In the case of the S2 Ultra: Roon identifies the S2 fine, and the SU-8 is identified by the S2 and shows up in Roon. The S2 claims to pass all protocols through to the SU-8. Yet, there is no “DSD Playback Strategy” drop down menu to even select ‘convert to PCM’, much less ‘native DSD’.
Can you please perform the same action as before, disable and re-enable the zone and let me know the exact local time + date? Once I have this info I will enable diagnostics.
Thanks for the timestamp @Jack_Stark. I’m not seeing any new reports delivered, it’s possible that the Core is currently offline. Can you let me know when you boot it up again so I can re-check our diagnostics systems?
Sorry @noris
I only bring the Roon Core online when listening to music. It was on most of yesterday evening. I just started at 10:12AM this morning.
Jack
I can confirm diagnostics have been received. I propose we perform a test here, if you bypass the S2 Ultra and connect the SMSL SU-8 directly to the Roon Core via USB, do you see the native DSD option?
I just checked with the technical team and you will need to configure DSD options in the Roon Ready device’s WebUI. I suggest looking for the Native DSD option there and enabling it if it is not yet enabled.
for the HINT, I am able to set DSD over PCM v1.0 (DoP).
for the SU-8 (still through PJ Stream Box), I have set DSD Direct in the Pro-ject control panel’s playback options. However, no DSD Strategy menu appears at all in Roon. Somehow Roon is converting to PCM when DSD playback is attempted. I have to limit max PCM to 96KHz or there are pauses in the playback, probably due to WiFi bandwidth.
@noris
I frequently reboot the core and all other equipment, the behavior is very consistent.
I am running over 2.4GHz B/G/N WiFi network, and that will likely limit ability to serve native DSD. The current working mode is converting to PCM at the Server:
If I increase the maximum PCM supported rate beyond 96kHz 32-bit (>3Mbit), dropouts will occur. I have not yet tried a direct ethernet connection. Even though native DSD may exceed WiFi bandwidth, I would still expect to the DSD Strategy Menu, perhaps with only the Convert to PCM option. That option is apparently the default option in any case when the menu is not present.
I appreciate the Roon Team’s support in these matters,
Jack Stark
I spoke to the hardware team regarding this behavior and they have clarified that DSD options will never show up for Roon Ready zones, but the DSD Max Rate should show up under Device Setup -> Advanced.
It’s the devices responsibility to report to Roon the DSD output method and it seems like it’s not doing so properly here. First thing I would check is to make sure that you have pressed on the “Save” button in the Pro-ject WebUI after changing the DSD Playback mode to native.
If you have checked this and the behavior is still the same after clicking “Save”, the issue would be on the device’s side for not correctly reporting the DSD strategy in use.
Hi @noris,
Again, I appreciate the team looking into this. I always double check the setting changes have taken effect by reloading the menu after saving. This morning I installed an ethernet switch and connected the Stream Box via 100BaseTX, the fastest it supports. That alleviated the drop out when converting the full DSD rate to PCM without down converting to lower PCM rate. That results in the same PCM data stream I see to the HINT at 352.8kHz PCM rate. I am completely OK with this, and would not be able to tell the difference bewteen that and native DSD. I also like using the PEQ and Volume Leveling features, which I believe cannot be accomplished through native DSD in any case. I am missing the ability for Roon to control the volume, which is a bit of a disappointment, if you have any advice on how to restore that feature it would be appreciated. As far as native DSD, I consider the issue closed and thanks again.
Signal Path HQ
For this aspect, you can switch from “Fixed Volume” in the device setup tab to “DSP Volume”. Then you should be able to control the Volume from within Roon. As for the DSD issue, we can consider it closed, if you have further issues do let us know, thanks!
