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Audirvana Plays DSD without DSD compatible DAC

I've just been investigating some of the DSD features of Audirvana.

The one nice feature it has - if you don't own a DSD ready DAC, you can use Aurdivana to...

1. Play the DSD file and convert as it is being played
- in this case you use Audirvana without iTunes

2. import the file into the iTunes Library using Audirvana
- you can then play it using iTunes + Audirvana
- but Audirvana creates a "proxy file"
- which allows it to locate the actual DSD file
- it then converts on the fly while playing (as above)

3. It will also play the DSD track (unaltered) if you have a DSD compatible DAC - of course :-)

You can also set a conversion upper limit e.g. 24/96 if that is the max resolution your DAC can process and all files will be converted up to that limit

A really nice feature :-)

So, go out and buy some DSD tracks.

I'm sure other software offers the same features

Regards...
williewonka
williewonka OP
3,072 posts
 
Mateored - I view DSD as just another high resolution format.

Granted, there may be some "technical benefits" of DSD, but at this level of performance I certainly won't be looking to compare it to other hi-res formats - just as I have stopped comparing my digital components to my analogue components - I just prefer to enjoy the music they both produce.

Like you, I have read articles pro DSD and pro PCM, but to me, it does not matter if one is better than the other - it does matter if an album I would like to purchase has only been released in a format my equipment cannot play.

The nice thing with Audirvana - it's flexibility - it plays most popular digital formats and I'm sure Damien will extend its capabilities as new formats emerge.

For those out there that are able to provide a technical comparison/evaluation/benefit analysis - please do so - I also would also be interested.

Back to the music :-)
williewonka OP
3,072 posts
 
In my original post I cited an example of an upper limit of 24/96.

However, Audirvana actually converts DSD to 24bit and the highest sample rate multiple of 44.1kHz (e.g. 352.8, 176.4, 88.2, or 44.1kHz) - which is dependent on the upper limit of the DAC being used

The upper limit my DAC can process in the above multiple list is actually 176.4 kHz

The DSD64 file I downloaded was converted to 24/176.4 by Audirvana

Regards...
mateored
258 posts
 
Perhaps one of our resident digital music gurus can explain the issue better. In the meantime, I agree that Audivarna is a nice piece of software.
jwm
918 posts
 
Make sure you pick DSD over PCM Standard 1 in the Audivarna settings. This will allow you to play DSD direct without converting it to 24/192 or 352.8
tonydennison's avatar
tonydennison
382 posts
 
When I go in to preferences to select "to DSD", the to DSD is grayed out. Is this because I am still in trial mode ?

Also, if I have a DSD dac, should I not use this option (once I figured out how to) ?

Found no way to contact Audirvana, and did not see the answer in what I looked at here.


Thank you,

TD
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