Hey @jussi_laako, since the Hi-Fi world is full of FUD, and people hearing “improvements” when they’re looking for them, I wanted to know what’s your stance on the “DSD Direct” mode some AKM chips have, I made my research online but this topic is not very clear, and you’re probably the most knowledgeable person I’ve seen here.
Since my current DAC is an AK4462, I’m having FOMO when looking at the Topping E30 II, which is far more affordable than the RME ADI, costing $150 but offering two AK4493S in parallel, I looked at the design diagram which shows the second path when the DSDD bit is 1, is this “DSD Direct” mode similar to how NOS operate or not? In your experience is this a worthy improvement when upsampling to DSD256?
I also see conflicting info regarding upsampling to DSD512, as some say it’s pointless as all the noise is already removed, what do you think?
I’m using DSD because I prefer how it sounds compared to PCM upsampling, even to 768K, which in theory is more precise than DSD256, but I’m open to trying again if you think DSD is not worth it altogether.
I’ve shared measurements in this thread - including some DACs that may not be so Direct , at least questionable
RME ADI-2 FS DAC v1 and v2 (“B” marking) are excellent and available at decent prices now on used market.
I can confirm Audalytic AH90 works well with built-in NAA and is cheaper than even used RME’s (where I am anyway). You just need to update the firmware manually.
If any doubt about AKM DSD Direct, iFi DSD1793 based DACs are true DSD Direct converters and Holo Cyan2 also good value for discrete model
Things get much more expensive with Holo Spring3 and May T+A DAC200 etc - measurable objective performance maybe ? doesn’t scale linearly with price increase
I have two E30’s, silver and black. The silver one works as it should, while the black has SINAD of about 60 dB. So YMMV. But in the E30 (not II), DSD Direct works in “DAC mode” (no volume) as expected.
If possible, I’d be very careful to go to with something verified working correctly. Or you could consider a discrete device, like Holo Cyan 2.
It depends, in many cases DSD256 gives best performance balance. But in some cases one could weight towards DSD512. And for example with the AHM7EC8B modulator, even DSD1024 can be worthwhile (and it is not even heavy to process).
Well, it is not… In particular when you involve real world DACs.
Hey, thanks for the suggestions, I didn’t know about the AH90 so I’ll look it up, but unfortunately, the other ones aren’t feasible for me, the used Hi-Fi gear market where I live is basically zero, so I can’t get any used RME, Holo or T+A… Importing almost doubles their price.
I looked through iFi’s products, but didn’t like them, they use very outdated chips with SINADs from 20 years ago, so my current DAC is better than theirs.
I saw online RME is having a sale for those in the US and Mexico. Not sure why Canada is not included that is $500 off a number of their DACs. I’m pretty content with my older RME ADI FS with its single AKM chip setup, but was almost tempted by the newer Black Edition version with its newer dual AKM chip set-up…not sure its worth the upgrade even with the discount. Not sure I could tell them apart blindly…or put the money towards the Cyan 2 but really need/occasionally use the headphone amp on my RME. But good deal for those looking at RME dac to use with hqplayer, but would have to get the black edition to get the AKM chips for direct dsd since the other RME dacs now use ESS chips.
Hey, thanks for the heads-up, that’s admittedly very weird and shouldn’t happen, two DACs with the same chip should perform the same, if they didn’t, then Topping probably made a serious mistake when assembling the analogue output, or the PCB of your white one. Unless the English guy who convinced himself the color of covers change the sound of CDs is right and black DACs just sound better
I’m currently satisfied with my DAC, so I wanted to know if you think DSD Direct makes a difference discernible enough to get a new one, as I’m not sure if I’m going through the typical case of audiophile’s upgrade-itis and FOMO, or if I stumbled upon something that would actually improve my listening.
Yes, QA/QC costs money, and saving on such things makes it easier to keep the prices low…
Although the “same chip” doesn’t mean much though. DAC performance depends on so much more than just the DAC chip. Such as design of the clock, analog and PSU circuitry. And of course design of the PCB layout. Plus of course choice of each and every component, including things like choice of capacitors for the analog stage.
But in this case, both are same make and model, not just same chip.
That’s one of the problems here. This means that the measurements are with something like RedBook content, without any external upsampling.
And ASR’s SINAD figures tell very very little about the whole picture.
Point of HQPlayer is to replace the DSP inside DAC with better external one. That can be like 50% of the DAC performance.
It depends on what DAC you are changing from to what you are changing to. And also on your overall system and your ears. Hence, nobody else can give you an exhaustive answer
Jussi is right about sinad and actual listening. I have had the ifi neo that Jussi praises and currently the ifi pro idsd. Dsd with hqplayer sounds great with these units
That’s interesting, I’d like to see measurements of this, thus far I’ve always seen very bad performance from iFi’s Burr Brown chips, but it’s true that they’re always measured without external upsampling (Which is fair, given 99% of people don’t do that)
If you have any way of doing a measurement, or know anyone that could, hit me up.
Quite a lot for example here, and elsewhere. Many of the most recent ones here. I don’t think such belong to my web site though, so no such things there.
, what is your current DAC ?