HQ Player

[Forehaven]

I have a complete understanding of the purpose of the software and how to get the best out of it. The current max capabilities of the DAC I'm using is DSD 128. Which I found offered the best results upsampling to with this DAC.

 

Bottom line is with my DAC once you cross over the threshold of 24/96 PCM, the DAC's upsampling/modulation does a better job in most cases.

 

When I did my initial evaluation of the software I didn't completely understand everything about it. So I was testing with very good sounding 24/192 tracks. At the time I blew off HQplayer because I preferred the unfiltered versions via Jriver. That combined with the weak GUI compared with Jriver and Jremote.

 

Then I gave it another chance using Redbook and was very impressed. So after some serious time playing with it this is my opinion.

 

Is there a thread about how to actually do the upsampling to dsd with HQP? Terrible 'help' section in HQP imo.

 

Thanks

Chris

[Forehaven]

Yeah Miska is better at making Algorithms than writing instruction manuals. But that part isn't too hard. Just set the output at the top right to SDM. Pick a modulator and upsampling filter and check Pipeline SDM in the settings. That's what I do and it works. And you must have a DSD capable DAC. Another thing you need to know if your DAC uses DOP or native for DSD.

 

Which DAC are you using?

 

Thanks for the help Blizzard, I'm using an iFi Micro DSD...I think DOP but am not sure.

[Forehaven]

Yeah Miska is better at making Algorithms than writing instruction manuals. But that part isn't too hard. Just set the output at the top right to SDM. Pick a modulator and upsampling filter and check Pipeline SDM in the settings. That's what I do and it works. And you must have a DSD capable DAC. Another thing you need to know if your DAC uses DOP or native for DSD.

 

Which DAC are you using?

 

Ok Blizzard, I got SDM working as output. But I don't see the actual DSD file. Is there actually a DSD file produced from the conversion or does it just play the PCM to DSD in the background without ever prod. a new DSD file?

 

Edit: Nevermind, I forgot I can look at the iFi's LED light that shows PCM or DSD. Interesting no new DSD file is made.

 

Thanks Blizzard, I really appreciated the help!

Chris

[Forehaven]

Chris, HQplayer is for on-the-fly upsampling/converting. No new files are ever produced (that would be offline upconversion, and would take up LOTS of space eventually, and may or may not create great sounding DSD files, depending on the tool). No need, as long as your cpu has the speed and processing power to do this heavy lifting.

 

Makes sense now. And why we always keep the iso Thx Ted.

[Forehaven]

It's very unusual that with a QUAD core i7 that you would be that high. My QUAD core i7 hovers 15-18% when upsampling DSD256 and 19-21% when upsampling DSD512? That would require investigating for sure...keep us posted on your findings?

 

I just this week got PCM to DSD working. However, I'm having a lot of stops/stuttering. I just got this summer a new Mini, i5 2.6Ghz with 16g RAM.

 

Am I unable to use this Mini with these conversions or is there a RAM mngt that I could use? Under Activity Monitor, with HQP it says 125% CPU, but at the bottom, theres a System CPU at only 6%. RAM is 3.6G used.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Chris

[Forehaven]

What target DSD rate are you trying to use? You can get lighter load by using the -2s filter variants.

 

Based on my experience with similar Mini, it should be able to do DSD128 using any of the filters and DSD256 with the -2s variants. DSD512 is too much to ask.

 

I have no idea why I'm having such problems Miska. I tried every single 2s variant in Oversampling, along with every Modulator with bit rate limit set to 2822400. poly sinc hb 2s was best, but still way too many skips.

 

Edit: I just restarted the mini, and now it's working fine using poly sinc 2s. I'm now curious, if I had gotten the 2.8ghz i5, would I still have been limited to 256 Miska?

 

And can someone tell me what the diff modulators do? I had a hard time telling the difference.

[Forehaven]

Pardon my lack of knowledge about Minumserver. I went to the webpage, but still don't fully understand it. I too have a Synology NAS, Mac mini server and my MBPro as the client using screenshare.

 

So does Minumserver act as a music library manager on my Mac mini? So does it 'take over' the Mac Mini's 'server' functions?

 

Thanks

Chris

[Forehaven]

Miska, is there a reason why there's something like a 10db difference in volume when playing native pcm and dsd conversions...the former being the louder?

[Forehaven]

It depends on a DAC. DSD 0 dBFS level is around -6 dBFS PCM level. Some DAC chips like ESS Sabre apply compensating gain for DSD so that 0 dBFS levels of both are matched. However, this will usually lead to clipping of DSD material that exceeds the 0 dBFS level (which is technically possible).

 

With TI chips the level difference also depends on selected analog filter (four options). (iFi iDSD Micro uses TI chip)

 

So DSD should be actually quieter than PCM, on purpose, because it has some headroom reserve.

 

So strange then, I checked again, and pcm is def louder. Is there a setting that could cause this by chance? And, I don't have the 6db gain box checked under DSD Settings either.

[Forehaven]

Jussi, Zorntel's question about modulator choices is probably a good one to sticky somewhere (your answers, that is). IOW, all else being equal what are the downsides of choosing (say for DSD256 "sweetspot" upsampling of everything) one modulator over the other? CPU loads? If so, if I have a powerful i7 should I just go for DSD7fs256+ and be done with it? I realize it's listening preferences, but these modulators are so subtly different they might be placebo unless the listening tests sample size is hundreds of albums (where the subtleties of one modulator's hf air or cymbal crashes over another can be realized, whereas a small listening sample wouldn't uncover the very specific benefit unless one got lucky with his/her picks).

 

Also, if modulator choice is partially based on source material (i.e different DSD256 modulator if upsampling DSD vs redbook) then I am of the camp to choose a compromise; life is too short to change modulators with each track. Maybe a simple rules-based feature would be nice (if source is "x" use this template).

 

Great idea Ted...and Miska

[Forehaven]

+1

[Forehaven]

Same here with my Mac Mini and new build. Stutters like heck, polysinc, now where I had absolutely no problems at all with older build. I'll prob. just go back till this version gets worked out.

[Forehaven]

Thanks for the quick fix on 3.12 Miska. No more skipping at all over the beta...well done!

[Forehaven]

Not sure if this has already been covered or not, but would love to hear from Miska Alexey as to the significance of the closed form filter touted by Schiit Audio that appears to heavily influence the sonic performance of their Yggdrasil and other multi-bit DACs.

 

This closed form filter is said to preserve the original samples, adding new interpolated samples in between, and optimizing for both frequency and time.

 

I know HPQ has closed form filter options, but IIRC, Miska himself or perhaps others I have seen post, tend not to prefer the closed form filters.

 

Thanks.

 

P.S. Is anyone using HPQ on a Mac with a MH Firewire DAC? I tried HPQ in my set up the other night without success. Will try again today.

 

I still have my LIO 8 and I just listened to it the other day for pcm and using HQP without problems. Did you try turning the LIO on/off to see if it'll pick up the signal? Make sure your MIO settings are correct too. Just thinking off the top of my head

[Forehaven]

I sure did thank you ! The issue was that I use VNC to the Mac Mini and my large music library was causing a lot of latency. Once I got past that I got it working fine. I tried the Poly sinc and then the closed form briefly up sampling my red book stuff to 176.4khz. To my ears - and it was a brief listen - the closed form produced a level of performance that I heard as more coherent. I am excited to experiment more

 

What filter do u prefer ? I pinged Metric Halo earlier to see if their coming 3D upgrade will provide enhanced sonics.

 

Glad to hear you got it worked out! I like poly sinc mp-2s or poly sinc 2s

 

Please post what MH had to say as I too have been wondering about that issue.

[Forehaven]

I was having audio drop outs too. I used Dr. Cleaner (which I normally avoid programs like this) to optimize RAM. It went from like 40 to 22 and HQP/Roon and A4T are both running perfectly. Worth a try.

[Forehaven]

Yes. I run this from time to time:

El Capitan Cache Cleaner - Maintenance & Antivirus Utility for Mac OS X

 

I'm not sure that emptying the cache is the same as ram optimization. Either way, something people should consider if they are having skips in HQP/Roon.

[Forehaven]

Fiber runs all setup and completed. I have/had sound, but it either won't play or stutters terribly. I haven't changed anything from prior setup. Miska, any ideas?

 

[Forehaven]

Just set buffer time to "Default" when using NAA or ASIO unless you need to change it. If you want to set it to something, 100 ms is good starting point...

 

I'm using the mR - NAA on a mac. I tried default and restarted program. Still no improvement.

[Forehaven]

Chris, have you tried any of the -2s settings, instead of standard poly sinc? Maybe the Mac is not powerful enough for the standard poly sinc. And make sure you reboot the mR from the web page. I reported that it helped solved my stuttering when using fiber and my FMC. And my HQP box is massive, yet the microRendu stuttered until Albrecht told me to do a hard http://www.computeraudiophile.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=549954reboot from the web.

 

Thanks Ted, I got it working! Playing perfectly poly sinc now DoP 256. Sounds fantastic!

 

And your HQP computer is large eh? I mentioned you built one for around $1000, if I added the parts up correctly, in another thread. I'm pretty sure I'll eventually build a pc to match a new dac for 528. So watch out, I'll be hitting you up for advice at some point

[Forehaven]

Thanks Ted, I got it working! Playing perfectly poly sinc now DoP 256. Sounds fantastic!

 

And your HQP computer is large eh? I mentioned you built one for around $1000, if I added the parts up correctly, in another thread. I'm pretty sure I'll eventually build a pc to match a new dac for 528. So watch out, I'll be hitting you up for advice at some point

 

This is just so strange. At times, it plays without errors, but at other times, it just skips terribly. With digital, you'd think it'd work or not.

[Forehaven]

Jussi, today I bit the bullet and bought a new PC to replace my Mini. The specs are:

 

Intel Core i7-6700K Processor 4.0GHz

Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

G.Skill 16GB DDR4-3000 RAM

2TB 7,200RPM Hard Drive

256GB Solid State Drive

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970

CoolerMaster EVO Hyper 212 Cooler

EVGA 500W 80+ Power Supply

LiteOn 802.11 BGN+BT Wireless

ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming K6 Motherboard

 

(This is that Microcenter PC, Thanks Solstace for posting this PC)

 

My setup is the mR/NAA - iFi Micro DSD

 

Being a Mac user, I badly needed help. And TedB came thru in a big way and spent over an hr with me on the phone and TeamViewer. We got it all setup finally. However, using HQP, I'm having skipping using SDM Pack on None - 256. Yet, no skipping using DoP 256. The settings used were poly sinc 2s, ASDM7, Pipline SDM, CUDA offload. CPU usage at attempting DSD512 was about 30-19%. So I have plenty of computing power, yet the skipping.

 

Do you have any suggestions?

Thanks,

Chris

 

Side Note: Has any iFi Micro DSD users actually ever achieved DSD512?

[Forehaven]

Thanks Ted. I'm in the process now of trying the exercise above of now.

 

Edit: Ted, Blake wanted me to do a clean install on the iPad now that he's given it to me. Needed to change for iTunes App. Anyway, I'm now entering G's Hi Rez as User Account on Microsoft RD and password, but the connections not coming up. And, I had to move the computer downstairs so I have no monitor. Not sure why as this every time earlier.

 

Project may need to wait till tom to get access to tv Ugh...

[Forehaven]

Thanks Ted. I'm in the process now of trying the exercise above of now.

 

Edit: Ted, Blake wanted me to do a clean install on the iPad now that he's given it to me. Needed to change for iTunes App. Anyway, I'm now entering G's Hi Rez as User Account on Microsoft RD and password, but the connections not coming up. And, I had to move the computer downstairs so I have no monitor. Not sure why as this every time earlier.

 

Project may need to wait till tom to get access to tv Ugh...

 

I now recall we had to enter the pc name, which I don't have off hand. I think this is why MRD isn't working.

[Forehaven]

Thanks everyone for trying to help!

 

Did you try with cuda disabled? The 6700K can handle it easy on its own. I tried enabling it and where it ran flawlessly without, with it started stuttering (yes too slow a geforce).

 

Tried, no luck.

 

I have both the IFI microDSD and the T+A running at DSD512 here with a very similar spec 6700k machine. I have no graphics card and there is no skipping with HQplayer at all with either DAC.

 

Great to hear lmitche!

 

You can increase the buffer setting in HQP. Someone above has theirs at 200. Does your ASIO driver have a control panel with settable buffer? It may be preferable to increase it there.

 

Tried, no luck.

 

Heck, even DoP 256 (11.289600) and it's skipping. Poly sinc -2, ASDM7. Cuda on and off, buffer time 0-200, all to no avail.

 

Not listenable, what a bummer...