I’m trying to troubleshoot a strange issue I’m having.
I have ROCK running on a NUC8i3. The NUC is connected via USB to two devices. One of them is an Anthem STR integrated amp (with an integrated DAC). The ROCK correctly detects it as an audio device. But, when I play DSD files to the Anthem they play about 15% faster than they should. Like there’s some kind of clock issue. Diana Krall sounds like she’s singing with Alvin and the Chipmunks.
Flac files play fine. It’s just an issue with DSD.
The second device connected to the ROCK (via USB) is a Denafrips DAC. All files, including DSD play perfectly on the Denafrips DAC.
As a test, I connected the Anthem’s USB input to my Windows 10 PC and using Foobar I was able to play DSD files just fine - so there’s nothing wrong with the Anthem amp.
I’ve rebooted everything and tried different USB cables. But the ROCK still plays the DSD files too fast to the Anthem.
Also, the Anthem is set to play DSD natively (Anthem doesn’t support DoP).
I happen to have an iFi USB iPurifier2 laying around. Inserting that in the USB connection does nothing to help.
Interestingly, if I change in Roon to have the Anthem convert everything to PCM the issue goes away. Then if I change the setting from PCM back to Native DSD the problem stays away. However, if I power cycle the Anthem, then it returns to playing DSD too fast.
I’ve done some more troubleshooting. I think it definitely is an issue with the way Roon is communicating with the Anthem USB input.
I setup a Raspberry Pi 4 with the latest Ropieee. With Ropieee set to output via USB I connected it to the Anthem and I get the exact same results as with the ROCK. DSD files play too fast. Again, the Anthem works fine with the USB input connected to my Windows 10 PC & Foobar.
The Anthem amp is connected to my home network and is supposed to auto-update - but I’ll double check that.
As far as DoP - I think this should work. However, when I change Roon’s play mode to DoP I just hear static. That’s another indication that the Roon isn’t able to talk to the Anthem correctly when it comes to DSD files.
Most probably, your Anthem has 2 different clocks, 1 for 44,1kHz multiples and 1 for 48kHz.
When playing DSD the Anthem seems to be using the 48kHz clock iso of the 44,1kHz clock.
Either Roon is not passing on the right command for the Anthem to switch clock, but I doubt that since your Denafrips plays DSD ok.
i fear that there is a possible error in your Anthems firmware.
Please note also that in documentation, Anthem nowhere specifies support for Linux (Rock). This can explain why it is working under Windows and not with Rock
Dirk
P.S. have been through same set of problems with other equipment.
I have sold the Dac with that problem, and also got hold of new (non-official) firmware for Linux support for my current Dac.
Yeah, I agree. I knew that there could be a possible issue between the Anthem and Roon when I purchased the Anthem (which overall I am VERY satisfied with).
I tried DoP again today. Yesterday I couldn’t get it to work, but today DoP is working. At least for now. Go figure.
DoP would be an acceptable work-around (if it continues to work).
I just learned that the Anthem’s firmware auto-update wasn’t working. Therefore I was not at the latest version. I got this fixed and installed Anthem’s latest firmware. Unfortunately it didn’t help the situation.
But I discovered that the reason DoP initially failed was that after I make the change from “native” to DoP" I also need to clear the queue and reload the DSF files. I wasn’t doing that before and that’s why all I heard was static. So DoP should be reliable as an alternative.
Thank you for your assistance.
P.S.
It would be nice if eventually Roon was able to communicate with the Anthem better. This amp was given an “A” rating by Stereophile Magazine and I imagine there will be more Roon users out there with this amp.
We do not have this specific DAC in-house, so we won’t be able to comment on how Native DSD vs DoP is expected to work but glad to hear that DoP is currently working as expected. If you have any other issues, feel free to reach out again, thanks!