iFi iDSD Micro native DSD support in RoPieee

Jens_G · September 28, 2018, 6:30pm

Yes, I did. Feeback is on its way. Identifier f7f70e7572c55518.

Jens_G · September 28, 2018, 6:34pm

Another strange issue is that a max DSD Samplerate of DSD128 is shown in the Device Setup in Roon although the iDSD Micro is a DSD512 capable DAC…

spockfish · September 28, 2018, 6:41pm

That depends. One of the downsides of DoP is that it requires more bandwidth than native DSD, so that can be the reason. DSD512 is natively also not possible on a Pi because you’re then maxing out on bandwidth.

Jens_G · September 28, 2018, 6:44pm

Ah, ok. Did you see anything in the feedback?

spockfish · September 28, 2018, 6:54pm

Yes. This is Xmos problem.

To be able to do native DSD on Linux the kernel needs to be patched. This is something that I’ve done for a range of devices (see website), including the IFI DAC’s. This patch recognizes the DAC by it’s USB ID and then makes sure the audio is sent to the endpoint in the DAC (“altset”) that supports a native DSD stream.

Now, it seems that IFI has devices that use different altset’s: you’re DAC uses 2, while my black label iDSD uses altset 3. That shouldn’t be a problem, unless you use the same USB ID for that. In that case the kernel can’t make a distinction between the 2 devices. So either I patch the kernel and your IFI works, or I patch the kernel and my IFI works. But not both

This should be solved by IFI. They really should use their own USB identifier AND device identifier in stead of a generic XMOS one. Or make sure on all devices the same altset can be used for native DSD.

So sorry for this, but this is not gonna work without them changing stuff.

Jens_G · September 28, 2018, 7:06pm

What a pity

dabassgoesboomboom · September 28, 2018, 10:58pm

I think jussi laako may have solved this with a change he made to the latest kernel? Have a look at his latest native dsd related changes.

Jens_G · September 29, 2018, 6:36am

Thank you very much for your help. Found a solution for my „problem“

spockfish · September 29, 2018, 7:07am

Hi Sean,

Where can I find those?

spockfish · September 29, 2018, 7:12am

And @dabassgoesboomboom,

this is related to the change I made for your device… So which model do you have exactly?

dabassgoesboomboom · September 29, 2018, 7:30am

Hi Harry, as mentioned further up in this thread:

dabassgoesboomboom · September 29, 2018, 7:31am

Have a look here, at the generic detection:

https://patchwork.kernel.org/project/alsa-devel/list/?submitter=111

spockfish · September 29, 2018, 7:42am

Hi @Jens_G,

Curious what your solution is.

Anyways, I’m gonna build a new kernel during the weekend. If you’re up to it you could test that.

Regards Harry

Jens_G · September 29, 2018, 8:30am

Hi Harry, to be honest I gave RuneAudio a chance an it works flawlessly and as it should. Obviously it is indeed a matter of the Kernel. By the way: once again Thanks a lot for your help and support.

Kind regards,
Jens

Jens_G · September 29, 2018, 3:07pm

Hello Harry, when do you think the new Kernel will be available for testing?

Regards, Jens

spockfish · September 29, 2018, 6:32pm

Building as we speak. I expect tomorrow or Monday.

Jens_G · September 29, 2018, 6:39pm

Sounds good. Looking forward to testing

spockfish · September 30, 2018, 6:14pm

Hi @Jens_G,

There’s a new kernel in the beta channel. This means you need to switch to that one (in the ‘advanced’ tab).
I suggest you also put the update mechanism on ‘manual’, so you’ll be noticed in the web ui (after a while) of the update being available.

I’ve tested it on my Ifi Nano iDSD BL and it works.

Looking forward to your feedback!

Regards Harry

Jens_G · September 30, 2018, 7:44pm

Hi Harry,

excellent job. Now it works like a charm. Thank you so much. I love RoPieee

Regards Jens