Higher rates DSD via Bridge II

Been ultra happy since I could get Bridge II to work with my DS Junior and have it reproduce a folder with all my preferred DSD files.

One thing I’ve noticed though. While over the LAN it’s played everything I send it in terms of DSD64, some other files I’ve got at DSD128 and at DSD256 it does not play those.

Is this a limitation of the Junior, or the Bridge, or the LAN connection or something is wrong? Maybe I’ve got the JRiver 22 setting wrong?

Hi, my understanding is that the Bridge II is limited to DSD64, which is consistent with the specs of the Conversdigital CDMCM-210 module on which I understand the Bridge II is based:

http://www.conversdigital.com/kor/product/product01.php

Correct. And neither the DS nor the DS Jr will play DSD256 (or higher). They will play DSD128 over USB or I2S.

Hi Bootzilla, hi stevem2.

Thanks both for clarifying! -much appreciated.

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One note: In Roon (I know you are using JRiver but thought this is useful knowledge), if you play a DSD 128 or higher file with DS DAC (probably with the DS Jr?), it will try to downconvert the file. Problem is that it will downconvert not to 24/176.4, but to 32/176.4 and get a harsh digital hash sound. You have to go into Roon’s device setup and under “Playback” there is a setting called “Max Bits Per Sample (PCM)”. Select that and it then downconverts DSD 128 to 24/176.4 without issue. Learning this has prevented me from having to re-record a lot of my vinyl rips to DSD 64 I had previously done at DSD 128. Whew!

Interesting, many thanks for advising.

I am still waiting to get an ELAC Discovery (has Roon Essentials embedded), will give this a try once it’s here.

I posted this on another thread, but it is germane here so here’s a cut-n-paste of that post:

Here’s a follow up on my initial problem of having a bunch of ripped vinyl in DSD 128 and not being able to play it through the Bridge II. As a reminder, I use Roon almost exclusively while streaming. Before, Roon would try to default convert to 32/176 after negotiating with the DS Sr, which is a no-go as far as the DS Sr is concerned, giving a bunch of digital harsh as the output. So I restricted the max PCM bit depth to 24 bit and DSD 128 would then convert to 24/176, which was fine. It just wasn’t DSD and I think I lost a tiny little bit in the conversion. Less “air” (hate that term, but that’s what it was missing) and instrument separation. Mandating that Roon downconvert DSD 128 to DSD 64 previously required a PCM intermediary step to 32/176 which taxed the CPU (correction: Ted Smith says it isn’t very taxing on the CPU) and also sounded like PCM with no benefit to the DSD conversion. Now with Roon ver 1.3, build 216, DSD 128 files are directly converted to DSD 64 and they sound every bit as good as the original! Awesome. No need to re-rip my vinyl or hard convert my files. Plus, I can continue to rip in DSD 128, which is nice. This is why I love Roon. They are constantly addressing ways to improve their product. All of a sudden my main issue with Bridge II is no longer a big concern. Very nice.

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I wonder what would happen with your DSD 128 files if you fed them to the Direcstream via usb, say using a microRendu as your player hooked up to your network. The Directstream plays DSD 128 via the usb input correct?

Streaming DSD128 via usb from a Melco to the Directstream sounds phenomenal :notes: