Really liking the enthusiast-feel of Roon and bridges and whatnot.
As I look to a new DAC that will support DSD decoding, I just want to confirm that the current list of “Native DSD” streamers in the listed audio hardware section will accept at least DSD64+ fully upon connection via simple USB between the Pi and the DAC?
Also, I would assume in those cases where there is DoP and native supported on the DAC side, one can select the preferred transport mode into the DAC (and advantageously reduce the total streaming requirements) via RoPieee?
I just ask as I don’t want to go the HAT route and look towards a standalone DAC for other purposes too in my system.
If all good, onwards to find an appropriate DAC…another task indeed.
Yes. If the DAC supports native DSD (and is properly exposed as RoPieee does) it is configurable from Roon. DSD64 is not a problem at all with a Pi, it will do DSD128.
TY Sir. I thought as much. Seems like the best course is to not experiment and stick to your list of confirmed native devices. I would assume you slowly add to that list over time? Do manufacturers tend to add this support and it is discovered by the community or do owners ask and see support to be added via yourself, if even possible?
I haven’t really looked into the hardware DAC side as of yet but do they in fact advertise the ability for native streaming? I am willing to bet they advertise DoP at least?
Linux does not need a driver to do DSD (as Windows does). However, this is limited to DoP only. For native DSD the kernel needs to be patched, but more importantly, the device (or USB chipset to be precise) needs to properly advertise this so the Linux kernel can detect this (with a patch).
In essence this means that some manufacturers get it right from the beginning: the chipset is doing the necessary stuff so only a kernel patch is enough (which I can bake). But often this is not the case.
What makes it more difficult is that most DAC’s are capable of updating their firmware, but not specifically the USB chipset firmware.
Some manufacturers have contacted me to help out, so hopefully over time this becomes less of a problem.