There can’t really be “more” music data in the .dsf files ripped from the redbook CDs than in the FLAC files ripped from the very same CD (I’m assuming), although the .dsf files are much larger. My “layperson” take on it is that it’s a language metaphor - the Directstream handles the .dsf files better than the FLAC?
FYI, I upgraded to latest software version and DSD is now an encoder option.
Cheers.
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@chris5 Enjoy!! Let us know what your ears tell you. I suspect some of the SQ I’m hearing is also coming from the fact that I’m playing from the SSD in my Roon Nuc*, rather than via ethernet- but mostly with the file format!
This is good to hear. If the source is red book, could you not rip to FLAC 16, and let either the Nucleus+ or the DS DAC do the upsampling instead of filling the SSD too fast. In my case I feed the flacs to the DS DAC and the result is 
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Added a HDPlex 200W for the Matrix… didn’t expect it to be THAT much of a difference, but I was definitely wrong. I would argue that an LPS is mandatory for the X-SPDIF 2.
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Congrats!
Holy moly! It will let you rip to DSD512 even.
I am going to try ripping to DSD and I am praying, PRAYING that I don’t hear an appreciable difference.
Kewl, the converter process works just fine and I converted one album to DSD64 easily. Thankfully I have many cores. The album I converted started out as 319mb in FLAC which became 2.01GB in DSF. If I were to convert all my files I would need quite a bit more SSD space.
But at least I know I can automate the process should I go down this rabbit hole.
I am so hoping after testing I can take the blue pill.
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I would never rip PCM to DSD using dBpoweramp. First of all, I would trust Ted to do a much better conversion to DSD in the DirectStream DAC. By the way, the FPGA is running that conversion code even if it is not doing any conversion so it does not save any work for the DirectStream DAC.
If you wanted to convert PCM files to DSD files, you want to use HQPlayer Pro. But that is super expensive.
Let The DirectStream DAC or HQPlayer convert PCM to DSD on the fly…
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The proof is in the pudding, let people try for themselves, it may be that offline conversion does a better job than real-time conversion. Time will tell
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dBpoweramp will do the conversion. It just doesn’t do it all that well. It’s not its forte. It’s a minor function in the software that hardly anyone uses.
So I’ve done some tests on jriver - taking a cd and converting to dsf. I’ve done it on a couple CDs. One I liked the dsf version better. It seemed more spacious. The other - I seemed to like the flac better. Not sure why.
But an easy enough test for anyone.
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How do you know dBpoweramp does not do a good job, and that it is a function hardly anyone uses?
LOL. I don’t see his posts (no one needs to), but I can sure tell when he is posting.
By the way, this reminds me of an article I read in the Absolute Sound that said WAV files sound WAY BETTER than FLAC files. I found that to not be true thankfully.
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Let us know what you hear when you have had a chance to experiment.
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I’ve converted some standard Redbook CD’s to DSF using Jriver and I couldn’t hear a difference over the flac version. Ironically I converted the 1812 Overture redbook CD that was mastered from a DSD source back to DSF and still no difference not that I expected there to be a difference.
First, because I tried to convert some FLAC files to DSD 64 and DSD128 with dBpoweramp and listened to them. HQPlayer converting them on the fly sounded much better. Fed to the DirectStream DAC as PCM they sounded much better too. Second, because most people are converting DSD to PCM, not the other way around.
dBpoweramp offers no choices in filters or modulators when converting PCM to DSD. All it lets you pick is the frequency. Ted doesn’t give you any options but his upsampling sounds really good.
PCM to DSD conversion is a lightly used feature in dBpoweramp. One of many many features. HQPlayer’s whole point is is upsampling and conversion. Ted clearly spends a lot of effort on PCM to DSD conversion.
You guys are so high on audiophile this and audiophile that…yet you are willing to use a minor feature in ripping software to convert PCM to DSD. Amazing…
It is good to have the single data point that you like HQPlayer better, together with your assumption PCM to DSD is “lightly used” in dBpoweramp. As dBpoweramp Music Converter is just that, we would expect it would be used for its intended purpose of converting music from one format to another. 
I have used it for the purpose.
To whom is this directed and what does it mean? The current discussion is about PCM to DSD conversion and various options people are trying out. 
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Thanks @timm ! The more feedback from people actually trying it, the better - whether that’s positive or negative regarding SQ. For me, it has been one of those improvements that I heard instantly.
@aangen - it will be interesting to hear your opinion, including if higher rates of dsd ripping make a difference. I haven’t done that (yet)
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Thanks @paul172 - this is all interesting feedback. Are you playing back over a network or via SSD in your streamer? I’m playing back via SSD in my Roon Nuc+. It would be good to hear from others if there is an audible difference between converting with jriver vs dBPoweramp. Not suggesting there would be, but open to all considerations.
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So you are saying that dBpoweramp does a better job of converting PCM to DSD than @tedsmith does? I bet Ted does a much more sophisticated and better sounding PCM to DSD conversion than dBpoweramp does…