False advertising


Any dacs out there that actually perform to specs? I’m looking for a dac that can do 512 dsd natively eg no dop . Many dacs claim > 128 dsd but there’s always an asterisk.  My d1100 specs include 256 dsd but only plays 64-128 dop . According to mcintosh 256 is achieved only via usb on windows asio driver. As such I’m limited to 128 dop but not higher. If I don’t set dsd dop I get white noise/hiss. 
 

i stream using auralic g2.1 and have some 256 files. 
 

thoughts will be appreciated. 
 

thanks. 

tee_dee

There are lots of DACs that handle DSD 512.  That said, certainly not every DAC supports it.  Audiobyte HydraVox has a DSD 512 mode that is quite good and I have others.  Playback designs at a higher end certainly does.  

The d1100 specs claim DSD up to 256. It will playback up to 128 DoP.

In my experience, it can only do DSD 64 natively, unfortunately. The dac is unable to playback higher DSD. 

I found a posting from Innuos related to native DSD playback.

 

https://innuos.com/kb/known-compatible-native-dsd-dacs/

 

 

Hi fellow audiogonians. 

I bot a Bryston BDA-3 dac, lo and behold it plays up to dsd 256! While it's an older dac it serves my needs. Good reviews including one from stereophile aka the bible. 

I'm streaming from a G2.1 via USB to the dac. Initially, the dac stalled when playing dsd 64 and 128 files. I swapped in a dsd 256 Bill Evans album that the BDA processed, though there is a subtle pop sound before locking in. 

I activated the upsampling option on the G2 but left the playback unchanged (eg. native not dop). I was able to playback the DSD files. Later, I disabled upsampling option on the G2, and got the same result able to play back dsd while mixing in hi res PCM streams. 

Tech is a biotch. 

I read a very informative review by AS. He walked thru his experience with DSD which was spot on. 

Bryston BDA-3 DAC Review - Reviews - Audiophile Style

Needless to say, I will list the D1100 but need to fine a suave analog preamp unfortunately.