• Registered: 2021-09-06
  • Posts: 6

Topic: Simple question: Does the ADI-2 FS DAC use Native DSD? Or only DoP?

I am using USBAudioPlayerPRO_7107_tv.apk (the software) to play streaming audio and sound files (.flac, .wav, .mp3, etc), including DSD files (.dsf) on an Nvidia Shield Pro Android TV device (the hardware).


My DAC (the other hardware) is the RME ADI-2 FS. This DAC, as explained in its manual, accommodates DSD playback at DSD64, DSD128 and DSD256 levels.


When I switch, in UAPP's Settings -> USB audio -> DSD mode, from "DoP (DSD over PCM)" to "Native DSD",  UAPP instantly throws up 2 warning messages:


"Failed to find interface for native DSD playback!"  and

"Error: USB setup failed!"


and my .dsf files will not play. My question is: Why is this?


In the ADI-2's manual, its section on DSD contains this slightly cryptic line:

"To transfer DSD data over SPDIF, AES or even USB, DSD over PCM (DoP) is the de-facto standard."


(Slightly cryptic because it makes that statement and leaves it at that, with no further context or explanation as to why.)


But is this really true for USB DSD in all or most situations?


Can the ADI-2 FS DAC play DSD files via "Native DSD"?  Or only via DoP?


If so, how do I set it up?
If not, why not? 

Thanks for your consideration.

2 Reply by Kubrak (edited by Kubrak 2026-04-28 22:38:32)

  • Kubrak
  • DAW Mastermind
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2023-08-03
  • Posts: 1,476

Re: Simple question: Does the ADI-2 FS DAC use Native DSD? Or only DoP?

I do not have ADI-2 FS DAC and any experience with DSD, but IMHO the cited manual says clearly that it uses DoP.

So, you should use DoP, not Native DSD setting on broadcast side. IMHO....

FF UCX II, Digiface USB, Babyface Pro FS

3 Reply by ramses (edited by ramses 2026-04-28 23:24:27)

  • ramses
  • ramses
  • DAW Mastermind
  • Offline
  • From: UTC+1
  • Registered: 2012-10-14
  • Posts: 15,578

Re: Simple question: Does the ADI-2 FS DAC use Native DSD? Or only DoP?

I do not use DSD .. but generally ...

> My DAC (the other hardware) is the RME ADI-2 FS.

The ADI-2 FS is another unit without USB / DSD support.

You have possibly the ADI-2 DAC FS.

Only the AKM converter supports direct DSD ("native" DSD).

Depending on how old your device is, its either a unit with AKM or a newer with ESS chip.
See this overview: https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.ph … 06#p165706

The AKM version has a DA filter called "Short Delay Low Dispersion(SDLD)", the ESS version has a DA filter called "Brickwall" instead.

BR Ramses - HDSPe MADI FX, M-1620 Pro D, 12Mic, UFX III, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, Nuendo 15, Win10 IoT Ent

4 Reply by MC

  • MC
  • MC
  • Administrator
  • Offline
  • From: Germany/Thailand
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
  • Posts: 26,992

Re: Simple question: Does the ADI-2 FS DAC use Native DSD? Or only DoP?

We are talking driver-less aka Class Compliant operation here. Using our drivers both native and DoP works. That nVidia player (that I am not familiar with) might not support DoP. In that case it won't work.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

5 Reply by watchpocket (edited by watchpocket 2026-04-29 20:45:29)

  • Registered: 2021-09-06
  • Posts: 6

Re: Simple question: Does the ADI-2 FS DAC use Native DSD? Or only DoP?

"MC" wrote:

> We are talking driver-less aka Class Compliant operation here.


Yes - that is correct, I am not using a software driver with my ADI-2 FS DAC. 


(As an aside, I'm not sure I get why you say not using a driver is "also known as" "Class Compliant."  What exactly is meant by "Class Compliant"?  What class is my DAC compliant with, if I'm not using a driver?)


> Using our drivers both native and DoP works

If you have a driver for the Android operating system (or even Linux), especially as an .apk, please give me a link to it and I'll install it in my Nvida Shield Pro Android TV box, which uses the Android OS.


I have a feeling, though, that you have drivers only for the Windows and MacOS operating systems. True?


As I wrote above, I can use DoP just fine with my DAC / Android box / player software combo.  It's "Native DSD" that won't work when I try to use it with my player software (USB Audio Player Pro).


So: I gather what you're saying is that -- WITH your software driver -- "Native DSD" should work just fine, but without it, I can use only DoP. 


This is not an urgent matter for me, as the DoP sound quality is excellent. It's more a matter of me trying to understand exactly WHAT "Native DSD" is, and why UAPP barks when I try to turn it on.


Is "Native DSD" to be understood only in contra-distinction to DoP?  As in, "you're either using DoP or native DSD"??


(One key difference, if I'm not mistaken, is that DoP will not support DSD512 and DSD1024, only "Native DSD" will. Correct me if I'm wrong.)


Or does the term "Native DSD" have other significance?  I see the term all the time but I think a lot of folks use it without making its meaning clear, and that people often mis-use the term, or use it as a kind of catch-all. 


For sure, everyone seems to have an opinion on DSD, some folks "can't hear it," and everyone uses it with completely different DACs and completely different digital systems and configurations and audio chains, and therefore seem to understand it differently.


But I would enjoy being able to use a "driver" that will enable "Native DSD", if one exists for my configuration.

6 Reply by KaiS (edited by KaiS 2026-04-29 20:31:54)

  • KaiS
  • DAW Mastermind
  • Online
  • From: Germany
  • Registered: 2020-02-05
  • Posts: 4,227

Re: Simple question: Does the ADI-2 FS DAC use Native DSD? Or only DoP?

DoP is just a transfer protocol, the audio itself stays unchanged.
So, sound wise, DoP is the same as Native DSD.


There’s a lot to read about DSD in ADI-2 DAC manual chapter 17, e.g.:

DoP …  …Note that the data stays pure DSD and is NOT converted to PCM.

KaiS's Website

  • Registered: 2021-09-06
  • Posts: 6

Re: Simple question: Does the ADI-2 FS DAC use Native DSD? Or only DoP?

> the cited manual says clearly that it uses DoP.


Really?  Can you point to a page and paragraph number?  I didn't see that. 


What I see is that it says that DoP "is the de facto standard."


Not that it "uses DoP." Which would imply that it DOESN'T, or can't, use Native DSD.


(Are the manual's German and English different perhaps?)



> So, you should use DoP, not Native DSD setting on broadcast side. IMHO...

Currently I can only use DoP anyway, but what do you mean by "on broadcast side"?

8 Reply by watchpocket (edited by watchpocket 2026-04-29 20:35:01)

  • Registered: 2021-09-06
  • Posts: 6

Re: Simple question: Does the ADI-2 FS DAC use Native DSD? Or only DoP?

KaiS wrote:

DoP is just a transfer protocol, the audio itself stays unchanged.
So, sound wise, DoP is the same as Native DSD.


There’s a lot to read about DSD in ADI-2 DAC manual chapter 17, e.g.:

DoP …  …Note that the data stays pure DSD and is NOT converted to PCM.


I know what DoP is, that wasn't my question. But thanks for your efforts. I've read all of chaper 17 of the manual.

  • Kubrak
  • DAW Mastermind
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2023-08-03
  • Posts: 1,476

Re: Simple question: Does the ADI-2 FS DAC use Native DSD? Or only DoP?

Only Win and MacOS.

And concerning "Native DSD" vs. "DoP"...
https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topi … omparison/

FF UCX II, Digiface USB, Babyface Pro FS

10 Reply by Ivodam (edited by Ivodam 2026-05-09 16:53:11)

  • Registered: 2026-04-10
  • Posts: 9

Re: Simple question: Does the ADI-2 FS DAC use Native DSD? Or only DoP?

watchpocket wrote:

I am using USBAudioPlayerPRO_7107_tv.apk (the software) to play streaming audio and sound files (.flac, .wav, .mp3, etc), including DSD files (.dsf) on an Nvidia Shield Pro Android TV device (the hardware).


My DAC (the other hardware) is the RME ADI-2 FS. This DAC, as explained in its manual, accommodates DSD playback at DSD64, DSD128 and DSD256 levels.


When I switch, in UAPP's Settings -> USB audio -> DSD mode, from "DoP (DSD over PCM)" to "Native DSD",  UAPP instantly throws up 2 warning messages:


"Failed to find interface for native DSD playback!"  and

"Error: USB setup failed!"


and my .dsf files will not play. My question is: Why is this?


In the ADI-2's manual, its section on DSD contains this slightly cryptic line:

"To transfer DSD data over SPDIF, AES or even USB, DSD over PCM (DoP) is the de-facto standard."


(Slightly cryptic because it makes that statement and leaves it at that, with no further context or explanation as to why.)


But is this really true for USB DSD in all or most situations?


Can the ADI-2 FS DAC play DSD files via "Native DSD"?  Or only via DoP?


If so, how do I set it up?
If not, why not? 

Thanks for your consideration.

As I have written in other topics, the term "Native DSD" is a marketing trick, used often not very honestly by the manufacturers. Whether your DSD file is transferred from your source to your dac as it is, or masked as DoP, is not important. I suppose, what really is important to you is that the file is NOT modified in any way before reaching the conversion to analog signal stage. And this is a totally different question.
Somebody already told you that true one bit conversion is done by the AKM chips, whereby the Sabre chips perform a modulation, through which the DSD signal is modulated to a 6-bit signal. Some people call this form Wide-DSD. It allows for electronic volume control. But this is not a "native" treatment, forget about it. I do not trust myself convertor chips for DSD conversion and prefer a discreet conversion architecture - there are such dacs on the market, but they are not cheap...