Using AS (and Roon) on an M2 Mac Mini connected via USB to a Playback Designs MPS-5 as the DAC. Roon is able to change the sample rate on the DAC automatically to match each particular album, however AS cannot. Is there any way to achieve this thru AS? If not, might there be a future update to achieve this? Thank you
AS has always been capable of this (and Audirvana before AS as well). What are your AS settings?
As @Jud already said, AS should do this automatically too. Maybe it has to do with your system/settings.
Can you provide the ‘debug’ info for your system?
If you press the ‘Debug info’ button the text will automatically be copied to the clipboard and then you can paste it in a new post in this thread.
This provides forum members with info about your settings and system and this helps in finding the cause for your issue.
Edit:
Just a guess:
Since you are on a Mac, do you have ‘exclusive’ output mode enabled in your Audirvana output settings? If you have this set to ‘off’ than your output bitrate will likely always be the same, because the output bitrate is decided by MacOS and not Audirvana. Try to switch this to ‘on’ to give Audirvana control over the output bitrate and see if that helps.
I am a Windows user myself (and that setting is not available in Audirvana for Windows) so I can not provide you with a screenshot. Maybe a Mac user on this forum can provide a screenshot of this setting?
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Do you have the latest firmware 030 installed?
Do you have the USB-X Interface?
Along with the Debug Info, please post a screenshot of the DAC Input settings…
*From page 15 of the User Maual…
When things do not seem to work
The MPS-5 is a hardware device with very little software inside and if it doesn’t show any signs of malfunctioning in other playback modes, it is relatively safe to assume that the problem is either with the USB link or the computer. Generally, you should look for any signs of trouble on your computer first, and don’t assume that because your computer may work with someone else’s USB DAC, but not with the MPS-5, that the problem is with the MPS-5. The MPS-5 uses different software inside your computer.
Here are a few suggestions for what to do:
- The USB-X interface is powered by the computer via the USB cable, but the clock signal is coming from the MPS-5. So every time you turn off the MPS-5 you will have to unplug the USB cable from the computer and plug it back in once the MPS-5 is powered up again.
- Make sure that the driver is properly installed (PC only). See step 6 under driver installation above for instructions for how to check successful installation and connection.
- Make sure the USB-X is properly connected to the MPS-5 with the included optical cable. Only use the cable that was shipped with the USB-X. If the front panel indicates “NO LOCK” when the PLINK input is selected then that points to a broken connection with the USB-X.
- Make sure you use the USB cable that was shipped with the MPS-5. Other USB cables can be used, but they need to be USB2.0 compatible.
- Disconnect the USB cable and restart your computer.
- Connect the USB cable while the PLINK input is selected on the MPS-5. On Mac computers it can take up to 10 seconds to enumerate.
- On Mac computers it can happen that after successful enumeration OSX selects the internal audio output instead of the MPS-5. This can easily be corrected manually in the sound control panel in System Preferences as shown in this screen shot.
Thanks everyone for the quick replies. Exclusive Access mode is on, and the firmware on the DAC is version 30.
Debug data as requested:
Audirvana Studio 2.7.0 (20700)
macOS 14.2.1 with 8GB physical RAM
Connected account of : Robert
NETWORK
Status: available
SIGNAL PROCESSING:
Polarity Inversion:
Globally: OFF
Per track: ON
Effects plugins NOT ACTIVE
UPSAMPLING:
r8brain not in use
r8brain filter parameters
Bandwidth = 99.5%
Stop band attenuation 218dB
Phase linear
AUDIO VOLUME:
Max allowed volume: 100
Replay Gain: None
SW volume control: OFF
LIBRARY SETTINGS:
Sync list: 0 folders
iTunes/Music library synchronization: not synchronized
Library database path: /Users/dave/Library/Application Support/Audirvana/AudirvanaDatabase.sqlite
Local audio files fingerprinting
Tracks with no MBID: 542
Remote Control server:
Listening on 127.0.0.1 on port 56565
ACTIVE STREAMING SERVICES
Qobuz: Connected as Qobuz Studio
=================== AUDIO DEVICE ========================
Active method: Local
Max. memory for audio buffers: 5120MB
Local Audio Engine: CoreAudio
Exclusive access: ON
Integer mode: ON
Use max I/O buffer size: OFF
Actual I/O buffer frame size: 512
Preferred device:
FOCAL FOCAL ARCHE Audio 2.0
Model UID:FOCAL ARCHE Audio 2.0:152A:87A0
UID:AppleUSBAudioEngine:FOCAL:FOCAL ARCHE Audio 2.0:2300000:1
Currently playing in Integer Mode:
Device: 2ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24bits little endian Signed Integer, 6 bytes per frame 44.1kHz
Active Sample Rate: 44.1kHz
Hog Mode is on
Bridge settings:
Sample rate limitation: 384kHz
Sample rate switching latency: 2s
Limit bitdepth to 24bit: ON
Mute during sample rate change: ON
Selected device:USB-X
Manufacturer: Playback Designs
Model name: Playback Designs USB-X
Model UID: USB-X:23BA:0003
UID: AppleUSBAudioEngine:Playback Designs:USB-X:2300000:1
USB Vendor ID: 0x23ba
USB Product ID: 0x0003
ID 0x4e
8 available sample rates up to 384000Hz
44100
48000
88200
96000
176400
192000
352800
384000
Audio buffer frame size : 14 to 4096 frames
Current I/O buffer frame size : 512
Volume Control
Physical: No
Virtual: No
Max volume alert: Enabled
MQA capability
Auto-detect MQA devices: No
Not a MQA device, user set to not MQA
DSD capability
DSD via PCM 1.0
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 0x4f 2 channels starting at 1
16 virtual formats:
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 24 little endian Signed Integer 384kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 352.8kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 192kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 176.4kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 88.2kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
16 physical formats
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 384kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 352.8kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 192kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 176.4kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 88.2kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 384kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 352.8kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 192kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 176.4kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 88.2kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
Local devices found : 2
Device #0: ID 0x4e USB-X
Manufacturer: Playback Designs
Model UID: USB-X:23BA:0003
UID: AppleUSBAudioEngine:Playback Designs:USB-X:2300000:1
USB Vendor ID: 0x23ba
USB Product ID: 0x0003
Model name: Playback Designs USB-X
Device #1: ID 0x48 Mac mini Speakers
Manufacturer: Apple Inc.
Model UID: Speaker
UID: BuiltInSpeakerDevice
Model name: Apple Inc. Mac mini Speakers
UPnP
UPnP devices found : 1
Device #0: ID 0x0 : DP-UB820
UID: uuid:4D454930-0100-1000-8000-FFFFFFFFFFFF
Location: http://172.16.0.8:60606/FFFFFFFFFFFF/Server0/ddd
Manufacturer: Panasonic
Model name: Blu-ray Disc Player
Chromecast
Chromecast devices found : 0
Quick question, do you happen to be playing MQA albums?
Why are we seeing the Focal Arche DAC/HPA as the Preferred Device? Disconnect this from the Mac and Make sure you have chosen the USB-X device as the output device in ‘Audio MIDI Setup’ and reverify the USB-X connections.
*Disable Integer Mode, Audirvana may not properly address the USB-X with this enabled.
and check your settings for the computer as shown in this screen-shot
Trouble-shooting….
(With the Focal box disconnected follow these steps…)
Shut down the MSP-5 → Shutdown the computer → Power-ON the computer → When the computer is completely booted → Power- ON the MPS-5/USB-X
** If the behavior persists, contact Playback Designs…
Also… You have more than 50% of your 8GB System Memory allocated for playback pre-load buffer memory… reduce the playback pre-load memory allocation to 2GB… this will give you better playback performance.
*** When you connect the Focal box and make this the output device, is playback from Audirvana as expected? … If playback is as expected, then you have your answer as to where the problem is…
No, no MQA ever
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I recently purchased the Arche to use primarily as an amp only. I had just hooked it up as a DAC prior to posting, but had completely disconnected it prior to running the debug data, so I guess that’s why the Arche was still showing as the preferred device. After rebooting the PC the USB-X is again showing as the preferred device.
I turned integer mode off and adjusted the playback memory to 2gb. I followed your recommended sequence to restart everything. Out of 10 tries I did get the MPS-5 sample rate to follow the AS sample rate once. AS changes the sample rate correctly in the MAC Mini Audio Devices USB-X tab, but that change is not triggering any sample rate change on the MPS-5’s display.
The moment I change over to Roon, the sample rate flows thru correctly every time.
With regards to the Arche DAC, if you set the Arche Mac Mini Audio Devices tab to the recommended 24/384k, the AS sample rate changes do display properly on the Arche. What I am not sure of is if the Arche is receiving the data at 24/384k from the Mac Mini and then downsampling it to the correct sample rate, or if it is receiving the correct sample rate from Mac Mini.
Sorry you have such an “interesting” problem with the Playback Designs.
With regard to the Arche, I can’t think of a mechanism by which it would somehow know to change to a different rate than the one it was receiving, so I’m reasonably sure in this case that AS’s sample rate changes are flowing through to the DAC.
-
The sample-rate settings for the USB-X in Audio MIDI Setup should match with the DAC Input settings of Audirvana… (For example) The selected ‘Bit depth maximum’ of 24 bit and the ‘Maximum sample rate’ of 384kHz chosen in Audirvana DAC Input settings should be matched in Audio MIDI Setup
-
Do the files play properly (not fast or slow) any way, without the display read-out on the MPS-5?
-
What happens when you up-sample all PCMxxx files to 24 bit/352.8kHz or modulate all PCMxxx to DSD128 (5.6MHz) in Audirvana? (This is different than the sample-rate conversion done in macOS on the Mac Mini described in the manual that Playback Designs deem as degrading the performance…)
Please make a screen-shot of the playback screen when a file is playing… we want to see what the source file bit-depth and sample-rate is, and what output bit-depth and sample-rate is being sent to the USB-X.
And please provide the Debug Info when the USB-X is the preferred device…
Here’s an updated debug with USB-X as preferred device:
Audirvana Studio 2.7.0 (20700)
macOS 14.2.1 with 8GB physical RAM
Connected account of : Robert
NETWORK
Status: available
SIGNAL PROCESSING:
Polarity Inversion:
Globally: OFF
Per track: ON
Effects plugins NOT ACTIVE
UPSAMPLING:
r8brain not in use
r8brain filter parameters
Bandwidth = 99.5%
Stop band attenuation 218dB
Phase linear
AUDIO VOLUME:
Max allowed volume: 100
Replay Gain: None
SW volume control: OFF
LIBRARY SETTINGS:
Sync list: 0 folders
iTunes/Music library synchronization: not synchronized
Library database path: /Users/dave/Library/Application Support/Audirvana/AudirvanaDatabase.sqlite
Local audio files fingerprinting
Tracks with no MBID: 627
Remote Control server:
Listening on 127.0.0.1 on port 49153
ACTIVE STREAMING SERVICES
Qobuz: Connected as Qobuz Studio
=================== AUDIO DEVICE ========================
Active method: Local
Max. memory for audio buffers: 2016MB
Local Audio Engine: CoreAudio
Exclusive access: ON
Integer mode: OFF
Use max I/O buffer size: OFF
Actual I/O buffer frame size: 512
Preferred device:
Playback Designs USB-X
Model UID:USB-X:23BA:0003
UID:AppleUSBAudioEngine:Playback Designs:USB-X:2300000:1
Currently playing in standard 32bit float mode
Device: 2ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32bits little endian Signed Float, 8 bytes per frame 44.1kHz
Active Sample Rate: 44.1kHz
Hog Mode is on
Bridge settings:
Sample rate limitation: 384kHz
Sample rate switching latency: 2s
Limit bitdepth to 24bit: ON
Mute during sample rate change: ON
Selected device:USB-X
Manufacturer: Playback Designs
Model name: Playback Designs USB-X
Model UID: USB-X:23BA:0003
UID: AppleUSBAudioEngine:Playback Designs:USB-X:2400000:1
USB Vendor ID: 0x23ba
USB Product ID: 0x0003
ID 0x6c
8 available sample rates up to 384000Hz
44100
48000
88200
96000
176400
192000
352800
384000
Audio buffer frame size : 14 to 4096 frames
Current I/O buffer frame size : 512
Volume Control
Physical: No
Virtual: No
Max volume alert: Enabled
MQA capability
Auto-detect MQA devices: No
Not a MQA device, user set to not MQA
DSD capability
DSD via PCM 1.0
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 0x6d 2 channels starting at 1
16 virtual formats:
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 24 little endian Signed Integer 384kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 352.8kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 192kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 176.4kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 88.2kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
16 physical formats
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 384kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 352.8kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 192kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 176.4kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 88.2kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 384kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 352.8kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 192kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 176.4kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 88.2kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
Local devices found : 2
Device #0: ID 0x6c USB-X
Manufacturer: Playback Designs
Model UID: USB-X:23BA:0003
UID: AppleUSBAudioEngine:Playback Designs:USB-X:2400000:1
USB Vendor ID: 0x23ba
USB Product ID: 0x0003
Model name: Playback Designs USB-X
Device #1: ID 0x48 Mac mini Speakers
Manufacturer: Apple Inc.
Model UID: Speaker
UID: BuiltInSpeakerDevice
Model name: Apple Inc. Mac mini Speakers
UPnP
UPnP devices found : 1
Device #0: ID 0x0 : DP-UB820
UID: uuid:4D454930-0100-1000-8000-FFFFFFFFFFFF
Location: http://172.16.0.8:60606/FFFFFFFFFFFF/Server0/ddd
Manufacturer: Panasonic
Model name: Blu-ray Disc Player
Chromecast
Chromecast devices found : 0
Thanks again
1 Like
Put Integer mode ON
Use max I/O buffer ON
Screenshot looks good, file is playing, what is the bug?
How does playback behave when using only the built-in USB interface of the MPS-5?
In regard to @RunHomeSlow 's recommendation to enable Integer Mode…
From the Audirvana ‘Help Information’ window in DAC Input settings:
Audirvāna optimizes and streamlines the audio data path to minimize the undesirable effects associated with synchronous audio stream processing. Thus, the only real-time operation is reduced to a simple broadcast of the data in integer mode - Integer Mode.
This mode provides a data stream in a native format to the DAC, thus optimizing the load on your computer’s processor.
The USB-X is not a DAC, it is a proprietary Playback Designs USB interface more like a DDC…
Specifically… When up-sampling all PCMxxx using ‘Power of Two’, does the USB-X lock to the output sample-rate and the MPS-5 display reflects the correct output sample-rate?
Focusing on the USB-X interface…
Try changing the Bridge settings…
- Sample rate limitation → “No Limit”
- Sample rate switching latency → “0”
- Limit bitdepth to 24bit → “OFF”
- Mute during sample rate change → “Off”
The MPS-5 sample rate is not adjusting to match the AS and Audio MIDI sample rate.
See above
1 Like
This is a tell-tale… You should see in the Audirvana playback screen, that a 16/44.1kHz source file being output at 24 or 32bit/352.8kHz…
I’ve always been under the impression that all Playback Designs platforms converted all PCMxxx to DSD by nature of the DAC design and played DSD natively or via DoP…
In any event… When you say that the MPS-5 does not update to sample rate changes, are you also saying that you do not get output (sound)? Or, are you able to listen to music, but the MPS-5 does not display the sample-rate?
Try updating the Mini to macOS Sonoma 14.3.1
What does Playback Designs say about the behavior you are experiencing?