I just wondered what other users’ experience of upsampling PCM to DSD using Roon’s DSP was? Good? Bad? Indifferent?
could not be happier with roon DSP for upsampling PCM to DSD – the jump in SQ was quite remarkable.
caveats: i am constrained by my current OS and DAC combination to DSD128. i have not tried this on anything other than roon so i have no comparison with other software.
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It depends on different system and DAC. To me the sound may appear more resolving, more details, more dynamic in the beginning, but after longer listening I realize it’s fake and fatiguing. Actually, sometimes for some songs, there’s a degrade of sound quality. And there are more occasions of noise, click, pop. Eventually I realize upsampling is no good for my system.
I had similar experiences with dsd upsampling. I was really chasing the setup on my new equipment and after I turned off the upsampling everything came together rather nicely. With my setup the upsampling was like a wet blanket over the sound. The filters just didn’t compliment my equipment and room.
I have two DACs in my system. One benefits from DSD upsampling. The other is at best still undecided. It is case by case and personal taste.
I have floated back and forth a few times. I find it’s a bit hit and miss and some material just does not Benet at all quite the opposite in fact. So its back off again for now.
My experience is good. Not quite as good as HQP, but close. The Roon upsampling uses less server resources than HQP , IME.
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I’ve heard anecdotally (I think on another forum?) that some DAC’s perform better (better S/N ratio, etc) if processing DSD rather than processing PCM, or visa-versa depending on the DAC.
Maybe this has something to do with it? Maybe the DAC processing the digital steam is more pertinent in this case, rather than the format itself?
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When using my USB DAC with my Nucleus, I had to upsample all files to DSD64 or 128 or else I’d have gross distortion every time it switched (via Roon Radio) from a 16/44 file to a native DSD file. Even then there was still the occasional gross distortion when switching tracks.
Seems USB DACs and Nucleus/PCs are not automatically compatible. I thought USB was just sending data, but it seems there’s more going on, as I also had other different but still crippling problems using Roon on my laptop to the same DAC. So both Linux/Roon and Windows wouldn’t work properly with Roon and my DAC
Due to exasperation with the Nucleus/USB DAC situation, my future plan is to use only a Roon Ready network streamer. Currently that’s a Google Chromecast. There doesn’t seem to be any reasonably-priced Roon Ready streamers around that’ll send DSD256. It’s a shame the TEAC NT-505 is limited to DSD128 in that regard. Still, Chromecast does a decent enough job in itself.
I just wish there was a reasonably-priced, compact, Roon Ready, DSD256 network player with minimal fripperies, but no one seems to have made one yet…
Regarding the Nucleus, did you check on raspberry pi?
I agree, there is no “perfect solution” for all systems.
In my situation i seem to prefer to not upsample for most of my DACs, but occasionally i like PCM upsampling to 176.4/192Khz or 352.8/384Khz with my Sabre DACs. (Seems to take the “edge” off suboptimal media)
Lumin T2 is DSD512 MQA Spotify Connect Roon Ready at USD4500 MSRP in the US. Whether it is reasonably-priced I’ll let users to decide. I believe its physical size is fairly standard, not especially small though.
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Or change you dac to one thats better supported or at least Roon Tested,
Roon Tested does not guarantee Nucleus / ROCK / Linux streamer native DSD compatibility with a direct USB connection. In particular, a certain popular Roon Tested DSD512 USB DAC does not deliver DSD256 or DSD512 if connected to Nucleus / ROCK / Linux streamer. In such cases usually only DoP will work, which usually implies a limit of DSD128.
That is not to say those DSD512 DAC will not work. They do, just that you’d have to run Windows.
Well if you run a small pc with windows (7/8/10) with Roon Bridge as an endpoint you can still use with Nucleus/+ and have full native DSD512 etc. so all is not lost you just need a bridge that understands ASIO
Yes they have. You can use an Allo USB Bridge or a Raspberry Pi setup. The Allo is essentially an optimized Pi that has ready software you can load.
What’s the DAC?
In my previous dac setup containing dCS Paganini/u-clock it definetly sounded more relaxed and «distortion free» using upsampling to DSD64.
But with my current Luxman it actually loses some rhytm and pace using upsampling so mine is for now left off. Great to have the ability to experience though!