HQ Player

[mikicasellas]

Hi Guys,

 

Yesterday I received my Terminator-II DAC and Im trying to play with Euphony with the HQPLAYER at PCM 1411/1536 and for some reason it goes up ONLY to 706 despite that with my older Terminator I never had this issue a couple of months ago when I was trying Euphony / HQplayer and I was able to play files at 1411/ 1536 full.

 

Well even with using only Euphony and tried to upsample to those numbers it just does not allow

 

For those who owns new Terminators, is there anything that i might be missing here, any ideas ?

 

Thanks a bunch !

 

 

[mikicasellas]

3 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Install the other firmware. 

Thank you !

[mikicasellas]

Hello,

 

Im using Audiolinux and today I finally managed to add HQplayer embedded to it.

 

Anyone using a Denafrips Terminator II with Hqplayer embedded thru Audiolinux ?

 

Any suggestions on possible combinations that work nice with this DAC on your experience ?

 

Thank you Guys !

[mikicasellas]

18 hours ago, Miska said:

 

Based on information I have, and the Ares II.

 

If you like to use PCM mode, remember to set DAC to NOS mode. Set DAC Bits to 16, preferably use 1.4/1.5M output rate or if not possible, at least 705.6/768k rate. Use LNS15, NS9 or NS5 noise-shaper. And filter of your choice.

 

If you like to DSD mode, use DSD256 or DSD512 output rate. ASDM7ECv2 modulator and filter of your choice.

 

Thank you Miska !

 

For now Im using only PCM mode and I was using 24 bits, but apparently my CPU i7-10700K + ASUS ASUS ROG MAXIMUS HERO XIII Z590, are not enough to go 1.4/1.5 or even 705.6/768K, i have Hyperthreading & Turbo mode ON on BIOS except OC.

 

What could I been missing here ?

 

Again, Thanks !

 

 

 

[mikicasellas]

32 minutes ago, Miska said:

 

First, set PCM rate limit to 1536000. Then, also set some filter for Nx rates. And under ALSA backend, set DAC Bits to 16.

 

Done, but nothing happens it actually stays there like the music playback is in pause :

 

[mikicasellas]

54 minutes ago, giordy60 said:

Update the dac drivers, you are using 

an outdated version.

It has the latest version

 

V3.12.0 (Current latest version)

- Date 29th Nov 2021 

- Compatible with macOS / winOS / Linux  

- Improved low level STM MCU32 USB handshake with host

- Supports PCM1536 / DSD1024

[mikicasellas]

Miska,

 

I have tried all the Sample rate without success, only in 44 or auto and in "Rate Limit" I can not pass 256000, just as it is in the attached pic

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mikicasellas]

22 minutes ago, Miska said:

 

Not sure I understand:

Just like that and the player in Roon goes "fast Forward in the seconds", so only if I go below 352800, meaning I can only play music when it is at 256000 with 44/16 files, when it is 48 or 96 it also fails to play

[mikicasellas]

17 minutes ago, mikicasellas said:

Just like that and the player in Roon goes "fast Forward in the seconds", so only if I go below 352800, meaning I can only play music when it is at 256000 with 44/16 files, when it is 48 or 96 it also fails to play

Miska,

 

This is what I meant by "Fast forwarding" when I go above 256000:

 

And when it does this there is no sound at all.

 

 

 

[mikicasellas]

@Miska

 

Im using HQPlayer embedded with Audiolinux

 

In my iPhone I recently installed Mconnect in order to stream Qobuz, but once i launched it everyday, UPnP devices connect immediately ( such as my Sony TV ) but my HQPlayer connection takes a while to be seen on Mconnect and sometimes it just won't see it until I re-apply HQPlayer several times and even then when im listening to music once it is connected then puf it gets disconnected, Is there something that might be interfering with my connection ?

 

HQPLayer thru Roon is a pleasure, but SQ is heavily diminish, im using this with a BIG trade off...any suggestions to keep a firm connection with the best possible SQ ?

 

 

[mikicasellas]

11 hours ago, musicjunkie917 said:

 

How? Roon sends the tracks to HQPlayer which then sends it to your NAA or directly connected DAC. Whether HQPlayer reads the track directly or gets it from Roon, the NAA or DAC gets the same exact data from HQPlayer. 

I have tried several times and going back to HQPLAYER to Mconnect, apparently Roon is still using other resources 

 

@Miska

 

 

[mikicasellas]

Has anyone tried the Sonnet Pasithea with HQP ?

 

Im using a Terminator II in PCM and Im wondering as good as the Pasithea seems to be and apparently besting the T+, how would it stack with HQP when it is limited for upsampling ( 44.1 - 384kHz ), whereas the T-II goes up to 1536000:

 

Pasithea
Balanced  Non oversampling DAC
Four SDA-3dac modules per channel in differential mode
Power supply 30VA  110/115V AC 220/230V AC 60/50Hz. Power required max 16 Watts
Input 1x optical, 1x coaxial and 1x  AES/EBU, 1x I2S and 1x USB input.
Output 1x stereo pair single ended  2 Volts RMS. In -10dB mode 0.66 Volts RMS
Output 1x stereo pair XLR balanced 4 Volts RMS In -10dB mode 1.33 Volts RMS
Frequency Response 44.1 kHz sampling 1Hz ñ 20 khz -1dB
Frequency Response 192 kHz sampling 1Hz ñ 65 kHz - 3dB  and 384kHz (USB)
Distortion 0.001% THD
Channel separation 125dB
Noise Floor -160 dB related to 4 Volt RMS
Output impedance RCA 100 Ohm, XLR 16 Ohms, Physical -10dB setting 8 Ohms
Sampling rate Optical 44.1 - 96 kHz
Sampling rate Coax and AES/EBU: 44.1 -192 kHz
Sampling rate USB 44.1 - 384kHz

 

 

 

-This is my a actual setup with Terminator II

PCM settings

1x Filter

closed-form

Nx Filter

closed-form

Dither

LNS15

Sample rate

Auto 

Rate limit

1536000 

 

[mikicasellas]

From HQP Embedded 4.31 to 4.32 High frequencies became more hot and less silky as I was hearing to them on 4.31

 

Is anyone experiencing the same ?

[mikicasellas]

1 hour ago, StreamFidelity said:

 

Interesting. I noticed a better localization. That might fit with your observation of the higher frequencies providing improved localization of individual sound events. However, I don't notice any sharpening. SQ has increased.

 

It is a purely subjective listening experience. I didn't do an A/B comparison since I am installing new versions on Intel Optane SSD. My memory can be deceiving. 😉

 

Could share your HQP configuration ?

 

Maybe with this upgrade and keeping my 4.31 config makes this

 

Thank you

[mikicasellas]

CONTEXT: Filters and DSD or PCM for Lampizator Baltic4 engine 11 / ΔΣ chips

 

Running a Fanless server with moderate power Intel i7-10700K im trying to find some possible guidance from @Miska or any others users that have been gone thru the same doubts of those many choices ;

 

Im using Euphony OS and I have found that thru " Roon core + HQPlayer " in PCM, sound is more engaging and analog than Stylus but tends to sibilance in some occasions and I was wondering if going to DSD instead ( although temps go up around 5 to 7 celsius aprox ) with my actual CPU. I was interested about @Miska´s comments that DSD is also "native food" for ΔΣ chips ", so I thought I could squeeze my DAC potential, The B4 is capable of DSD 512, BUT apparently with my current server I can not go up to 512, so wondering if this setup could be better

 

Happy Sunday !

 

[mikicasellas]

1 hour ago, Miska said:

 

DSD256 already gives you very good performance, and going for DSD512 or higher is not systematically better in all respects. That is why I consider DSD256 as a good baseline.

 

There is relatively notable difference going from non-EC modulators to EC modulators. So if possible, running at least ASDM5EC should be worthwhile.

 

For comparison I would keep same filters for both cases. (also note that there is commonly volume difference between PCM and DSD modes - this is a DAC feature)

 

 

For sibilant recordings, you could try out poly-sinc-short-mp filter - it may help too.

 

If anybody knows what DAC chip is used in the particular DAC, I can make more detailed recommendations.

 

Thanks Jussi,

 

I would try that and I will bring feedback 

 

Regards

Miguel

 

 

[mikicasellas]

1 hour ago, Miska said:

f anybody knows what DAC chip is used in the particular DAC, I can make more detailed recommendations.

Let me check exactly which one is but my guess is SABRE

 

1 hour ago, Miska said:

For comparison I would keep same filters for both cases. (also note that there is commonly volume difference between PCM and DSD modes - this is a DAC feature)

I Can hear that, at least I had to go from PCM at Vol 45 to DSD at 50 Vol to match volume level

 

 

[mikicasellas]

Hi @Miska 

 

Is there a way that I can use HQPLAYER embedded bypassing EUPHONY ?

 

Thank you !

[mikicasellas]

1 hour ago, Miska said:

 

Not sure I understand the question. I have never used Euphony but of course I use HQPlayer all the time. So can you elaborate a bit more what you mean?

 

My only Intel M.2 Optane ( 59 gb ) in my server I have been using HQPLAYER embedded only thru Euphony , I would like to know what would be the other/s way/s to use HQP Embedded so I can ditch Euphony and use your OS , thing is I purchased "EMBEDDED" and I was wondering about this:

 

--- can I also have HQP on the same intel Optane M.2 or it will be best to have it in a separate M.2 ?

--- Im guessing as it is now it can just be used thru Euphony ?

 

Thanks and sorry for the silly questions 🤐

[mikicasellas]

4 hours ago, Miska said:

You can use HQPlayer OS, booted up from a USB memory stick. This is pretty easy to do. But you cannot practically install any other software on the OS.

Jussi, Can this be done with any USB stick or the one you offers to your clients ?

 

Does the SQ results is equal to that of being installed on the M.2 or another M.2 ?

 

4 hours ago, Miska said:

Or you can install one of the supported Linux distributions, such as Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS or Fedora Server Minimal and then the corresponding hqplayerd (and libgmpris) package there. These are more flexible when it comes to installing and running other software. But you need some familiarity with working on Linux command line.

For this specific scenario I can do it calling a guy

 

Once either choice and being embedded, where can I use it ?

 

So kind 

 

thanks !

M.

[mikicasellas]

On 2/28/2023 at 9:06 AM, Miska said:

 

Yes, any USB memory stick is fine, 4 GB is enough for the current images. (image size is 2.8 GB at the moment, with 50% of free space)

 

The USB dongle that is available through my web shop is replacement for the hardware fingerprint in HQPlayer Embedded license. It has practically no memory.

 

 

Storage type doesn't really affect sound quality, only the amount of time it takes to boot up. Once booted up, there's almost no disk access. Music storage is different thing. But I would recommend to use full metal enclosed USB memory sticks.

 

 

Official way is through HQPlayer Client. Which is included in HQPlayer Desktop installer, but can be installed separately (except on Linux) and is covered by the server license. This gives you local library playback, plus Qobuz and HRA streaming services.

 

Other options include HQPDcontrol (iOS/Android, for local library), mConnect Player (iOS/Android for local UPnP library and streaming services), BubbleUPnP (Android, for local UPnP library and streaming services).

 

And of course Roon as a source, anything you can play through Roon can go through HQPlayer Embedded or Desktop.

 

Thank you Jussi

[mikicasellas]

 

Hello Jussi,

 

Im using euphony currently but I want to try the Image booted from a USB into my server with HQPLAYER embedded alone and I have no clue to which choice to use

 

My server is composed with a Intel i7-10700K + ASUS ROG MAXIMUS HERO XIII Z590:

 

Could I kindly ask you to make suggestions to best performance in BIOS ? such as Hyperthreading, OC and Turbo among other things that I should take in count in order to achieve the best with my CPU+MOBO with HQP Embedded ...My server is fanless

 

Thank you !

 

[mikicasellas]

1 hour ago, Miska said:

 

x64avx2 build is the right one.

 

 

"Load optimized defaults" and then set RAM to XMP Profile 1. That's it.

 

Great Thank You Jussi

[mikicasellas]

@Miska,

 

I still using HQPlayer embedded thru Euphony V.4 Im trying to use my USB Dongle Key but im not able, ...

 

I was told that I could insert the USB Dongle on my server and from my Mac mini which I use as remote I could upload the key but I have had no success

 

Anyone with the same issue ?

 

Thanks !

[mikicasellas]

16 hours ago, mikicasellas said:

@Miska,

 

I still using HQPlayer embedded thru Euphony V.4 Im trying to use my USB Dongle Key but im not able, ...

 

I was told that I could insert the USB Dongle on my server and from my Mac mini which I use as remote I could upload the key but I have had no success

 

Anyone with the same issue ?

 

Thanks !

 

Hi Jussi

 

Could you help me find a way to go thru this, please ?