Foobar Hi Res and DSD

Does anybody here use Foobar for playing hi res and dsd files and know for a fact that it is actually reaching their DAC bit perfectly?

Do you use ASIO or WASAPI? What settings?

Sure, Foobar indicates that it is high bit rate or DSD on its display, but it most certainly isn't reaching my DAC in that format.

I use a windows 10 pc via USB cable to the DAC.

 

Most (including myself) would just use Wasapi Event with Windows 10 and make sure the exclusive mode boxes are checked on the Advanced tab in the Control Panel -> Manage Audio Devices -> Sound -> Properties. Also make sure you don't have any processors selected in foobar. How are you checking for "bit perfect".

 

I use WASAPI with the Sox Resampler. My DAC is not DSD capable, so I just output to regular 24 bit.

 

Using WASAPI Event
No processors selected
Replay Gain - none
Full File Buffering 800000

Exclusive Mode boxes checked
All Sample Rates checked

The sample rate LED atop the DAC glows the same colour (the 44100 colour) no matter what source.

 

Been tinkering this myself today. Oppo HA2 DAC which is DSD over PCM capable, and did work as such using either Decibel on OSX (though this appears not to work today) or Onkyo HF Player on iOS. There is no indication on the DAC of which format is received, though the Onkyo HF Player does indicate that it is sending DSD. The Oppo Windows driver is ASIO compatible.

Using a Windows 10 PC, I have installed the Foobar SACD, DSD processor (which is probably redundant), WASAPI and ASIO plugins. If I set the SACD plugin to play DSD and select either the Oppo ASIO driver or DSD: WASAPI Oppo HA2 and play a .dsf file I get music, which SHOULD be DSD over PCM. I think that higher res PCM files should play at the native sample rate and bit depth as long as you use WASAPI or ASIO.

What are your DAC's capabilities, and what drivers have you got installed for it?

 

I assume you see your device (DAC) in the audio devices and have that selected as the default, and have restarted foobar and DAC after changes? Probably best to contact the manufacturer for advice.

 

That and/or post screen shots to confirm everything is set up correctly.

 

Also very important: many Dacs that support hi-res have a (default) native driver that does not support hi-res: a different driver has to be downloaded/installed from the manufacturer's web site to enable said files.

 

32/384 and DSD128 (DoP)

The manufacturer's specific Windows driver. Chord Electronics. Hugo TT.

 

I do indeed - it is the default. The manufacturer seems to push JRiver & Roon and is not keen on Foobar.

 

And you are definitely connected to the HD USB port on the Chord, and that is the one selected?

 

Do you have "DSD" rather than "PCM" selected in "Preferences" > "Tools" > "SACD" > "Output Mode"?

Here's some addition info that might help:

http://audinst.com/en/faqs/2431?ckattempt=1

Good luck...

 

Correct on both!

 

No! The DAC uses DSD over PCM.

 

I'm puzzled by this. I thought DoP / DSD over PCM was the normal way of transferring DSD over USB, and is the way DSD is sent to my Oppo HA2, in which case the OP's experience with the Chord DAC should be similar.

I have installed the following additional Foobar components: ASIO support, DSD processor, Super Audio CD Decoder and WASAPI output support (not all these may be necessary). The Oppo Windows driver supports ASIO.

In Preferences > SACD I select DSD (not DSD+PCM) as the output mode with "none" selected for DSD processor (hence me wondering if the DSD processor is necessary for my purposes; I suspect not).

In Preferences > Output>Device drop down menu I get a series of options for output device, including ASIO: Oppo USB Driver, DSD:ASIO: Oppo USB Driver, DSD: WASAPI (push): Speakers (2- Oppo HA-2 USB AUDIO 2.0 DAC), DSD: WASAPI (event): Speakers (2- Oppo HA-2 USB AUDIO 2.0 DAC). Note that output bit depth needs to be 24 or 32 bits; if I set to 16 bits I get a loud static like hiss which swamps the music.

Essentially, all of the options prefixed with DSD mentioning the Oppo DAC produce music when I play a .dsf file (all of my .dsf files being rips from SACD using the well documented Oppo Blu Ray player method), which makes sense to me as that is the only DSD capable device I have. As I have selected DSD rather than DSD+PCM in the SACD component I assume I will get silence or an error message if I try to send DSD to a non DSD capable output device. Indeed, if I try to send DSD to my B&W MM-1 speakers, which are only able to decode 16 bit PCM at 32/44.1/48KHz I get the following playback error: "Unrecoverable playback error: Unsupported stream format: 176400 Hz / 32-bit / 2 channels". The only way I can persuade these speakers to produce audio from a DSD source using WASAPI or ASIO is to set the SACD component to output DSD+PCM and fix sample rate at 44.1KHz and bit depth down to 16 bits, which is consistent with the known capabilities of the speakers.

I am newcomer to Foobar myself, but from the Googling / Wiki hunting I have done I believe that this configuration results in the DAC receiving and decoding DSD. I could probably dispense with the ASIO Foobar compnent, as there seems to be a body of opinion that WASAPI is likely to be more stable on a Windows 10 setup.

 

Foobar 2000 for Dummies (Part 2) – Playing DSD – New SACD plugin (0.9.x and 1.0.x Series)

I found this helpful. Essentially I am using Method 1 in the text which should be using DoP.

 

You'd still want DSD turned on. As you have it set, you're instructing it to convert DSD to PCM. It will figure out how to use the PCM encapsulation on its own.

 

Same here! Everything working fine now with excellent results.

 

Yes. The test is to play a 'raw' (undecoded) DTS or AC3 file. If you hear music, it's bit perfect transmission (and it confirms that your AVR can decode DTS/AC3, which virtually all can these days).. If you hear white noise, it's not, something is 'processing' the signal before it gets to the AVR. E.g., some DSP in foobar or your playback hardware.

Also, your AVR might be able to verify the format, in its display.

WASAPI push or event, doesn't matter.

use HDMI out, not USB.