A+ 3.2.6, INT and SysOpt on
Mac OS X 10.13.3
MacBook 2017 16GB RAM 1.4GHz Core i7
Music Library on external 1TB SSD
Marantz SA-10 USB-B async input to DAC
Tracks in DSD256 (.dsf) play with clicks and dropouts - and I can hear the relays in my DAC clicking in and out at the same time. The DAC reports it’s receiving DSD 11.2MHz, and A+ seems to mirror that.
DSD64 tracks appear to play correctly.
Any thoughts as to what is falling over here? I have tried adjusting A+ memory allocation, Native DSD Capability > DoP 1.0 and 1.1
If I play the DSD256 tracks on another Mac through a non-DSD capable MF V90-DA, A+ reports 24/88.2kHz and no dropouts, if this is of any relevance/help.
Thanks - a small irritation with an otherwise reliable product!
My problem appeared to go away with a later release of AV. I’m afraid I cannot remember which version. The last release I recall having before it all became AO was 3.5.50 and this did not have the problem.
Also, given the MacOS also moved along quite quickly I can’t say whether it was an update to AV or the OS that cured it.
What combination of AV and MacOS are you running?
You’ve probably checked this, but does your Mac have sufficient processing power to handle DSD256?
What are the specifications on your Mac? So dsd128 is fine, I have mini with 16 gb i7 and watching activity monitor at dsd256 Audirvāna is pretty stressful on cpu load. What if you let it preload the buffer? seems the most load is while it’s buffering and playing at the same time.
I’m not convinced lowering the playback buffer is a good thing with DSD256 which is interleaved into and transported in the DoP 1.1 at 352.8kHz… I allocate 32 minutes at 384kHz (11 GB) for DSD128 playback (approximately 64 minutes at 176,4kHz via DoP 1.1) with and without SoX up-sampling/modulation… this covers the largest DSD128 track length… I think it is also important to not use integer mode as this will bypass low-level functions in the DAC it may need to unpack the DSD256/DoP 1.1 file… I also suggest restricting the bit-depth to 24 bits in the DSD256 playback scenario…
If your DAC has FIR filtering, you may want to try different Nyquist filters… And it is entirely possible the dynamic range of the DSD256 file is exceeding the capabilities of your DAC.
I personally question the rationale for playing DSD256 files…
Not sure if anyone suggested lowering buffer size? Dsd256 is a lot of stress on system resources I think as well. What size memory do you have to use 11gb for Audirvāna? Good advice, still waiting for the information on OP’s system.
Okay… I guess I misinterpreted your statement about pre-load… it makes sense to me now…
If there is no problem playing 352.8kHz PCM files, there is something going on with how the DoP 1.1 DSD256 is being handled… where this is, is still a mystery to me… I tend to lean towards other things rather than Audirvana disfunction with these files.
I have very little native dsd files, I at times upsample to Dsd128 mostly just to experiment. If your files are native dsd256 is probably the only reason to use it. Upping the buffer is a easy test.
Man… if somebody can really quantify a tangible perceptual difference between DSD128 and DSD256, well, they are an alien from another planet… My take on these recordings is they are demonstrations of recording technology that will generally be dumbed-down to DSDxxx or PCM/DXDxxx.
