I think this was not the case with older DAC’s or older versions of Windows.
If you have a USB DAC that is more than 8 years old or so you may need it for high resolution playback. The last DAC I saw that was like this was the ARC DAC 8.
Windows versions before 10 may not be able to play music at all with a USB DAC without the driver installed.
Linux is fussy about DSD due to how they embed supported DAC capabilities in the kernel.
If your DAC supports DSD and you can play it, you are all set.
Best,
E
If you have a USB DAC that is more than 8 years old or so you may need it for high resolution playback. The last DAC I saw that was like this was the ARC DAC 8.
Windows versions before 10 may not be able to play music at all with a USB DAC without the driver installed.
Linux is fussy about DSD due to how they embed supported DAC capabilities in the kernel.
If your DAC supports DSD and you can play it, you are all set.
Best,
E