iFI Audio iDSD Micro - DSD512 capable but Roon displays DSD256 as max

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This thread is over a year old, but for clarity’s sake:

This is plain wrong. There are two ways of sending DSD to a DAC:

  1. ‘Native’, by sending the direct bitstream. This requires drivers – most (if not all) DACs make these available for Windows. For a number of DACs, patches are made to the Linux kernel, allowing native playback. For macOS, these drivers are (extremely) rare. When playing the native bitstream, DACs are able to receive DSD at their maximum advertised rates.

  2. Via DoP. Leaving out the details, this way the bitstream is encapsulated in PCM packets. This allows any Class 2 USB DAC to receive the stream without the need for special drivers, but this requires roughly double the bandwidth. Hence when using DoP, usually half the advertised maximum DSD rate is available.

All of this has nothing to do with Roon. The limitations of using DoP are at OS/driver level and apply to any application sending out the music. When the conditions for 1. are met, Roon is perfectly capable of shipping out DSD natively at full rates.

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