Connecting PC (with Jriver MC 27) via HDMI I2S to stellar gain cell dac

Hi friends,

Stephan from Germany here. Please excuse me, for any kind of mistakes caused by my poor abilities in English :wink:
My Question: What do I need to connect and use the Stellar Gain Cell Dac with my PC (Win 10 64), if I want to use NATIVE DSD and not DoP via USB. I searched the Web, but only found a Post from Paul (from 2014) about MC 19 and DSD via USB.
Do I have to Check WASAPI or Kernel Streaming in Jriver MC to produce an DSD Signal? or do I have to purchase an extra device for the native DSD Signal from PC to DAC?
Best regards,
Stephan

Welcome Stephen! Unless you do a hardware mod to your computer, there isn’t any way to connect the computer to the GainCell via the I2S connection. The pinout is completely different. Keep in mind, DoP is still DSD. The GainCell is still getting the DSD files and decoding it. DoP is essentially just tricking the computer into sending the DSD files because they look like PCM.

Hey Jamesh, thanks for the friendly welcome!
By now I use 2xDSD or DSD 128 via USB and the DoP (cheat) mode. Afaik the Stellar is able to go further via I2S. If the modding won’t be too dangerous/complicated I would considering it. Do you know another way to get native DSD from PC, maybe by connecting a special device between dac and computer?
Cheers,
Stephan

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The I2S connection certainly sounds the best but it’s not trivial to connect it with a computer. The USB and I2S both support up to DSD128. Sadly I’m not aware of another way you can get native DSD from a computer.

Dear Jamesh,
thx again for your quick response!
In this case I will use Jriver MC via WASAPI DSD direct Stream via DoP until I find a better solution for me. Fortunately JRiver offers the possibility of remote controlling via Network and my Ipad. All in all, my Setting is not too Bad! :blush: All that I want is a lean solution for my active Dynaudio 2.1 array,
Stephan