Randy Myers
Well-known member
- Thread Author
- #61
Thanks for the input guys. Well Ted and another have piped in for me. Basically they both say that HQ Player would not hurt anything and using it or not really will depend on my ears. Larry, you make an interesting point about being able to use HQ Player with the incredible amount of flexibility it affords, filters, etc. And since no matter which way I go I will continue using Roon and now that I have figured it out (a little bit at least) and see how nice it works with Roon (Roon hands the signal off to HQ Player for final rendering to your DAC) I will continue using HQ Player weather I do up-sampling or not.
Ted explained why he uses DoP, and therefore why the resolution input is limited to DSD128 on the DS and DSJ. It sounds like a decent explanation. I still would prefer to have native DSD drivers even though he feels DoP works better, at least that is how I read his reply:
"Because of the unique architecture of the DirectStream and DirectStream Jr some of the things that worked better on other DACs just don’t matter with the DS. There’s no advantage of Native vs. DoP - in the DAC everything becomes DoP right at the receiver code in the FPGA (so that it can use the same path thru the rest of the signal processing chain as PCM. Adding a separate path for Native mode would add more code and noise to the output) FWIW we are sticking with the DoP only version of the PC USB drivers for the DS DACs because they have the least “farts” between tracks or when changing formats or sample rates. Using a version that supported Native mode caused more noises on track transitions, transitions between DoP and PCM, sample rate changes, etc."
Interesting though, they both led me to the conclusion that the DSJ would work fine for me. Especially since I use, and will continue to use a separate pre-amplifier:
"They both have the same qualities that I value: engaging, dynamic, … If I walked into a room with one or the other playing I wouldn’t immediately say “Bletch it’s the Jr” or “Great is the DS.” After you know them you could listen for a bit and know which was playing. When hearing them side by side the differences are reasonably clear - the DS is a little more open on the top, perhaps a little more solid presentation, etc. They both share a similar soundstage and those type of characteristics. At the technical level the Jr has only 1 I2S input, it had the knob (which I like) and the DSSr is about 6dB more quiet (by using 4 times as much hardware) which doesn’t matter much if you use a preamp, but could matter for very efficient speakers or high gain amps if you don’t use a preamp."
And:
"I’ve owned both and I prefer the Junior. It’s cheaper, it comes with a network bridge, and I like the rotary knob functions. You aren’t losing much sonically (if anything) with the Junior."
Anyway, it was a very enlightening interaction and I think it might be swaying me towards the DSJ. It really is a matter of deciding to stay where I am at or go to the DSJ at this point I believe.
Ted explained why he uses DoP, and therefore why the resolution input is limited to DSD128 on the DS and DSJ. It sounds like a decent explanation. I still would prefer to have native DSD drivers even though he feels DoP works better, at least that is how I read his reply:
"Because of the unique architecture of the DirectStream and DirectStream Jr some of the things that worked better on other DACs just don’t matter with the DS. There’s no advantage of Native vs. DoP - in the DAC everything becomes DoP right at the receiver code in the FPGA (so that it can use the same path thru the rest of the signal processing chain as PCM. Adding a separate path for Native mode would add more code and noise to the output) FWIW we are sticking with the DoP only version of the PC USB drivers for the DS DACs because they have the least “farts” between tracks or when changing formats or sample rates. Using a version that supported Native mode caused more noises on track transitions, transitions between DoP and PCM, sample rate changes, etc."
Interesting though, they both led me to the conclusion that the DSJ would work fine for me. Especially since I use, and will continue to use a separate pre-amplifier:
"They both have the same qualities that I value: engaging, dynamic, … If I walked into a room with one or the other playing I wouldn’t immediately say “Bletch it’s the Jr” or “Great is the DS.” After you know them you could listen for a bit and know which was playing. When hearing them side by side the differences are reasonably clear - the DS is a little more open on the top, perhaps a little more solid presentation, etc. They both share a similar soundstage and those type of characteristics. At the technical level the Jr has only 1 I2S input, it had the knob (which I like) and the DSSr is about 6dB more quiet (by using 4 times as much hardware) which doesn’t matter much if you use a preamp, but could matter for very efficient speakers or high gain amps if you don’t use a preamp."
And:
"I’ve owned both and I prefer the Junior. It’s cheaper, it comes with a network bridge, and I like the rotary knob functions. You aren’t losing much sonically (if anything) with the Junior."
Anyway, it was a very enlightening interaction and I think it might be swaying me towards the DSJ. It really is a matter of deciding to stay where I am at or go to the DSJ at this point I believe.
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