HQ Player

[iamoneagain]

I only have a 96/24 DAC and HQPlayer has improved the sound quality of my system vs Roon alone. Biggest improvement is the separation and precision placement of all the instruments. Whether it's worth it just depends on your own listening experience. I'm sure there are bigger improvements moving to DSD DACs but I thought it was worth it in my current setup and can always upgrade later.

[iamoneagain]

Read this post from Miska that talks about all the settings. There are many options but give general advice based on what sample rate you are going to use. bibo01 advice fits right in with Miska's.

 

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f8-general-forum/hqplayer-resampling-filter-setup-guide-ordinary-person-13298/#post177180

 

So my setting might not work as well for you but here they are:

 

poly-sinc short

Gauss1

960000

[iamoneagain]

1 hour ago, jimdukey said:

, I abandoned SDM and use PCM mode

 

That's the opposite of what Jussi recommended, that is upsample all files ( PCM/DSD) to high rate DSD and skip PCM altogether.

I upsample everything to DSD 128 and can't imagine Not doing that! I'm interested in getting DSD 256 on my IMac, but don't want to buy (yet) another Dac.

I don't like the High Output Level of the Myteks, and the new IFI DSD Dac seems to want to do all the Processing itself,

don't know how it might work with HQ/Mac.

Not ready to open expensive cans of worms!

DSD 128 on HQ is the best sound I've heard.

Especially with Mac D 150.

I also found I prefer PCM to DSD on my ifi idsd. I use closed-form N5 768. Bass has more body and impact and closed-form still pulls in all the detail. 

 

Not sure if was the analog filters of the ifi that were affecting dsd for me but with PCM you completely bypass all ifi filters. 

[iamoneagain]

21 hours ago, jimdukey said:

But you're using Software and Ifi Dac meant primarily for DSD.

Have you tried an R to R dac?

They are supposed to be great on PCM, no DSD at all.

Probably more $ than Ifi, tho.

 

Haven’t tried R-2R dac yet but saw there’s good option for only $350. 

 

I was was thinking of just saving up for the Schitt yiggy one day since I’m a fan of the closed-form filter. 

 

Went back and tried DSD 256 closed-form ASMD 7 and different ifi filter switch settings and none sounded as good as PCM. With DSD you get smoother vocals, blacker background, and little more air but lose out on the rhythm and impact.

 

I find myself tapping my foot and enjoying the music more in PCM. DSD still sounds great but doesn’t draw me in as much. But this could just be on the ifi and my headphone setup.  Using AT L3000 headphones, which were known for being one of the best bass headphones at the time. 

[iamoneagain]

1 hour ago, jimdukey said:

Hi, Shouldn't you be using one of DSD 256 Modulators?

Also Poly-sinc-extr-mp--2s.

I would try Bit-Perfect in the Ifi, and let HQ do everything, upsampling to highest rate available on the Ifi.

I'm interested in their new one, $2500, but don't really know how it  would work best w/HQ.

No such choices on my Dacs.

Too many choices sometimes...

 

 

I don’t think ifi does bit perfect in DSD, does it?  I see extreme/extended/standard with for measurements. 

 

 And no matter what DSD settings, I don’t get same impact as PCM with closed-filter N5.  Don’t think this has anything to do with HQPlayer as it does the ifi itself. 

 

 

 

[iamoneagain]

2 hours ago, Miska said:

When you input DSD to iFi, the DAC's filter selector switches between different conversion stage configurations (analog FIR filters). I use "standard" setting and DSD512, but one can experiment with different ones.

I’ll give DSD another try with the standard setting. Can only max out at DSD256 since using a Mac.