Does roon play native DSD or does it convert it to PCM?

[Ofer_Barr]

I’d be grateful if someone can tell me if roon plays native DSD or does it convert it to PCM? If both are an option then what’s the setting for playing native DSD. Thanks.

[orgel (David Orgel)]

Both are an option, assuming that you have an endpoint/DAC that supports native DSD playback. (DoP is yet another option.) Your setup determines how you configure this, but it would normally be in the Device Setup and/or DSP Engine settings for the zone in question. The following Knowledge Base articles might be helpful:

http://kb.roonlabs.com/Audio_Setup_Basics

http://kb.roonlabs.com/DSP_Engine:_Sample_Rate_Conversion

If you give the particulars of your setup, someone will likely be able to help you with the specific settings needed.

[mitr (Kal Rubinson)]

Can you be more explicit how the use of DSP affects this? Can any (and if so, which) DSP operations remain in DSD and not incur any conversions to PCM?

[orgel (David Orgel)]

SRC of DSD source material can be done without conversion to PCM.

I don’t currently use any of the other DSP features, so I’m not sure about those without some testing.

[mitr (Kal Rubinson)]

Thanks, that’s good. I’ll wait for the other shoe to drop.

[andybob (Andrew Cox)]

Once you’ve configured your Device Settings - Playback as per the Audio Setup Basics link above then on the DSP Engine - Sample Rate Conversion screen you will see a toggle for “Enable Native DSD Processing”. If enabled, this will avoid DSD files being converted to PCM for processing. (Note that this is a different use of the term “Native DSD” than the usage for non-DoP output.)

You can check what DSP operations compatible with the above toggle and what they are doing by clicking on the Signal Path.

[xxx (Banned - toxicity)]

My experience is that your need a lot of horsepower for DSD512, all others are OK. You can also upsample to DSD.