DSDCore.reviewIndependent technical reviews and lab notes on audio playback, DSP, measurements, and tools.https://dsdcore.review/Why IIR Allpass Halfband Filters Work So Well for PCM-to-DSDhttps://dsdcore.review/lab/why-iir-allpass-halfband-filters-work-so-well-for-pcm-to-dsd/https://dsdcore.review/lab/why-iir-allpass-halfband-filters-work-so-well-for-pcm-to-dsd/Our PCM-to-DSD experiments repeatedly led back to polyphase IIR allpass halfband filters. This note looks at what they do well, where they compromise, and…Wed, 19 Aug 2026 03:03:20 GMTLabWhat Happens Before the First Note?https://dsdcore.review/lab/what-happens-before-the-first-note/https://dsdcore.review/lab/what-happens-before-the-first-note/Fast startup at DSD512 and beyond is not a UI trick. It is a consequence of how decoding, SRC, SDM and buffering are organized before playback begins.Wed, 19 Aug 2026 03:03:09 GMTLabInside a 7th-Order SDMhttps://dsdcore.review/lab/inside-a-7th-order-sdm/https://dsdcore.review/lab/inside-a-7th-order-sdm/A higher-order sigma-delta modulator is not simply a switch marked “better.” Stability, input level and noise shaping behave very differently as the target…Wed, 19 Aug 2026 03:02:54 GMTLabGapless at DSD512https://dsdcore.review/review/gapless-at-dsd-512/https://dsdcore.review/review/gapless-at-dsd-512/Gapless sounds like a checkbox feature. At high-rate DSD it quickly becomes a problem involving conversion state, pre-rendering, boundaries and timing.Wed, 19 Aug 2026 03:02:38 GMTReviewDoP Is Simpler Than It Looks — Until You Build a Playerhttps://dsdcore.review/review/do-p-is-simpler-than-it-looks-until-you-build-a-player/https://dsdcore.review/review/do-p-is-simpler-than-it-looks-until-you-build-a-player/DoP is often described as DSD packed into PCM frames. Correct—but that description hides most of the problems a real playback engine has to solve.Wed, 19 Aug 2026 03:02:28 GMTReviewDSDCore Player Technical Reviewhttps://dsdcore.review/review/dsd-core-player-technical-review/https://dsdcore.review/review/dsd-core-player-technical-review/Testing the first DSDCore.review article workflow.Wed, 19 Aug 2026 03:02:13 GMTReviewRME Babyface Pro FS — A USB Audio Interface That Gets the Basics Righthttps://dsdcore.review/review/rme-babyface-pro-fs-a-usb-audio-interface-that-gets-the-basics-right/https://dsdcore.review/review/rme-babyface-pro-fs-a-usb-audio-interface-that-gets-the-basics-right/The Babyface Pro FS is not designed as an audiophile DAC, yet its engineering priorities make it an interesting reference point for evaluating USB audio on…Wed, 19 Aug 2026 02:39:44 GMTReview