Just downloaded Audirvana Origin for trial and am impressed with sound quality. My setup is Macbook Air 2019 connected to Marantz Av 8805 Pre Amp via Anker USB C to HDMI Adaptor and Audio Quest Pearl HDMI Cable. All flac, wav, mp3 etc. files work flawlessly. Problem I am facing is with DSD files. They work fine when converted to PCM but the moment I switch native DSD Streaming to DSD over PCM 1.1 there is no audio output. What am I missing here. Anyone here who can confirm using Audirvana with Marantz AV8805. Another issue I am facing is dropout when playing DSD ISO files. Any setting i can try…
You won’t be able to do that over HDMI. Try using UPnP or USB for DSD playback.
Yes I tried playing it via UPnP and it sounds simply pathetic. My question… is it a Audirvana’s limitation or is it a limitation of Marantz AV8805. DSD via HDMI when converted to PCM work fine but DSD over PCM 1.1 has no output.
- DSD converted to PCM = PCM. PCM does work over HDMI.
- DSD over PCM (DoP) = DSD. DSD does not work over HDMI. (DoP does not convert to PCM, but transports the DSD signal in a PCM container).
1). If UPnP sounds bad on your system it is likely not Audirvana but another part of your system/chain (maybe a setting somewhere?). Audirvana is known to have some connection problems with some UPnP devices, but the sound quality is not one of them. Maybe you could investigate further if there are settings in your chain/system preventing a good SQ over UPnP?
2). I see in the specs that your Marantz has no DAC-USB input, but it has optical input. Is it a possibility to use a USB to Optical adapter? As far as I know the maximum DSD rate of Optical/SPDIF is DSD64, and your device (Marantz) has to support it. I could not find anything about DSD over optical in the specs of your Marantz. Maybe in the manual? If your Marantz supports it that could be an option. Of courses this requires the purchase of a USB to Optical converter and the DSD options are rather limited (max DSD64).
3). Another (more expensive) option could be: Connect Audirvana via USB to an external DAC (with DSD capabillity) and connect that DAC to an analog input on your Marantz. In that way you can play DSD in all formats the external DAC is capable off. This last option is (in my opinion) superior to the other options (sound quality wise and DSD options wise), but the most expensive, because you’ll have to buy an external DAC.
4). I see your Marantz has an USB connection for an external drive. Is the internal music player in your Marantz capable of playing DSD files? In that case: Just connect an external USB drive to your Marantz and play them from there.
5). Simplest case scenario. Convert DSD to PCM while playing. This always works of course.
Mind you, if you want to play DSD over your particular system this is not a specific Audirvana problem. All music player programs (be it JRiver, Foobar, MusicBee, Roon etc.) will have exactly the same connection/DSD issues and limitations as I described above. Welcome to the complex world of computer audio, file formats, sampling rates, compatability issues etc. etc. etc. etc. Who said life was easy 
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Lots of options, which one suits you (if any) is for you to decide.
I would stick to converting DSD to PCM. Your receiver is obviously not very good at playing DSD.
I’ve been using Audirvana for a long time, just to confirm, isn’t there a native DSD option?
DSD will always be by DOP?
I don’t know if you are on a Mac or Windows.
If you are on a Mac, DSD can only be played by DoP. The Mac computer/Mac OS does not recognize DSD natively, so a ‘trick’ (DoP) has to be used.
If you are on a Windows computer native DSD can be played through an ASIO driver (driver is provided by the manufacturer of your DAC and your DAC must support DSD). If you play via WASAPI in Windows than DSD must be played over DoP also.
These are technical limitations of Mac and Windows and not limitations of Audirvana. So it does not matter what music player software you use on your Mac or Windows, these limitations will always apply.
But basically this is not a real limitation because DoP is native DSD, the DSD is just ‘packaged’ in a PCM format to ‘fool’ the computer, but in the DAC it is recognized as native DSD and played as native DSD. So the end result is ‘native’ DSD but it is a trick to fool your computer into playing DSD.
In short:
- Audirvana has a ‘native’ DSD option. But only on a system capable of playing native DSD.
- In all other cases Audirvana uses DoP which is basically ‘native’ DSD also.
See also the following links:
DSD over PCM (DoP) | Audiopraise
DoP versus Asio native - what are the differences/similarities? - iFi audio (ifi-audio.com)
DoP open Standard | DSD-Guide.com
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I have a Marantz SR7015 and I can play DSD. The trick is I have to tell Windows 11 that my system is 5.1. I guess technically my system is 5.1.4 with 2 pair of dolby atmos speakers. If I choose 7.1 or Dolby Atmos it fails with an error message, “unable to change to integer mode”. Weird!.
Correction: Origin will not playy DSD when I set the sound config in WIndows 11 to Atmos (which is what I have), but will play when set the sound config to 7.1.
I have a weird situation where I go Macbook Pro > HDMI > Denon 4800h receiver, but the .iso dsd file plays back at a fast speed. I also have a .iso that plays back at an incredibly super slow speed. I can’t find anywhere to adjust playback speed.
If I unhook the computer from HDMI, the iso dsd files play just fine. Any ideas on what I can try?
Not sure this is possible. The 4800h manual states that playback of DSD is only supported over USB and network, not supported over HDMI
Try searching on the internet. There may be some solutions there…….
Interesting. This is from their website: Do Denon products support DSD (Direct Stream Digital)?
Yes, most of our AV, AVR and HiFi models support 2-channel DSD directly via USB or when using the Media Server option. All AV models and some AVR models can support up to 5.1 DSD when using an HDMI connection from a source device that produces DSD content. (i.e., SACD player)
In the description above i see the words most and some. Also they refer to a source like a SACD player. SACD players can’t go above DSD64. What is the rate of the DSD files you are trying to play?
What does the documentation/manual of your specific Denon 4800 say?