HQ Player

[kennyb123]

The configuration in AMS is correct and unfortunately your suggestion made for no difference in my case....

 

No difference here either.

[Miska]

I reported it... however in my case I only get the left channel with MONO tracks, which is interesting as it had me baffled for a minute when playing a Bill Evans album on which only a couple of the tracks are mono takes.

So I checked several other albums which have mono cuts on them and sure enough sound only comes from the left channel !

 

There's no mix-down or mix-up, so a file with one channel of audio plays out from left channel. With pro-audio interfaces you can usually route this also to the right channel.

 

But where on earth do you find such files (except test tones)? Only mono content I have is from CDs and those always just have the same data on two channels.

[CoolHand]

There's no mix-down or mix-up, so a file with one channel of audio plays out from left channel. With pro-audio interfaces you can usually route this also to the right channel.

 

But where on earth do you find such files (except test tones)? Only mono content I have is from CDs and those always just have the same data on two channels.

 

Yes the issue is 'normal' mono content from cd's which other several other playback softwares, or iTunes on its own plays out of both channels as expected.

Uniquely the Beta of HQPlayer for OS X plays such mono tracks from the left channel only for some reason, whilst the AMS settings indicate both channels.... thus the conclusion is that HQPlayer is in some manner causing this discrepancy.

I also sent you a PM Jussi if you have a moment to respond ;-)

[nodolby]

tested the beta version for mac is wonderful no problem.

I think I'll stay with him for a long time

[kennyb123]

Only mono content I have is from CDs and those always just have the same data on two channels.

 

In my case it is stereo tracks that are playing out of the left channel only.

[aj]

There's no mix-down or mix-up, so a file with one channel of audio plays out from left channel. With pro-audio interfaces you can usually route this also to the right channel.

 

But where on earth do you find such files (except test tones)? Only mono content I have is from CDs and those always just have the same data on two channels.

 

Playing just an ordinary Redbook Stereo file, but only music out of left channel ....

Mac Mini Late 2009

2GB

OSX 10.9.3

Connected firewire to Lio8

Played around with filters etc, but same result ....

[Miska]

3.4.0beta2 for OS X is now out, fixes the 10.8 device name issue, plus bug fixes and some other improvements.

http://www2.signalyst.com/bins/HQPlayerDesktop3-mac-340beta2.zip

 

Tested to work with:

Mytek Stereo192-DSD DAC (Firewire)

iFi iDSD Nano

Focusrite Forte

TEAC UD-501

[Jud]

3.4.0beta2 for OS X is now out, fixes the 10.8 device name issue, plus bug fixes and some other improvements.

http://www2.signalyst.com/bins/HQPlayerDesktop3-mac-340beta2.zip

 

Tested to work with:

Mytek Stereo192-DSD DAC (Firewire)

iFi iDSD Nano

Focusrite Forte

TEAC UD-501

 

Thanks. Tried the previous beta on both Mavericks and Yosemite DP2, no bugs. Sound was impressive - guess you know something about filters, shocking, right? I used either poly-sinc or poly-sinc-mp.

 

One *very* slight niggle - My music computer is a mid-2009 Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro. Though I never heard any dropouts, there were a couple of points where I felt that I lost the thread of an instrumental line. When playback is at its best/easiest, I feel I can hear the different instrumental/vocal lines in an ensemble and focus on any one I choose. I don't know whether this has something to do with HQPlayer or my computer's capabilities, and sorry I cannot describe it more specifically (nor recall the exact tracks on which it happened).

 

Two questions:

 

- If I tell HQPlayer that the max PCM sample rate is 384kHz, will it upsample everything to that rate?

 

- Is conversion of PCM to DSD available to unregistered users of the beta? (My apologies if this has been answered and I did not see it). If so, how does one set up HQPlayer to do this? (I guess that's three questions.)

[Bob Stern]

3.4.0beta2 did fix the 10.8 device name issue, but it still plays only the left channel.

 

If I change channel offset from 0 to 1, both channels are silent.

[Miska]

3.4.0beta2 did fix the 10.8 device name issue, but it still plays only the left channel.

 

If I change channel offset from 0 to 1, both channels are silent.

 

Strange... Does this version help?

http://www2.signalyst.com/bins/HQPlayerDesktop3.zip

 

...has one change for this channel issue based on wild guess...

[Miska]

- If I tell HQPlayer that the max PCM sample rate is 384kHz, will it upsample everything to that rate?

 

It will try to default to that rate. If the filter doesn't allow conversion to that specifically, then it will pick next lower rate that is possible. For example some filters don't allow conversion from 44.1 to 384, in such case 352.8 would be picked. It is also useful for cases where S/PDIF output supports 192k, but for example DAC it is connected to supports only 96k. Then the default selection can be limited to 96k.

 

- Is conversion of PCM to DSD available to unregistered users of the beta? (My apologies if this has been answered and I did not see it). If so, how does one set up HQPlayer to do this? (I guess that's three questions.)

 

Trial version is fully functional, it is limited with a nagging message and per-run time limit. You just need to enable DoP in Preferences to make SDM (DSD) output option appear in the main window. (With ASIO it is not necessary to make such selection, because ASIO driver can tell whether it supports DSD or not)

[Bob Stern]

Strange... Does this version help?

http://www2.signalyst.com/bins/HQPlayerDesktop3.zip

 

...has one change for this channel issue based on wild guess...

 

 

No.

 

This time I used a test track with spoken identification of the left and right channels. The left channel of the recording was correctly routed to the left channel of the DAC, but the right channel was silent.

 

Same behavior on all Betas.

[Miska]

This time I used a test track with spoken identification of the left and right channels. The left channel of the recording was correctly routed to the left channel of the DAC, but the right channel was silent.

 

OK, thanks. I guess the driver either advertises only single channel, or the channel layout is somehow strange. Does the LIO control/mixer panel show right channel going somewhere else?

 

Log file of full application start and playback attempt could be helpful... (over email please, it's at ~/.hqplayer/HQPlayer.log when enabled)

[REShaman]

Miska,

 

Geoffrey Armstrong's post enticed me to DL your beta for Mac. I have been an Amarra Symphony user since 2011. My Dac is the Wyred4Sound Dac-2 DSDse to a W4S STP-SE Stage 2 preamp.

 

After the DL and installation, I failed to demo HQPlayer as I could not get it to make music. I am sure I am missing something despite reading Quick Start and User Manual. Excuse for the bother, can you advise me how to get HQPlayer to play with my W4S Dac-2 DSDse. I am employing Mavericks latest build, iTunes latest build. Everything's latest build. But apparently, I am clueless about what needs to set to enjoy the music and the program's output that so many are raving about. Eager to discover what others see to be able to appreciate.

 

With appreciation,

Richard

[Vitor]

I've just dl the beta2 version and I must say I'm amazed with the performance of this player. A/B'ed a few tracks with other player and the realism that hqplayer brings to the music is astonishing, the sense of depth, the timbre of the instruments, the voices...are really top. Fantastic!

 

Few questions though, from what I can tell, it can't play sacd isos? Also, if you create a playlist with PCM and DSD doesn't the player switch format automatically?

 

No issues here with stereo playback.

[Jud]

Oh, one other thing I wanted to mention - at initial startup, the volume increase was delayed slightly in relation to when I turned the dial. So I naturally turned it way up, and had to rush back to the computer to turn it back down a couple of seconds later. Would've been a very nasty shock for anyone wearing headphones. If this slow volume knob response is intentional (rather than something with my computer), I think it is not a good idea.

[bibo01]

...

Few questions though, from what I can tell, it can't play sacd isos? Also, if you create a playlist with PCM and DSD doesn't the player switch format automatically?

 

No issues here with stereo playback.

HQPlayer does not play sacd iso. I think ading this fature it is not on Miska's agenda.

HQPlayer doea not switch format automatically. Output is either PCM or SDM regardless of input and it is selected in your desktop mode.

[EuroDriver]

As you explore and experiment with HQ Player, do try playback with and without volume control in HQ Player.

 

Start your testing sessions with no volume control, and after you have gotten used to the glorious sound of HQ Player, then try with volume control if you would like to have the convenience

[bibo01]

As you explore and experiment with HQ Player, do try playback with and without volume control in HQ Player.

 

Start your testing sessions with no volume control, and after you have gotten used to the glorious sound of HQ Player, then try with volume control if you would like to have the convenience

I always leave volume at -3dB, both with PCM and SDM output, to avoid sample overload which is present on a quite a few recordings. Such setting is totally inifluential in terms of SQ. In the TIME box there is a "Limited" indicator to help you on this matter.

For DSD I have it set at +6dB compensation, so with my volume setting playback it's always at -3dB.

[EuroDriver]

I always leave volume at -3dB, both with PCM and SDM output, to avoid sample overload which is present on a quite a few recordings. Such setting is totally inifluential in terms of SQ. In the TIME box there is a "Limited" indicator to help you on this matter.

For DSD I have it set at +6dB compensation, so with my volume setting playback it's always at -3dB.

 

On a track with no sample overload, can you try with no volume adjustment and let us know what your observations are. Can you do this with both a PCM track for PCM to DSD128/256 and a native DSD64 track to do DSD to DSD128/256 ?

[Miska]

Excuse for the bother, can you advise me how to get HQPlayer to play with my W4S Dac-2 DSDse. I am employing Mavericks latest build, iTunes latest build. Everything's latest build. But apparently, I am clueless about what needs to set to enjoy the music and the program's output that so many are raving about. Eager to discover what others see to be able to appreciate.

 

Few short steps... First check that you have "CoreAudio" selected as Backend and your DAC as Device in Preferences, for a DSD DAC you can also select "DoP" as SDM Pack.

 

You can then for example drag-and-drop files from Finder on the player window to add it to the playlist. Also check the volume knob position (when using external volume, I set the range to min=-6 max=0 in the Preferences and then turn the knob to -3 dBFS).

 

Then you can start playing. The selectors in the middle of the main window define wanted output format and how to produce it. IOW, what and how.

 

 

P.S. Notice that supported content is FLAC, WAV, AIFF, DFF and DSF...

[bibo01]

On a track with no sample overload, can you try with no volume adjustment and let us know what your observations are. Can you do this with both a PCM track for PCM to DSD128/256 and a native DSD64 track to do DSD to DSD128/256 ?

I just did and in both cases I cannot detect any difference (I have a ES9018 based volume control).

Do you?

[Miska]

On a track with no sample overload, can you try with no volume adjustment and let us know what your observations are. Can you do this with both a PCM track for PCM to DSD128/256 and a native DSD64 track to do DSD to DSD128/256 ?

 

Even if your RedBook content doesn't clearly have clipping, it may have been normalized to 0 dBFS and as result may produce inter-sample overs when oversampled. IOW, new sample calculated between two original samples may have higher value than the original samples. For this reason, also many DAC chips internally employ -3 dBFS or similar vs their maximum internal level. Wolfson chips have a configuration option to enable/disable the internal -2 dBFS pad.

 

For this reason I recommend using -3 dBFS which has never produced any overs for me even for heavily clipped content. For many cases -2 dBFS may be enough. You can observe the "Limited" value in main window status area.

[Jud]

Even if your RedBook content doesn't clearly have clipping, it may have been normalized to 0 dBFS and as result may produce inter-sample overs when oversampled. IOW, new sample calculated between two original samples may have higher value than the original samples. For this reason, also many DAC chips internally employ -3 dBFS or similar vs their maximum internal level. Wolfson chips have a configuration option to enable/disable the internal -2 dBFS pad.

 

For this reason I recommend using -3 dBFS which has never produced any overs for me even for heavily clipped content. For many cases -2 dBFS may be enough. You can observe the "Limited" value in main window status area.

 

My Core 2 Duo MBP seemed much happier with PCM oversampling than it was when oversampling from PCM to DSD. No dropouts with oversampling to DSD64, though there was breakup when trying oversampling to DSD128, but even with DSD64 sound wasn't as good. I'll see whether the volume setting makes a difference.

[EuroDriver]

My Core 2 Duo MBP seemed much happier with PCM oversampling than it was when oversampling from PCM to DSD. No dropouts with oversampling to DSD64, though there was breakup when trying oversampling to DSD128, but even with DSD64 sound wasn't as good. I'll see whether the volume setting makes a difference.

 

I think MBP has a P8600 CPU, in which case it has a benchmark score of about 1,500

PassMark - Intel Core2 Duo P8600 @ 2.40GHz - Price performance comparison

 

My Item T1 has an i5 with a benchmark score of about 6,000 and can handle the polysinc-2S filter with great results

 

Geoff's quad core Mac Pro has a benchmark score of about 9,000 can can do the polysinc filter which my T1 can not handle

 

I have an i7 hexcore on order to slip into the T1, but it will need to be underclocked to keep the heat output under control