Native DSD has them: https://www.nativedsd.com/
Thank you kindly. I will look to see what they have.
As a result of this I now know my DAC will only play DSD64 or 128. Good job I found that out before buying unsuitable files.
btw is there are any real benefit over the 192khz I tend to look for?
Of course, it depends on the quality of the original recording, but I find DSD, especially 128 and 256, to sound more like real music than 192khz.
Have just downloaded the software to trial and am connecting to an iFi Zen DAC.
The volume button changes colour as to the audio format being played:
Green PCM 44-96
Yellow PCM 176-384
Cyan for DSD 64-128
Blue for DSD256
Magenta for MQA
I have tried all the a version of all the varieties, however the DSD256 is not recognised and the light does not change to Blue as playing DSD256.
When looking at the settings within the output device, it is recognising the iFi device, but there are two issues that I can see:
1.Supported DSD rates: 64 & 128. 256 is not mentioned, however the device is capable of 256.
2. It says the device “DAC not detected as MQA, use as…” I have set this as MQA Renderer and the light changes to Purple.
I am guessing that software is not recognising the DAC correctly, as such thinks it cannot play DSD256.
Is this a known issue, or do I need to do anything?
OS: iMac Catalina
DAC: iFi Zen DAC
Thanks
Jon
Same file plays at DSD256 on an AK SE100.
macOS is not able to send raw DSD streams. That’s why the DSD over PCM standard has been developed: to send raw DSD in a fake PCM stream.
To identify it as such, there are 8 bit markers in it.
And the presence of these markers doubles the need of bandwidth, thus explaining why on a mac only half of the max DSD rate is available.
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ok, Thanks for confirming.
Is this situation likely to change on macs? I also want to make sure understand: If I want to play DSD256, I need a DAC that can handle DSD512?
No, you need a DAC that can handle DSD256 over DoP, which takes double the equivalent PCM sample rate.
Would that be 768KHz? My DAC tops out at 705.6
Also, just noticed that Audirvana allows me to convert my music files to DSD256, and so far it’s playing fine. Can I take that as an indicator that I will be able to play a DSD256 file downloaded from the NativeDSD website?
These 2 specifications are not directly related.
Yes, if it plays upsampled files to DSD256 it will also play native files in the same resolution as well.
You can test that by downloading sampler from 2L.no.
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Apparently, not all DSD256 files are equal. I downloaded a sampler and album in DSD256, which both play fine, but the third download (a Reference Recording issue of Honeck conducting Bruckner’s 9th) plays only with loud pops. To play it without distortion, I have to convert it to PCM.