Cantilope Posted April 16, 2015 Author Share Posted April 16, 2015 Hello Everybody. I joined the forum today and I am happy to read the discussions in the forum. As several of the members have mentioned about DSD files and the possible merits of this formation, I would like to raise an issue on playing DSD files in a modest system. I am using a raspberry pi 'B' with the wilson audio card as the upstream end of my audio system comprising an Audio Research Preamplifier, Audio Research Tube Power amplifier and Gallo speakers as the downstream end. It being the Easter season, I managed to download the JS Bach Easter Orotario DSD file from a blogger and tried to play this through the raspberry pi. Although the system is able to play the music, however there is staggering in the audio output, presumably due to buffering in raspberry/wilson/openelec combination. However this is only my guess. I would greatly appreciate any views and advice of members who may have faced a similar situation. Thank you. Welcome, I have not been successful yet at getting the pi to play native DSD, but I have been focusing on testing and trying to get XBMC (Kodi) to work. I love XBMC, but so far no luck. I have seen that card, what software are you using, is that openelec? Stuttering for me has always been a transcoding problem. I would start looking there, I have had some buffering problems in XMBC with blue ray movies, but never audio or even DVD for that matter. You might try Foobar2000 on your PC with your pi as a DAC. Foobar allows you to convert from PCM to DSD or from DSD to PCM and will push out native DSD. That would rule out your software and in the lower corner foobar2000 clearly shows what its outputting. Schitt has a pretty good guide on getting that to work plus advice on other software. Check out there site. I'd appreciate your feedback on getting this running, if you do, I might consider the Wilson card. I have been messing around a bit with Volumio, but I am not there yet. One thing mentioned above, The Oppo 105 is the ultimate solution, I hear it can even do DSD over DLNA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 My experience is with pure DSD to analog and I've yet to find any PC player or card that handles DSD without a bunch of unnecessary this and that. I am still looking and would simply finalize on DSD as my standard format if I could find what I need at prices less than those of a Korg, which still provides only 2 channels. In theory, DSD could be decoded directly to analog using nothing but a passive lowpass filter -- capacitors, inductors, and resistors. No oversampling; no conversion to PCM; no computation whatsoever. Has any manufacturer exploited this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cantilope Posted April 16, 2015 Author Share Posted April 16, 2015 My experience is with pure DSD to analog and I've yet to find any PC player or card that handles DSD without a bunch of unnecessary this and that. I am still looking and would simply finalize on DSD as my standard format if I could find what I need at prices less than those of a Korg, which still provides only 2 channels. In theory, DSD could be decoded directly to analog using nothing but a passive lowpass filter -- capacitors, inductors, and resistors. No oversampling; no conversion to PCM; no computation whatsoever. Has any manufacturer exploited this? I think that would be the Schiit Loki, but I am not sure exactly how it does it. It sounds amazing, I will say that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 the Wyred will do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cantilope Posted April 20, 2015 Author Share Posted April 20, 2015 (edited) Spent another weekend messing around with the Loki and DSD. I also listened to a fair share of PCM over DSD. So this time I removed the McIntosh C32 from the equation. I ran the outputs of the Loki directly into the McIntosh SS MC2205 amplifier and used the gain controls on the amp to adjust for Volume. I then run to a splitter and RCA cables to the Crown for the Subwoofer. I cannot even begin to explain how much better it sounds without the preamp. This might show that my C32 needs a service, but I am a big believer in the shortest path equals the best sound. Schiit makes a passive preamp SYS with a volume and switch that would make an excellent addition to a Loki/bifrost combination in front of a quality amp. This setup is better than anything I have had so far… Also replaced my Monster Cable interconnects with Blue Jeans Cable. Didn’t notice any sonic changes, but they are made to length and look very nice. Nice heavy connectors. That Wyred is pretty nice stuff, I’d love to hear one. Edited April 20, 2015 by Cantilope Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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