Topic: Is upsample really useful for Hi-Fi and/or pro users?
An excerpt from the ADI-2 Pro FS R manual at page 16, 8.6 SRC (Sample Rate Conversion):
"A SRC can also be used to upsample audio. A 44.1 kHz source can be converted to 192 kHz in real-time and thus played back with the DAC set to 192 kHz. The usefulness of this process is questionable. There is zero content added, so the exact same audio is played back. The only change is that the DAC's oversampling filters are moved far out of the audible range. But even at 44.1 kHz the ADI-2 Pro’s filters are inaudibly high, and the process of sample rate conversion also uses those lower filters during its first conversion process."
I smiled when I read the phrase "The usefulness of this process is questionable". I also wonder myself about the benefits of upsampling a 44.1 kHz stream to 192 kHz or upper frequencies. As a home user Hi-Fi, I use Roon and sometimes daisy chained to HQPlayer Embedded.
I don't upsample PCM streams from Roon (local FLAC, Qobuz and/or Tidal). I either use source PCM frequency or convert from PCM to DSD (at Roon itself or with HQPlayer Embedded). Even I wonder if there is any real benefit (or uselfulness) from this conversion stage, specially if the DAC has not a DSD direct mode before going into the analog domain. ADI-2 DAC itself can run or not in DSD direct mode depending on the implemented DAC chip (AKM or ESS).
It's awesome how can this subject be approached depending on the point of view of home user Hi-Fi or a pro user.
The older I become the more skeptical I become on audio "magic" solutions.
For the record: I agree with the sentence "The usefulness of this process is questionable" and at the same time I wonder if this setence is extensible to the PCM to DSD (128, 256, 512, 1024...) conversions.