DSD Passthrough

[neil74]

I am guessing a lot of people like me are using digital out into an external DAC. It would be really good if the Pro could pass DSD through for the DAC to process.

 

[wii man]

I am guessing a lot of people like me are using digital out into an external DAC. It would be really good if the Pro could pass DSD through for the DAC to process.

This! DSD pass through is THE function missing compared to a simple raspberry pi setup. It seems like an easy thing to implement as well.

 

[Mike in NY]

While I wouldn't mind having this feature, it isn't going to help in all cases as not all DACs accept DSD over SPDIF, many DACs only support DSD over USB, and relatively fewer DACs support DSD over SPDIF.

Since the WiiM Pro does not have a USB output, a better solution might be to offer transcoding to hi-res 24-bit PCM on the fly, as many open-source distros such as Volumio or Moode do.

Both of the above would be the ideal addition of course, and I'm guessing it might only be possible on the Pro and not the Mini.

 

[wii man]

While I wouldn't mind having this feature, it isn't going to help in all cases as not all DACs accept DSD over SPDIF, many DACs only support DSD over USB, and relatively fewer DACs support DSD over SPDIF.

Since the WiiM Pro does not have a USB output, a better solution might be to offer transcoding to hi-res 24-bit PCM on the fly, as many open-source distros such as Volumio or Moode do.

Both of the above would be the ideal addition of course, and I'm guessing it might only be possible on the Pro and not the Mini.

Great point. I guess I just assumed if my cheap bluray player which outputs in SPDIf can play SACDs then should be fine. I checked the specs on my DAC (topping) which is a fairly common brand and it does do DSD (DoP): DSD64. Not great compared to USB but useable.

IMHO the next h/w iteration of the Pro should have USB even if the S/W is the make or break feature for a streamer.

 

[Mike in NY]

Great point. I guess I just assumed if my cheap bluray player which outputs in SPDIf can play SACDs then should be fine. I checked the specs on my DAC (topping) which is a fairly common brand and it does do DSD (DoP): DSD64. Not great compared to USB but useable.

IMHO the next h/w iteration of the Pro should have USB even if the S/W is the make or break feature for a streamer.

Topping definitely a notable exception.
Now your Blu-ray player won't output DSD over SPDIF, that is definitely downsampled to PCM, 44.1kHz if I'm not mistaken.

 

[mikehd]

Just posting to support this feature for the WiiM Pro as well. My DAC (Denafrips Ares II) definitely supports it.