Thanks for this, it does explain what is going on, I only wish I could disable ATF upsampling, My ears tell me I want bit transparency, not ATF upsampling.
Looking at what @BlackJack posted earlier, I think the digital outputs are bit-transparentā¦ does the amplifier provide you with information about received bit rate?
I think @AndyR has the answer , the signal passes through untouched so should be bit perfect
BUT coax is 24 192 , optical is only 24 96 , Ironically USB is 24 384 (correction actually 192 according to Ref Manual)
So in your set up use coAx , I suspect there may have been a better non CA solution, the Edge streamer matches but is very pricey in your case
A simple USB bridge may have been better
Pretty classy amp though ā¦
I can confirm using digital coax to an external dac still upsamples to 384 . Not sure if there is a solution. The manual says it will pass through not upsampled but this is not what is happening.
Any solution?
Is it possible Roonās information is incorrect and it is bitperfect?
Roon is displaying what the DAC is telling Roon it is doing. It may be that the DAC is reporting back to Roon in error, but, youād have to ask Cambridge for more information.
Maybe we need to be clear what we are expecting hereā¦
Roon is reporting what the CXN is reporting; the CXN is upsampling the feed to its internal DAC - but itās passing a bit-perfect stream to the Edge.
What does the Edge say itās receiving?
Im using the coaxial out on the CXN . According to the manual, that stream will not be upsampled but Roon says that it is.
Do you want the CXN to report what itās sending out the coax, or what itās sending to its internal DAC? Roon canāt know which output of the CXN you are using.
So are you saying that using the digital out is not upsampled like The Cambridge manual says and it is indeed lossless though itās showing enhanced in Roon ? Iām a little confused .
Thatās how Iām interpreting it. What are you feeding the to coax to? Does it have a sample rate display? Do you have another DAC with a display that you could connect to see?
Iām connecting digital out of Cambridge CXN to an external dac like Chord Qutest or Rme adi- dac2
If you can decipher the lights Iām sure the Chord will tell you the sample rate; the RME has a displayā¦
The dacs display 16/44 . So I guess Iām getting lossless even though thatās not what Roon is saying.
Hi @davidh,
Roon is outputting a bit perfect stream, you can see that in signal path.
Roon is reporting āEnhancedā because the Cambridge is upsampling that bit perfect stream.
āEnhancedā does not mean itās a bad thing, but you need to look at the details at each stage of the signal path to understand what is happening to the signal.
As the original poster let me add a few comments (I have also been in dialogue with Cambridge Audio about this).
the CXNv2 does upsample everything to 384KHz sample rate for itās DAC, as someone with many years experience in recording studios and both professional and consumer, I have expressed to Cambridge Audio that I donāt think this is good practise, and that at the very least the upsampling should be a whole integer of the sample rate, so yes, upsample 48Khz or 96Khz PCM to 384k, but 44.1 or 88.2 or even DSD should be upsampled to 352.8KHz. Cambridge Audio told me the Edge NQ streamer does not up sample and offered no promise of user control of this or of any change on the CXNv2
However they have confirmed as others have written, that the SPDIF digital output is bit transparent up to 24bit 96Khz for the optical and 24bit 192Khz for the coax (so I have connected the Coax)
As others have said, Roon is reporting what the DAC is doing (sample rate conversion and upsampling), and therefore will not show bit transparency with the CXNv2 when you are apparantly achieving just thatā¦
The Cambridge Audio Edge A (a truly amazing amplifier by all measures) has no sample rate indication.
So using the SPDIF out of the CXNv2 to the Edge A I have no idea what PCM rate is in play other than an understanding of what it should be.
Thatās the deal, so I just trust my ears, in fact most of the time I use a Chromecast Audio connecting digitally to the Edge A, then Roon reports the bit transparency (to 24b 96K anyhow). To my ears the DSD playback from the CXN to the digital output does not sound very nice.
It is upsampling by an difficult integer, if youāve ever put a 44.1KHz master tape through a sample rate converter (to 48KHz) you will know it is not a good outcome. Stereo image suffers, the high frequencies become (to my ears) sibilant. Up sampling to 384K from 44.1 is similar since 384k is a whole x8 integer from 48K but from 44.1 it is a "difficult " integer of upsampling (xā8.707482993197279ā¬) which cannot be considered transparent. It will introduce quantisation errors.
My Teac NT 505 does upconversion 2x 4x 8x. If I donāt want I just turn it off.
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So using digital out from the CXN to an external dac has been confirmed by Cambridge as bit perfect even though Roon says its enhanced because itās picking up what the CXNās internal dac is doing ?
Ok but thatās an expensive device if youāre only using it as a streamer to another DAC.
Cambridge has a good reputation, from back in the day.
If you use it as a DAC, a stre@ming DAC, how does it sound?
Seems from commentary here it isnāt good at all?
More because itās displaying what the CXN is telling it.