Ndac dsd playback

The dsd update is onlly forDSD64, the update is not for DSD128

hI , aaahh , good thinking that man .... That doesn,t explain why i can,t get just the first track , which is dsd64 , to play on its own now .. Thanks though Roy

The updates should enable DSD64 & DSD128 on both DACs

https://www.naimaudio.com/news...-available-naim-dacs

..should contact customer support

hI , yes , i will ... Its strange all round , its the usb stick i did the updates with so that should be ok , i can,t understand why it worked in the first place but not know , still thanks ..roy

Ooowher missus , not arf pop pickers , .. Update

i deleted everything off the usb stick and started again .. Downloaded the free eric bibb track again , put that in the ndac , just the dock light comes on , i did try pressing the play button a few times but nothing , so i took the usb stick out , and downloaded x2 free tracks from bluecoast music onto it , just as. Test .. So there is now 3 tracks on it all dsd64 , put it in the ndac , .. Success .. It played the original eric bibb track plus one of the bluecoast tracks , leaving x1 track missing ... It only let me play those 2 tracks once , i couldn,t play them again or do a prev or next ....

so i took the stick out and added another bluecoast track , making 4 in total , put that in the ndac and nothing , just the dock light comes on , but for no real reason i tried pressing the other buttons a few times .. Nothing .. So i pressed the undock button , took the stick out and put it back in again .. Hey presto it plays all 4 tracks , and i can do prev , next and play again !! Rejoice ...

it sort of points to maybe to a hardware problem , maybe i don,t insert the stick properly , but to be honest it only goes in one way .

by the way sound quality is spot on , really liked those free tracks ,

will i risk spending money on a dsd ... Mmmmmm Drum roll not sure just yet ..might be a tadd risky if it doesn,t play .... Thanks roy

Try a different stick.  I have found some that work just fine and others that I cannot get to work at all with the DAC.  A few others can work sometimes, and at other times not...

hI , yes i did try one other stick that i havn,t used before on the ndac , and i couldn,t get anything out of it , this one is working fine now ... I,ll buy a couple more , different makes and see how that goes , seems to be standard procedure . Seriously like the sound quality of the dsd , that update is spot on , well done Naim , just getting used to the Super Lumina interconnect , and now this , well done that man or woman . roy

I tried the Eric Bibb tracks (DSD64 and DSD128) on my DAC-V1 over the USB interface and both played fine. Actually I was quite impressed. I also converted the DSD128 track to a PCM 16/44.1 AIFF using XLD and the difference was significant. Specifically bass notes were tighter,  there was more drive, air and clarity, especially in the voices.

GregW posted:

I tried the Eric Bibb tracks (DSD64 and DSD128) on my DAC-V1 over the USB interface and both played fine. Actually I was quite impressed. I also converted the DSD128 track to a PCM 16/44.1 AIFF using XLD and the difference was significant. Specifically bass notes were tighter,  there was more drive, air and clarity, especially in the voices.

The PCM 16/44.1 was better than DSD128 or the other way round?

DSD128 was better.

GregW posted:

DSD128 was better.

okay - clear,

thanks

GregW posted:

DSD128 was better.

^Clicks & pops were mostly resolved for the J River/Win PC/DAC-V1 but there may be an outstanding issue (PCM/DSD transition) for the Audirvana/Mac/DAC-V1 setup which (if I am not wrong) should be fixed at the Audirvana end in the next rev.

I too successfully downloaded the firmware update for the Ndac. However, I have a query. I downloaded a few test files from Native DSD to compare audio quality. As indicated, 64 and 128 files play fine, but not 256, which was to be expected. I play these via USB into the DAC, copied from the downloaded file on the PC. What I cannot understand is that on my PC, audio properties show the files as 24/96, Bit Rate 4,608 (DVD), with the file type showing as dsf. Does this mean that the files have been somehow "converted" to 24/96? I expected to see them as 1 Bit, 2.8224Mhz?

I have queried this on the dbpoweramp forum, as I use their software to rip/convert, but to my knowledge  Ihave not done anything to convert the dsf file to 24/96. Unfortunately, there answers are far too technical, but do not appear to answer the query.

Any explanation would be appreciated, as I am not sure whether I am listening to "true" DSD or not?

Thanks

Paul

Paul,

If you're using dBpoweramp's converter check the advanced settings in dBpoweramp Configuration. These will show the settings for converting DSD i.e. either DoP (DSD over PCM)  or PCM and the sample rate for PCM coversion (44.1, 88.2, 96, 176.4kHz etc.). My understanding is that the default conversion sample rate for DSD is 96kHz as higher rates can cause an inaudible noise signal which could cause the tweeter on your speakers to run hot. 

I've amended the DSD conversion setting to 176.4kHz and this indeed is what shows on dBpoweramp's audio properties tab if I click a .dsf  file to view its properties in Windows. However, it does not mean that my dsf files are being converted to 176.4 PCM when I use Asset UPnP to stream them "as is" as they show as 2,822kHz/ 5644kbs DSD streams on the naim app. Your files would only be converted to 24bit 96kHz if you were to use Asset to stream DSD files as FLAC or WAV files which you are not doing as you are playing the files from a USB stick direct into your DAC.

In short, yes you are listening to "true" DSD files.

Many thanks for the reply. Yes, I'd hoped it was the case I was hearing the DSD file through the Ndac via USB. I had read about dBpoweramp converter on their forum, and checked the settings and they are "as is". However, I was not intending to convert the DSD files to PCM so felt I needn't touch the advance settings in dBpoweramp. Unfortunately, as the Ndac only displays whether it is "hi-res" through the "HD" light on the front panel, I was unsure whether this meant DSD or 24/96. Therefore, as I understand it I cannot, through the USB/DAC route, confirm it to be 2,822kHz/5,644kbs as you seem to be able to do. Am I right in this?

Thanks

Paul   

IIf you are playing DSD64 dsf files from your USB stick then they must be 2822kHz 5644kbs DSD. Ignore what the dBpoweramp audio properties tab says as it is governed by dBpoweramps configuration settings and nothing else. If you need any reassurance you could try playing the files using Foobar2000 with the SACD plugin on your computer to check the status bar at the bottom which will confirm the files audio resolution.

Thanks again. I may try with Foobar, but more than happy with your explanation, much appreciated. 

How long should this update take to install? When I insert a memory stick, the dock and stop buttons come on and that's all. I have tried with five memory sticks without success. This is ridiculous!

Have you unzipped the downloaded FW and copied the files directly to the root directory on the USB stick (not in a folder)? And tried the rear USB port?

Jan-Erik Nordoen posted:

Have you unzipped the downloaded FW and copied the files directly to the root directory on the USB stick (not in a folder)? And tried the rear USB port?

Yes. I've done this on all five memory sticks without success. 

Can you read WAV files from the USB sticks? Also, it's perhaps worth checking which version of the FW is currently on your DAC, as outlined in the instructions in the download package.

Thanks for your replies Jan-Erik. I managed to install the update using a very old cheap memory stick from PLAY.com. Why is the Naim DAC so fussy with memory sticks when no PCs have this quirk?

Glad that it's sorted. 

Formatting of the memory stick perhaps? Others have posted here that reformatting to FAT32 will often *cure* difficult memory sticks.

I also frustrated about that ! I fail to make it ungrade even l follow the instructions.  Is the Sandisk suitable for the ndac.

Just wondering if l could take it to the dealer for upgrade