their reply:
You are correct that the N20 and N30SA allow you to convert DSD to PCM, but this is primarily used for the SPDIF outputs for when a DAC does not support DSD. As USB can deliver Native DSD, you would actually leave transcode DSD to PCM OFF and instead, turn ON Native DSD in the advanced settings menu. If you receive an error message-send a remote support email under Settings/help/send remote support email, and we can assist in enabling Native DSD for the Chord Dave Dac.
It does look like the signal path conversion (DSD to PCM) depends on the DAC capabilities.
Everyone here is doing their best to find out why this combination doesn’t work here. But I don’t see anything coming from ROON support, who have finally tested these devices and attached a RoonReady and Roon tested label to them. So a very simple and direct question to someone, anyone, from ROON:
Roon @Support do not monitor these categories in the forum so they are unlikely to see this thread unless pointed out by a moderator.
As mentioned, Support scans the Support section so would not likely come across this thread. Especially, since this thread was started nearly 18 months ago.
You should go to the Support section and fill out the support form using the “Get Help” button at the top of the page center.
I now have another solution. I put my Shunyata Omega USB cable up for sale and ordered an Omega AES/USB. I put this item up for discussion here because I still think it should be possible. I have handed this over to the right person who will hopefully solve it for all Aurender RoonReady owners. 18 months you said, yeah, right. But since a few weeks ago, some types have been RoonReady. Good luck everyone and oh yes, the N20 sounds fantastic.
Hi @Roony , I got another answer from the Aurender folks, it might shed more light to your question:
"N20 only transcodes over SPDIF when you enable the second feature highlighted above. If you leave the Native DSD in the off position, it will send the DSD content to the DAC via DoP, which is DSD over PCM–and this is NOT the same as Transcoding to PCM. There is no harm in using DSD with DoP or Native DSD as the DSD content stays pure in either transmission. DoP is a great tool for increased compatibility with all sorts of DACs, both new and old.
If you are using USB to listen to a vast DSD collection, you are doing everything right. However, should you stream or play other formats, such as FLAC, WAV or AIFF, it may be worth listening to our AES/Coax outputs as they are stellar on this particular model. For best performance, it is best to have only 1 digital output connected at once, when testing/listening. Enjoy!"
From my understanding the dcs Vivaldi supports DSD via DoP so that might explain why Roon is showing the signal path you shared.
I have no problem playing DSD64 from my Aurender N20 to my Dave. Using optical SPDIF. Dave shows DSD playback, no issues.
Can you please share a snapshot of your signal path in Roon? Curious as I am running Chord Dave and intend to get the N20 as the digital source soon. Got spooked when I read this thread…
By the way- Dave and N20 are a match made in heaven. I have had Auralic Aries G2, Lumin U1 Mini, Sonore Optical Rendu, SOtM sMS-200 ultra with reclocker, and then Grimm MU1.
From all the above, Grimm MU1 was by far the best. And then N20 came. Even though in other sets, the Grimm was the best, with Dave, the N20 was superior. I love it.
I’ve also tried all connections. Go for optical. Everybody calls me stupid, but it just sounds the best and it is what Rob designed the Dave on.
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Thanks… Did you try to see how the USB input into DAV works? I suppose it would switch to native DSD and not DSD-over-PCM.
I think you have everything setup fine, according to what I just read from the dcs Vivaldi DAC manuals, their USB Class 2 output supports DSD64 and DSD128 over PCM (DoP)… So there is nothing wrong in your setup, the Vivaldi simply does not do native DSD and Roon is reading this correctly.
DSD over PCM is just fine, it is not a matter where DSD is transcoded to PCM so you lose nothing at all.
For ‘Internal output’, Aurender supports DSD up to DSD64 via DoP (DSD over PCM). To enable this, the option “DSD to PCM Conversion” should be disabled in the Conductor app under Settings > Advanced.
Thank you for looking into some things for me. But USB is no longer important to me. I sold my very expensive USB cable yesterday and am now using an AES/EBU cable. Case Closed for me.
That is according to the folks at Aurender the better way to connect, apparently the advanced clocks in the N20 to their magic with the optical and AES outputs… I think the USB output always relies on the DAC clock.
I do not use the internal clock of the N20 but an external one, namely the dCS Vivaldi Master Clock. That one is even better.
Do you get album art from Roon on the N20?
I got my Aurender setup just nicely with Roon, I have to admit I was very hesitant to shell out that much for a streamer, but everything sounds better now… I have it working flawlessly with Roon… Also discovered that AES/EBU seems to be the way to go, I was previously hell-bent on using USB as the digital transport (using my older OpticalRendu). But the AES/EBU interface rocks.
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