anyone using Roon to convert PCM to DSD? it sounds a lot different and maybe better

@benstelz 

Also it depends on your DAC. I had some DACs that prefer PCM, others respond well to DSD conversion. I've even noticed that I like one DAC with HQ Player, and another DAC with Roon, and another DAC with PGGB.

Absolutely, sounds like you have more experience with different options and DAC's than I, I have been using PGGB for just a few months. I will add it is dependent on the streaming setup as well.

People say Roon is the weakest, that isn't my experience.

I have read Roon sounds just fantastic through a Taiko, but thousands of hours were spent optimizing that streamer to sound best using that software. Grimm is another streamer that was voiced for Roon, they have recently opened up the option for other softwares but my guess is the leaner sounding Grimm may sound a little too lean with something other than Roon?

Maybe I'm crazy but it feels like another system and listener dependent situation. 

You're not. Well, I take that back, all of us hard core audiophiles are.  Part of the hobby. And I enjoy the sh!+ out of it. The chase is just as enjoyable as the catch. Point is you have tried stuff, and have the experiences to reflect upon, and hopefully are getting closer and closer to a sound that you could live with for an indefinite amount of time. 

But yes this synergy concept is huge, and what is perfect to one listener is not quite perfect to another. 

All DACs, well except R2R NOS, are resampling inside - upsampling to higher bitrate

My streaming gear is Weiss 501 MK2 with Aqua LinQ transporter

Nice stuff @vicdior !

Yes @hhudo speaking of the Weiss 501, it doesn't matter what signal you feed into it it all gets up (or down) converted to 195/195.3125 khz, (32 bits I believe) because that is what Daniel insists is what the chipset prefers, and who the heck is going to argue with him.

Oddly, although I thought because of this the Weiss is a "PCM preferable DAC" and would therefore prefer PCM over DSD, over the holidays I put the 501 in my other system and fed it PGGB DSD 128 files, and there definitely were some sound improvements over "native" 192/24 Qobuz using Roon- worth more experimenting. 

So doing the same before it gets sent to the DAC can be better if you're using better algorith for that processing.

That is what I am beginning to believe. 

With my Mytek Brooklyn I've experimented a lot and honestly can't hear a difference between DSD and 192k/24 PCM so now I just stick to 192k PCM. 

Not using Roon but instead Audirvana with Qobuz and have found that upsampling to DSD generally yields a smoother sound that I prefer especially when listening to vocals.  With instrumental music I could be satisfied with either DSD or PCM upsampling and sometimes choose to not upsample at all. When I use an inexpensive DDC to convert usb to spdif for purposes of galvanic isolation from my laptop, DSD gets limited to 64 because 128 will occasionally not play. A better DDC providing IIS output would circumvent this issue but not provide galvanic isolation. It's best to try many combinations and is likely to be streamer and DAC dependent as to which sounds the best in your system.

I do not use Roon. I use HQ Player to convert ALL sources to DSD 256. FLAC and DSD files are from local machine through HQ Player library. But sources like Spotify, Youtube, any websites with media all are routed through VB-Cable's HiFi cable into HQ Player which upsample them to DSD 256. I have the T+A DAC 200 and it loved DSD feeds.