Nuprime DAC 9x not encoding beyond 44.1 kHz with NuPrime Mini Streamer

[Shivangzz]

Hi All,

I'm a newbie who has connected Revel F35 speakers to a MF M5si integrated amp, a Nuprime DAC 9x and a Nuprime mini streamer. The mini streamer is connected to my DAC via the coaxial and I'm currently utilising the Omnia Receiver app (belongs to Nuprime) to stream tidal Hifii utilising wifi.

I have noticed that all my tracks irrespective of whether they are master/MQA or 24 bit are being encoded by my DAC at 44.1Khz. The DAC 9x has native MQA encoding and somehow nothing I play gets detected.

1. I have checked to ensure my Tidal subscription is HiFii (I have access to master files and can play them)
2. I am not utilising airplay from my mobile or my Mac to play music off the streamer using tidal connect since I've read airplay only plays at 16/44.1 kHz.
3. I have tried connecting the mini streamer utilising the USB extender port on the dac 9x however it still decodes only 44.1 kHz.
4. I have ensured the settings for stream quality within Tidal on the streamer's app is set to play the highest quality (Hifii)

The Nuprime mini streamer has the capability of streaming up to 24/192

Any feedback would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Shivang

 

[Yelamanchili manohar]

Hi All,

I'm a newbie who has connected Revel F35 speakers to a MF M5si integrated amp, a Nuprime DAC 9x and a Nuprime mini streamer. The mini streamer is connected to my DAC via the coaxial and I'm currently utilising the Omnia Receiver app (belongs to Nuprime) to stream tidal Hifii utilising wifi.

I have noticed that all my tracks irrespective of whether they are master/MQA or 24 bit are being encoded by my DAC at 44.1Khz. The DAC 9x has native MQA encoding and somehow nothing I play gets detected.

1. I have checked to ensure my Tidal subscription is HiFii (I have access to master files and can play them)
2. I am not utilising airplay from my mobile or my Mac to play music off the streamer using tidal connect since I've read airplay only plays at 16/44.1 kHz.
3. I have tried connecting the mini streamer utilising the USB extender port on the dac 9x however it still decodes only 44.1 kHz.
4. I have ensured the settings for stream quality within Tidal on the streamer's app is set to play the highest quality (Hifii)

The Nuprime mini streamer has the capability of streaming up to 24/192

Any feedback would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Shivang

Hi Shivang

Iam not familiar with the Nuprime kit, so had to look up their page for the dac, though I could'nt find mention of the mini streamer there. So below would be basic / general trouble shooting tips :

1) Have you tried connecting the streamer via Lan. Maybe you could be having weaker wifi coverage.
2) In the native tidal app, have you checked sound quality settings and enabled MQA there.
3) Have you tired using the desktop tidal app ( which does the first MQA unfold ), and then connect to the 9X dac via usb to check if MQA is now working.
4) As per the nuprime website, the dac has indication LED's, which glow blue and amber ( green ) when a MQA stream is being received ( blue ) and once same is being played or decoded ( green )
5) Have you checked the internal upsampling in the dac 9X, and try setting it to no upsampling.
6) Have you tried only coax between the streamer and the dac, or have you tried any other means of connecting the both.

 

[Shivangzz]

Hi Shivang

Iam not familiar with the Nuprime kit, so had to look up their page for the dac, though I could'nt find mention of the mini streamer there. So below would be basic / general trouble shooting tips :

1) Have you tried connecting the streamer via Lan. Maybe you could be having weaker wifi coverage.
2) In the native tidal app, have you checked sound quality settings and enabled MQA there.
3) Have you tired using the desktop tidal app ( which does the first MQA unfold ), and then connect to the 9X dac via usb to check if MQA is now working.
4) As per the nuprime website, the dac has indication LED's, which glow blue and amber ( green ) when a MQA stream is being received ( blue ) and once same is being played or decoded ( green )
5) Have you checked the internal upsampling in the dac 9X, and try setting it to no upsampling.
6) Have you tried only coax between the streamer and the dac, or have you tried any other means of connecting the both.

Hi Manohar,

Thanks for reaching out and appreciate your suggestions.

1) Have you tried connecting the streamer via Lan. Maybe you could be having weaker wifi coverage.

--> The Nuprime mini streamer does not have a LAN connection. It has a coaxial and a custom USB port that carries 5V for power and the spdif connectivity. I have tried both coaxial to Dac and the SPDIF however the coaxial sounds way better.

2) In the native tidal app, have you checked sound quality settings and enabled MQA there.

--> Yes it is set to max.

3) Have you tired using the desktop tidal app ( which does the first MQA unfold ), and then connect to the 9X dac via usb to check if MQA is now working.

--> Today I connected my MacBook Pro directly to the DAC for the first time via USB and was able to encode MQA utilising the Tidal desktop app. This clearly indicates that the native software for the Nuprime mini is not able to pass quality to the DAC beyond 44.1KHz. Although I must say that after playing off the MacBook Pro the next best option is to play through the Nuprime native app. The sound is still very very good and the sonics are overall great. I suspect that the decoding is at 24/44.1 Htz depending on the source file.

4) As per the nuprime website, the dac has indication LED's, which glow blue and amber ( green ) when a MQA stream is being received ( blue ) and once same is being played or decoded ( green )

--> Yes I was able to achieve this with the MacBook Pro connected and playing via Tidal desktop.

5) Have you checked the internal upsampling in the dac 9X, and try setting it to no upsampling.
--> No option to change this setting.

6) Have you tried only coax between the streamer and the dac, or have you tried any other means of connecting the both.
--> Already answered above

To conclude playing directly via the Omnia mini streamer native app that has the ability to pass though 24/192Khz is being throttled by the DAC at 44.1Khz unless I bypass the streamer and replace it with my MacBook Pro and connect via USB. However the sound from the streamer is pretty good as well. Over all playing via the streamer utilising the native is going to be my preference since it balances overall sonics and convenience (connecting the MacBook Pro and the configuration for USB is a bit tedious each time)

I suspect this is an issue with the Omnia streamer native software that seems pretty outdated with various streaming services (Apple Music / Tidal /Qubuz etc) and it's a pity that they haven't provided an update since a year.