Re: DSD, this is not a simple problem. It all boils down to what you can do, where you can do it, and how you can move the bits around. With Meridian, there are usually "good", "better", and "best" solutions.

[speculation hat on]

The 818v3 via USB is probably going to provide the "best" solution. Why? Because it gets to see the raw bitstream. (USB input bandwidth is good enough.)

Why might streaming from Sooloos to the 818v3 not be as optimal?

According to the DOP Open Standard:
Quote
[standard rate] DSD has a sample size of 1 bit and a sample rate of 2.8224MHz. In other words the data rate is 2.8224Mbits/sec. This is equivalent to 16 bit PCM at 176.4kHz.
This is beyond the capacity of SpeakerLink/SPDIF.

I imagine therefore that, when streaming from Sooloos, the optimal solution for Sooloos systems would be to perform the DSD to PCM conversion in the Sooloos Core itself. This *may* not be as good a conversion as in the 818v3.

If the converted-to-PCM data are going from a Sooloos Core to a networked Sooloos endpoint (e.g. ID41), they could be encapsulated in MQA in the Sooloos Core, for decoding by the 818v3 (or other, not yet announced, MQA endpoint). The data could then be MQA decoded and either passed to the managed DACs in the decoding device, or sent on to DSP loudspeakers over MHR.

I don't see DSP loudspeakers doing the raw DSD to PCM conversion, simply because I can't see how the data could be transferred to them.

[speculation hat off]

Roon Developer and ex-moderator of this Forum
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