I am going to try and set up HQPlayer and Roon on the laptop so I can do DSD512 upsampled but what I have heard so far with an Aurender N10 feeding the DAC8 DSD is very good.
I'm limited to using an old MacBook running Audirvana+2 which will output DSD128 Max and will not play reliably any PCM>DSD, too small processor/ram.
On a whim, well my partner needed a new one in any case, I purchased a MacBook Pro quad core/16gb/1tb to give the PCM>DSD a try whilst waiting for the SGM server demo.
Can you believe that the Pro will not play ball with the T+A, something to do with ElCapitan and USB3 audio. The Dac is just not recognised. I even thought the cable or port was dead but no, the Dac is just not seen.
If anyone knows any 'trick' to get this working it may give me a taste of what is to come.
I'm still thrilled with PCM on this dac and with some DSD recordings it's stellar, but not all. Ella Fitzgerald, Let no man write my epitaph, AP DSD download sounds worse than the CD rip (DCC Gold) with the rip upsampled to DSD one point better still (apart from the old Mac not playing the whole track continuously).
So I'll just have to bide my time until the SGM server gets here next month.
Almost forgot, the Dac is sensitive to footers. I believe Stillpoints are the preferred option but I'm having great success with Yamamoto MGB2 and a sturdy power cord, Sablon Reserva.
And recommendation for music tonight, Leyla McCalla, A Day for the Hunter, A Day for the Prey, available from Qobuz.[video]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=czmaR4wVqoQ[/video]