Does Ropieee support the iFi Audio xDSD?
I see the iFi Audio micro/nano iDSD and the iFi Audio Pro iDSD listed on the Audio Hardware page but not the xDSD.
If the xDSD is not currently supported would it be possible to add support for it?
Thanks … Tim
Hi @anon97951896,
Any USB DAC should work ‘out of the box’.
I presume you’re asking if it supports native DSD.
That’s a tricky one, because the OS (kernel) needs to be patched for that. That’s something that I do on a regular base, hence the list with devices that support native DSD.
For the micro/nano/pro it’s simple: they use the same firmware on the device side of things (USB specifically). So in general I would say: there’s a high chance that the xDSD supports is as well.
But again: it will work anyhow. ‘Worst case’ you can only do DoP instead of native DSD.
Let me know how it goes, so I can add it to the list!
Regards Harry
Thanks
I’ll let you know if I do purchase one.
I had been considering the Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital as an upgrade from my Dragonfly Black but my understanding is that it has some unresolved firmware issues. When I posted here I also submitted a question to iFi and it appears that with the xDSD you have to pick your firmware based upon wanting MQA with support for DSD256 or DSD512 with no support for MQA. I’m pretty new to Roon and I am using MQA with Tidal but not yet using upsampling. It is something I hope to try in the next month or two.
So, I am conflicted and have not yet made a purchasing decision.
Tim
Yeah I can imagine. The difficulties of our hobby 
Hey Tim I’ve had both.
The only firmware related issue with the S2 DAC (according to the 3 popular forums anyway plus my experience) is with full MQA decoding.
If you let Roon (or Audirvana or Tidal Desktop) do the 1st unfold and let the S2 DAC do “rendering” only, you won’t see any MQA related issues and I couldn’t see/hear any other firmware issues.
The xDSD works as an MQA renderer too.
Renderer mode is the same as your DragonFly uses of course .
From memory (my memory can be bad sometimes though) I had no issues with either DAC with RoPieee, DietPi, Sonore Rendu’s, straight out the box…
I have the Pro iDSD now and Harry was lighting quick to patch support when I had native DSD issues.
Sean,
Thanks for your comments.
I think my real concern with the S2 was my impression that Pre-Box and the firmware developer had parted ways and while there might be a “final” firmware release for it then again there might not be. When I started considering it I was planning to upgrade the system in my living room with new speakers and a new amp. Turned out I needed to create a new computer work space downstairs since it’s just too hot to work on the computer during the day upstairs in my condo in the summer so the audio upgrade got pushed back a bit.
Unfortunately for me my DragonFly Black is now a mono device due to a silly error unplugging an RCA cable with the receiver it was connected to still powered on. While I am still considering both the S2 and xDSD for the moment I’ve replaced the DragonFlyBlack with a Chromecast Audio.
Not quite on a par with the S2 or xDSD but I’ve just gotten on the Roon train having just retired in June and starting to listen to more music now that I have more time at home and it is adequate for now.
Having followed this forum for about four months I’ve gained a lot of insight into what going down the audiophile road can entail and right now I’m not sure how far down that road I’m prepared to go or how far my sixty five year old ears would take me if I tried.
I plan to continue to use Roon and to possibly explore more of its features like upsampling in the future.
Thanks to you and so many other helpful users here on the forum I know I can get help if and when I need it.
Tim
I don’t know if you ever decided for a DAC, but I’ve had the xDSD for several months. When it works it sounds great, but something really annoying that when you change any DSP setting it loses sound, so you need to turno off the DAC, unplug it and restart it. Their tech support swears there’s nothing wrong. I even got a replacement and no it’s even worse, it goes silent out of nothing. So I am selling it on eBay to get the Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 or even go a bit hight to get Mytek Liberty.
Jose,
Thanks for the info on the xDSD. I have not yet bought a DAC, I am using 3 Chromecast Audio devices and a Pi with a HifiBerry Digi+ Pro HAT using the DAC in my Sony STR-DN1080 receiver.
Good luck with your new DAC.
Tim