I am new to digital hifi. I just bought a NAD M33, and I want to use it for two purposes: 1–stream TIDAL (easy to do), and 2–play highres DSD music files I have stored on my Mac (on the same network).
My question: what software do I use on my Mac to allow it to share/serve DSD music so that my NAD M33 can see it (they’re both on the same network)? BlueOS can do it, BUT, BlueOS cannot stream DSD. Instead, it converts it to FLAC and down-res’s it. I do NOT want that.
Can Roon do this? Does Roon have a Mac app that can share/serve locally stored DSD music so that my NAD M33 on the same network can see and stream it? Does it maintain full DSD256 quality for DSD256 files? Why would BlueOS not support this?
I have used the M33 as the output from Roon. Roon, of course, can directly read DSD at all levels in stereo and multichannel. It will convert them to PCM on-the-fly for the M33 to play them. However, the conversion is limited to the M33’s maximum resolution of 32/192. This saves you the bother/space of having BlueOS convert the files and save them separately.
In addition, since the M33/BlueOS are stereo only, Roon will also downmix multichannel files, PCM and DSD, to stereo. This is advantageous because BlueOS will read multichannel files (PCM only) but it will only play the FR/FL channels, losing all the musical information in the other channels.
I see “32-BIT/384kHz ESS Sabre DAC” and that is true. However, actual input signal bandwidth is 32/192. The number 384 doesn’t appear anywhere else in the manual or other documentation. Besides, I have used it for weeks and know from experience that I could not get more than 24/192 into it. I’d prefer it were not so.
The OP shouldn’t give up quite yet. My Marantz PM7005 will take DSD128 via DoP, but the highest PCM sample rate it supports is 192 KHz. Go figure… (It uses a CS4398 DAC, which is quite old, but DSD capable.)
I have vague memories of seeing other hardware with similar specs. To be clear, I know nothing about the M33, and certainly bow to your hands on experience…
My DSD256 music files are stored on my Mac, in another room. On the same network.
The M33 should be able to access music files stored remotely on the same network, but, that requires software on the server computer. BlueOS is what comes with the M33, but, it doesn’t maintain DSD256 quality, because it converts it to a lower sampled FLAC.
Therefore, my question is: Does Roon serve DSD256 over the network without loosing quality and down-converting it?
How do you know this? Have you tried it? If so, how did you do it?
OK. I have mine stored on a NAS in another room but on the same network.
Nope. Even on the same LAN, BlueOS ignores all DSD files. There is an option in the BlueOS settings to convert all your DSD files into FLAC files and keep both sets on a designated location.
Roon, however, will play those DSD files to the M33 while converting them on-the-fly to 24/192 PCM.
Not commenting on the specific model being discussed.
Generally, all amplifiers that are capable of doing room correction have to convert DSD into PCM, not only this but they usually convert all PCM into an internal processing rate too, along with converting all analog into digital - this is most commonly seen in AV receivers. The only exception is when a model offers an Analog Bypass feature to avoid all DSP.
If a model supports 192kHz internal processing, that’s pretty good. A well known brand of stereo amplifiers that features built-in room correction only does 96kHz due to its TI chipset. Another very well received DSP speakers only does 48kHz processing.
