Years ago everyone was into making sure that music players were outputting everything as “bit perfect” and that was the holy grail.
Then someone asked, well what is the DAC doing to the signal? Turns out that the DAC’s, in general, were (and still are) upsampling the signal to whatever format they were designed for to run. The problem is that DAC’s don’t have a lot of processing power so the quality of the upsampling wasn’t the best in a lot of cases resulting in less than great sound.
That lead people to start using programs like HQP where you can have the horsepower of decent modern computers doing the upsampling resulting in much better sound. Basically you are feeding the DAC the signal (format) it wants so little or no processing is required by the DAC. For an example, I run a 4 processor (i5) Linux server and all 4 processors are constantly running around 50% capacity when upsampling to DSD256 using HQP. That’s a lot of processing!!
Then there are the various filters. Most DAC’s only use one filter which may or may not be to your liking. Again, programs like HQP provide a number of different filters that you try and better match what your system (and you) like.
So in my case, the old holy grail of “bit perfect” is dead for the most part. I think there are some DAC’s that use resistor ladders(??) and do not upsample the signal but these are not the norm and usually pricey.
This is it! Thousands of audiophile listeners are getting fooled into this trap when doing A/B comparisons. Precise volume matching is a big desiderate for high end audio equipment!
Suitable DAC? You mean a device that sounds different depending on the format of the file it is given?
Shouldn’t the same original file sound the same converted to different sample rates? Why should it sound different if the origin is the exact same file?
DSD to PCM or the opposite does change the sound a bit.
It’s due to the different filtering and noise shaping. Some people like the sound of PCM upsampled to DSD; some prefer the opposite. IME, it is based on personal taste and also on how you system deals with each format.
My previous DAC/System sounded better using upsampling to DSD (DSD had a bit less edge), my present one sounds better with PCM (DSD sounds too "soft).
We use a Asus Notebook as Roon Server into a Allo Digi One Player into a Schiit Gumby Multibit. Never checked upsampling before, because the Gumby did not support DSD.
Should i consider upsampling? 2x PCM? Any suggestions for optimizing SQ?
Upsampling everything and sending it to a Schiit Gungnir Multibit negates all the advantages that its multibit architecture and proprietary filter offer, namely the ability to process the original samples unmolested.
That is actually the case for many DACs which do their own signature processing, PSAudio, Chord, Schiit multi-bit, maybe Ayre. Although, if you have a Modi Multibit, if you upsample to 24/192, it will bypass everything and have a completely unfiltered NOS playback (at the DAC side).
You mentioned Chord, what about a Mojo? Any sonic advantages with upsampling there? Additional the Mojo and Gumby, there is a AudioGd R2R in my office, but i guess the Gumby-rule counts for also for the R2R.
When purchasing a DAC with its own FPGA and upsampling architecture that bypasses the DAC chip, you are buying the design and architecture. Generally these DACs are more expensive then ones that ONLY use what is available on the DAC chip. If you find it preferable to bypass this technology and design by upsampling with Roon or HQ Player it would probably be better to get rid of your DAC and buy something cheaper without FPGA.
However, if your DAC is NOS by design then it has inherent limitations to begin with. Everyone knows that oversampling allows for more transparent filtering. If you prefer the distortion and limitations from NOS DACs then obviously you should not use HQPlayer or Roon to upsample. If you find your NOS DAC sounds better with HQ player or Roon upsampling then consider it time to change to a DAC better suiting your taste.
Thank you. Well, to be honest - DAC theory was just too much for me in the past. R2R vs. DS, filters, real NOS, NOS with filters like in the Gumby, pre-ringing, measurments vs. using the ear as analogue filter… different points of view in the forums, all that made me tired ;). I like all my DACs, they sound different at different genres, for the better or worse.
After all the positive reviews of the Nucleus+ i thought, that upsampling could be a point for me. But i guess it‘s not. I will test upsampling with the Audio GD, which seems to be a real NOS DAC.
But I still wonder: It sounds weird to me, that someone will buy a Nuc+ for useing oversampling and own that kind of „cheap“ DAC?
There are a few DACs which have a NOS option that accept input up to the maximum resolution of the DAC. The Holo Audio Spring is one such. Personally I think there is scope in the market for NOS DACs which completely omit any upsampling options (but accept input at max resolution). Hopefully they could come in at a lower price point reflecting the reduced capability. Such devices would reflect the availability and popularity of software upsampling in HQ Player, Roon etc.
