· I am experiencing distortion when trying to stream 24 bit 176.4kHz and 192kHz content from Tidal. I am using a Roon Nucleus One with a Cardas Clear USB cable to Pro USB module on my MSB Technology Premier DAC with Digital Director. The display on the MSB states 23 bit. I have no such distortion when using my Oppo Digital 203 as a Roon Endpoint connected to the Toslink input in the MSB Digital Director.
Hey @tikkenator, welcome to the community, and thanks for the detailed writeup.
High-resolution playback over USB should not be distorting, so the MSB showing 23 bit is something we want to look at closely. A couple of things would help us narrow this down:
What is the output set to in Roon for that USB zone, especially any DSP, volume leveling, or headroom management?
Is the Nucleus One connected directly to the MSB Pro USB module, or is there any switch, hub, or other USB device in between?
Does the distortion happen on every 24 bit 176.4 kHz and 192 kHz track, or only certain albums from Tidal?
If you can, also let us know whether the distortion is present in the Signal Path in Roon, or only on the DAC side display, since that will tell us whether we are looking at Roon processing or a USB handoff issue. If there is any network gear involved between the Nucleus and your router, a quick note on that setup would help too.
Reply with those details and we can take the next step from there.
As far as I can tell, there is no DSP, volume leveling or headroom management set. The Nucleus One is connect directly to the MSB Pro USB module. Yes, the distortion happens on every 24 bit 176.4 and 192 kHz track that I have tried from Tidal. The I look at the Signal Path in Roon, it appear to be bit perfect. It shows up on the DAC side display.
Hello @tikkenator
Thank you for the update.
Would you kindly share the screenshot of the signal path and the timestamp when the next distortion happens?
The distortion is constant. It sounds like overload (similar to how a phono cartridge with too high of an output would overload a phonostage). I will take a screen shot of the signal path later today when I am home. Thanks!
