Unexpected Sample Rate Conversion to Hegel H190 via RAAT (ref#W0PDW0)

[Gabe_Kelen]

Hi! What’s not quite right with Roon?

· None of the above quite fits

None of the above quite fits

· None of these quite match

Tell us what's going on

· **Title:** Unexpected sample rate conversion (96→88.2 / 192→176.4) to Hegel H190 via RAAT

**System:**

* Roon running on Mac (single-app setup)
* Output: Hegel H190 (Roon Ready, RAAT)
* Network: standard home WiFi (no bridges/repeaters in path)
* Sub: SVS (not relevant to digital path)

**Issue:**
Roon is consistently converting sample rates before reaching the Hegel:

* 96 kHz → 88.2 kHz
* 192 kHz → 176.4 kHz

Then the Hegel shows an additional internal conversion (e.g., 88.2 → ~105 kHz), which I understand is normal for the DAC.

The concern is the **pre-Hegel conversion**, which I believe should not be happening.

**What I expected:**

* Native playback (e.g., 96 → 96, 192 → 192) via RAAT

**What I observe (Signal Path):**

* Source (e.g., Qobuz 96/24 or 192/24)
* → Sample rate conversion (96 → 88.2 or 192 → 176.4)
* → RAAT → Hegel

**Troubleshooting already done:**

* MUSE:

* All modules disabled (EQ, headroom, etc.)
* Sample Rate Conversion toggled OFF
* Tried both “Max PCM rate” and “Max PCM (power of 2)”
* Reset to defaults
* Device Setup (Hegel):

* Max sample rate = 192 kHz
* No unusual settings enabled
* Disabled and re-enabled Hegel zone
* Full reboot of Mac + Hegel
* Verified playback is to Hegel (RAAT), not System Output

Despite all of this, the conversion persists.

**Question:**
Is there a reason Roon would force conversion from 48-family rates (96/192) to 44.1-family (88.2/176.4) for the Hegel H190?

Or is this indicative of a stuck DSP state or device compatibility behavior?

Happy to provide logs if helpful.

Thanks in advance.

Tell us about your home network

· Using a bridge tp 3001; Comcast wifi. router Asus

>

[noris]

Hello @Gabe_Kelen ,

Thanks for reaching out. This is expected behavior for Hegel, please see the following thread:

Roon is resampling files on Hegel H190?

There are a couple of things at play here, and they aren’t necessarily connected. The re-sampling in Roon: The H95/120/190 only accept these formats - 44.1, 88.2 and 176.4. Over UPnP, the resampling is done inside the amp. With Roon it is done in Roon, which is better. You can obviously argue that it would be better if we accepted all files natively, but it is a significant cost issue. Some manufacturers will think that doing all of them natively is the best solution. We think that saving th…

Hope this helps!

[Gabe_Kelen]

1. Why is anything being done in Roon before it gets to the amp?
2. What does all this up and down sampling do he quality of the sound.
3. Does the Hegel 400 still have this issue?

[Carl]

@Gabe_Kelen

Why is anything being done in Roon before it gets to the amp?

Did you read the linked post? Specifically …

@Anders_Ertzeid

The re-sampling in Roon:
The H95/120/190 only accept these formats - 44.1, 88.2 and 176.4.

@Gabe_Kelen

What does all this up and down sampling do he quality of the sound.

I’d say it is imperceptible, but appreciate it’s not a pure signal path.

[vadim]

Hello @Gabe_Kelen

The Hegel H190 (along with the H95 and H120) is designed with a specific digital architecture. When these devices talk to Roon via RAAT, they explicitly report that they natively accept the following sample rates:

• 44.1kHz
• 88.2kHz
• 176.4kHz

They do not report native support for the 48kHz family (48, 96, 192) over the RAAT protocol. Because Roon’s goal is to be “bit-perfect” to the device’s capabilities, it sees that the Hegel can’t handle a native 96kHz stream and performs the conversion to the highest supported rate (88.2kHz) to ensure you still get the highest possible quality without the device failing to play.

Why does UPnP or Qobuz Connect look different?

As Hegel developers have noted here, some other protocols (like UPnP) might allow the 96kHz file to be sent directly, but the conversion then happens inside the amplifier’s internal hardware.

Hegel’s design philosophy for this specific range of amps was to focus engineering costs on the analog output and their proprietary “SynchroDAC” technology rather than a “catch-all” digital input board. Roon performing the conversion on your Mac (which has significantly more processing power than the chip inside the amp) generally results in a cleaner, higher-quality signal than letting the amp struggle with it internally.

The “105.47kHz” Mystery

That final conversion you see on the Hegel screen (e.g., 88.2 → ~105kHz) is Hegel’s SynchroDAC at work. This is their proprietary “golden” upsampling that they believe provides the best sonic performance for their DAC stage. It is perfectly normal and a signature feature of their sound.

Summary

• Is it a bug? No, it’s Roon respecting the Hegel’s hardware limits.
• Can you prevent it? Not without changing the hardware. The H190 simply doesn’t accept native 96/192kHz via RAAT.
• Is quality being lost? Technically, a conversion is happening, but because Roon is doing it with high-precision math before sending it to the Hegel’s optimized 44.1-family clock, you are hearing the amp exactly as Hegel intended.

Does this help clarify why your signal path looks a bit “busy”?