DoP is a protocol for transferring native DSD data via 24bit PCM (I2S) frames. Using DoP, DSD data can be sent using I2S or S/PDIF connections. It is also a bit-perfect protocol, as the conversion back to native DSD is lossless. There is no difference between a native DSD stream and a DSD stream regenerated from a DoP stream. Most of the software commonly used to play music on the Raspberry Pi or PC is starting to offer a DoP output of the DSD data, allowing transmission via an extension connector.

To convert the DoP back to DSD, a DoP decoder is required. The Ian Canada DoP Decoder module is based on the use of an FPGA. It allows to convert DSD64 to DSD512 DoP streams into native DSD streams without any modification and can be used with many HAT DACs.