HQ Player

[Pentagonal]

Hi everyone, 

 

I need some help picking out a computer and DAC to run HQplayer + Tidal and upscaling to DSD256 via Closed Form 16M. I'd likely use the DSD7 256+fs modulator. Does anyone use DSD256 with Closed Form 16M regularly with no stuttering?

 

From what it appears here it looks like it's all about the clock speed rather than cores. Does CUDA and getting a good graphics card matter much? How do you like your DAC?

 

I appreciate any advice and particularly if anyone could try the above combo and let me know their specs and whether or not it stutters. 

 

Thank you!

[Pentagonal]

10 hours ago, Miska said:

 

Good Nvidia GPU helps a lot on filters like closed-form and sinc-M/S. So if your current computer already works fine to DSD256 with those settings but some other filter, adding a good GPU may be worthwhile and cheaper way to get there.

 

Hi @Miska,

 

Thanks for your reply. I have a 2015 i7 MacBook Pro right now and am planning to buy/build a desktop rig specifically to run the 16M filter at DSD256. I think a 3.0ghz i7 + decent Nvidia GPU should do the job? How would a lower clock speed Xeon + GPU perform in comparison?

 

Thanks!

 

Eugene

[Pentagonal]

A thought: are all of your apps’ sample rates matching (including for Loopback) in Audio Midi?

[Pentagonal]

@Miska Would you be willing to speak to how efficiency has improved from earlier HQPlayer 4 versions and v4.5 for the EC modulators?

 

I saw earlier that you said "my i7-7700K which can do ASDM7EC with newest version to DSD256 without any problems (and any filter due to RTX2080 GPU)". Was this running on Windows? If it runs the EC filters at 256 with Closed-Form-16M, this may be the way to go!

 

If the i7-7700 can handle ASDM7EC at 256, could I perhaps use a more affordable Geforce 1660 for Closed-Form-16M?

 

Thank you for all the help, building a computer is a big expense and I really want to finalize the specs before jumping in!

[Pentagonal]

Sinc-L upscaling 44.1 to 705.6 PCM on my Chord Mojo is the best sound I've ever heard out of it - actually some of the best digital sound I've ever heard! I truly hope, Miska, that you at least consider keeping the PCM side of the Sinc-L filter exactly as it is. It is excellent and makes listening to music fun again for me! I'd be heartbroken if even a few taps were taken out

[Pentagonal]

@DancingSeaI tried all the options and found no dither to be the best. Every other one seemed to cause a sharp "sss" sibilance-like quality to the high frequencies. I know it's not what Miska recommends as ideal, but I found no dither to let me get into the music best.

[Pentagonal]

3 hours ago, Miska said:

 

Never do anything without dither. Without dither you will get quantization distortion.

 

If the Mojo is taking in data at 32bits over USB, and possibly processing it at a high bit rate, wouldn’t the quantization distortion be below audibility or the DAC’s S/N ratio?