I try to buy DACs that are DSD capable because I know I can squeeze more performance out of those. And also because I have quite a bit of DSD content I want to play.
Performance of DAC is roughly divided to three parts. 33% digital filters, 33% the delta-sigma modulator and 33% the conversion and analog implementation. DSD allows me to cover 66% of this in software.
Then I of course have my own DSC1 DAC that is DSD-only. (there are other similar DACs too, like Lampizator
The only other DACs that are not DSD capable I have are:
Cambridge Audio DAC Magic (and for that reason I donāt use it anymore)
M2Tech hiFace DAC (capable of 352.8/384k 32-bit PCM and used only in that mode, used only for NAA testing purposes)
Creek Audio Ruby DAC -card for Evolution 50A amplifier (used only with NAD MT 2 for Spotify Connect)
Focusrite Forte (192k capable, used for testing and room acoustic measurements)
Many DACs that donāt accept a DSD input nevertheless employ delta-sigma modulation internally. I believe the Wolfson WM8524 in the PS Audio Sprout is a delta sigma design, but havenāt been able to find a definitive source to confirm that. This history of data converters and this CA thread describe how delta sigma quickly became ubiquitous (the Yggdrasil being a rare exception).
Thatās one of the rare multi-bit ladder DACs, so thereās no delta-sigma modulator. You can of course still run upsampling in HQPlayer to highest input rate it supports and get the benefits of HQPlayer filters. With Schiit Bifrost Multi-Bit and upsampling to 192k in HQPlayer you can bypass all the digital filters in it.
Or if you like multi-bit ladders, you can use some NOS one like the Metrum Musette/Menuet/Pavane that can accept 352.8/384k input rates through USB and use HQPlayerās digital filters. That would be similar approach to my DSC1, but using multi-bit R2R ladder instead of delta-sigma DAC.
Those multi-bit ladders donāt achieve the price/performance of delta-sigma DACs though. And even best ones donāt come close to best delta-sigma DACs in terms of performance.
Yes, hereās a short description from Jussi of what almost all DACs do (except for some ladder DACs and some schiit - a very small number of DACs on the market).
All modern DAC chips are delta-sigma designs, meaning that PCM input needs to be converted to high speed bit-stream. As said earlier, DAC chips typically convert PCM input first to 352.8 or 384 kHz PCM using a digital filter of varying quality and then use stupid sample-copying (sample-and-hold/zero-order-hold) to take the rate up to typical 5.6/6.1 MHz speed for the delta-sigma modulator to produce the bit-stream for the actual D/A conversion process. > What HQPlayer is doing is not adding any additional processing to the chain, but replacing the processing performed by DAC chip with better implementation done in software. So HQPlayer performs high quality digital filters taking the sampling frequency straight to 5.6/6.1 MHz or even higher 11.3/12.2 or 22.6/24.6 MHz, without any quality compromising sample-and-hold stages and then converts it to bit-stream for the actual D/A conversion using high quality dithered delta-sigma modulator
The power argument holds up because many of the options in HQP are very processor intensive, and DACs donāt have the power to perform then in real time (if at all). If you think one of those options is better sounding than your DAC, you want it to be on the outside, āgeneral purposeā (read āmuch more powerfulā) CPU. As a result, DACs canāt do what Jussiās program does, and have less sophisticated, generally poorer sounding processing going on.
HQP recommends - AFAIR - a 3,5 Ghz quad core processor in order to perform all itās possible funcitons without issue. Do you know of a DAC with that kind of computing power? I think not. So to get the benefits of the filtering you need an outside processor.
Maybe in the future DACs will have much more powerful specialized processors, but we arenāt there yet.