New to CA.com - DSD not sounding better than Tidal

[Norton]

As others have noted DSD isn’t necessarily always better than 16/44 PCM.

However, in general I’d be surprised if streaming from Tidal  Desktop sounded better  than DSD from local storage.

 

Connect PC to DAC directly via usb and make sure JR River is set to play to your DAC’s  ASIO  driver (you have downloaded  this?).  

 

If your DAC has an input readout check that is is actually receiving  a DSD stream.  Also note that DSD output is generally 6db down on PCM so if DSD sounds  a bit anaemic or distant you may need to turn up the volume to compare on a like for like basis, unless JRiver or your  DAC compensates automatically.