DSD played directly from NAS via bridge

I can play FLAC up to 96khz via bridge connected to Synology DS214 connected via switch to Directstream bridge. 192KHz breaks up and has a number of digital artifacts. DFF files will not play at all using either Synology’s media server or minimserver. Bridge firmware is up to date. I have tried turning off Bubble’s mime checking but makes no difference. The manual doesn’t list compatible file formats. Is Dff supported?

Minimserver supports both DSF and DFF. You might not have the stream.transcode settings set up correctly (dff:dopwav, dsf:dopwav) These have to be set up using minimwatch.

I can play DSF files from my Synology with MinimServer; radioclash has given you the necessary settings. (I’ve never tried DFF since I like to see metadata, but DFF should work).

In general, getting files above 24/96 to play perfectly can sometimes be a challenge with the Bridge. Some MinimServer users, including me, find that transcoding FLAC to WAV helps in this regard. My streamtranscode settings are: flac:wav24,dsf:dopwav,dff:dopwav,*:L16 . You can use “flac:wav” (without the 24) but I find it works better with the extra bits. This does put some additional load on the network, since WAV files are larger, but reduces the processing demands on the Bridge.

The more robust your network is, the better results you will get with hi-res files over the Bridge. The following can all help:

–quality ethernet cables, at least cat5e, some prefer cat6

–static IP address for your Bridge and perhaps your other components as well (I set them for my Synology and network switch)

–quality switch. The cheap switch from the office supply store may not be your best best; some folks here, including me, have had good results with an Apple Airport Extreme.

Good luck! The DS can sound awesome with everything, including hi-res PCM and DSD. Also, I assume your DSD files are single-rate; the Bridge does not support double-rate DSD.

magister said You can use "flac:wav" (without the 24) but I find it works better with the extra bits. This does put some additional load on the network, since WAV files are larger, but reduces the processing demands on the Bridge.
Are you sure that padding the extra bits means less load on the Bridge, or do you mean that transcoding to wav on the server side reduces the load on the Bridge since the Bridge is using wav natively?

The latter.

My experience is a bit different. I reckon you don’t need a maxed spec network. My network is simply a 10/100 mbps router through an ethernet switch and hard wired around the house. I didn’t set up a static IP address. The model, router and switch are all low to mid-tier. Your Synology is probably better spec’d than my QNAP too.

I use a QNAP as a network hard drive. The music server is a CAPS computer that’s in the music room. The QNAP, CAPS and DS are all on the network. I can play wav and flac at 192/24 and DSD with no problem. I’m guessing my setup creates more network traffic than the Synology server solution you have.

Sorry if this muddies the water for you but maybe you can avoid some costs on expensive equipment. However, if your kids are streaming movies while you’re playing music all bets are off.

It’s absolutely true that the Bridge works fine for some users with no fuss. Others are not so fortunate, and for them the solution usually involves improvements to one’s network. The OP said that he was having problems so I passed along things that have worked for me and for others here. I did not mean to suggest just throwing money at the problem; start with what’s free (adjusting MinimServer settings and setting static IP addresses) and work up from there. My setup is pretty similar to billg’s. Only the audio gods know why I had to deal with dropouts and he didn’t.

You don’t.

Minimwatch is supposed to run on your PC.

adriaan said Thanks Frode. I had to install the MinimStreamer package also.

I have the following values now in the “stream.transcode” setting:

flac:wav24,dsf:dopwav,dff:dopwav

Does this mean that also PCM 16 files are converted to a 24 bit WAV stream?

What do you use for the “stream.transcode” setting?

Thanks


For now I prefer to send everything natively to the DS, but I have tried a few of the settings you use.

adriaan said Okay thanks. But how do I send everything natively to the DS?

What do you use for the “stream.transcode” setting?


Field is left empty as per default.

Maybe Ted should chime in here, but I thought you only convert to DoPWAV if you use the (current) Bridge, S/PDIF or AES/EBU.

If you use USB or I2S, I thought you could use native DSD.

I am currently using my Lumin as source (sold my PWD MKII w/Bridge).

At Present USB requires DOP for dsd

To amplify Gordon’s response the DS can consume single rate DSD via DoP on any input, double rate DSD via DoP on all inputs except TOSLink and the bridge, and native single rate and double rate dsd (raw dsd) over the I2S inputs. We MAY in a future release update the USB drivers to support raw DSD. In general DoP opens up the ability to use more standard hardware/drivers and is a good hack. Some DACs don’t play DoP as well as DSD, but this isn’t the case with the DS.

magister said

In general, getting files above 24/96 to play perfectly can sometimes be a challenge with the Bridge. Some MinimServer users, including me, find that transcoding FLAC to WAV helps in this regard. My streamtranscode settings are: flac:wav24,dsf:dopwav,dff:dopwav,*:L16 . You can use “flac:wav” (without the 24) but I find it works better with the extra bits. This does put some additional load on the network, since WAV files are larger, but reduces the processing demands on the Bridge.

The more robust your network is, the better results you will get with hi-res files over the Bridge. The following can all help:

–quality ethernet cables, at least cat5e, some prefer cat6

–static IP address for your Bridge and perhaps your other components as well (I set them for my Synology and network switch)

–quality switch. The cheap switch from the office supply store may not be your best best; some folks here, including me, have had good results with an Apple Airport Extreme.

Good luck! The DS can sound awesome with everything, including hi-res PCM and DSD. Also, I assume your DSD files are single-rate; the Bridge does not support double-rate DSD.


My network is set up with cat 6 between NAS, DS and switch. I doubt this is the issue with 24/192 and DSD. It seems it is probably the Bridge. Mac mini and USB may be the best option. Cost wise this is similar to the Bridge. There is talk of a new Bridge but the mini would also add 1T storage for the same price.

mbbarton said
Cost wise this is similar to the Bridge. There is talk of a new Bridge but the mini would also add 1T storage for the same price.
Do we know the MSRP for the new Bridge?

I would guess in the region of $500-700. If higher it would be in direct competition with Aries LE which I suspect would be a tough competitor on SQ.

I thought Paul had said around $1k for Bridge 2 (with an indeterminate trade-in allowance for Bridge 1). $500-$700 with trade-in sounds plausible. Cheaper would be better but a lot of development work has gone into this thing, and they’re not done yet (but close, Paul says).

That’s about what we’re thinking, yes.

Same price for the outboard one?

Should there be an outboard one it’ll be more expensive as we have to include a chassis and power supply.

I guess it also needs extra ports (RJ45 Ethernet IN and HDMI I2s port OUT as a minimum) towards the DS DAC?