HQ Player

[seatrope]

1 hour ago, JohanJ said:

@seaptrope My atlantic has the R2R engine. So what I understand of you is that it is a limitation of the DAC... As I mentioned before it isn't a great issue, just not practical.

Correct, a limitation of the DAC. Realize also that all DSD gets converted into PCM in the R2R engine per the R2R board designer. I have found PCM to sound amazing as straight PCM through the R2R, maybe for this reason. Strangely I found out that DSD gets converted into PCM in the R2R after my ears told me that straight PCM was better...

 

 

[jdubs]

Hey guys, is the license transferable to someone else?  I.e., can I sell mine?

 

Thanks,

Jim

[bibo01]

39 minutes ago, jdubs said:

Hey guys, is the license transferable to someone else?  I.e., can I sell mine?

 

Thanks,

Jim

I don't think so because license is personal

[Argopo]

Been a while since I sat down to listen to some music. Spent this weekend updating the control pc and NAA to latest builds for OS and applications.

 

After updating, I noticed the following:

 

1. Small pop (more of a single crackle) before the start of a track if playing back a DSD file.

2. Faint overlay of static above the music when playing back hi-res (24/96, 24/192) PCM files upsampled to 512. The static overlay is not present when upsampling 16/44.1 files.

 

The static overlay is present when using Roon as an interface or when using HQPlayer standalone.

 

Control PC is standard 6700k 16GB build.

Windows-based NAA.

T+A DAC 8.

 

When playing the same hi-res files through JRiver using BNC to DAC no static overlay.

 

Assuming I need to tweak the settings. Any suggestions?

 

[louisxiawei]

55 minutes ago, Argopo said:

Been a while since I sat down to listen to some music. Spent this weekend updating the control pc and NAA to latest builds for OS and applications.

 

After updating, I noticed the following:

 

1. Small pop (more of a single crackle) before the start of a track if playing back a DSD file.

2. Faint overlay of static above the music when playing back hi-res (24/96, 24/192) PCM files upsampled to 512. The static overlay is not present when upsampling 16/44.1 files.

 

 

1. The small pop sound is normal. If your output is SDM (DSD), it can't be solved I'm afraid. (I've asked T+A and checked some relevant comment by Miska) . However, gapless playback the DSD track list won't have the pop between two tracks.

2. Not sure what the faint overlay of static you meant? I guess is a tiny stutter? Looks like you have 48K-base upsampling problem. Change the filter to -2s version in the SDM setting and see whether the problem still occurs or not.

[Miska]

3 hours ago, Argopo said:

2. Faint overlay of static above the music when playing back hi-res (24/96, 24/192) PCM files upsampled to 512. The static overlay is not present when upsampling 16/44.1 files.

 

If you are using Windows version, make sure you have 3.18.1 or newer. There's a compiler bug that was affecting minimum phase filters in some cases, on Windows.

 

3.18.1 includes workaround for this compiler bug.

 

[RamUwe]

Some news …

 

Playing flac files (44.1kHz/16bit) via network (smb) works better then playing them from an external or internal drive. I had only three stutters/dropouts within an our  The playback with poly-sinc-short-mp (auto) is smooth even playing with HQPlayer via Roon.

 

 

 

I've wrote iFi Audio about my problems as well. Maybe they have some helpfull suggestions.

[RamUwe]

Approx. 2h listening music I count 9 dropouts. New record …

[lmitche]

2 hours ago, RamUwe said:

Approx. 2h listening music I count 9 dropouts. New record …

Was this record set on a dedicated audio PC or were other non audio task running as well?

[RamUwe]

56 minutes ago, lmitche said:

Was this record set on a dedicated audio PC or were other non audio task running as well?

 

This record was set on my MBP. Other Processes resp. tasks were running as well. But it isn‘t a question of cpu load.

[Miska]

4 hours ago, RamUwe said:

Playing flac files (44.1kHz/16bit) via network (smb) works better then playing them from an external or internal drive.

 

What kind of external drive do you have?

 

USB drives can be challenging, USB is not so great for drives... I'm using external Thunderbolt HDD on Mac Mini without problems.

 

[RamUwe]

16 minutes ago, Miska said:

 

What kind of external drive do you have?

 

USB drives can be challenging, USB is not so great for drives... I'm using external Thunderbolt HDD on Mac Mini without problems.

 

 

I have an USB-C enclosure (Sharkoon Rapid Case) with a SSD (Samsung 650 Pro) connected to one of my 5k displays. The internal SSD of my MBP is a PCIe one.

 

I suspect that the hub causes the problems but I‘m not quite sure.

[Argopo]

18 hours ago, louisxiawei said:

1. The small pop sound is normal. If your output is SDM (DSD), it can't be solved I'm afraid. (I've asked T+A and checked some relevant comment by Miska) . However, gapless playback the DSD track list won't have the pop between two tracks.

2. Not sure what the faint overlay of static you meant? I guess is a tiny stutter? Looks like you have 48K-base upsampling problem. Change the filter to -2s version in the SDM setting and see whether the problem still occurs or not.

 

Maybe I am dense, but how do I enable gapless playback within Roon? I thought this was automatically recognized by the software on an album by album basis. And the same would apply when using HQPlayer as a standalone transport.

 

15 hours ago, Miska said:

 

If you are using Windows version, make sure you have 3.18.1 or newer. There's a compiler bug that was affecting minimum phase filters in some cases, on Windows.

 

3.18.1 includes workaround for this compiler bug.

 

 

Using 3.18.1. Will avoid mp filters for now. And re-test at the end of the week.

 

Thanks.

 

[Outlaw]

Using a GTX 980 for CUDA offload.When updating driver is it okay to just download the graphics driver without the other stuff like HD audio driver,GeForce experience ,and physics software if just using computer for music server ?

[RamUwe]

Here is the answer of the iFi support:

 

"Given things work fine on the customers older Macbook, the problem is not the iDSD micro. The cause is likely incompatibility with the isochronous USB mode used by USB Audio Class somewhere, could USB port controller in the customers new MacBook, the hub used or somehow the specific combination.

 

The customer needs a connection solution MacBook -> USB with more than one USB port. Probably needs to use a different hub or perhaps a firmware upgrade for either Macbook or the hub the customer is using.“

[louisxiawei]

11 hours ago, Argopo said:

 

Maybe I am dense, but how do I enable gapless playback within Roon? I thought this was automatically recognized by the software on an album by album basis. And the same would apply when using HQPlayer as a standalone transport.

All of my album can be played gaplessly using Roon+HQplayer. I don't even preset anything (I think gapless playback is pretty standard these days in media player software). You just play the album and let the track flow one after the other, and there will be no faint click pop sound between tracks.

[Miska]

12 hours ago, Outlaw said:

Using a GTX 980 for CUDA offload.When updating driver is it okay to just download the graphics driver without the other stuff like HD audio driver,GeForce experience ,and physics software if just using computer for music server ?

 

Yes, if you don't need audio over HDMI you don't need to update the HD Audio driver, but if the installer shows it already installed, it is better to let that get updated too in order to maintain compatibility with the display driver since the two are tightly decoupled.

 

Physics/Vision 3D is not needed.

 

[Miska]

13 hours ago, Argopo said:

Using 3.18.1. Will avoid mp filters for now. And re-test at the end of the week.

 

If you have the problem still with 3.18.1, it is likely a DAC problem. Check if you use same output rate or different one for the tracks where you get noise. Then switch over to use the rate that doesn't cause noise. Or switch to different modulator like ASDM7 or ASDM5. AMSDM7 may not be so nice with all DACs...

 

[volpone]

On 30/10/2017 at 5:36 AM, Argopo said:

1. Small pop (more of a single crackle) before the start of a track if playing back a DSD file.

2. Faint overlay of static above the music when playing back hi-res (24/96, 24/192) PCM files upsampled to 512. The static overlay is not present when upsampling 16/44.1 files.

 

The static overlay is present when using Roon as an interface or when using HQPlayer standalone.

 

Control PC is standard 6700k 16GB build.

Windows-based NAA.

T+A DAC 8.

 

Hi, @Argopo

As you know T+A DAC8 DSD use Amanero USB.

Seems new Amanero ASIO driver is on the way to be certified (fingers crossed).
Perhaps some enhancements for your setup. I'm also waiting for the Linux version without glitches. See: 

 

[jdubs]

On 10/29/2017 at 11:53 PM, bibo01 said:

I don't think so because license is personal

Ugh, figured as much.

 

Oh well....my bad.

 

-Jim

[Bob Stern]

On 10/29/2017 at 8:13 PM, jdubs said:

Hey guys, is the license transferable to someone else?  I.e., can I sell mine?

Jim

 

On 10/29/2017 at 8:53 PM, bibo01 said:

I don't think so because license is personal

 

Don’t you think reading the frigging license is the logical first step in answering that question?  It is included whenever you download the software.  Here's the relevant section, which is quite easy to understand:

 

Transfers
You may transfer all your rights to use the Software and Documentation to another person or legal entity provided you transfer this Agreement, the Software and Documentation, including all copies, updates and prior versions to such person or entity and that you retain no copies, including copies stored on computer.

[Confused]

I have a question regarding HQPlayer's volume control.  In my case I use my amplifier's volume control and never need software control of the volume.  In addition, I exclusively use PCM to PCM upsampling, I do not convert to DSD.  Is there an optimum level at which to set the volume?  Maybe it is not critical.  Currently I have the volume set low enough so that the volume dial is not bright red.  Any ideas or suggestions? 

[Miska]

22 minutes ago, Confused said:

I have a question regarding HQPlayer's volume control.  In my case I use my amplifier's volume control and never need software control of the volume.  In addition, I exclusively use PCM to PCM upsampling, I do not convert to DSD.  Is there an optimum level at which to set the volume?  Maybe it is not critical.  Currently I have the volume set low enough so that the volume dial is not bright red.  Any ideas or suggestions? 

 

The color coding on the volume knob is supposed to be indicative of the safe range. My recommendation has been -3 dBFS which is sufficient for most content.

 

In case there is limiting, the "Limited" count is incremented from 0 and the volume knob color now also changes. This indicates you are trying to run output too hot and should turn the volume down to avoid it happening in future.

 

[m3lraaHnevetS]

On 11-10-2017 at 5:29 PM, m3lraaHnevetS said:

@Miska which settings do you recommend for PCM1795? I read your blogpost on this DAC chip but can not tell from that which filter to choose...

Tia! 

@Miska please reply

[Bob Stern]

4 hours ago, Miska said:

In case there is limiting, the "Limited" count is incremented from 0 and the volume knob color now also changes. This indicates you are trying to run output too hot and should turn the volume down to avoid it happening in future.

When using a convolution filter, am I correct in assuming there is no difference between setting the gain compensation to a negative value versus lowering the volume knob the same amount?