HQPlayer Desktop 3.4.0 for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X released!

[Miska]

so question to Miska, why does 11.289 conversion result in transients sounding more live than 12.288 ?

 

Could be due to different conversion parameters, or because the DAC has a sweet spot at 11.3 MHz (every DAC has certain format that is optimal). There are too many possibilities to say for sure.

 

Next on my list is to try different bit length !

 

For DSD output there's nothing much to do, because the output is always 1-bit.

[EuroDriver]

For DSD output there's nothing much to do, because the output is always 1-bit.

 

LOL

 

I also want to try HQP feeding my T+A DAC 8 with 24/192 to see how it compares

[Vitor]

Ive converted a SACD ISO file to dff with the software provided by Sonore (iso2dsd) but everytime I drag'n'drop the converted folder HQP crash.

Any thoughts?

[Miska]

Ive converted a SACD ISO file to dff with the software provided by Sonore (iso2dsd) but everytime I drag'n'drop the converted folder HQP crash.

Any thoughts?

 

You need to decompress DST...

[Vitor]

You need to decompress DST...

 

And how to decompress? Within HQP?

[Miska]

And how to decompress? Within HQP?

 

No, with the extraction tool. There should be some option to perform decompression while extracting the tracks from ISO.

 

I have never used these tools myself, so I don't have more detailed information about how to do it.

[kurb1980]

I use that tool and there is 2 options DFF or DSF so select the DSF. For what it's worth HQPLAYER can play the DFF but only ISO's that are stereo only. If you have a multitrack ISO then HQPLAYER will crash even when you only select the two channel.

[Jabs1542]

I use that tool and there is 2 options DFF or DSF so select the DSF. For what it's worth HQPLAYER can play the DFF but only ISO's that are stereo only. If you have a multitrack ISO then HQPLAYER will crash even when you only select the two channel.

 

I use DSF, which also supports tagging - but then I am running 2 channel only. HQPLayer runs great

[Miska]

If you have a multitrack ISO then HQPLAYER will crash even when you only select the two channel.

 

Crash is fixed for the upcoming 3.5.0, but it will refuse to play DST compressed DSDIFF (DFF). However, uncompressed multichannel and stereo DSDIFF should work just fine.

 

DSF is never compressed, so it is not an issue there.

[YashN]

Will have to try that with the iFi iDSD Nano which has the XMOS.

 

P.S. I really encourage everyone here to try setting "DAC bits" to 24, as there is a possibility that your DAC's USB input may be seen as a 32-bit device but the rest of your DAC is only 24-bit (besides, no real world DAC resolves to much more than about 22-bits, and your room is not that quiet either). Regardless, it makes a difference in the "envelope" of the instruments and with my system makes the notes seem much more complete.

[livelistenlearn]

happy new year miska + all,

thinking of trying out hqp on mbp >> hugo.

since: "Mac OS X version of the software will function for 30 minutes at a time without a license key”, and, am still new to audio tweaking:

 

will appreciate some easy/basic p2p start-up tips. that will (hopefully) lead to more listening/auditioning… and less “what am i doing wrong?”

tia.

[john925]

Now the final release restores all parameters back to original values at exit, so this shouldn't happen...

 

I just checked once more with iFi iDSD Nano by playing some DSD128 on HQPlayer, then exit and launch Spotify and play some music, no problems sound is correct.

 

Miska,

 

I left a message for you. Have you received it?

Thanks.

[MikeJazz]

Actually I just did it tonight as I want to listen over the weekend. Love those amazing Polysinc filters! And NAA is the way to go...

 

I wish there was a simple way for me to do NAA > SPDIF...

(yes one can always buy another converter, but that is not a simple solution anymore).

[sonata]

Miska, I am awaiting delivery of an iDSD micro DAC, to replace my Meridian Explorer DAC. As my old DAC was PCM only, I am unsure how to configure HQPlayer for the iDSD micro. Can you please advise me on the best settings? I seem to remember you saying that the DAC Bits should be set to the maximum for a particular DAC. Unfortunately I have not been able to find that information for the iDSD micro on the iFi web-site. Maybe you can help me there also. I must admit that some of the terminology relating to SDM is new to me, and even reading the HQPlayer manual does not make it all clear to me. Thank you in anticipation, Rob

[Miska]

Miska, I am awaiting delivery of an iDSD micro DAC, to replace my Meridian Explorer DAC. As my old DAC was PCM only, I am unsure how to configure HQPlayer for the iDSD micro. Can you please advise me on the best settings? I seem to remember you saying that the DAC Bits should be set to the maximum for a particular DAC. Unfortunately I have not been able to find that information for the iDSD micro on the iFi web-site. Maybe you can help me there also. I must admit that some of the terminology relating to SDM is new to me, and even reading the HQPlayer manual does not make it all clear to me. Thank you in anticipation, Rob

 

First, I would recommend checking that you have latest HQPlayer version (3.5.1 or newer).

 

Select "DoP" as SDM Pack method and "24" as DAC bits (the DAC chip used by iFi is only 24-bit data capable). For PCM you can then select "768000" as default output rate and for SDM you can select "12288000". I recommend using ASDM5 modulator, but you could also experiment with DSD7 (probably good idea to set filter to "Standard" on Micro). Since upsampling to DSD256 and higher is very CPU intensive, it may be good idea to swith "Oversampling" to use -2s variant of the filter which is lighter on CPU.

 

In case you run out of CPU (get constant drop-outs), you can try to select "Pipeline SDM" to distribute load to more core, but it is only really useful for quad-core or more.

[sonata]

First, I would recommend checking that you have latest HQPlayer version (3.5.1 or newer).

 

Select "DoP" as SDM Pack method and "24" as DAC bits (the DAC chip used by iFi is only 24-bit data capable). For PCM you can then select "768000" as default output rate and for SDM you can select "12288000". I recommend using ASDM5 modulator, but you could also experiment with DSD7 (probably good idea to set filter to "Standard" on Micro). Since upsampling to DSD256 and higher is very CPU intensive, it may be good idea to swith "Oversampling" to use -2s variant of the filter which is lighter on CPU.

 

In case you run out of CPU (get constant drop-outs), you can try to select "Pipeline SDM" to distribute load to more core, but it is only really useful for quad-core or more.

 

Thanks Miska.

 

I have a 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 Mac Mini with 16G RAM, connected to an NAA running Ubuntu 14.04. I assume the Mac Mini will handle the CPU load, but I understand that currently the iDSD Micro will only do DSD256 - until iFi release a suitable OS X driver. Is that correct

[Miska]

I have a 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 Mac Mini with 16G RAM, connected to an NAA running Ubuntu 14.04. I assume the Mac Mini will handle the CPU load, but I understand that currently the iDSD Micro will only do DSD256 - until iFi release a suitable OS X driver. Is that correct

 

If you are playing to a NAA, then you are not at all depending on OS X drivers (only with CoreAudio backend). With HQPlayer 3.6+ on Mac + NAA 3.x you can get DSD512 with the iDSD Micro.

 

I just released software module for NAA 3.0.0, but I'm still working on the HQPlayer 3.6.0 release to enable rest of the new capabilities.

[sonata]

I just released software module for NAA 3.0.0, but I'm still working on the HQPlayer 3.6.0 release to enable rest of the new capabilities.

 

Thanks Miska, that is good news.

 

But will my Quad Core 2.3Ghz Mac Mini with 16G RAM handle DSD512 easily?

[flowerpot]

Hi Miska,

 

That's very good news. For the NAA, I am using the cubox, so I am not sure how to go about installing this to cubox, will you release a NAA image like you did the last time ?

 

Also to go DSD512, does this only work with iDSD Micro or it should work with any DSD dac that is able to go DSD512 ? Will it work with dacs using Amanero interface ?

 

If you are playing to a NAA, then you are not at all depending on OS X drivers (only with CoreAudio backend). With HQPlayer 3.6+ on Mac + NAA 3.x you can get DSD512 with the iDSD Micro.

 

I just released software module for NAA 3.0.0, but I'm still working on the HQPlayer 3.6.0 release to enable rest of the new capabilities.

[Chodi]

Hi Miska,

 

That's very good news. For the NAA, I am using the cubox, so I am not sure how to go about installing this to cubox, will you release a NAA image like you did the last time ?

 

Also to go DSD512, does this only work with iDSD Micro or it should work with any DSD dac that is able to go DSD512 ? Will it work with dacs using Amanero interface ?

 

At the moment there seems to be a problem in using the Amanero with DSD512. They are aware of the problem and working on new firmware to resolve it. All Amanero based dacs will be able to upgrade to the new firmware when it is available. DSD64-256 work without issue.

[Miska]

That's very good news. For the NAA, I am using the cubox, so I am not sure how to go about installing this to cubox, will you release a NAA image like you did the last time ?

 

I will update the image at some point, it's a bit of extra effort so it may take some time.

 

Also to go DSD512, does this only work with iDSD Micro or it should work with any DSD dac that is able to go DSD512 ? Will it work with dacs using Amanero interface ?

 

It works with specific DACs only, because the support is detected and enabled based on USB VID (vendor id) and PID (product id).

 

Amanero is at the moment only DoP on Linux and thus limited to DSD128. Since Windows-based NAA is now also possible, higher speeds with Amanero are possible using Windows and ASIO driver.