HQ Player

[YashN]

Just tried HQPlayer today on Mac OS X (Mavericks), as before that it required the NAA. Loved the sound, very clean mid-range and delicate highs, reminiscent of Audirvana v2 when I tried it.

 

Miska, do you plan to support exaSound's CoreAudioDSD or ASIO drivers for Mac OS X in the future?

 

An additional question which is not directly related to HQPlayer only: if you had to build an active cross-over but wishing to remain in the DSD domain (i.e. if you do not want to do any intermediate conversions to and from PCM), how would you do it?

 

Well done on the software!

[YashN]

Ha, cool But I only have an iFi iDSD Nano which I wanted to test in Quad-rate mode with the Nagano solo violin file. Not sure it works for me on Mac OS X. I do see up to 6MHz in the up-converting dropbox though, and the iFi stays on Magenta light.

 

Great news for the flexible channel routing. I mean, getting all the crossover before the multi-channel DSD DAC and then bi-amping or tri-amping with tubes directly to the drivers is really a dream set-up!

 

After thinking about it again yesterday, and since PCM up-converted to DSD 2x sounds wonderful, I guess if the original source is RedBook, we won't mind doing the cross-over in the PCM domain, so long as after that the chain is DSD 2x up to the output stage.

 

In the case of original DSD 2x material, I wonder if it would be better to do the cross-over in the pure analogue domain instead - I'm not sure what to do here, unless your work on multi-channel and DSD Processing shows great promise

 

It is supported already... Just select "ASIO" backend in HQPlayer, select exaSound ASIO driver and leave "SDM Pack" to "none".

 

I have exaSound e28 and DSD over ASIO works fine on OS X.

 

This is under construction, digital room correction has been there for quite a while, but more flexible channel routing necessary for digital X-overs for multi-way speakers has been missing. To be fixed soon...

[YashN]

But then again I thought that since exaSound managed to provide a driver to third-parties to make either CoreAudio do DSD256 or make use of ASIO on Mac OS X possible, and since I upgraded my iDSD Nano to Quad-rate, I would be able to do native Quad-rate on Mac OS X, provided the audiophile player has implemented the exaSound driver.

 

Looks like I am missing something here.

 

While installing Windows on my Mac makes me cringe, I may do a virtualised install of Linux to test it!

 

Is there any minimal Linux distribution you would recommend? I would try it with VirtualBox.

 

Cheers.

 

For quad rate on iDSD Nano, Windows or Linux is needed. On OS X only DoP over CoreAudio is available and thus output rates are limited to DSD128.

[YashN]

Thanks Miska, that was the part I was missing.

 

Thorsten mentioned on FB that the Micro does it 'without drivers'. I am not sure now that he meant 'on Windows' for this one or not. I did ask if they have plans to do the same for the Nano, but have no answer yet.

 

I may open a ticket at the support site and see if the very cool Owen replies.

 

I will certainly ask them, no harm in trying, else Linux distro when I feel like tinkering

 

So exaSound provides just pure specs and no libraries? A bit of a bummer, but still cool of them to be willing to share.

 

Players just use ASIO drivers, but ASIO driver needs to be implemented by each hardware vendor for their own hardware. So far I'm only aware of exaSound's implementation for their own DACs on OS X.

 

This is same on Windows side too. iFi provides an ASIO driver for their DACs on Windows. If you'd like to get ASIO support with iFi on OS X, you need to talk to iFi so that they would provide an ASIO driver for OS X too.

 

AFAIK, exaSound doesn't provide drivers for third parties, only the OS X specific part of the spec.

[YashN]

The exaSound driver applies *only* to exaSound devices. Until / unless iFi comes up with their ASIO driver for Mac, you're out of luck with the Nano iDSD.

 

Correct. I should have said 'provides a driver technology or specs to third parties' instead.

 

Relevant section on their website:

 

For enthusiasts interested in pushing the technology even further, exaSound announces a new ASIO driver technology for OS X. We are working with leading player developers to enable ASIO support in their programs. Documentation and sample code is available to interested third parties.

[YashN]

Thanks Miska,

 

I have asked with an open ticket to let us know if they can consider making DSD256 available for Mac OS X owners of the Nano thanks to the technology provided by exaSound. We'll see what they reply.

 

I'll probably get the itch to try a Linux install in the meantime

[YashN]

Got a reply from iFi. It looks like they would prefer to set an industry standard for DSD256 on Mac OS X rather than having to rely on proprietary third-party solutions. One can hope...

 

 

"On the Mac, Audirvana Plus will do DSD256 with the micro iDSD via DoP.

 

We are looking into various solution for ASIO support on the Mac, however all of the proposed implementation are proprietary in nature. We are working with various industry parties (both hardware and software) and we would like to instead implement an industrial standard, however right now we are unable to comment further."

[YashN]

Miska,

 

Have you seen this just-released goodie for $35: Quad-core ARM 1.5Ghz, 1Gb which can run either Ubuntu or Android?

 

 

The "armhf" architecture .deb package I'm providing fits both BeagleBone and CuBox-i (with Debian Jessie), plus bunch of other boards too.

[YashN]

Sounds like it!

 

So basically instead of doing:

 

HDD -> Computer ->[uSB]-> DAC

 

We would rather do the following:

 

HDD -> Computer ->[Ethernet]-> O-Droid NAA ->[uSB]-> DAC

 

And benefit from greater isolation from the Computer and hence better sound?

 

The additional cool thing is that we can easily strip down the OS to the bare essentials.

 

I noticed it on some news site, by the specs looks like a suitable device for NAA use. Even better with GPU and AVE disabled to reduce noise if HDMI output is not needed for audio. At least it is inexpensive to try out!

[YashN]

And HQ Player then runs on the O-Droid or other NAA? Probably a silly question but I'm a total newbie when it comes to NAA as I'm on a completely USB and Wi-Fi based setup currently.

 

We would rather do the following:

 

HDD -> Computer ->[Ethernet]-> O-Droid NAA ->[uSB]-> DAC

 

And benefit from greater isolation from the Computer and hence better sound?

 

The additional cool thing is that we can easily strip down the OS to the bare essentials.

[YashN]

Has anyone had success with the most recent armhf file for Debian Wheezy on a BBB.

 

I see a few people mentioning the BeagleBone Black for use as NAA. Can I do the same with a Raspberry Pi?

[YashN]

You'll have to try it to see if you prefer it in your system.

 

The differences have to do with the output stages, if your DAC can do at least DSD 2x. In other words, try at least PCM (Redbook is a good test) to DSD 2x on a native DSD DAC.

 

What I hear (to summarise and I can only speak for our ears here and my system):

 

in DSD 2x: very fluid, better high-frequency detail, better dynamics, depth.

 

Pure PCM: Less of the above, but... I hear larger bass extension.

 

I sometimes flip-flop between preferring one to the other...

 

Sorry if this has been asked already but does converting PCM to DSD improve the sound significantly?

 

I recently heard DSD & was stunned by it's realism, solidity, stress free presentation & wondered what might be the reason for this difference when compared to PCM - was it the bandwidth limiting at recording, the processing of SD DACs, the output reconstruction filter? Knowing if a DSD conversion from PCM sounded significantly better would help me begin to question.

[YashN]

Make sure your DAC reports firmware v4.06. If not, you will need to try the upgrade with that version.

 

Turn off the DAC after the upgrade, then turn it on again.

 

Adjust your playback gain chain so that the now reduced clicks are nearly inaudible.

[YashN]

Hmm, wouldn't really call Bowie's music that unless it's Outside v1

 

Try Depeche Mode (Alan Wilder era), Erasure, Junior Boys or Goldfrapp's 'Black Cherry' for these, and of course, Jean-Michel Jarre (Oxygène (+ 7-13), Les Chants Magnétiques, Equinoxe).

 

HQP makes better sense, thus better spacial enjoyable sound on any programme would it be Bowie's complex electronics

[YashN]

I like it too, but to me it has more or a pop rock feel to it. Edit: Earthling has quite a lot of electronics in it, but doesn't sound as electronic as the albums I mentioned.

 

Heathen

[YashN]

Yosemite to DAC via USB: lot more computer noise that can affect D-A conversion. An NAA is a simpler device, the SOTM has some isolation, so overall the D-A should be better.

[YashN]

thank you, you should have a look at the usb tree and choose the less crowded port

 

Yup yup, especially if you can put the DAC as a lone device on a Hi-Speed port.

[YashN]

Have you tried Bob's fix for Virtualisation?

[YashN]

Yes, it links directly to Bob's post with the fix and the mention thereof.

 

 

I just followed the link, and either totally missed any comments on virtualization or am just plain blind. I think the second...

 

-Paul

[YashN]

One thing that may improve performance of Windows and OSX on NAA use, would be to configure power savings to power off the screen quickly, in NAA use something like 1 minute delay should be enough. This turns off the display signals and should also make the GPU sleep more (depending on display drivers).

 

Yup yup!

[YashN]

I second the DSD7 order modulation and the Adaptive modulator as well. It's really dependent on the DAC chip.

 

DSD7 sounds really good with the iFi iDSD Nano.

[YashN]

and I wonder if, besides minimal OS activity, etc. (which can be achieved to different degrees on OSX, Win, and Linux), it comes down to the "sound" of the respective OS audio drivers.

 

So I guess I am still fishing around for a solid reason to put the time into a Ubuntu Studio install on my Mac mini (and to follow recently posted instructions on loading the necessary extentions and kernel patches). And it is hard to think of a reason why a Windows install (even a de-bloated one) should sound better than a trim Linux. Unless there is either something better about the Win version of HQP, or if the available audio drivers are better for that platform.

 

Yes, the ultimate test would be an audiophile minimal GNU/Linux install vs WS2012 + AO.

 

Of course, it can be much more than just the drivers, since the kernel / O.S. itself can play a big part on SQ.

 

The fun thing would be to identify what the architectural differences are.

[YashN]

opinion about my 24 is better because DoP is 16+8 theory, I'll be happy to read it

 

I think it's about whether 32-bits has to be processed down to 24 at the DAC for the chip. More processing near it, less SQ.

[YashN]

A small suggestion which will help the end-user rapidly test for different settings, if possible of course:

 

Allow the loaded files to stay loaded after a settings change.

 

Currently, if the settings panels are open and you make a change, the playlist empties so that you have to reload your files. I think I even saw it with a panel being opened and then closed with no changes actually made.

[YashN]

I have found that a few tweaks that improved SQ, IMHO. Two things I did were to turn on the "reduce transparency" setting in Accessibility settings under Display in both MBP and Mac Mini, and turning on "Automatic graphics switching" in the Energy Saver settings in the MBP to allow use of lower

 

I've done that first tweak as well after reading an article on how to optimise Yosemite. For graphics, I use a little utility called gfxCardStatus with which you can set the laptop to use the lower consumption graphics card.

 

What you can do additionally is go in the System Preferences -> Energy and set the display to sleep after 1 min.

 

I was looking at undervolting and I think Superdad did mention a utility but which was updated for up to Mavericks only and wasn't yet compatible with Yosemite. I think it's called CoolVolt or something like that.