Regarding sample rate conversion, there are proprietary details in the SRC and DAC chips that we are not familiar with.
The DSD and PCM issues are mainly software-related.
This answer came from NuprimeAI (CustomGPT):
To play DSD (Direct Stream Digital) format music on a DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter) device, there are several methods available:
1. Native DSD Playback: This is the most direct method where the DAC supports DSD files natively. The DSD signal is sent directly to the DAC without any conversion, and the DAC decodes the DSD stream to analog audio.
2. DSD over PCM (DoP): For DACs that do not support native DSD playback, DoP can be used. DoP is a method to send DSD audio through a PCM audio stream. The DAC recognizes the markers in the PCM stream that indicate it is DSD data and switches to DSD decoding mode.
3. Conversion to PCM: If a DAC does not support DSD or DoP, DSD files can be converted to PCM before being sent to the DAC. This conversion can be done by software players like JRiver Media Center, Audirvana Plus, or Foobar2000 with the appropriate plugins.
(this last sentence is from me
![Very Happy :D](https://www.audiocircle.com/Smileys/audiocircle/icon_biggrin.gif)
) Whether the format is native DSD or DoP (which is still DSD), DACs that support DSD will decode correctly. Some player software simply converts DSD to PCM.