Is Bridge II not supporting .DFF files?

Hello everyone! I guess I am one of very few members from China and I have to say I am very happy to become new PS Audio user and joining this forum. It has been greatly helpful in my decision to set up my new source with a DirectStream DAC, as well as helping me addressing some initial issues including getting the cover work popped up. Thanks everyone.

My current setup is music files (mainly FLAC/WAV/DSF/DFF format) stored in Melco N1ZH/2, and connected to DirectStream DAC via USB (controlled by Kazoo on iPad) and Bridge II (via Player port from Melco, controlled by MConnect HD on iPad), Melco is connected to network reuter and installed with MinimServer. There is also same set of music files stored in a Win 7 PC on same network (installed with Lightning DS server). Firmware is of latest version i.e. RedCloud and 3.5.1 for Bridge II.

So far everything works fine, including streaming from TIDAL (though need a VPN connection in China). However there is only one thing failed: DSD64 file in DFF format cannot be played via Bridge II, either through MinimServer on Melco or Lightning DS server on PC. The same can be well played via Melco directly through USB input therefore I don’t think it is a MinimServer issue. And it can also be played by Auralic Aries Mini in same network, either from Melco + MinimServer, or PC + Lightning DS.

I noticed release note of Bridge II FW ver 3.6.2 mentioned “Implemented DSD DFF playback (sending dff64 via DoP)” which was later withdrawn due to bug fix. Is it the reason that current 3.5.1 does not support DFF playing? If it is then when can we expect to be released?

Thanks for any valuable inputs.

1 Like

Hi, this might not be a particularly helpful response, but all of my DSD files are DSF, I’ve converted them from DFF where necessary. It’s a while since I loaded my DSD files but I can only assume it’s because it’s the only format that worked for me.

I assume you’re aware but there is free software available to easily convert from DFF to DSF - I use DFF2DSF.app and it works fine.

Btw, I’m also using Melco (N1Z/1) into Bridge 2, using MConnectHD on iPad, including Tidal streaming, and it all work like a dream!

Regards, Mike.

2 Likes

Hello pj4301,

Sorry to hear that you are having trouble.
It is important that you please downgrade your Bridge II firmware to 3.5.1 as there is a known bug in 3.6.2.
If you reach out to me directly at jeremyb@psaudio.com I can get you a tutorial to do this over your LAN.

Regarding DFF versus DSF this is a good guide to all things DSD:

https://dsd-guide.com/faq/what-difference-between-dsd-dsf-dff-files

"DSD or Direct Stream Digital is a one bit recording format. DSF and DFF are ‘kinds’ of audio files that are delivered as downloads or read by software for playback.

DSF has the ability to hold metadata and DFF doesn’t, however, some players only read DFF files.

In PCM recording, DSF and DFF would be similar to having .wav and .aiff files which are both PCM

More complex answers to the above question exists, but for those new to DSD, this is a simple explanation."

The Bridge II is limited to DSD64 so make sure that you are not playing double rate DSD or above.
If you continue to have trouble don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
We’ll be happy to assist you.
Thanks,

  • Jeremy
1 Like

Hi Mark,

Thanks for sharing. Well, yeah I am also studying some tools like you mentioned to convert DFF to DSF. Personally I would keep it as the last choice if it is finally confirmed that Bridge would by no means play DFF. Or maybe I would just live with it since anyway I still can play via USB.

Let’s see how PS team would say.

Thanks.

Hi Jeremy,

Thanks for the response. To clarify, my Bridge II was delivered with FW 3.5.1 and I didn’t update it to 3.6.2. And yes I am fully aware of the Bridge’s compatibility with DSD64 only. My situation is when I play DSF64 or DFF64 via Bridge II, only DSF64 can be played but DFF64 not.

I noticed the long thread about the withdrawn FW 3.6.2 which was stated to deliver:

FW changelist between 3.5.1 and 3.6.2:

Updated Roon RAAT for support of Roon version 1.5
Updated Spotify library to 3.15a
Now supports first MQA unfold in Roon with RAAT changes. (MQA fix with Roon and DSP enabled)
Latest MQA library implemented
Improved DLNA/UPnP Device Search
Implemented DSD DFF playback (sending dff64 via DoP)

The last point implied that playing DFF64 via DoP is not currently supported under 3.5.1 and was supposed to be delivered under 3.6.2. Here I just wanna confirm this understanding so that I can rest assured to wait for the fixed FW to come.

Thanks.

Hi pj4301,

Our Engineering team has indeed confirmed that DFF64 files do not play on the Bridge II.
We are planning on a release of a firmware update that will enable this feature but don’t have a release date at this time.
If you haven’t yet we recommend signing up for Paul’s post.
We’ll announce the release there when it is available.

Reach out to me at service@psaudio.com if you’d like assistance signing up.
Thanks,

  • Jeremy
3 Likes

Thanks Jeremy.

Then I will live with USB for DFF playing until the new Bridge release, which from other spreads it is not far away. And yes I did sign on Paul’s blog with pushed mail notice.

Thanks!