DSD files playing with a hiss using XACT S1 EVO Music Server

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1

I am auditioning the XACT S1 EVO Music Server in my system right now. For context, my system comprises of - MSB Cascade DAC, MSB S500 Amp, all Shunyata Sigma cabling, QLN Reference 9 speakers. My source is a custom-built Macbook Pro, all my music (a lot of DSD files) lives on an external SSD drive connected to the Mac, and I use Audirvana in Direct Mode to output bit-perfect to the Cascade via Pro ISL. This setup has been working beautifully with no issues.

Playing my DSD files via the XACT didn’t go well :slightly_frowning_face: I uploaded a few DSD 256x albums onto its built-in drive. One of the albums played fine, but the rest of them had a fairly loud hiss in the background. It wasn’t the connections - it was specific to those files. I also noticed that my DAC was showing “24-bit/705.6 KHz” in the display instead of what I am used to seeing - “DSD 128x” - for those albums. Technically, 24-bit/705.6 KHz equates to DSD 128x, but in the PCM format.

So then I did some research online, and this is what I found: The XACT doesn’t seem to be playing my files bit-perfect in their native DSD format. Instead, it is probably converting them to PCM first. I also tried my best to find settings in the streamer/JPLAY where I could select Direct SDM (to enable native DSD streaming without PCM conversion), but couldnt find anything. I went through every Settings menu in JPLAY, but no luck.

Any insights as to what might be going on here and how I can fix this problem?

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I think I saw that Marcin reached out to us. It sounds like he is working on addressing it, probably best to keep working with him if you have his contact. You gotta love that the Cascade will show exactly what it is being fed :smiley:

This is definintly Music Server related, but in the past, he has always been quite diligent on updates and getting things working. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for ya.