[Russtafarian]

Has anyone figured out how to play back multi-channel mixes from SACD iso files in pure DSD?  If so how?  I want to be able to do this and am looking at computer/software/hardware options.  Since I will probably get a dedicated computer for this I'm not married to any one platform and can go mac, pc or unix if the right solution is out there.

One option I'm considering is to use Foobar to transcode DSD to DXD on the fly and feed it to this DAC: http://www.exasound.com/Home.aspx.  The DAC developer has been asked if this DAC can or will be able to decode DSD either stereo or DSD.  His non-committal answers lead me to believe he's working on it but has not determined if the current hardware platform is capable of it in a stable user-friendly way.  Since the DAC has a 30 day trial period I may give it a shot to find out how well the DSD to DXD approach works with multi-channel programs.

If M/C DSD is still a pipe dream at this point I'm open to M/C DSD to PCM or DSD to FLAC solutions that are stable and reasonably priced.

Any other thoughs, ideas, or suggestions?

Russ

[ted_b]

Russ,
This is my ultimate goal, as well.  I am going to have Michal at Mytek send me his tried and true Mytek 8X192 multichannel DAC (I own his stereo one, and the Meitner MA-1, both DSD-capable in 2 channel).  But the only way currently to get DSD in to that DAC is through SDIF or Sonoma optical.  A Sonoma workstation (pc and card) would cost $8k+ new; mytek sued to mod some Sony SACD players with multichannel SDIF outputs but those are few and far between...and finally, the firewire or USB implementation requires updated drivers that Mytek hasn't got around to yet (sometime this year).

Cuirrently all my 500+ ripped SACD's are ISO's, with many of them extracted to stereo DSF folders too, for stereo playback on aforementioned owned DACs.  So the ISO's hold the multichannel layers too...and with the few dozen 5.1 DVD-A's I have ripped I am ready music-wise to begin my multichannel project.  It's the player and the drivers that are needed now.   

[Russtafarian]

Thanks Ted.  Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something.  There was definitely a buzz about DSD DACs at Newport so this development is gaining momentum.  Since I can't afford to be too "bleeding edge" I may sit tight for a bit to see what emerges. 

Between my SACD and DVD-A collection, I probably have close to 400 hi-rez multi-channel mixes, so I sure hope a few DACs emerge that will play those 5.1 tracks back in their native resolution.

[Russtafarian]

Any recent developments on this front?  I just finished ripping my DVD-A and SACD collection (thanks to the help of a fellow AC'er) and now have nearly 400 reasons to want to play back multi-channel hi-rez files.

Thanks.

Russ

[geofstro]

Just wanted to check if you're aware J R Media Center will play these, converting to PCM as they play. I'm currently playing my Ripped SACD's this way over a Fireface 400 and the results are pretty good. I set J R Media's DSP options to downsample DSD to 176.4.

Hope it helps!

Geoff

[rw@cn]

Geoff,

There a number of papers that say 88 is the better target. Also I believe J River will play DSD files in its native form.

[ted_b]

Geoff,

There a number of papers that say 88 is the better target. Also I believe J River will play DSD files in its native form.

Yes, I play JRMC and DSD native, but only 2 channel.  That's the whole issue here; find me a native (not converted to PCM) DSD 5.1 solution that doesn't involve a Sonoma workstation ($10K) or Merging ($8k and up) tech solution on top of a $5k 8x192.  Well, I think I have one.  I am going to alpha test a set of stacked (3) Mytek Stereo 192 DACs and a firewire hub.  Michal says it will work, and I own one already, have a second Mytek here for some beta work, and will try it sometime after the new year.  Their newest firmware allows coordination among the DACS, and DoP version 1.1 will support multichannel, as will players like JRMC (as Geoff as said already).

[mojave]

Also I believe J River will play DSD files in its native form.

That is correct. Here is what their wiki says:

It is possible to bitstream DSD to certain DACs. This bypasses the DSD to PCM conversion.

There are multiple DSD bitstreaming technologies.

ASIO 2.2

This uses the native DSD bitstreaming support built into ASIO 2.2. The ASIO driver for your DAC must support it.

DAC's that support DSD over ASIO include: Playback Designs

ASIO 2.2 requires Media Center 17.0.4 or newer.

To bitstream using this method:

Select 'ASIO' in Options > Audio > Output mode (and configure 'Output mode settings...' as necessary)
Select Options > Video > Bitstreaming > Custom... and check _only_ 'DSD'

[ted_b]

Mojave,
Yes, as I said I already do that:
ASIO with my home office system (simple Dell Vaio desktop running JRMC Media Center 18 to Mytek)
DoP WASPI- event style with my main rig (CAPS V2+ running JRMC Media Center 18 to Meitner).

By the way, in Media Center 18 the bitstreaming options have been moved to audio (no longer video).  And you check only "DSD" only if doing ASIO.  WASPI-event style requires bitstreaming "DSD over PCM" radio button checked instead, which as you know is still native DSD.

Unfortunately this tangent gets us no closer to the subject of this thread, multichannel DSD (native) playback?

[geofstro]

Geoff,

There a number of papers that say 88 is the better target. Also I believe J River will play DSD files in its native form.

Thanks. Do you have a link to any of those papers?

Anyway, it's a temporary solution. DSD native DAC's have gotta be the way to go in the longer term.

[Russtafarian]

I think we're all working with temporary solutions for multi-channel DSD.  Right now I'm using a $50 Sound Blaster multi-channel USB DAC to play back multi-channel music files.  The Sound Blaster resamples everything to 24/96 and is not as transparent (obviously) as other DACs, but it works.  It helps to send the stereo output of the SB to my Emotiva DAC via optical.

I tried using JRiver for DSD but my PC (a mid-level HP laptop) doesn't have the CPU horsepower to do JRiver's multi-channel DSD to PCM conversion without buffering mid track.  However, Foobar with the DSD to PCM plug-in will convert and play both stereo and multi-channel DSD files on the fly without a hitch.

Here’s my current patchwork setup:
•   JRiver/Jremote > USB > Emotiva DAC for 16 bit ST
•   JRiver/Jremote > USB > SB > Optical > Emotiva DAC for 24 bit ST & MC PCM
•   Foobar/MonkeyMote > USB > SB > Optical > Emotiva DAC for DSD to PCM ST & MC

I plan on getting the Oppo BPD-105 when it hits the market in a few months to upgrade the DAC for both stereo and multi-channel.  The transport on my six-year old Oppo DV-970 universal player just quit so the BPD-105 can’t get here soon enough for me.  I’m also considering one of the $2k DSD DACs (Mytek, Benchmark, maybe Fostex?) for stereo playback.  I want a DSD DAC with preamp I/O capability to integrate my phono stage and the stereo output of the Oppo player.  Still dreaming and scheming…