HQ Player

[lmitche]

 

1) Nagle’s Algorithm

2) Network Throttling Index

 

 

Hi bibo01,

 

Thanks for your well timed Windows tweaks. I am currently experimenting with network throughout and performance tweaks for my ISCSI booted player PC running Windows 10, Roon and HQplayer at DSD512.

 

It occurred to me that I had not spent enough time tuning my network given the demands of the ISCSI configuration. These tweaks are a useful additions to the other networks tweaks I am working through. I will test the permutations of the above and report back if I find anything interesting.

 

Thanks again,

 

Larry

[lmitche]

I am considering upgrading my PC which is currently i7 4790S @ 3.2GHz (65w tdp) to a i7 6700K with Gigabyte ga-z170x for HQP up-sampling to DSD512 and running Roon in the same PC. I gather from various discussions that in order to up-sample 2-channel to DSD512, I don’t need a Cuda offload engine. In this case what is the typical power requirements ? What are you using to power the PC - smps ATX psu ? Does anybody know if the Uptone JS-2 will be up for the task ?

The 400 watt Seasonic fanless ATX PSU works very well here with a I7-6700k.

[lmitche]

I am giving myself the idiot of the year award for not noticing that somehow the volume on the player was turned all the way down. In my defense, I never turned it down, lol...

Don't be too hard on yourself. We see new HQplayer users that have this issue on at least a weekly basis.

[lmitche]

My Jeff Rowland Aeris doesn't do DSD, so I have no experience with it yet. I'd like to learn whether I prefer redbook -->DSD with HQPlayer without making too big an investment in a DSD-capable DAC initially. I guess my question is how much do I need to spend on a DSD-capable DAC to really make a well informed decision? I don't want to just plunge in and get a T+A DAC8 DSD until I make this assessment.

 

Should I get something that can do at least DSD256? Is DoP good enough or must I get something that supports native DSD? I'd really appreciate a recommendation.

 

I realize this is OT but it is an integral part of my evaluation of HQPlayer. Maybe a PM would be best so as not to side track this excellent thread. Thanks.

A $500 IFI microDSD DAC will do native DSD512. That will get you started. It sounds awfully good too! We will be comparing one to the T+A early next week.

[lmitche]

 

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

 

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.

[lmitche]

This sounds like it may be a network issue. One circumstance I've noticed, even with directly connected machines with no switch, is that packets may route from the music server back to the router, and then back through the music server to the player PC. The setup gets even uglier in various file sharing modes. Traceroute is your friend here.

[lmitche]

Thanks to ted_b, hifial, lmitche and firedog for your input about how to get acquainted with DSD without initially spending a lot on a DAC. This is for my secondary play-around-with-stuff system where I learn about the potential of new software and hardware.

 

So lmitche, you said you have DSD512 working on both a T+A DAC8 DSD and on an iFi micro iDSD. The question is will the micro iDSD give me a reasonable idea of the potential of DSD512 vs 24/192 PCM? If this is a worthwhile learning experience, there's currently a 20% off deal out there on the micro iDSD.

Yes, worthwhile for sure. At DSD512 the IFI sounds better than any other DAC I've owned, Bryson BDA-2, Auralic Aries, and Mytek Brooklyn.

 

It's too early to compare the IFI to the T+A with only 24 hours of break-in so far. I have a group of CAers coming over next week, and we aim to compare the two.

 

However, the T+A does sound awfully good out of the box.

[lmitche]

Yes, worthwhile for sure. At DSD512 the IFI sounds better than any other DAC I've owned, Bryson BDA-2, Auralic Aries, and Mytek Brooklyn.

 

It's too early to compare the IFI to the T+A with only 24 hours of break-in so far. I have a group of CAers coming over next week, and we aim to compare the two.

 

However, the T+A does sound awfully good out of the box.

Sorry, I meant the Auralic Vega Dac not the Aries streamer.

[lmitche]

Yeah, we downloaded the newest 2.26 (and later 2.23 when latest wouldn't install) Windows driver. The install process goes fine (i.e finishes in like 3 seconds) but we never get any confirmation and no sign of the driver (with every reboot process imaginable). It doesn't show up in installed software, or in system tray or of course in HQP ASIO list. We tried various dac connections (USB cable, even tried hard adapter). No Antivirus running, nothing. Tried every trick (run as admin, etc). Weird!

Did you download and run Autoruns from Microsoft to see what drivers were loaded? Today I had a sound quality issue after uninstalling the IFI driver and installing the T+A driver. Autoruns showed that the IFI drivers were still loaded. I uninstalled it, rebooted and the problem was fixed.

[lmitche]

Yeah, we downloaded the newest 2.26 (and later 2.23 when latest wouldn't install) Windows driver. The install process goes fine (i.e finishes in like 3 seconds) but we never get any confirmation and no sign of the driver (with every reboot process imaginable). It doesn't show up in installed software, or in system tray or of course in HQP ASIO list. We tried various dac connections (USB cable, even tried hard adapter). No Antivirus running, nothing. Tried every trick (run as admin, etc). Weird!

 

Is your DAC using the latest firmware? For the IFI microIDSD the latest firmware is version 5.2. aka limoncello.

 

http://ifi-audio.com/micro-idsd-ifi-xmos-firmware/

 

This is the firmware used here. It works fine with the latest 2.26 USB driver.

[lmitche]

Perhaps it's an USB problem? Can you get another USB device like a USB drive to play nicely in the machine? Also, do you have all the Intel motherboard system drivers loaded? Any flags showing up in device manager?

[lmitche]

Hifial listed the same build I have here. I think it's in the T+A thread. That may be of help to you.

[lmitche]

Having the same issue with beta 5 here. I'll try turning pipeline and off and see if that helps. Expect a report after.

[lmitche]

You're welcome. Realize that DoP should always be a fall back position; always first try native (custom ASIO driver or Linux firmware/code certification). And the reason DSD256 doesn't work in DoP is not your headroom but simply the fact that it requires 24/705k to be the carrier, and if the dac mfg does not feel that rate is doable or stable enough for DoP it won't be there.

 

BTW< I hate to use "native" as I've written before. Heck, DoP is native in that there is no conversion to or from PCM, but it has become common parlance to call raw direct DSD (i.e non-DoP) native, as if to call DoP non-native? Argh.

Raw DSD256 (aka native) uses a USB carrier rate of 24/352.8 Khz. DSD256 DOP needs 24/705.6 khz to carry the DOP header. The Brooklyn DAC USB port is limited to 384 khz so won't handle the extra data rate for needed for DSD256 DOP.

 

Here is the table of DSD, PCM and USB speeds from the XMOS USB documentation.

 

DSD speed=DSD Sample rate=Equiv. PCM data rate=DOP data rate

64 fs=2.8224 MSPS= 88200 Hz=176400 Hz

128 fs=5.6558 MSPS=176400 Hz=352800 Hz

256 fs 11.2896 MSPS 352800 Hz 705600 Hz

 

Doubling the last line gives us DSD512 speeds.

[lmitche]

Sorry, I assume you knew I knew enough to round the DoP rate to 24/705k, when in fact you are right, it is 24/705.6k. I was simply trying to make a point that it had nothing to do with headroom per se. Also, sometimes DAC companies like Mytek (as per the Stereo192) publishes USB max PCM rates but is willing to support DoP that requires a higher DoP rate than published. Hence why Dop DSD128 was supported with the Stereo192 (requiring 24/352.8k for the header) when in fact only 24/192 was published as the USB PCM max. The 24/352.8k was not in spec enough or stable enough to publish it for music use on that Dac..

Hi Ted,

 

Yes of course, I knew you knew this stuff. But for others it seemed useful to show the table.

 

Your observation about the older Mytek DAC is interesting.

 

Thanks,

 

Larry

[lmitche]

Jud, HQplayer will definitely play files from a NAS drive, at least in Windows and Linux. If you are using OSX, I have no experience, but I would be surprised if it doesn't work or couldn't be made to work.

[lmitche]

Just uploaded 3.14beta8 to the server. It contains fix for the beta7 regression where saving settings from some of the dialogs is incomplete. And fixes the case where right channel misbehaves when using minringFIR-mp filter in SDM output mode.

Thanks for beta 8. I don't know about others, but over here this release has delivered a significant increase in SQ at DSD512 on the T+A DAC 8 DSD.

 

This sounds like much more than a bug fix.

 

Thanks again,

 

Larry

[lmitche]

Same set-up and pleasure here.

 

I wonder if Miska could please tell us more about this filter? Like how it differs from the other seventh order filters, what does 'pseudo multi-bit' (latest 3.14 manual) mean, and what makes it particularly apt for these high sampling rates?

Actually I'm using the dsd5v2 modulator here. Try it?

[lmitche]

A machine with an Intel i7-6700 CPU is ideal. You don't need much memory or a graphics card for DSD512. I run Windows, Roon and HQplayer in one 4gb stick after OS optimization.

[lmitche]

Many of us with the T+A prefer using dsd5v2 rather then the new 512 setting. But this choice seems to be very system dependent.

[lmitche]

It's not that we aren't curious, the question has been asked previously. It is accepted that Miska wants to keep it a private.

[lmitche]

I know that. But Miska chooses to put information in the manual to describe the modulator, and I don't understand the terms he uses in this context. Do you? And if so, would you care to explain?

 

And beside that, can you tell me wheee I can find a discussion about the preference of other modulators over the new 512 one, when converting to DSD512 for the t+a DSD8? I've tried to start such a discussion several times without success.

 

I'll try again. Is anyone else using the new 512 modulator with the t+a DSD8? And if so, how do you find its characteristics in comparison to other modulators?

There is nothing else I can say to help you.

[lmitche]

How does it compare with the dsd5v2 256+fs optimized version?

I prefer the straight dsd5v2 version, but YMMV.

[lmitche]

FWIW, I compared again and think Marcin is right, the new DSD512 modulator has wider and deeper imaging, but dsd5v2 is more musical and imaging more natural to my ear.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Computer Audiophile

[lmitche]

Are you running Windows 10 32 bit by chance?