Can we play genuine DSD Stream with PCs?, Moved (back) to Audio Hardware by request Options

[Happy Water]

Hi,

now ripping a SACD is possible and we can play SACD ISO with foobar2000.
But still, we must convert DSD stream to a PCM stream and then output it to the PC soundcard or
a DA/C through USB 1394 HDMI or SPIDF, etc..

I saw the autodetect ASIO Driver Mode in foo_input_sacd plugin Preferences page of foobar2000, but I don't know any Devices(both soundcard and DAC)
that supports it. Now I'm really looking forward to a scheme that can play genuine DSD Stream with PC...

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks...

[Wombat]

Now I think this should be the key word for me as I do originally thought that Sony invented DSD for better sound.

However, there is still one question confuses me.
How much loss is there when we convert DSD to PCM(especially 176.4KHz 24bit, by foo_input_sacd Plugin or AudioGate) for playing those Albums which are claimed recorded and mixed under Pure DSD Environment? (if any?)

BTW, I heard that only a few Music Albums are recorded under pure DSD environment while the others are converted from PCM tracks.
Is it true?

The chances there is a loss isn´t that high. The DSD files they offer may have been PCM before while they were mastered. Software programs like Pyramix advertise to use 24bit/354.2kHz PCM as intermediate format for processing. So you see you can pretty nicely create the complete DSD signal in PCM, even with all the noise
It doesn´t work the other way around.
When converting 1bit DSD to PCM 20bit and 48kHz sampling rate may be already enough. At 24kHz the noise in DSD is already ~60dB higher as with PCM, no music up there you will miss imho.
Just realize how they claim the advantage to have no ringing filter up there with DSD. Having some pre-ringing at 24kHz makes your music sound bad but 60dB more noise up there doesn´t. Silly, isnt it?
To be on the safe side you may use 88.2kHz but everything above only wastes space with recreating huge amounts of noise that in reality better should be filtered out.
We have some people here with more insight here, just my thoughts.

Edit: And about PURE DSD production you should wonder who still uses 1-bit DSD ADCs when multi-bit DSD became the norm. So the data they sell you as 1-bit DSD may not be so PURE

This post has been edited by Wombat: Feb 21 2012, 22:41