Popular Post NoNaim Posted May 26, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted May 26, 2021 I had the MScaler for about a year. I remember trying HQplayer back before I got the MScaler and didn't really like the sound. I was connecting the laptop directly to the DAC at the time. Anyway, upgraded my streamer to the OpticalRendu and intended to use it as a Roon endpoint. After a while noticed the option to set it up as a HQPlayer NAA and had a bit player around with it for a few weeks comparing the two. As before, I didn't much like HQP when it was connected directly via USB but when I used it over the optical network it sounded a lot better. Deeper soundstage, excellent bass with great texture and wasn't as bright in the upper mids/highs as the MScaler. I think you have to tinker more with HQPlayer compared to the M Scaler but if you do, the benefits are well worth it. I was using power banks etc to control the RF generated by the MScaler so that wasn't a straightforward solution either. All my network and music servers etc are in a separate room on the other side of the house to music room. In the end I just enjoyed the sound from HQP more and the MScaler was just sat on the shelf. I was and still am using Closed-Form-M with NS9 at 384k sample rate. I also enjoy Sinc-M NS9 at 768k. Both systems give that beautifully smooth realism in terms of transients etc. I felt the HQP had deeper sound stage with those settings and in the end, I just sold the MScaler. Both systems are great and do similar things, HQP is not an also ran, it's just as good and can be better than the Mscaler. Don't under estimate the importance of the network and hardware used on the network to feed your chosen streamer. System Roon Fanless NUC & Headless HQPlayer on an Optical network (Ubiquiti UDM Pro and US-16-150w Switch with a Cisco Meraki switch + LPS just for audio) - OpticalRendu + LPS - Chord TT2 with TQ Silver Diamond USB - Chord Etude with TQ Ultra Silver XLR. PMC 25.22 speakers and Meze Empyrean headphones. Sam Lord, quinn_t, atxkyle and 1 other 1 2 1 Link to comment
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