HQ Player

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14 hours ago, Miska said:

Yes, remember to enable DSD Direct mode in ADI-2, and run it at DSD256 for best performance. I would recommend ASDM7 modulator if you cannot do any EC modulator.

 

On Topping, just make sure it is set to "DAC mode" instead of "PRE mode" and it should behave similarly to the DSD Direct mode in ADI-2.

 

ADI-2 supports DSD at multiples of 48k. But I'm not sure if that's the case for the Topping.

Thanks Miska, this is really helpful. I can't quite run EC filters, but I can do ASDM7. Currently at around 80% load according to htop across my four cores. Seems to be around 60c, which is pretty good considering its fanless and I am using the PC too.

 

2 hours ago, CJH said:

Topping only supports DSD at multiples of 44.1k.

Thank you.

 

On the topping front, if I feed the DAC DSD at x256, does anyone know if its internal filters are by-passed?

[bipet]

I was reading an article on Archimagos blog - Using low-power Beelink Mini S as Linux Roon streamer - HQPlayer (PCM 8x, DSD256) where he suggest some settings for PCM and DSD. An Interesting read, did anyone else see it, and perhaps, try the settings? What did you think?

[bipet]

23 hours ago, sworksone said:

Interesting article and blog - thanks for sharing.  I tried the settings, but I think the primary focus is for those limited by computing power.  For me, the settings were good but when I switched back to my usual 32x PCM or more so 256/512 DSD and filters the sound quality was noticeably better.  I’m bought into the higher the sample rate the better camp.

No problem. What I particularly liked about the article, was that @Archimago not only took the time to explain his choices, but was then able to show the effect of those choices by showing the filters in action in the included graphs. Also, living in the UK, lower power solutions will become more relevant given the cost of electricity. The PCM choices (sinc L, LNS15) are also possible with a raspberry Pi 4 so I use my embedded licence now on a pi for my desktop setup sending to a RME ADI-2 DAC FS.

 

I think for the less technically advanced (i.e. me) users of HQ Player, a description in the manual of hyperthetical scenarios and then a combination of settings (filter, dither, sample rate etc) and then perhaps a graph of the effect might be useful for people and would help understanding of the effect of the various choices.

[bipet]

1 hour ago, Miska said:

For lower power, Mac Mini M1 is pretty much among the best in terms of performance per Watt. Not as low consumption as RPi4, but not notably higher either while being much much more powerful.

Thanks. I also have a desktop licence on a my fanless Intel Core i5 8259U 2.3Ghz, although its not as powerful as the M1. I might look into this a bit more, thanks.

 

1 hour ago, Miska said:

Since ADI-2 takes in 32-bit data for it's resource constrained on-chip DSP, there's only limited value in using any noise-shaper instead of plain TPDF or Gauss1 dither. Noise-shapers are primarily useful for PCM DACs (which ADI-2 is not).

With PCM (as I don't think the rpi can do SDM), if I move to sinc-M (from Sinc L), with TPDF, the rpi is around 30% across all cores. What settings would you recommend for a low powered raspberry pi?

 

2 hours ago, Miska said:

I think this is already in the manual? Graphs are more useful for more technically advanced users for curiosity purposes. But not really useful for making choices for listening.

Its not far off, I have enjoyed reading the additions to the descriptions in the manual. I was basically thinking more examples where 'good' combinations of settings are described, a bit like Archimago outlined in his article.

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13 hours ago, Miska said:

It is up to your personal preferences and depends on the material. But I think the current default settings are a good starting point.

1x = poly-sinc-gauss-long

Nx = poly-sinc-gauss-hires-lp

 

My primary use for RPi4 has been NAA, so I don't remember very well which filters work.

Thank you. The rpi4 with HQP Embedded will run those suggested settings (PCM not SDM obviously), or so it seems after a short test, along with TPDF selected and rate limit of 768k, if I run into problems, I was thinking I could just reduce the rate limit to 384k, would you agree? And just to be clear, Embedded is running on one rpi4 sending to another rpi4 running ropieee with NAA enabled, controlled via roon.

 

On a seperate note, in terms of my main system, I am using HQP Desktop running on my NUC i5 8259U with Fedora, I am again using another rpi4 as a streamer (with ropiee) to a topping D90 DAC, would 1x = poly-sinc-gauss-long and Nx = poly-sinc-gauss-hires-lp also be a good choice here? I am aiming for DSD 256 ideally, I also have multi-core and adaptive output rate set to auto. I can't quite use ASDM7ECv2 or the original, although ASDM7 seems ok, should I stick with that or is there a better option?

13 hours ago, Miska said:

How I see things is that filter, dither/noise-shaper or modulator choice are separate items. I don't see a reason to bind these together.

Fair enough, thanks for the reply.

[bipet]

7 hours ago, Miska said:

I would try keep the output rate at least at 705.6/768k. This gives you about 30 dB lower distortion, so quite a bit better than 352.8/384k which is the rate on-chip filters also produce.

Tested a bit more this afternoon, and these settings seem ok. Useful to know about distortion, thank you.

 

7 hours ago, Miska said:

Yes, those filters are good choice for various different genres and source material (being apodizing). In the end the filter choice is always personal and also depends on the music genre, so you may prefer something else.

I tend to listen to more electronic, rock more than jazz or classical.

 

7 hours ago, Miska said:

So always worth checking out other filters as well. It is the original D90 with AKM chip? For AKM ASDM7 is good choice if you cannot do EC variants.

Yes, its the original D90, with the AKM chip.

 

I did also have a go at using HQ Player without Roon, something I have not done before. Everything worked well, even the remote on android playing the files from my NAS. I could also use the EC variants too, which is also interesting which I can't when Roon is also being used.