New Wyred DACs with ESS 90xxPro

[jrsub]

Originally Posted by birdland

Hi Jrsub:

I do agree that there is more clarity and detail. Did you find that the bass was exaggerated as well?

I did not notice that the bass was exaggerated.

[birdland]

OK. I listened again today. The unit had around 36 hours on it. The bass seemed more integrated. However, there is a problem. I don't know if it my particular DAC or a firmware issue, etc.

I cannot play DSD256 files cleanly. The files play but there is hissing and noise and when I stop playing the file, the hissing remains and then there is a whistling sound that is high pitched and slowly goes lower in volume and frequency. If I turn off the DAC and then back on (NOT the power button on the back), the hissing comes back. The only way to get rid of it is to play another file which is NOT a DSD256 file. This problem occurs if I play DSD256 file or if I upsample from DSD64 to DSD256 using foobar2000. All other files, either PCM at any sample rate all the way up to 352kHz and DSD64 and DSD128, do not have this problem.

This did not occur before I sent in my DAC for the upgrade.

Jrsub - have you tried DSD256 files?

[LovingMusic]

Originally Posted by birdland

OK. I listened again today. The unit had around 36 hours on it. The bass seemed more integrated. However, there is a problem. I don't know if it my particular DAC or a firmware issue, etc.

I cannot play DSD256 files cleanly. The files play but there is hissing and noise and when I stop playing the file, the hissing remains and then there is a whistling sound that is high pitched and slowly goes lower in volume and frequency. If I turn off the DAC and then back on (NOT the power button on the back), the hissing comes back. The only way to get rid of it is to play another file which is NOT a DSD256 file. This problem occurs if I play DSD256 file or if I upsample from DSD64 to DSD256 using foobar2000. All other files, either PCM at any sample rate all the way up to 352kHz and DSD64 and DSD128, do not have this problem.

This did not occur before I sent in my DAC for the upgrade.

Jrsub - have you tried DSD256 files?

I have similar, though not exact, problem. I can play the files fine most of the time. Hiss comes on randomly. Goes away and music continues. I sent email to support late Friday. Also received mine on Thursday with 9038 chip upgrade.

Overall I feel it is smoother, more detailed, and more analog sounding. Back to back lp then file or cd and lp is still ahead in my system.

[jrsub]

Originally Posted by birdland

Jrsub - have you tried DSD256 files?

Unfortunately, I am running Mac OS X and haven't had any success running DSD256 files natively before or after the 9038 upgrade. I get an error saying format is not supported. I did a Google search and found a comment from Wyred saying that it should work with with on OS X with no bit streaming options enabled, but I have had no success doing so with Jriver without enabling DoP in Jriver DSP studio. When I enabled basic DoP, DSD 256 files show on DAC display as DSD 64 so I am not sure what is really happening. The 4xDSD DoP option gives me an error.

[birdland]

LovingMusic - I'm glad I'm not the only one having this problem. This means that it is a generic issue most likely with firmware but just guessing here. Please keep us updated on what they say. I will submit an email as well.

[birdland]

Jrsub - from my understanding, DAC-2 DSDse and DAC-2v2SE only support DSD256 via native mode even on Windows. I do not believe you can send DSD256 natively to unless the DAC support DSD512 such as the iFi micro iDSD. See the following:

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f1...ack-mac-26375/

[jrsub]

Originally Posted by birdland

Jrsub - from my understanding, DAC-2 DSDse and DAC-2v2SE only support DSD256 via native mode even on Windows. I do not believe you can send DSD256 natively to unless the DAC support DSD512 such as the iFi micro iDSD. See the following:

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f1...ack-mac-26375/

Wyred has said that it will play DSD256 natively using the ASIO drivers, but I believe that is for Windows only. I know Exasound has developed an ASIO driver for quad DSD for OS X, but I do not believe Wyred has yet.

[birdland]

Sorry what I meant to say was that for W4S:

- OSX DSD native and Dop only up to dsd128
- Windows native DSD256 with ASIO
- Windows Dop only up to DSD128

It would be nice if we could go to DSD256 or even DSD512.

[LovingMusic]

Originally Posted by birdland

LovingMusic - I'm glad I'm not the only one having this problem. This means that it is a generic issue most likely with firmware but just guessing here. Please keep us updated on what they say. I will submit an email as well.

From W4S today:

We wanted to address a couple of reports from customers of sporadic and strange issues involving DSD playback. Specifically, while playing a DSD track (DSD256 may be the worst offender) a phenomenon of hissing/low level crackling during playback or pause can be heard. There may also be a sort of white noise and/or other strange artifacts. PCM files seem to be unaffected.

What could be complicating things are a couple of apparent issues with the recent release of Roon 1.3, where some people have experienced very similar issues with DSD playback. This certainly makes it a bit tougher to isolate the cause! However, we have already reached out to the lead designer of the 9038PRO chip at ESS and are working actively with him on looking into this. It is worth noting that not everyone has experienced this issue that we know of, so at this point we’re not sure how isolated it is and if there is a *‘magic’ combination of factors (or factor) causing this. One of our employees took a newly upgraded 2v2SE DAC home for the weekend and played DSD64 as well as up sampled DSD128 files (via Roon) without incident.

*

For now, we recommend playing PCM files until we can learn more about this and come to a resolution.

*

We apologize in advance for any unintended inconvenience, and as always we appreciate your support. We will update you as soon as we have more news.

[birdland]

Yes, I got a similar email as well. I have already responded to Tony of W4S. I do not use Roon. I am using the exact same setup as I did before the upgrade with no issues other than the expected ones due to an older version of firmware and an under powered laptop. I am still investigating whether I want to purchase a music server or build one.