Nucleus and DSD Conversion in the DAC (Rose RD160)

My current setup is running Roon on Windows 11 (Desktop) and streaming to another desktop (and then to a DAC that doesn’t upsample).

I use Tidal (and have a music library of approximately 2,000 albums (with 100 or so DSD titles).

My current computer processing power doesn’t allow me to upsample DSD (it does for a bit, but then crashes).

If I purchase a Roon Nucleus (as it appears to be more stable than a desktop) and purchase a DAC that upsamples “internally”, I’m assuming that the Roon Nucleus won’t be tasked with the upsampling (just streaming a native DSD 64 signal and letting the DAC do the upsampling. Is that correct?

Uosampling is all.about processing power. Usually desktop.cpus are more capable than the mobile cpus used in NUCs, which onclude the Nucleus.

What is the cpu of your desktop? If you are getting a dac which handles the upsampling then your current pc should also be fine.

What is the DAC you are thinking of. Generally a computer will have more uosampling power than a DAC. But it all depends on what you want.to.updample TO and From.

I am running a Windows 11 operating system with Intel Core I7 processor.
My end point (which is an older HP all in one) might be the issue.

but, this is a DSD issue.
using Roon to upsample to 512DSD (on my endpoint).
the dac plays it just fine, but then the music drops out.
when i go to regular DOP (or straight DSD), it usually doesn’t give an issue. it’s when i attempt to upconvert the native DSD signal (or convert PCM to DSD 512).

What does the performance indicator in the signal path show?

it initially runs fine (says original format, conversion to 512dsd) then the signal is “lost” and the audio drops out. i’ve been told that it may be an issue w/ my end point not having enough processing power to convert a pcm signal to 512dsd.

It would help if you told us what the performance indicator in the signal path shows when this happens. It would answer whether there is a performance issue in Roon or not.

When i select DSD Native. Upconvert to 512:
Signal Path: High Quality/Processing speed 2x
Source: DSF DSD64 2ch
DSD64 to 352.8khz PCM
DSD512
Roon Advanced Transport
ASIO
System plays no problem (DAC reads DSD512). Then after a song (or two):
Music Stops
Waiting for your Roon Server
Then goes back to the main page of the album (and i have to hit play again).
System repeats itself if i do just straight DSD Native (not upconvert).
System plays fine if i select DOP (DSD over PCM).
Problem appears to be when i play DSD Native (or try and upconvert to 768 PCM).

A screenshot would have been enough :slight_smile:

That’s close but if it never drops below 1.3 or so, it’s just about sufficient and shouldn’t be the problem.

But, it freezes and says “waiting for your Roon Server”.

Only on dsd native.

Oh I get it now. The server is fine at x2 but as you wrote:

This may well be the case

Why not have the Rose upsample and not Roon?

You haven’t mentioned network ? How are the PC and the DAC connected.

You are upsampling and increasing the network load dramatically , are you using ethernet or (more likely ) Wi Fi

i am currently using wifi

to be clear, the roon server is hooked up via cat 6.
the end point is using wifi (via extender). it plays dop (dsd over pcm just fine) but it will not play the dsd stream direct for a very long time (usually only one song).

the system will only do “dop” and not DSD stream (direct to the dac). it plays one song and then "searches for roon server).

This is probably the reason, try plugging the endpoint up with ethernet and test it.

The Rose RD160 has the ability to upsample any incoming rate to DSD512. My point was, turn off upsampling in Roon, send the original resolution to the Rose and let it do the upsampling.

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Wifi and Roon is often a poor combination , the amount of data transferred is high and more often than not switching to an ethernet connection fixes dropouts and stuttering issues. (if you search the forum for “DROPOUT” you will see literally 10’s of complaints mostly centred around network issues

If your DAC upsamples, then let it.

Oh. But you are upsampling to DSD512 which is huge, and then you send this over wifi to the endpoint…

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