DSD files have gone silent

Something strange happened today. I’ve been playing DSD64 and DSD256 files flawlessly for the past month using Audirvana from my MacBook Air to a Topping E30 DAC. This afternoon, DSD files went silent and instead of showing DSD 2.8 on the display, the E30 shows PCM 176.4. For DSD256 files, it is also silent and shows PCM 705.6. Tidal and PCM files continue to play normally with sound and at the correct bit rate. I tried changing every setting in the E30 configuration to no avail. The only way I can get sound from my DSD files is to deselect “DSD over PCM 1.1” and select “None: Convert to PCM”. DSD files then play at PCM384

Searching through the threads, I see some reports of this problem with no resolution, although some people have managed to fix it by uninstalling Audirvana and reinstalling. I can’t figure out how to completely uninstall Audirvana, in particular, the settings for the E30 DAC. I’ve deleted the app and tried to wipe out every thing that looks like Audirvana on ~/Library, but every time I reinstall the E30 settings come back unchanged and the problem remains. Perhaps I haven’t yet found the files where these Audirvana E30 settings are. A pointer would be appreciated.

I just reinstalled MacOS onto the same SSD (without erasing the drive) and the Topping E30 settings still persist after the MacOS installation! and DSD files play silently with the same readings on the E30.

I retrieved another DAC, a Topping D50s from another system and replaced the E30 with it. Surprise, Audirvana plays DSD64 and DSD256 using DSD over PCM 1.1 on the D50s and as smoothly as it used to work on the E30 until today. One would be tempted at this point to conclude that something went wrong with the E30 hardware wise, which causes it not to switch into DSD mode while receiving a DSD stream. However at least 5 other posters on the forum have reported DSD files going silent with the dreaded 176.4 bit rate showing on the DAC’s display. None of these DACs were the Topping brand. I also note that the D50s briefly shows a PCM rate of 176.4 on the display before switching to DSD2.8 so something in the initialization of the DAC by Audirvana/MacOS switches it into 176,4 (44.1 x 4) before another switch moves it to DSD2.8. Perhaps this is the process of “DSD over PCM”, but it is no longer working with the Topping E30. If only I could reset the persistent settings of the E30 in Audirvana, but neither uninstalling (even with a 3rd party application that wipes related files) or reinstalling MacOS seems to get rid of the E30’s settings in Audirvana.

The next possibility is wiping out the SSD and installing MacOS and all other applications from scratch. Will take hours though… I will also try the E30 DAC on another PC I have running Audirvana to see if it can play DSD files…

So I hooked the E30 DAC, which currently plays DSD files silently on my MacBook Air onto a PC running Audirvana. There is no issue playing DSD64 files using Audirvana on the PC. So the E30 is running correctly hardware wise, but there is some interaction between Audirvana/MacOS and the E30 that prevents DSD playback presently.

Shortly before I lost the ability to play DSD files, I had been using the Tidal app on the Mac to see the difference in sound quality between the Tidal app and Audirvana. Perhaps using Tidal briefly caused the Mac to get into the strange state.

Check if the software volume control has been enabled by mistake. Also check if the integer mode is selected.

Software volume control was off. Integer mode was on. However, toggling both on or off didn’t make any difference. I’ve since uninstalled Tidal and Audirvana. Rebooted the Mac and reinstalled just Audirvana. That seem to clear up the persistent E30 settings, resetting it back to default, but ithere is still no sound from DSD files.

Can you dump the debug info here?

Audirvana Mac Version 3.5.41 (3571)
macOS 10.13.6 with 2048MB RAM

Registered to tsammyc

SIGNAL PROCESSING:

Polarity Inversion:
	Globally: OFF
	Per track: ON
Effects plugins NOT ACTIVE

UPSAMPLING:
SoX custom frequencies
SoX filter parameters
Bandwidth at 0dB = 99.5
Filter max length = 30000
Anti-aliasing = 100
Phase = 66

AUDIO VOLUME:
Max allowed volume: 100
Replay Gain: None
SW volume control: OFF

LIBRARY SETTINGS:
Sync list: 1 folders
AUTO: /Users/tsc/Downloads/ISOs
iTunes/Music library synchronization: not synchronized
Library database path: /Users/tsc/Library/Application Support/Audirvana/AudirvanaPlusDatabaseV2.sqlite

ACTIVE STREAMING SERVICES
TIDAL: Connected as HIFI

=================== AUDIO DEVICE ========================

CoreAudio audio path, buffer I/O frame size: 512

Max. memory for audio buffers: 256MB

Local Audio Engine:
Exclusive access: Enabled
Integer mode: Enabled

Preferred device:
E30
Model UID:E30:152A:8750
UID:AppleUSBAudioEngine:Topping:E30:fa130000:1

Currently playing in Integer Mode:
Device: 2ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24bits little endian Signed Integer, 8 bytes per frame 705.6kHz

Active Sample Rate: 705.6kHz
Hog Mode is on

Bridge settings:
Sample rate limitation: none
Sample rate switching latency: none
Limit bitdepth to 24bit: OFF
Mute during sample rate change: OFF

Selected device:
Local audio device
ID 0x3d E30 Manufacturer:Topping
Model UID:E30:152A:8750 UID:AppleUSBAudioEngine:Topping:E30:fa130000:1

10 available sample rates up to 768000Hz
44100
48000
88200
96000
176400
192000
352800
384000
705600
768000
Audio buffer frame size : 231 to 4096 frames
Current I/O buffer frame size : 512
Volume Control
Physical: Yes
Virtual: Yes
MQA capability
Auto-detect MQA devices: No
Not a MQA device, user set to not MQA
DSD capability: DSD via PCM 1.1
Device audio channels
Preferred stereo channels L:1 R:2
Channel bitmap: Ox3, layout:
Channel 0 mapped to 0
Channel 1 mapped to 1

Audio channels in use
Number of channels: 2
Use as stereo device only: No
Simple stereo device: Yes

1 output streams:
Number of active channels: 2, in 1 stream(s)
Channel #0 :Stream 0 channel 0
Channel #1 :Stream 0 channel 1

Stream ID 0x3e 2 channels starting at 1
30 virtual formats:
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 768kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 705.6kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 384kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 352.8kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 192kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 176.4kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 96kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 88.2kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 48kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 44.1kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 768kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 705.6kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 384kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 352.8kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 192kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 176.4kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 88.2kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 768kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 705.6kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 384kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 352.8kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 192kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 176.4kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 88.2kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 44.1kHz

40 physical formats
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 768kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 705.6kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 384kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 352.8kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 192kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 176.4kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 88.2kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 768kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 705.6kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 384kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 352.8kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 192kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 176.4kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 96kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 88.2kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 48kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 44.1kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 768kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 705.6kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 384kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 352.8kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 192kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 176.4kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 88.2kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 768kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 705.6kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 384kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 352.8kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 192kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 176.4kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 88.2kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 44.1kHz

Local devices found : 2
Device #0: ID 0x33 Built-in Output Manufacturer: Apple Inc. Model UID: AppleHDA:98 UID: AppleHDAEngineOutput:1B,0,1,1:0
Device #1: ID 0x3d E30 Manufacturer: Topping Model UID: E30:152A:8750 UID: AppleUSBAudioEngine:Topping:E30:fa130000:1

UPnP devices found : 1
Device #0: ID 0x0 DP-UB820 UID: uuid:4D454930-0100-1000-8000-80C755E7EE6B Location: http://192.168.1.54:60606/80C755E7EE6B/Server0/ddd

The debug info was retrieved while Audivara was trying to play a DSD256. No sound was coming out and the DAC was showing PCM 705.6

Solved! I downloaded the Colibri DAC DSD Test, which is a free program to see if your hardware works with the Colibri player, a $5 DSD player for the Mac that can use DoP. The test program allows you to play a single DSD track without any control and it played perfectly with the Topping E30 DAC. After that Audirvana started playing DSD files again using “DSD over PCM 1.1”. Happy!

I surmised that the installation of the Colibri test software fixed whatever issue the Mac had internally with DoP that failed to resolve with the reinstallation of Audirvana or MacOS, probably a one line setting in some obscure file in ~/Library…

1 Like

THANK YOU! How the heck did you stumble across this?! I had the exact same issue as you with my E30 and for about 30 minutes was pulling out my hair! Luckily I was smart enough to do a search here before any real troubleshooting! :love_you_gesture: :sunglasses:

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