With the arrival of the latest firmware update for Bluesound, the Node and Powernode and similar Bluesound devices all support native DSD – great news! (caveat being it must be a current generation model – last several years – very old Nodes do not have the processing power for DSD.)
I’ve confirmed this by playing native DSD files up to DSD256 on my Bluesound(s) – to do this however I have had to use Bluesound’s app. At this point in time, Roon does not recognize that Bluesound supports native DSD and therefore will not send native DSD to Bluesound units (I’ve tried various workaround to no avail).
Does anyone know when we might expect an update from Roon that will recognize Bluesound as a valid endpoint for DSD?
“Now Supports Native DSD” means Bluesound now supports DSD input, which then is almost immediately converted to PCM. Automatic conversion happens internally and tacitly in most consumer electronics that accept DSD input.
As it applies to Roon, this Bluesound DSD support is hardly groundbreaking, since Roon already does its own DSD to PCM conversion — as required for compatibility or desired by the user.
AJ
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mjw
(Here I am with a brain the size of a planet and they ask me to pick up a piece of paper. Call that job satisfaction? I don't.)
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When Bluesound provides Roon with an update. During certification, device capabilities are confirmed, and, therefore, any changes need to be communicated.
However, if this change is dependent on a firmware upgrade, and the update isn’t automatically applied, it would seem reasonable to maintain the status quo.
But, as @WiWavelength says, you can play DSD from Roon and let your server do the heavy lifting by performing the conversion, possibly with greater accuracy.
Now new firmware features MQS Qrono dsd conversion, their own way to do DSD to PCM with timing correction, so Native DSD signal to Bluesound devices at lease give user a choice between in-machine vs Roon conversion.
BLUOS 4.8.21
Release date: March 04, 2025
DSD Playback on Bluesound NODE (N130), NODE X (N131), POWERNODE (N330), POWERNODE EDGE (N230) and PSB Speakers Alpha IQs with MQA QRONO dsd
So do I understand correctly that for now, Roon can’t stream DSD to my Bluesound Node Icon yet, despite the fact that the Node could handle it? I see Roon does the conversion now to PCM…
Well, it depends on what you mean by “handle it”. For the Node, it means that it will accept an incoming DSD stream (over USB, or it’s app’s indexed library) and then immediately convert it to PCM. This PCM is then converted to Audio. The RoonServer has more compute power and is able to do the DSD to PCM conversion, imho, better than the Node, so to me it makes more sense for the RoonServer to handle the conversion.
Nor, does the Node have the ability to pass incoming DSD out as DSD or DoP, as it is immediately converted to PCM.
So, according to their information, it doesn’t look like it can stream DSD as DSD from Roon. You might want to contact BlueOS tech support and ask if they have any intention to update their firmware to allow this.
Here’s some relevant quotes from the BlueOS page on DSD Playback
These models will do the DSD to PCM conversion as they play them
DSD is only supported from files indexed in the Local Library or from USB drives connected to the player directly.
When playing through digital outputs, the converted DSD file will be delivered as a PCM signal. DoP is not supported.