[genefruit]

I'm insanely jealous of your access to HQPlayer Pro. This is probably the mother of all converters based purely on the filter options alone. I tried, begged and failed to obtain a Pro license. I'll just leave it at that. I would be very interested to hear your thoughts between it and PGGB DSD.

Your approach seems solid to me, and if I'm honest, more sensible than mine. The only thing I'm sure of is my preferences tend to change a bit over time, especially when I change gear/capability. So maximizing options with HQP seems like the most flexible route.

I don’t have access beyond the trial software but if I’m going this route I might as well find out whether it’s my preference and what it would cost.

 

[littlej0e]

I don’t have access beyond the trial software but if I’m going this route I might as well find out whether it’s my preference and what it would cost.

Oh, my bad. Thought you had a license.

 

[genefruit]

Oh, my bad. Thought you had a license.

I don't see that being the ultimate outcome, since I already have the compute to perform HQP processing on the fly. I'm certainly curious to see if PGGB DSD brings anything to the table above the combo of PGGB & HQP that I already have in place. Have you tested the two stage processing of PGGB & HQP against PGGB DSD?

 

[littlej0e]

I don't see that being the ultimate outcome, since I already have the compute to perform HQP processing on the fly. I'm certainly curious to see if PGGB DSD brings anything to the table above the combo of PGGB & HQP that I already have in place. Have you tested the two stage processing of PGGB & HQP against PGGB DSD?

Nope, haven't tested it, but I am very interested in doing so. PGGB w/PCM is excellent, so I assume the same will be true of DSD.

My original goal with all of this craziness is/was to get the most out of the T+A 200. To that end, it became clear the DSD side is superior and tends to sound a bit more dynamic and natural to my ears. But then I made the mistake of paring it with HQPlayer - my goodness does it sound good. My personal upscaling preference is DSD1024 all the way. But no matter which filters and modulators I use, I can't get music to sound very "natural." This is the main reason I went the conversion route (unfortunately, dBPoweramp is limited to DSD512 and this is one of many reasons I'm itchin' to try PGGB DSD).

If I had to guess, your hybrid approach probably sounds even better and cleaner. I just picked up a PGGB license, so I'm about to try it

 

[rab900]

I am now also a proud owner of DAC 200.
Unfortunately, my Mac can only output DSD as DoP via Roon + HQPlayer. This is probably normal on a Mac.
I also connected my iFi Zen Stream to the DAC as a NAA endpoint and when I select "DSD direct" in the user interface of Zen Stream as the output method for DSD, I get the message that the DAC does not support DSD direct... What else can I do to playback DSD direct?

Another question that comes to mind: Is the DSD converter section in the DAC 200 used for DoP playback?

 

[Soundguy123]

I am now also a proud owner of DAC 200.
Unfortunately, my Mac can only output DSD as DoP via Roon + HQPlayer. This is probably normal on a Mac.
I also connected my iFi Zen Stream to the DAC as a NAA endpoint and when I select "DSD direct" in the user interface of Zen Stream as the output method for DSD, I get the message that the DAC does not support DSD direct... What else can I do to playback DSD direct?

Another question that comes to mind: Is the DSD converter section in the DAC 200 used for DoP playback?

Do you have the correct drivers? The DAC supports DSD direct.

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/67498-zen-stream-cant-pass-dsd256-dop-vs-direct-dsd/

Yes the DSD converter is used with DoP

 

[rab900]

I can‘t install any drivers on a Mac.

It seems like this a a common issue on the Zen Stream with some DACs. The current FW is installed, so no other method to fix it?

Maybe a Raspberry Pi would work

 

[DMITRIY R]

I am now also a proud owner of DAC 200.

Have you already managed to compare DAC 8 DSD and DAC 200 head-to-head? Could you describe the differences?

 

[Spinning46rpm]

@ThanatosVI
Sure, but I guess that T+A will focus their engineering resources on products where they can realize the highest profit.
The 200-series seems to me more promising than the old R-series.
The SW update process of the DAC 200 needs some serious improvements…

 

[ThanatosVI]

@ThanatosVI
Sure, but I guess that T+A will focus their engineering resources on products where they can realize the highest profit.
The 200-series seems to me more promising than the old R-series.
The SW update process of the DAC 200 needs some serious improvements…

I'm not sure which post you were reffering to, since you quoted none.
However they certainly realize Profits with all their current series.

The R Series received a new device just last year, it's still "alive". Also the MP2000R Mk2 and MP2500R will receive a new streaming board soon. There is constant RnD even for those. Even though I wouldn't be surprised to see a new Iteration relatively soon.
It's a less compact more Premium series than the 200 series.
One of the main selling points of the 200s is the small Form factor and well smaller price tag

 

[rab900]

Have you already managed to compare DAC 8 DSD and DAC 200 head-to-head? Could you describe the differences?

I use them on two different chains and didn't compared them so far, sorry.

 

[Schelp san]

Happy new DAC200 owner here, coming from Musetec MH-DA005.
I wanted to get it together with MP200, but will wait till June or so when they will ship them with the new streaming platform 3 which they already implemented in MP2500 and HV series. Main functions are the ability to pass DSD data through MP200 to DAC200 plus the Connect apps will work (not only T+A own app). They said current MP200 can be updated to platform 3.

 

[ThanatosVI]

Happy new DAC200 owner here, coming from Musetec MH-DA005.
I wanted to get it together with MP200, but will wait till June or so when they will ship them with the new streaming platform 3 which they already implemented in MP2500 and HV series. Main functions are the ability to pass DSD data through MP200 to DAC200 plus the Connect apps will work (not only T+A own app). They said current MP200 can be updated to platform 3.

Nice to see that the MP200 receives the update as well.

 

[Schelp san]

Price would rise by few hundrets though.

 

[ThanatosVI]

Price would rise by few hundrets though.

What's the price for the Series 200 upgrade?