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Today it is possible to buy recorded music at anywhere from Redbook resolution to 352.8/24 and quad DSD. JRiver converts DSD to PCM at what they say is an 8x rate. That's 352.8/64 for DSD 64 and proportionately higher for 2x and 4x DSD. A select group of DAC's are available with PCM 768k and DSD 512 capability. Some use HQplayer to convert everything to DSD 512. Chord just released a fancy hardware resampler for over $4k.
Many inexpensive DAC's are limited to 96/24 on USB. I suppose this is because Windows until the most recent versions of Win 10 only supported USB Class 1 audio. Even the relatively pricey Benchmark 3 only goes to 192k and has no DSD capability. The same goes for the infamous Yaggi from Schiit. The inexpensive Topping D10 accepts 384k PCM and 4x DSD (Native over ASIO) In various articles I have read DSD to PCM conversions are transparent and that DSD 64 has no more information than PCM 88.2/24.
Elsewhere on ASR there is an article about whether hi res matters. My reading is 96/24 or DSD 64 shows an audible improvement over Redbook. It could be close enough to bite me, but I know of no study showing a further improvement at higher data rates.
My guess is 96k maximum rate DAC's will be come scarcer as Windows 10 with USB Class 2 audio proliferates. A DAC with USB 192k support will play back 192k and 176.4 PCM downloads without a downsampling step, but does it sound better. Likewise for DSD in JRiver. I don't consider 192k support on Toslink to be a real feature because very few computers are capable of delivering better than 96k on Toslink. Many Mac's can do it, but they already have USB2.
So, how much is enough? Or is there no excess like wretched excess?
Many inexpensive DAC's are limited to 96/24 on USB. I suppose this is because Windows until the most recent versions of Win 10 only supported USB Class 1 audio. Even the relatively pricey Benchmark 3 only goes to 192k and has no DSD capability. The same goes for the infamous Yaggi from Schiit. The inexpensive Topping D10 accepts 384k PCM and 4x DSD (Native over ASIO) In various articles I have read DSD to PCM conversions are transparent and that DSD 64 has no more information than PCM 88.2/24.
Elsewhere on ASR there is an article about whether hi res matters. My reading is 96/24 or DSD 64 shows an audible improvement over Redbook. It could be close enough to bite me, but I know of no study showing a further improvement at higher data rates.
My guess is 96k maximum rate DAC's will be come scarcer as Windows 10 with USB Class 2 audio proliferates. A DAC with USB 192k support will play back 192k and 176.4 PCM downloads without a downsampling step, but does it sound better. Likewise for DSD in JRiver. I don't consider 192k support on Toslink to be a real feature because very few computers are capable of delivering better than 96k on Toslink. Many Mac's can do it, but they already have USB2.
So, how much is enough? Or is there no excess like wretched excess?