question for those who own(ed) a moondrop dawn pro

[Koalacola]

hello everyone. im before the purchase of said dac
link to the specifications: https://moondroplab.com/en/products/dawn-pro

Is there an on off function for dsd?
I'd like to listen to some flac files, and while it seems like an alright feature im hoping it is not hardcoded in to it, or every dac that come with these (or similar) features to be honest

 

[ClieOS]

No really sure what you mean by 'on off function for dsd'.

CS43131, the DAC chip inside Dawn Pro, like most delta-sigma DAC chips in the market today, has circuits inside to decode both PCM and DSD data. It will switch automatically between those two depends what data is sent to the chip and requires no extra input from the user. Only specialized DAC like R-2R (*only decode PCM) or 1-bits (*only decodes DSD) will need extra processing before the DAC section to handle / transcode data that they can't handle natively. Delta-sigma DAC on the other hand will NOT need such extra processing.

 

[Koalacola]

No really sure what you mean by 'on off function for dsd'.

CS43131, the DAC chip inside Dawn Pro, like most delta-sigma DAC chips in the market today, has circuits inside to decode both PCM and DSD data. It will switch automatically between those two depends what data is sent to the chip and requires no extra input from the user. Only specialized DAC like R-2R (*only decode PCM) or 1-bits (*only decodes DSD) will need extra processing before the DAC section to handle / transcode data that they can't handle natively. Delta-sigma DAC on the other hand will NOT need such extra processing.

thank you for the reply.
Supposedly of what i've been told the audio that leaves through the usb is already pcm, what is ok. But im not certain if the dac itself uses the dsd function to convert/upscale the given file/input or it only works with dsd files that have already been on the device. For an mp3 file i imagine its not too bad of a deal to have it like that and add "colour" to the basic chopped quality. The same can not be said for example if i play a flac file that i dont wish to have any sort of grand enhancment added to it cause its already pretty good quality... Hell i dont even know what the result would be if it goes through dsd.

And that is my worry.

The moondrop dac itself seems very nice. Nice specs and everything but the more i dig in to topics the more confusing it gets. so i though i'll make this post.

 

[ClieOS]

DSD is generally not going to be outputed natively unless you setup direct DSD output or DSD-over-PCM (DoP) on the source - so yes, you will most likely be getting PCM as most music playback app that can decode DSD will (and usually do) transcodes it to PCM first for max compatibility. For people who like to keep their DSD "pure", they will need to have the right app that can do direct DSD / DoP so the DSD will remain intact when sent over to the DAC.

 

[Koalacola]

DSD is generally not going to be outputed natively unless you setup direct DSD output or DSD-over-PCM (DoP) on the source - so yes, you will most likely be getting PCM as most music playback app that can decode DSD will (and usually do) transcodes it to PCM first for max compatibility. For people who like to keep their DSD "pure", they will need to have the right app that can do direct DSD / DoP so the DSD will remain intact when sent over to the DAC.

thank you for the insight it was really helpful.

 

[Vamp898]

I own it and can verify, it doesn't do any DSD up or downscaling. It supports DSD when you play DSD, but when you play PCM it stays PCM

 

[Koalacola]

I own it and can verify, it doesn't do any DSD up or downscaling. It supports DSD when you play DSD, but when you play PCM it stays PCM

Thank you very much for the confirmation. It is on the way now XD.