2. digital
  3. 195049-199203

Native DSD versus DoP

How big of a deal should it be to ensure one has true native DSD capabilities in their digital front end?  Case example: I have a Lumin U2 Mini and a Denafrips Pontus 15th (out to McIntosh C53 and MC312, B&W 702 S3, REL t/7x).  I am thrilled with the SQ and I am really enjoying downloaded DSD playback.  I am just curious - would anyone suggest that I can match or beat this SQ with a non-native-DSD-capable DAC?  I mean, for a comparable price?

I play SACDs on an MCT500 to the DA2 in the C53.  Would anyone suggest I can get better SQ running SPDIF to a separate DAC?

P.S. If you think my speakers are a weak link, that's fine.  Assume I upgrade them, does that change your answer?

mattsca

Showing 2 responses by audphile1

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
5,640 posts
 

Depends on the DAC design. But I wouldn’t sweat it. DoP sounds just fine. 

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
5,640 posts
 

Just like @mikelavigne I rarely choose DSD from the library unless there’s a specific album I’d like to hear in DSD or when I like a certain recording in high-res and want to compare it to its DSD counterpart. Another case is when Roon shuffles in a DSD track from the library when it spins Roon radio.
As to DACs, I owned a Bricasti M3 that featured Bricasti’s proprietary DSD 1 bit DAC. I could choose between that or DSD PCM using the conventional path with Analog Devices DAC chip. Bricasti accepted native DSD. I preferred its proprietary DSD DAC in that case. 
I now have Meitner MA3i that doesn’t accept native DSD. It’s an FPGA DAC that up-converts everything to DSD regardless of incoming bit rate. Meitner DSD over PCM sounds amazing playing local DSD files. So as I said earlier, don’t sweat it. It’s fine if the DAC supports DoP only. 

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