Moved the gaming PC out of the listening room and replaced it with a Mac Mini M4. Dead silent now!
Now, I have a Fiio K13 R2R coming that only does a max of 384Khz/DSD256.
I will only be able to get DSD128 out of it through since its a Mac Mini and requires DoP.
Do you think it’s worth getting a NAA like Raspberry Pi to connect to the FiiO K13 R2R DAC?
That way I could bypass DoP and play DSD256 instead of the DSD128 directly from the Mac Mini.
Realistically, is there a quality difference between DSD128 and 256 when using same modulators and filters?
The K13 R2R has a 1-BIT Direct mode to bypass the PCM, running it DoP will be fine in this mode? From what I understand it will be fine and will still bypass once the signal reaches the DAC as intended.
Realistically no, the differences between DSD128 and higher DSD rates are purely theoretical and inaudible. The real question is whether you already have DSD256 tracks, which would require re-modulating to DSD128. If you don’t, and if it’s only about converting from PCM to DSD during playback, it shouldn’t matter.
Yes, if the DAC supports DoP and displays DSD when playing, it will be fine.
I don’t quite understand. I have a Mac mini m4 and have it connected to a DACMagic 200M directly via USB and I’m getting DSD256 using DoP. I also have a CB CXN100 in another room and I get DSD512 over the network. So what am I missing?
DoP max rate is exclusive to the max PCM rate of the DAC. The K13 R2R max rate is 384khz, which translates to only DSD128 for DoP. a 768khz capable DAC can do DSD256 over DoP, so on and so forth.
YES. I think NAA should always be used. I feel incorporating NAA through a low powered device is a must and it is the best way to connect anything to hqplayer.
I think YES for this one too. If you’re going down the DSD rabbit hole and have a dac and an hqplayer machine that can process DSD256, start there.
