I’ve learned from the Audirvāna forum that even though my iFi Zen DAC V2 supports up to DSD 256. It will max out at DSD 128 when using macOS. This is because of d.o.p.
Sorry I got confused by Zen Stream and Zen Dac 
Yes Mac is limited to DoP by its core audio drivers. So you take half of the direct. I have now a CA 200M, it can do 512 Direct DSD but DoP does 256
I’m also experiencing audio drops with my iFi Zen DAC v2 and I’m 99.99% sure it has nothing to do with MQA settings. I believe the issue has to do with Apple silicon. First a little back story:
My Roon Core runs on an Intel NUC. It’s hardwired to a bridge, DAC, then amp for regular home listening (floor standing speakers). I’ve never had a streaming problem here.
During working hours, I listen on my M1 MacBook Pro, using the MacOS Roon app and a couple of USB DACs, plus headphones. Until recently, I used an AudioQuest Dragonfly Cobalt and had no dropout issues at all. Basically the DAC connected to USB via an adapter cable, then headphones. Very portable.
About a month ago I bought a pair of Meze 109 Pros. I love them, but they’re more power hungry than my previous cans, so I figured I’d try the Zen. Initially, it worked well, then I started to notice these intermittent drops. I’ve played around with Resync delays in Roon, and contacted iFi, but no help.
Then I started to look at USB audio in general, to see if there were similar issues on Apple silicon. There are! I haven’t fixed my issue yet, but learned a few things:
- An Ableton user (music creation app) talks here about the performance and efficiency cores in M1/M2 chips and how the system automatically switching from performance to efficiency will cause a brief audio drop. The fix was to drop the latency buffer below 512 samples per second.
- Another possible “fix” is it invest in a powered Thunderbolt hub. Unfortunately, these aren’t the $15 USB splitters you see on Amazon. They’re upwards of $150, so I’m less inclined to throw more gear at the problem.
I am going to reach back to iFi again and will report back if successful.
Well I’ve recently changed my iFi Zen DAC V2’s firmware to 7.4c and no more MQA drops here combined with my M1 MacBook Pro.
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better a pi or zen stream and the dropouts are gone
I have heard other users with no issues when using Dragonfly
And it is not only the Zen Dac, I have a CA 200M and the dropouts are still there
My zen dac is now with a Zen stream and roon upscaling to dsd 256 but I still have to compare that to the mqa and decide if to keep mqa
My CA 200M is still usb to m1 mini core but testing HQA upsampling to dsd 256 so no more mqa but I like the SQ much better
Hello,
Maybe I am doing something wrong. Connected DAC v2 to RPI3 with Roopieee with USB 2.0 port.
But Roon only let me configure until 96 kHz.
I am thinking that the issue is about the 2.0 port. Upgrade to a RPI4 with USB 3.0 port will solve anything?
Maybe a firmware issue? I don’t know what it has configured.
Thanks anyway.
Well, I am not sure about the resolution issue, but, USB out can be an issue for the RPI 3 since the USB shares the bus with Ethernet. This can lead to other audio issues.
Sorry to drag this up again… 
But i found that if you unplug and reconnect the usb connection on the IFi Zen , it will then see it as HD
If it doesn’t say HD in the device info, is not in high res mode.
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