DSD is here :-)

And the new 320kbps HDS BBC web radio feeds.

(and pod casts and play again)

Simon

DSD is excellent, SQ is different for sure.

I am becoming more convinced it depends on the source material, DSD all the way is stunning. 

If you like american folk - must have recordings are all & everything from David Elias,  he manages his own recordings & it is DSD all the way - "The Window"  &  "Crossing"  are both good starting places.   

DSD recordings are not as populous as are WAV, FLAC etc.,  but a good place to find them with the albums & artists listed by vendor www store(s) is http://www.findhdmusic.com/alb...ch/?q=&fmt_dsd=1

Compare prices tho' & the unique artists & material from Blue Coast is expensive

....  per Simon,  the package includes seriously good changes to the BBC iRadio services - its over the new codec HLS @ 48kHz & you get both regular SQ @ 135kbs & HD @ 339kbs,  plus On Demand & Podcast.  

Plus included in the package are a whole load more (like thousands more) overseas stations. 

Go try it - enjoy

Updated and playing music again. Eagerly awaiting the ability to play one album after another without any farting around :-)

Once again, a big thank you to the Beta Testers. Really appreciated.

I have certainly enjoyed the quality of DSD during the beta programme, but it is very much a niche format with limited material available. When you do find something that has been mastered well, and recorded directly to DSD with no PCM processing it does sound sublime. I'm not sure whether this is a result of the DSD encoding, or whether the care and attention of the mastering is what really sets it apart.

I am interested in the approach Naim have taken to converting the incoming DSD stream to something the PCM1704 DAC can handle. In the background info it says:

To keep the DSD audio routing as pure as possible the digital header information is stripped out by the DSP leaving only the audio. This is then optimised for the DAC by down sampling the stream to 40bit/768kHz, using Naim software to maintain the high sample rate and accuracy. This adapted DSD stream then enters the DAC, bypassing the DACs internal digital filter.

This leaves me with a bunch of questions:

• I thought the Sharc DSP was a 32 bit device? Plenty of headroom for 24 bit processing, but 40bit?
• The PCM1704 is 24 bit isn't it?
• I assume the 768kHz is the maximum rate the PCM1704 can handle with no oversampling, so that makes some sense?

I'm no expert in DSP, but is conversion simply a matter of counting how many 1's there are in a given time period, as for PDM signals the level is proportional to the pulse density? At 768 kHz there's nowhere near 24 bits of resolution let alone 40?

Can someone please help me understand the maths here?

I'll just carry on enjoying how it sounds 

In France with work so going to be Wednesday at best before I can upgrade. What I would really like is one top quality DSD recomendatigon to assess the advantages.

Went on fine BUT but then couldn't find UPnP server....

Powered ND5 off/on.

Still no server in the UPnP list.

Restarted NAS server software and then could find it but kept on saying "! Server Error".....

Minor panic....

Powered NAS completely Off then On.

Sanity returns... Found NAS. Found files. Plays fine.

Heart rate returns to normal. :-)

I have been waiting for this update for quite some time just to enjoy great recordings in native DSD from Channel Classics and PentaTone Classics. Try for example any one of the recent recordings of violonist Rachel Podge. 

I will also install update in a few days. I would be very curious to read from other members if and how they have found NDS PCM SQ or signature changed for that matter.  

Chag -