DSD Rates with BIII SE

[ericuco]

I have been using my BIII SE with a JLSounds IS2overUSB board to play native DSD (non-DoP) for some time now using a Linux (Ubuntu Studio) server.

All my music files are converted to DSD256 using HQ Player. Everything work great and sounds terrific.

My question pertains to what is the DAC chip doing? Does the ESS chip play DSD256 as is or is there some conversion going on? The reason for asking is that I can have HQ Player output different DSD rates and would like to send data in whatever format is support.

The JLSounds board is limited to DSD256 so I can't go any higher to DSD512.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Murdoc]

There is -- as I know -- always something going on, so at least some filtering. I don't know if it's possible to use the DSD stream direct to convert to analog, but here in diyaudio is a thread "the best DAC is no DAC" or something similar.
Here you can see on page 2 the block diagram: http://www.esstech.com/files/1414/4095/2154/ES9018S_PB_v1.7_140916.pdf
The parts for PCM are of cause not used, if you input DSD. And this is a benefit.
Just look arround and please report back, if you found something interesting.
Matthias

 

[ericuco]

Thanks your reply.

Agree that the best DAC is no DAC. One reason I built a BIII SE was that I could control input (USB) and output (XLR) and nothing else, no extras.

Since the built, I have started using HQP which allows lots of output control. So ideally feed DAC exactly what it wants so no (minimal) processing by DAC. That is why I asked my original question.

Also DSD has gained in favor (in some circles). Still very happy with my BIII SE but a DSD only DAC would be good to try. I know there are some DSD DAC's out now but haven't made the jump yet.