Quad Vena II "Update" slot, help needed

[Silent]

I've recently purchased the Quad Vena II and have had no issues with it whatsoever. However, I have recently noticed that on the back it has a USB-A slot marked "Update" which I assumed was to allow you to put an update on a USB, plug it into the Vena and update the onboard 'software' or something of the like. My problem is I can't find any support regarding this feature so I'm not sure if this is a port left over from a previous Vena or Quad have now just stopped their updates.

Does anyone have a link to downloadable updates that I can load onto a USB and plug into the Vena?

Thanks in advance! :)

[Silent]

*UPDATE*

A few forum posts regarding other Quad products suggested that to gain the firmware updates, one has to email Quad directly to ask for them. I have done this now and await a reply...fingers crossed.

[willbewill]

Thanks for the update. As I also have a Vena II so will be very interested in the reply.

[Silent]

No reply from their team so no update unfortunately. Will maybe try again.

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[struth]

tmk it isnt up and running; wont surprise me if it never is

[Lawrence001]

This site mentions a DSD download for the Vena II DAC which is a pretty good upgrade if it works.

https://www.quad-hifi.co.uk/downloads/

[Silent]

This site mentions a DSD download for the Vena II DAC which is a pretty good upgrade if it works.

https://www.quad-hifi.co.uk/downloads/What exactly would that do? (I'm genuinely quite interested). And how do I install it?

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[Lawrence001]

What exactly would that do? (I'm genuinely quite interested). And how do I install it?

Sent from my SM-G988B using TapatalkI looked up Vena II and the website says it's DSD compatible. DSD being a high Res format that's used in SACD but also for high res file downloads (but not streaming yet as far as I'm aware).

Maybe early versions weren't DSD compatible so this allows the owner to upgrade to the latest software. But I'm not an expert on Quad gear!

[struth]

it does dsd, or mine did(but not full).. the play version does streaming too

[Silent]

it does dsd, or mine did(but not full).. the play version does streaming tooSo I don't have the play, I don't have a SACD player (or any SACDs for that matter)...so until I have any of them, I can ignore DSD and put this update slot in the "never use" catagory?

Because it sounds like if sites like Qobuz use DSD for their hi-res streaming (idk if they do), then no matter if I use Room on the Vena II, it's not going to be DSD?

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[struth]

streaming sites dont use dsd tmk. The Vena 2 will play dsd up to 256..(quad dsd) ive played dsd 128(from my rsp)

[Silent]

streaming sites dont use dsd tmk. The Vena 2 will play dsd up to 256..(quad dsd) ive played dsd 128(from my rsp)Honestly I think I just need to research DSD and find out what sources use DSD because I'm not familiar with it but if streaming services don't use it and there's no way to get DSD from a regular CD then I'm not missing out on anything from my two forms of media

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[struth]

sacd uses it. its 1 bit direct stream.. higher sample rates etc.. some say it sounds better... im not so sure it always does and am happy to use flac now

[Silent]

sacd uses it. its 1 bit direct stream.. higher sample rates etc.. some say it sounds better... im not so sure it always does and am happy to use flac nowYeah I have a UHD Blu-ray player that plays SACD but the interface for music is almost unusable (although it's actually a decent front end for playing regular CDs, almost competes with a Mac playing FLAC imho). Problem is SACDs are so expensive and I have around 40 CDs I'd love to have a SACD version of so I guess it's one of those dragons I have to give up chasing.

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[struth]

Yeah I have a UHD Blu-ray player that plays SACD but the interface for music is almost unusable (although it's actually a decent front end for playing regular CDs, almost competes with a Mac playing FLAC imho). Problem is SACDs are so expensive and I have around 40 CDs I'd love to have a SACD version of so I guess it's one of those dragons I have to give up chasing.

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ive a few sacd's in my collection, all i think are hybrids so have the cd on it too. with sacd in general only coming out of the analogue outs it kinda depends on the quality of the machine as to whether it sounds good. taking it from a digi out and you just get the cd version. After saying that, there are ways of doing it i think with hdmi audio removers. But tbh its a lot of effort and im not sure its worth the trouble. Flac/cd played well is well good enough as to have it all there

[Silent]

ive a few sacd's in my collection, all i think are hybrids so have the cd on it too. with sacd in general only coming out of the analogue outs it kinda depends on the quality of the machine as to whether it sounds good. taking it from a digi out and you just get the cd version. After saying that, there are ways of doing it i think with hdmi audio removers. But tbh its a lot of effort and im not sure its worth the trouble. Flac/cd played well is well good enough as to have it all thereYeah I've heard that, I don't think the device I have that plays SACDs has an analogue output so I guess it would end up just playing the CD layer anyway so I don't feel too bad about missing out. I'm happy with my Zen streamer playing WAV any way so all is well!

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[Lawrence001]

Blu rays can output the DSD stream as PCM over HDMI. I think the only way to get the DSD data from the disc is to do one of those fernickerty PS2 or Oppo rips with some sort of "jailbreak" firmware update.