[ALRAINBOW]

Good morning

 Happy holidays to all

 I am posing this question. Does anyone know the native file format for the above dac.

I have been reading and have done some test,s myself and have come to this conclusion.  If let's say a wolfson chipped dac is used and wav is the played , there is no internal conversion going on. The file is sent to the chip unchanged . In doing so improved SQ is acquired . Most dac,s convert the input to other formats , example
Sabre dsd dac,s  convert to multibit PDM .  This is just an example and so my question is what chip in the overdrive and what native format is done? 

Al D

[audioengr]

Good morning

 Happy holidays to all

 I am posing this question. Does anyone know the native file format for the above dac.

I have been reading and have done some test,s myself and have come to this conclusion.  If let's say a wolfson chipped dac is used and wav is the played , there is no internal conversion going on. The file is sent to the chip unchanged . In doing so improved SQ is acquired . Most dac,s convert the input to other formats , example
Sabre dsd dac,s  convert to multibit PDM .  This is just an example and so my question is what chip in the overdrive and what native format is done? 

Al D

There is no upsampling and no conversion to DSD or any other format with the Overdrive SE.  This is by design.

Steve N.

[ALRAINBOW]

I understand why your answer made no sense to me then.. So the overdrive is not changing sampling rate it is capable of all PCM rates with out changing sampling or format then. Thiis is unlike most dacs then, as most convert to something to perform the process of going from digital to analog.   
I will contact you next week to order one . 
Thanks

Al D

[audioengr]

I understand why your answer made no sense to me then.. So the overdrive is not changing sampling rate it is capable of all PCM rates with out changing sampling or format then. Thiis is unlike most dacs then, as most convert to something to perform the process of going from digital to analog.   
I will contact you next week to order one . 
Thanks

Al D

Most inexpensive DACs upsample PCM to try to reduce jitter, but only reduce it a little and they add distortion artifacts from the upsampling.

Steve N.

[ALRAINBOW]

I follow that part , but I was reading that some dacs convert file format to whatever is native to the chip used in the dac.  This is why I asked . I have read enough to know your dac will out perform anything I own.  Your reviews are stellar .  I am building a nos music server with SSD and wish to use it with your dac . So I wanted to know what would be the file of choice to rip to . I have a variety of formats now . From red book and 24/192 , to ripped sacd to dsd .  This was why I asked .  Some dacs do better with some file types . Now as yours will be superior I guess maybe this may not important.

Al D

[paul79]

I think it's more about the hardware in front of the DAC... What will you use? Mac or PC?

[audioengr]

I follow that part , but I was reading that some dacs convert file format to whatever is native to the chip used in the dac.  This is why I asked . I have read enough to know your dac will out perform anything I own.  Your reviews are stellar .  I am building a nos music server with SSD and wish to use it with your dac . So I wanted to know what would be the file of choice to rip to . I have a variety of formats now . From red book and 24/192 , to ripped sacd to dsd .  This was why I asked .  Some dacs do better with some file types . Now as yours will be superior I guess maybe this may not important.

Al D

The best format to rip to has more to do with the server, not the DAC.  I rip everything to .wav, but this may be inconvenient for most people who want all of the tags attached and album art.  .wav is superior to all other formats for sound quality.  FLAC is popular, but has SQ issues on most computers. 

One server that I know sounds identical with FLAC and .wav is the Antipodes.  It is Linux based and has USB output compatible with my Off-Ramp and Overdrive.  Powered with linear supplies.  I have experience with this one and know that it sounds great.

Even the Mac Mini that I use sounds better with .wav files.

Steve N.

[livengood1]

The best format to rip to has more to do with the server, not the DAC.  I rip everything to .wav, but this may be inconvenient for most people who want all of the tags attached and album art.  .wav is superior to all other formats for sound quality.  FLAC is popular, but has SQ issues on most computers.

You can get the best of both worlds by ripping and downloading in FLAC so you have the tags, and then using dbPoweramp to convert the files to WAV. After you have the FLAC files converted, just delete the FLAC versions (and then delete the "trashbox" in the hard drive). I use Synchro-mesh after Sonos, and WAV sounds better with most music even on this front end. On systems that include the Overdrive and other state-of-the-art products, the difference would probably be even greater.

[livengood1]

a