HQ Player

[elan120]

38 minutes ago, 3ggerhappy said:

Just FYI AMD announced the 16C 32T next gen Ryzen on E3 with 3950x to be release september all others july

 

official list now are:

AMD 'Matisse' Ryzen 3000 Series CPUs
AnandTech		Cores Threads		Base Freq	Boost Freq	L2 Cache	L3 Cache	PCIe 4.0	DDR4	TDP	Price (SEP)
Ryzen 9	3950X	16C	32T	3.5	4.7	8 MB	64 MB	16+4+4	?	105W	$749
Ryzen 9	3900X	12C	24T	3.8	4.6	6 MB	64 MB	16+4+4	?	105W	$499
Ryzen 7	3800X	8C	16T	3.9	4.5	4 MB	32 MB	16+4+4	?	105W	$399
Ryzen 7	3700X	8C	16T	3.6	4.4	4 MB	32 MB	16+4+4	?	65W	$329
Ryzen 5	3600X	6C	12T	3.8	4.4	3 MB	32 MB	16+4+4	?	95W	$249
Ryzen 5	3600	6C	12T	3.6	4.2	3 MB	32 MB	16+4+4	?	65W	$199

 

Im all set with 3900x, but then the 3950x announced, will HQP benefit with the extra 4 cores?

Good to see 3950X will run at lower TDP at 105W compare to 1950X and 2950X at 180W.  Looks like a worthwhile upgrade consideration.

 

The 4 additional cores could be useful upsampling to higher sampling rates, but will know for sure with confirmation from @Miska

[Miska]

4 hours ago, elan120 said:

Good to see 3950X will run at lower TDP at 105W compare to 1950X and 2950X at 180W.  Looks like a worthwhile upgrade consideration.

 

The 4 additional cores could be useful upsampling to higher sampling rates, but will know for sure with confirmation from @Miska

 

Yes, it looks promising because the clock speed doesn't suffer too much due to extra cores.

 

[Le Concombre Masqué]

15 hours ago, Miska said:

 

Yes, it looks promising because the clock speed doesn't suffer too much due to extra cores.

 

For photo apps including Photoshop and LightRoom, I wish to remain on Mac. Are there opportunities to be sought for in the second hand market after the recent announcements, including new Mac Pro?

 

Based on databases of Geekbench results, my old MBP r mid 2012 (3400+ SC/11000+ MultiCore scores) does not seem to be that much behind compared to old MPro versions but there might be more to the picture...

 

What kind of performances (as referenced per this or that Geekbench type benchmark) should a machine be capable of to run Embedded with say convolution and upsampling to at least 256 of MCH SACD rips ? (taht I can't at the moment even with Desktop, MCH PCM works fine)

 

Should keeping the old MBP + GPU a better option?

 

 

 

 

 

[rando]

AMD and their partner hardware manufacturers have decided no longer are consumers to consider AMD a second tier option.  As such they have begun a premium pricing plan going forward.  With processor prices - not at this moment rising precipitously - and new mb's (X570) seeing a level of inflation reflective of the GPU/RAM schemes that are finally being broken up.  Apple meanwhile... 😂

[Miska]

21 hours ago, Le Concombre Masqué said:

Based on databases of Geekbench results, my old MBP r mid 2012 (3400+ SC/11000+ MultiCore scores) does not seem to be that much behind compared to old MPro versions but there might be more to the picture...

 

There may not be so much difference, so the benchmarks may actually be accurate.

 

21 hours ago, Le Concombre Masqué said:

What kind of performances (as referenced per this or that Geekbench type benchmark) should a machine be capable of to run Embedded with say convolution and upsampling to at least 256 of MCH SACD rips ? (taht I can't at the moment even with Desktop, MCH PCM works fine)

 

With downmix to stereo? I would certainly seek for using Nvidia RTX-series GPU (2080 or 2080Ti) for this kind of use case. Then there are various CPU options if output is DSD256.

 

21 hours ago, Le Concombre Masqué said:

Should keeping the old MBP + GPU a better option?

 

If you don't want too much hassle, that would need BootCamp + eGPU (so that you can house Nvidia and their drivers). It could be a cost effective option though. And would enable upgrade path of moving the card from eGPU casing to a new PC later.

 

Note that I have not tested eGPU approach and don't know how much older Thunderbolt revisions would cut from the performance. But the amount of bus bandwidth between CPU and GPU needed by HQPlayer is not much (we are only moving audio, not video or images that are larger). So it could potentially work.

 

[Le Concombre Masqué]

2 hours ago, Miska said:

 

There may not be so much difference, so the benchmarks may actually be accurate.

 

 

With downmix to stereo? I would certainly seek for using Nvidia RTX-series GPU (2080 or 2080Ti) for this kind of use case. Then there are various CPU options if output is DSD256.

 

 

If you don't want too much hassle, that would need BootCamp + eGPU (so that you can house Nvidia and their drivers). It could be a cost effective option though. And would enable upgrade path of moving the card from eGPU casing to a new PC later.

 

Note that I have not tested eGPU approach and don't know how much older Thunderbolt revisions would cut from the performance. But the amount of bus bandwidth between CPU and GPU needed by HQPlayer is not much (we are only moving audio, not video or images that are larger). So it could potentially work.

 

Thank you, you mention BootCamp ; does it mean it would be a Desktop on Windows solution, no route to Embedded?

[Yviena]

@Miska have you considered adding EQ/plugin support for 4.x, EQ does wonders for some headphones especially HD800, it would probably be a bigger SQ increase than upsampling.

[Miska]

8 hours ago, Le Concombre Masqué said:

Thank you, you mention BootCamp ; does it mean it would be a Desktop on Windows solution, no route to Embedded?

 

If you are ready to go with installing a full no-GUI Linux distro and Nvidia drivers on MacBook  for HQPlayer Embedded, that works too.

 

My HQPlayer OS image doesn't support GPU offload because the Nvidia driver is incompatible with some other things used on the image.

 

[Miska]

7 hours ago, Yviena said:

@Miska have you considered adding EQ/plugin support for 4.x, EQ does wonders for some headphones especially HD800, it would probably be a bigger SQ increase than upsampling.

 

It already has convolution engine, so you can do all the EQ in the world with it.

 

I'm using HD800 as my main work horse and I don't see any need for EQ with those! One of the most neutral headphones on earth!

 

[Le Concombre Masqué]

17 minutes ago, Miska said:

 

If you are ready to go with installing a full no-GUI Linux distro and Nvidia drivers on MacBook  for HQPlayer Embedded, that works too.

 

My HQPlayer OS image doesn't support GPU offload because the Nvidia driver is incompatible with some other things used on the image.

 

not ready yet ! I have to evaluate if it's worth it, for me, with my budget constraints and existing hardware,  compared to D 4.

 

For the time being I 've received an Apple TtoE adapter that seems to work. Lots of interrupts at the beginning, that would not translate in the log nor coincide with cpu throttles. Connecting the cables to my Time Capsule vs to the ISP's box did not change the issue nor did changing the cable (flat 7 vs 7E round one ; opinions on which cable and where to plug them, box or TC?welcome). The good ol' trick of pulling out all the plugs/reconnect seems to have helped the things to communicate ok now...

 

I still have lines of cpu throttles/temperature above threshold  warnings with some DSD programs. I confess I can't hear/tell when it happens. Is it reasonable to  accept that, SQ wise and machine's sake wise?

 

Sometimes in the midst of an overall glorious sound I have the impression that there's a grainy/dirty something in the "tracks" to make a vinyl analogy but maybe I'm rather touching the limits/seeing the naked truth of some tapes... It does not coincide with the throttles and I heard it on 60's rock on PCM

 

I'll try to reload some albums on my HDD. The ISP gave me a newer box but it is still primitive SMB protocol and some albums still don't show at all, whatever i do to the syntax : crazy.

 

@Superdad : any success fronting Embedded? 

 

[Yviena]

2 hours ago, Miska said:

 

It already has convolution engine, so you can do all the EQ in the world with it.

 

I'm using HD800 as my main work horse and I don't see any need for EQ with those! One of the most neutral headphones on earth!

 

Hmm so the 6khz peak doesn't bother you, are you using SDR mod, dust cover on or off?

 

I got no idea how to use convolution to EQ a headphone though, sounds kind of complicated

[audiofool]

On 11/29/2016 at 6:30 PM, Miska said:

 

Shouldn't make much difference for 48k, but for hires sources you can enable HF expansion from the Convolution dialog. This will extend the frequency response of the filter flat to the higher Nyquist frequency. Not sure how good it is with crossfeed filters though...

I'm confused, I am using the pipeline setup for htrf ir wav files as suggested previously.  Does the convolution setup HF expansion affect the pipeline setup? 

I have been trying files from the Listen HRTF database with headphones.  I find the tonal balance shifts and the sound isn't as clean.  Probably a question for Miska, but anyone have a workflow for creating ir files, maybe with octave?  I understand that Genelec is coming out with Aural ID - probably expensive for professionals, to create the necessary files.  One place I read suggested that there are only 7 or 8 major ear shapes and with ear to  ear distance measurements it should be possible to create mathematically the impulse file.

[Le Concombre Masqué]

6 hours ago, Yviena said:

Hmm so the 6khz peak doesn't bother you, are you using SDR mod, dust cover on or off?

 

I got no idea how to use convolution to EQ a headphone though, sounds kind of complicated

NOT really, get REW (free) copy your eQ parameters, export the .wav (cf manuals), introduce in +HQP's convolution engine, et voilà

[Le Concombre Masqué]

9 hours ago, Miska said:

 

If you are ready to go with installing a full no-GUI Linux distro and Nvidia drivers on MacBook  for HQPlayer Embedded, that works too.

 

My HQPlayer OS image doesn't support GPU offload because the Nvidia driver is incompatible with some other things used on the image.

 

I'm afraid my MBP might fail and I have to buy a new machine but I'm not close to get the money for buying the room/house and MCH gear on par with my Stereo and can forget about convolving/upsampling/downmixing to stereo the few MCH SACD I wished to hear that way ; thus : what kind of machine should I plan to get, capable of convolving/upsampling to at least 256/downmixing to stereo PCM MCH + convolving/upsampling to at least 256 DSD files, Without the need for eGPU in the hypothesis I migrate to Embedded ?

 

 would latest Mac mini i7 (

Geekbench 4 (SC):

5653

Geekbench 4 (MC):

24072)

or latest MBP i7 (5300/23500) good enough for comfortable use, performing as described above?

[Miska]

19 hours ago, Yviena said:

Hmm so the 6khz peak doesn't bother you, are you using SDR mod, dust cover on or off?

 

I don't hear anything that bothers me, or see anything such from the official calibration curve of my headphones:

 

 

19 hours ago, Yviena said:

I got no idea how to use convolution to EQ a headphone though, sounds kind of complicated

 

It is not really different from doing the same with loudspeakers. How would you do it?

 

[Yviena]

34 minutes ago, Miska said:

 

I don't hear anything that bothers me, or see anything such from the official calibration curve of my headphones:

 

 

 

It is not really different from doing the same with loudspeakers. How would you do it?

 

Interresting mine does have have a bit higher peak in the 6khz region

[Miska]

33 minutes ago, Yviena said:

Interresting mine does have have a bit higher peak in the 6khz region

 

There seem to be some changes over time, my serial is 32xxx, so somewhat older than yours. I know they've tuned the design over time a bit, mine already has some tuning compared to the early series.

 

[Yviena]

4 minutes ago, Miska said:

 

There seem to be some changes over time, my serial is 32xxx, so somewhat older than yours. I know they've tuned the design over time a bit, mine already has some tuning compared to the early series.

  

Yeah either that or some variability, still i do wonder am i actually supposed to use the headphone with the fabric cover that they came with, or are we supposed to take it off I've always listening to mine with it off as i assumed it was just for dust protection but I'm unsure about it---

 

There's many opinions about it on various forum but no official answer from sennheiser...

[Miska]

19 minutes ago, Yviena said:

Yeah either that or some variability, still i do wonder am i actually supposed to use the headphone with the fabric cover that they came with, or are we supposed to take it off I've always listening to mine with it off as i assumed it was just for dust protection but I'm unsure about it---

 

There's many opinions about it on various forum but no official answer from sennheiser...

 

What do you mean by fabric cover? The one with Sennheiser logo on the inside? It is definitely supposed to be as it is and is part of the acoustic design as well as dust protection to avoid contaminating the driver with dust or anything else. But it is taken into account on the design and is part of the measurements...

 

At the moment I'm using Schiit Jotunheim (set to low gain mode) to drive the headphones (inputs are ADI-2 Pro through balanced and Holo Spring 1 through unbalanced). And trying to decide if I should go for Benchmark HPA-4 for it or not...

 

In addition trying to decide about closed design between Sennheiser and AKG as secondary headphone. Now my favorite closed design is Shure SRH1540 that has extremely good price-performance ratio.

 

[Yviena]

13 minutes ago, Miska said:

What do you mean by fabric cover? The one with Sennheiser logo on the inside? It is definitely supposed to be as it is and is part of the acoustic design as well as dust protection to avoid contaminating the driver with dust or anything else. But it is taken into account on the design and is part of the measurements...

Ah okay, gonna put mine back on now.

 

The HD820 has bass seal issues though if you use eyeglasses, or if the pads don't fit perfectly

[audiofool]

4 hours ago, Miska said:

 

What do you mean by fabric cover? The one with Sennheiser logo on the inside? It is definitely supposed to be as it is and is part of the acoustic design as well as dust protection to avoid contaminating the driver with dust or anything else. But it is taken into account on the design and is part of the measurements...

 

At the moment I'm using Schiit Jotunheim (set to low gain mode) to drive the headphones (inputs are ADI-2 Pro through balanced and Holo Spring 1 through unbalanced). And trying to decide if I should go for Benchmark HPA-4 for it or not...

 

In addition trying to decide about closed design between Sennheiser and AKG as secondary headphone. Now my favorite closed design is Shure SRH1540 that has extremely good price-performance ratio.

 

What about the  Sony MDR 7520? Some of the pro guys like them.  The Benchmark is using the THX AAA technology.  Is this a module?  Is this  like Quad's feed forward technology?

I posted above about creating IR wav files for headphone use, how are you creating your IR files Miska?  Thanks.

[Miska]

14 hours ago, audiofool said:

The Benchmark is using the THX AAA technology.  Is this a module?  Is this  like Quad's feed forward technology?

 

I don't remember the technical details of it, but I remember that it performs extremely well.

 

14 hours ago, audiofool said:

I posted above about creating IR wav files for headphone use, how are you creating your IR files Miska?

 

It depends on the purpose, there are many possible ways to do it. In most cases, same software tools used for loudspeaker systems work with headphones too.

 

[57gold]

Trying to find a concise description of HQP 4 versus the 3 that I have. 

 

Longtime user, paid for previous upgrade.  I do not stream stuff from Tidal or other online source, use a Mac Mini with a HD for music files, no additional stuff like EQ or convolution (whatever that is).  So wondering  what additional utility new version will have for a simple user like me?

 

Always willing to invest in better sonics, if new version offers meaningful improvements.  

 

Tried to find introductory posting of HQP 4 on this thread, but couldn't find it and generally do not understand what folks are talking about in a majority of the posts.  Simple guy as I said.

 

One thing I wish I could do would be to play files a higher level than DSD128, what I'm limited to with Mytek B+ and Quad Core Mac Mini?

[juanitox]

Quote

Tried to find introductory posting of HQP 4 on this thread, but couldn't find it and generally do not understand what folks are talking about in a majority of the posts.  Simple guy as I said.

 

to be simple too.  it is not a night and day upgrade  between the Two  but when you are used to listen with the 4 it is very difficult to come back to the 3 .

 

[Miska]

2 hours ago, 57gold said:

One thing I wish I could do would be to play files a higher level than DSD128, what I'm limited to with Mytek B+ and Quad Core Mac Mini?

 

If it's not much slower than my old quad-core i5 iMac, it should be able to do DSD256 with any of the -2s filters or -ext2.