HQ Player

[AnotherSpin]

Or happily use both.

This is what I am going to do. After a day of listening music with A+ I came to the following: while A+ is very good in reproducing some particular details (I was astonished by the sound of piano in some recordings, for example), HQP is still very coherent in overall musical impression.

[Le Concombre Masqué]

Would you agree, as a rule of thumb, that recordings that benefits from Closed Form (mainly acoustics but the excellent sounding low DR Bowie's Backstar as well ) sound even better with A+ while when the apodizing filters are better (polysinc...), HQP rules ? Plus HQP upsamples DSD.

 

Last but not least the library management with HQP is far superior. This is no joke. Drag & drop from the Finder and all its tools like EasyFind can't be beat...

This is what I am going to do. After a day of listening music with A+ I came to the following: while A+ is very good in reproducing some particular details (I was astonished by the sound of piano in some recordings, for example), HQP is still very coherent in overall musical impression.

[AnotherSpin]

Would you agree, as a rule of thumb, that recordings that benefits from Closed Form (mainly acoustics but the excellent sounding low DR Bowie's Backstar as well ) sound even better with A+ while when the apodizing filters are better (polysinc...), HQP rules ? Plus HQP upsamples DSD.

 

Last but not least the library management with HQP is far superior. This is no joke. Drag & drop from the Finder and all its tools like EasyFind can't be beat...

 

You may use drag&drop in A+ again, I add tracks this way. In fact while on trial I do not bother to create Library anyway. I didn't have much experience with closed form, poly-sinc family worked well for me, and now I use -2s filters only while upsampling everything to DSD256.

 

I am comparing new A+ with HQP for second day only and I do not feel I came to any definite conclusion already. I liked the sound from HQP, and I like what I hear now from A+ too. It is different, and somehow I believe the same distinction which was apparent even before I started to use DSD upsampling in both players is still here. A+ has its excellent details reproduction and immediate short-term impression, while HQP gives more subtle and calm, if not restrained impression what may work better long-term.

[Miska]

Would you agree, as a rule of thumb, that recordings that benefits from Closed Form (mainly acoustics but the excellent sounding low DR Bowie's Backstar as well ) sound even better with A+ while when the apodizing filters are better (polysinc...), HQP rules ? Plus HQP upsamples DSD.

 

Both oversampling filters and modulators of the two applications are vastly different. Result is always combination of the two plus DAC used...

[Iain]

You may use drag&drop in A+ again, I add tracks this way. In fact while on trial I do not bother to create Library anyway. I didn't have much experience with closed form, poly-sinc family worked well for me, and now I use -2s filters only while upsampling everything to DSD256.

 

I am comparing new A+ with HQP for second day only and I do not feel I came to any definite conclusion already. I liked the sound from HQP, and I like what I hear now from A+ too. It is different, and somehow I believe the same distinction which was apparent even before I started to use DSD upsampling in both players is still here. A+ has its excellent details reproduction and immediate short-term impression, while HQP gives more subtle and calm, if not restrained impression what may work better long-term.

 

Just heard of A+, is there a website available with comprehensive information of it, and does it have a network interface?

[AnotherSpin]

Just heard of A+, is there a website available with comprehensive information of it, and does it have a network interface?

You may want to google "Audirvana". Please note, official build does not provide DSD upsampling yet, we are discussing a testers build. There is a thread dedicated to this on the forum.

[Superdad]

Gents, out of respect for both Miska (Jussi; Signalyst) and Damien (Audirvana Plus), I suggest that questions and discussions of the two players be mostly kept in their respective threads. There are some active threads for A+ here at CA, just as this thread is for HQ Player users.

 

Both are terrific players.

Up to now Audirvana (an OS X-only product) has licensed/leveraged the excellent Isotope Advanced SRC engine for PCM upsampling, giving users the ability to fine tune the filter parameters to create their own custom (and often wacky) filters.

Recently, Damien enlisted the programming skills of the CA member known as "mansr" to create sigma-delta modulators (and maybe more dither routines?) for A+ so that his users would also be able to realtime convert PCM to DSD. I have not yet tried out the beta versions (they are changing fast), but from what I understand so far the choices are just letter named without indication of modulator-order or technique. That's all I know right now--I'll go watch over at the other thread and when time permits I'll try it out.

 

But Miska has been writing sophisticated SRC and SDM algorithms for a very long time, so I am a bit skeptical about the notion that that 'mansr's quickly assembled SDM suite is going to surpass HQ Player's refined algorithms right out of the gate. I am sure they sound different, but different does not always mean more accurate to the tune. (Maybe I'll love it and eat my words, we'll see.)

 

Cheers,

 

--Alex C.

[YashN]

Have to read up on Hackingtosh implementations to escape the limitations / straight jacket of Mac Hardware LoL

 

Only part of the limitations, one of the enduring locks of the straight jackets is when you need an Apple firmware update to fix something...

 

No way to do this on a Hackintosh...

[Iain]

...

 

Both are terrific players.

Up to now Audirvana (an OS X-only product) ...

 

So it won't work on Windows 7 Professional X64?

[Jud]

So it won't work on Windows 7 Professional X64?

 

Exactly.

[Le Concombre Masqué]

I get your point and would be puzzled if A+ remains incapable of upsampling DSD 64. Back to HQP only : Miska, what would be your options for a no sweetener, liveliness and vividness first, setting with a TEAC 501?

Gents, out of respect for both Miska (Jussi; Signalyst) and Damien (Audirvana Plus), I suggest that questions and discussions of the two players be mostly kept in their respective threads. There are some active threads for A+ here at CA, just as this thread is for HQ Player users.

 

Both are terrific players.

Up to now Audirvana (an OS X-only product) has licensed/leveraged the excellent Isotope Advanced SRC engine for PCM upsampling, giving users the ability to fine tune the filter parameters to create their own custom (and often wacky) filters.

Recently, Damien enlisted the programming skills of the CA member known as "mansr" to create sigma-delta modulators (and maybe more dither routines?) for A+ so that his users would also be able to realtime convert PCM to DSD. I have not yet tried out the beta versions (they are changing fast), but from what I understand so far the choices are just letter named without indication of modulator-order or technique. That's all I know right now--I'll go watch over at the other thread and when time permits I'll try it out.

 

But Miska has been writing sophisticated SRC and SDM algorithms for a very long time, so I am a bit skeptical about the notion that that 'mansr's quickly assembled SDM suite is going to surpass HQ Player's refined algorithms right out of the gate. I am sure they sound different, but different does not always mean more accurate to the tune. (Maybe I'll love it and eat my words, we'll see.)

 

Cheers,

 

--Alex C.

[Miska]

I get your point and would be puzzled if A+ remains incapable of upsampling DSD 64. Back to HQP only : Miska, what would be your options for a no sweetener, liveliness and vividness first, setting with a TEAC 501?

 

I use poly-sinc-short-mp + ASDM7 and TEAC set to AFIR4.

[Le Concombre Masqué]

thank you, i settled for DSD 5 v2 but will give ASDM7 another try. As of poly-sinc-short-mp it provides gorgeous drums sounds but I don't feel comfortable with it (though it's always comfy !), sounds the most like a dream hifi system rather than a live event with classical etc

I use poly-sinc-short-mp + ASDM7 and TEAC set to AFIR4.

[AnotherSpin]

I use poly-sinc-short-mp + ASDM7 and TEAC set to AFIR4.

 

Miska, I use poly-sinc-2s (poly-sinc-short-2s when I want more body and weight), ASDM7, limit 12288000 with ifi micro dsd - what do you think?

[Norton]

The new Ubuntu version doesn't need any extra hacks, it comes with native DSD support.

 

I have installed HQP on my new i7 PC under Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. PCM>DSD works fine as DoP but when I set SDM pack to "none" I loose the HQP drop down option to output as SDM.

My DAC (Esoteric K07x) manual clearly states it accepts native DSD. Although I guess this is something to do with HQP/Ubuntu interaction? Any help gratefully received.

[Miska]

I have installed HQP on my new i7 PC under Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. PCM>DSD works fine as DoP but when I set SDM pack to "none" I loose the HQP drop down option to output as SDM.

My DAC (Esoteric K07x) manual clearly states it accepts native DSD. Although I guess this is something to do with HQP/Ubuntu interaction? Any help gratefully received.

 

That means the DAC is not recognized as being capable of accepting raw DSD. Which is the case at the moment, they need to submit the necessary info for inclusion to the Linux kernel.

[sfox7076]

A few questions. I have a LampizatOr DAC. It uses the Amanero 384. I connect the LampizatOr to a Cubox via USB. That runs to a hub and that through my home Ethernet to the server under my bed (headless). I upsample to 128 DSD. I cannot go higher right now. I get skips despite having an i7 4ghZ at 15-18% processor power. I think this is either an Amanero issue not being able to do DOP over 128 or a Linux issue. Anyone know the limitation there?

I also cannot play DSD native. I am not sure why, but I must use DOP.

 

Second issue I have is with Cubox as an NAA. When I turn off the DAC,the Amareno USB board shuts off. When I turn it on again, I have to reset my server to get the Cubox to recognize the Amareno board. Any help on why this is happening? Any fix?

[Norton]

That means the DAC is not recognized as being capable of accepting raw DSD. Which is the case at the moment, they need to submit the necessary info for inclusion to the Linux kernel.

 

Thanks but that's a big, big disappointment. So how does the Linux kernel "know" which DACs are raw DSD capable? Is there a way of getting it to work that doesn't depend on Esoteric suplying the info and awaiting an updated kernel?

[Le Concombre Masqué]

my apologies ; poly-sinc-short-mp is excellent indeed. However it is excellent on my system with DSD5v2 though I guess that what matters is the load on the analog section of the TEAC and thus that I should elect the same modulator as you

I use poly-sinc-short-mp + ASDM7 and TEAC set to AFIR4.

[sfox7076]

A few questions. I have a LampizatOr DAC. It uses the Amanero 384. I connect the LampizatOr to a Cubox via USB. That runs to a hub and that through my home Ethernet to the server under my bed (headless). I upsample to 128 DSD. I cannot go higher right now. I get skips despite having an i7 4ghZ at 15-18% processor power. I think this is either an Amanero issue not being able to do DOP over 128 or a Linux issue. Anyone know the limitation there?

 

I also cannot play DSD native. I am not sure why, but I must use DOP.

 

Second issue I have is with Cubox as an NAA. When I turn off the DAC,the Amareno USB board shuts off. When I turn it on again, I have to reset my server to get the Cubox to recognize the Amareno board. Any help on why this is happening? Any fix?

 

I should add that I am running the CuBox image from the HQ Player website.

[MikeJazz]

I should add that I am running the CuBox image from the HQ Player website.

 

is it a cubox-i? Or an older cubox?

[ericuco]

A few questions. I have a LampizatOr DAC. It uses the Amanero 384. I connect the LampizatOr to a Cubox via USB. That runs to a hub and that through my home Ethernet to the server under my bed (headless). I upsample to 128 DSD. I cannot go higher right now. I get skips despite having an i7 4ghZ at 15-18% processor power. I think this is either an Amanero issue not being able to do DOP over 128 or a Linux issue. Anyone know the limitation there?

 

I also cannot play DSD native. I am not sure why, but I must use DOP.

 

My guess is that Linux is not recognizing the Amanero board as being native DSD ready. I had the same problem with JLSounds board although they had initially advertised it was Linux ready. It took some time before it was included in the Linux updates.

 

As for the DoP limit of DSD128, the PCM limit on the Amanero board is 384kHz which equates to DSD128.

[sfox7076]

is it a cubox-i? Or an older cubox?

 

Newer -i. Right on the 128, so that means I am stuck waiting for a kernel update to Linux.

 

 

So now for the problem that when I shut off the DAC, the NAA disconnects and I have to reboot it and the server to make it work...

[ericuco]

So now for the problem that when I shut off the DAC, the NAA disconnects and I have to reboot it and the server to make it work...

 

It is generally recommended to leave DAC's powered up all the time because of the thermal stabilization of the clocks. I know this does not exactly solve your issue but it is an option.

[sfox7076]

Yeah, I don't want three vacuum tubes (two DHTs and a 5 volt rectifier) on constantly.