Volumio Version: buster version as of 9/14/21
Hardware: rpi4 / digi2 pro / Cambridge dacmagic 200m
DAC:see above
I try i2s digi and it plays.
I2s digi + pro doesn’t work
When I use dsd native playback my dac always states I’m playing 192 files, never the correct sample rate. On 44 or 96 files they register properly on the dac.
I feel I’m likely not getting all the quality of the files. The music doesn’t sound bad mind you, it just likely isn’t sending a clean bitstream down. My Astell & Kern SR15 plays via usb into the unit perfectly and the files play at native DSD resolution (or at least the lights on my DAC correspond to the correct bitrate).
SPDIF. It seems that I’m confused as to what SPDIF and TOSLINK can send out. Am I to understand correctly that whatever comes out of either of the digital outputs will register as 192kHz?
If I’m playing a DSD512 file…what am I losing playing them this way through my DAC?
Should I find another way to do this? Should I just USB out?
Definitely try USB. 192k PCM, which is DoP64, is the best you can get. The standard for S/PIDF and TOS link is actually 96k but pushing it to 192k is common.
Apologies. Sorry @Rockphotographer you do not seem to have any options. Cambridge audio have made there marketing decision. Give them a negative review every chance you get. Have you many DSD512 files? You may be able to convert to PCM. There is software available.
Turns out usb works perfectly with the dac magic !
I’m a little pissed I didn’t know enough to not buy the digi 2 pro. Course it might be debatable that I can hear the difference between dsd64 or 128 and 192k.
512 is likely far different but upon a/b’ing the two….hard to say.
Totally hahah. Course I’m still not sure some content sounds better via the spdif into my dac. Course if it’s dsd 256/512 ….that’s likely better over usb.
I may end up buying the Allo usbridge player with the digi one signature board….best of all options but it’s 400-600 bucks depending if I buy the spdif out at first sigh…
You are better of with USB, asynchronous USB like the DAC Magic 200.
S/PIDF-TOS is officially limited to 24/96 though a lot can run at 24/192k. There is also the problem of jitter with S/PIDF-TOS. Some RPi HATs are good at suppressing it at the source and some DACs do a better job dealing with high jitter coming from the streamer but, jitter seems to be a problem with a lot of the gear on the market.
Asynch USB gives you higher bit rates and no jitter. I mean that jitter is down to the DAC characteristics only, which is usually pretty good. Also, a lot of USB DACs give you a HW volume control option not available in S/PDIF-TOS.
The Allo usbridge was on my short list when I was upgrading. I’ve gone the USB path but the Allo is a good unit.
Weird…
First time I’ve changed from “DSD over PCM” to “DSD Direct”, it shows a “Error in saving settings”, but playing a DSD track the 200M shows the correct LEDs.
Went to dinner, come back, and it’s doing what have always done; no DSD light. Changing the settings again always produce the same error message and did not show DSD light again.
After a reboot, with the setting on “DSD over PCM”, changing to “DSD Direct”, shows the error but I have the DSD light, and I’ve been playing all kind of files, DSD, FLAC, WMA, always with the correct LEDs lighting up.
I’ll see tomorrow if it has some kind of consistent logic that can be reproduced…
I have a Cambridge Dac Magic, Allo Boss 1.2 and also Hifiberry Dac2HD. I did some testing : all connected with Vandenhul cables to Rotel preamp, each B&W 802 loudspeaker connected to its own Rotal amp. I can assure you that Cambridge Audio sounds great. Why give them a negative review what I read in this forum ??? Do people sometimes listen to music or do they watch the figures from labs ? Sorry, probably my amps cost more than the ‘test equipment’…but what matters to me is …how does it sound ? Hifiberry Dac2HD sounds great and DacMagic is a top product !
All that is very well. But if a piece of equipment is not technically performing as it should, I think it’s not all that crazy to try to understand why and correct it, even if the sound quality is perfect (wich never is).
Hi,
not sure how some of the posters claim DSD direct is working.
Perhaps they mistake it for DOP (DSD over PCM).
All DSD native (sometimes called DSD “direct” or DSD “raw”) capable devices need to be registered by an entry in the linux usb audio driver’s quirk table to “unleash” DSD native data streams, for the DacMagic 200M that would mean “22e8:dac2” (Vendor ID:Product ID).
With the Cambridge DacMagic 200M this is not the case, not anywhere in kernel versions between 4.19.y and 5.14.y.
Volumio for RPi uses kernel 4.19.y, x86 uses 3.18.25 (betas: 5.4.y PI and x86 5.10.y)
Based on my communication with their support team, Cambridge knows and considers it as a future development task.
Surely DSD over PCM (DOP) will work and probably sound excellent.
Don’t know how the 200M led lights behave with DOP.
For those who believe their leds and claim DSD direct does work, show us the contents of
cat /proc/asound/card5/stream0
while playing what they think is DSD64 or DSD128 native material.
The result should be obvious, give me a surprise otherwise
