Streaming through Windows 10

[Puffin]

I stream Spotify through a W10 computer to several DACs. one of these is an ifi Zen Dac V2 which is capable of handling DSD and I also have a Topping D30 which also takes DSD. I can go into the W10 sound settings and on Playback choose which rate I want to listen to e.g 24bit 192khz or lower or higher.

If I do this with the Zen the LED shows it is receiving a DSD signal due to the colour of the led. Am I being tricked or does W10 upsample the feed from Spotify and if not what is happening?

 

[Puffin]

This is the list of options available

 

[bohrok2610]

I assume both Ifi Zen and Topping have ASIO drivers. You should use those drivers to set playback format.

 

[Netlist]

This from the ifi website:
https://ifi-audio.com/faqs/dop-versus-asio-native-what-are-the-differences-similarities/
https://ifi-audio.com/support/faq/

Hugo

 

[Puffin]

Thank you @ bohrok2610 and @Netlist. Is the ASIO automatically engaged in the Zen Dac? Sorry I really don't know much about all this 🙂

 

[bohrok2610]

If you have installed it according to instructions it should be automatically engaged. AFAIK all Ifi dacs use the same USB driver:
https://ifi-audio.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/iFi-AMR-HD-USB-Audio-Driver-5.12.zip

 

[Netlist]

This I cannot answer for I don't know the Zen Dac but I would expect the manual to explain.

Hugo

 

[Puffin]

If you have installed it according to instructions it should be automatically engaged. AFAIK all Ifi dacs use the same USB driver:
https://ifi-audio.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/iFi-AMR-HD-USB-Audio-Driver-5.12.zip

I will check on my desktop as this is where I stream from. Having read the installation notes in the above link I would assume that ASIO was loaded at the time I installed the drivers.

 

[bohrok2610]

Ifi driver is launched at startup so there should be an Ifi icon in your Windows taskbar at lower right corner.

 

[Puffin]

Ah, ok i'll check later 👍

 

[Puffin]

The PC is telling me this :-
Preferred ASIO
Format 2 ch 32 bits, sample rate 384khz,
Input latency 4400 samples 11.67ms
Output latency 5184 samples 13.50ms
ASIO not active.

 

[Netlist]

If you start playing music, ASIO should switch to active.

Hugo

 

[Puffin]

Ok, I had paused the music in order to concentrate on writing the details down. So it is doing what it should be doing and the ASIO is what dictates the final output from the Dac?

 

[Netlist]

I suppose a DAC has to output what it has been fed. 😉

Hugo

 

[Jeffh01]

Windows will resample to whatever you ask it to. ASIO will output a bit perfect stream at the same rate as your source.
I always ensure all windows effects are turned off as to my ears they muddy the sound, but typically I use an ASIO driver.