I have been using the RME ADI-2 DAC with DSD Direct now for a couple of days, using DSD filter at 50kHz, auto-ref off, ref level +13db on the DAC and ext2 + ASM5EC on HQPlayer. Since volume don’t work on the DAC with DSD Direct I use Roon to control HQPlayer volume.
Here are some comments about sound and how it works overall:
+ the sound is more full and mature, with a more homogenous soundstage.
+ the sound feels slightly less forward and “musical” without any loss in detail
- annoying clicks between tunes when a new tune is started, or jumped from a previous tune with next.
- slightly less wide soundstage
- a little latency when using volume, but not a big deal
Using volume from Roon works pretty well, the thing I miss most is that the mute button on the DAC don’t work. Since I run NAA on a streamer there is no chance that I accidently get some sound from Windows that might blast the speaker at full volume.
If some of you found something else that sounds better on the RME DAC, or some other useful tweak, please share
I use the same configuration with Roon and HQPlayer on my NUC in ASDM7EC and DSD 128 max.
I bought a new NUC but I can’t switch to DSD 256 without blowing the fans … in the end, I think it’s a purchase for nothing (i9700T) . My “oldy” NUC is at the max but gives the best (i5-3470T).
I did not dare to use DSD directly on the RME even though I actually only use an Allo Sig with only NAA.
I am often on ext2 but I appreciate the short-lp-2s (jazz and accoustic instruments).
The best is given with my streamer on the nuc without going through a switch (direct IPV6).
When you start getting into the higher DSD Rates and ASDM7EC, you are well far away from NUCs of any kind. You really need a desktop machine (remember NUC CPUs are mobile ones, desktop CPUs are much faster and of course more power hungry), with an Nvidia graphics card to offload some of the processing.
I know as it is what I use to get DSD 256 ASDM7EC running completely smoothly.
You should definitely try DSD Direct on the RME DAC, it makes a difference. Set volume limits in HQPlayer to keep it safe, I have mine at -25db which is loud but not break-speakers-loud. If you don’t use DSD Direct, the conversions will be like this:
PCM -> HQPlayer and high quality PCM to DSD conversion -> RME DAC -> low-quality DSD to PCM conversion inside the DAC -> DA conversion on PCM
In my view, if your DAC don’t do a proper native DSD playback, its better to up-sample to PCM in HQPlayer and play that.
Because the connection in question was AES. Both S/PDIF and AES/EBU are max 24-bit. Some interfaces lie about their resolution and claim 32-bit because they use 32-bit bus transfers. Without setting DAC Bits correctly in such cases would result in truncation of 8 LSBs.
Usually such DAC is delta-sigma DAC and better fed with DSD data. There are no R2R ladders with true 32-bit resolution.
I don’t know if it’s DSP supports 32-bit inputs and whether some step on the way is doing truncation. But you should likely leave it at “Default” (auto-detect) in case you are sending PCM there.
Can you try with HQPlayer local playback (no Roon, content from local disk)? I’m not getting such behavior… I suspect Roon is unnecessarily stopping and restarting HQPlayer playback.
Tried with some local flac files played directly from HQPlayer (Roon closed), same behavior so its not Roon related. Here is what happens: I press Play in HQPlayer on a local 44.1 flac tune, then after the progress bar I quickly get 2 clicks maybe 0.5 seconds apart, then tune starts, and when pressing stop I get 1 click.
However, unlike Roon, I don’t get any clicks between tunes when pressing next in HQPlayer.
The level of the clicks is not dependent on HQPlayer volume, but they are dependent on the ref-level set in the RME DAC (+13 dB currently), if I lover that the clicks also gets a lower volume.
This is normal, at least one of these is likely unmute of the DAC output.
This is also normal when the DAC goes mute.
This is also to be expected. And without “quick pause” also pause/unpause should be clean.
That is also normal and to be expected. It is best to use lowest reference level needed because then you get less clicks due to lot of gain and you need less attenuation at volume control side. If the output is still loud enough.
Using ref -5dB now, clicks still there of course but now they are not very loud. Btw, I read about clicks for DSD in relation to ALSA/Linux, so this might very well be a microRendu problem (something about not muting/unmuting the DAC in the way it should).
I test in “DSD direct” on the RME (+ 1db) but I have no problem with Roon at the change of title.
I am using an Allo Sig with GentooPlayer. No clicks or pops in DSD128.
I think (also) that it is a software problem on MicroRendu.
Tried the one named naa-411-cuboxi-urendu.7z but no difference, still clicks between tunes. Changing filters, modulators, cuba offload, buffers etc don’t help, and since problem exists in HQPlayer standalone its not Roon related.
You may be referring to the bug noted by Brian here:
One exception to this that I’m aware of: There was a version of the Linux kernel that sent a 00000000 PCM-style silence pattern briefly at the start of Native DSD playback–in that case, the reason for artifacts was that kernel bug. That bug has since been fixed, but if you are specifically having a problem only when beginning Native DSD playback, and not other other circumstances, it might be worth investigating an upgrade/kernel patch to address it.
This has been fixed in ALSA and the rendu software updated to incorporate the fix. I have not noticed any reversion with the Holo Spring 1.
There is a discussion of clicks using Direct DSD in section 17.3 of the manual which sounds similar to what you are experiencing.
@jussi_laako Which naa image would work with an Allo Usbridge Signature. The naa in Ropieee works but there is also a lot of other processes running as well.
@jussi_laako, until I saw this post, I was not aware that AES has 24 bit limitation. When I play my digitized vinyl through HQP from the AES output of my Benchmark ADC1, I see that HQP shows it’s upscaling 32/192 to, for example, DSD512. If I understand you, I need to set the bits in HQP to 24 — but where do I do that? Thanks. JCR
