austinpop

Please ignore. User error.

Thanks for these tips, Jussi! Indeed once I select PCM as the output format, the fields populate. I will play with this. New question: Any time I open and then close the Settings... or DSD Source Settings... menu, even if I don't make any changes, the HQPlayer 4 Desktop application hangs (Windows says "not responding" on the title bar). I've found that if I wait about 45 seconds, it finally returns, and all is good. Is this a known problem? Is there anything I can do to improve? Waiting 45 seconds is not the end of the world, but curious what could be the reason.

Someone else on another forum checked with Chord, and was told the DAVE (and other Chord DACs) can handle 32-bit floating point natively. Whatever that means. See https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/taiko-audio-sgm-extreme-the-crème-de-la-crème.27433/post-665576 I don't know either. The supposed 32f/352.8 DXD music files were delivered by the label as WAV files. I also got the 24i/352.8 files (delivered as FLAC) for reference. What I called bit-perfect playback was using Roon to send the files directly to the Chord ASIO driver. At least as far as Roon was concerned, it did not show any conversions in its status. Now, I have no tools or forensics here, so I don't really know what implicit conversions are going on. What my ears told me in terms of SQ is that: the 24/352.8 files benefited from the Roon > HQPlayer upsampling to 32/705.6 using sinc-M/LNS15 > Chord ASIO path, while the 32f/352.8 files sounded better with the Roon > Chord ASIO path. I really did not want to get into a debate, as I defer to your knowledge of the internals here. Rather, the point I want to focus on is that sometimes you want to change settings on the fly (OK - in paused state), or even pass-through. This may not have been your intent, but I actually find HQPlayer standalone sounds better than Roon > HQPlayer! OK this is good to know, that the pull downs are available on the client. I went looking, and tried two clients: HQPDControl on iPadOS: I cannot find these pull downs anywhere on this client. It's possible I'm just not navigating correctly. Can someone point me to them? HQPlayer4Client on MacOS: OK, here I found the settings. But... the pull downs are all blank except the Source. The following view was taken after playback was started from the Client, then paused. Both the Client on MacOS and HQPlayer 4 Desktop on W10 are v4.60. Please advise. For now, it looks like I have to rely on the Settings... menu.

@Miska Hi Jussi, I am really enjoying playing with HQPlayer 4 Desktop. Could you please clarify a few more things for me? I discovered albums from the label TRPTK in 32-bit floating point DXD format. Let's call it 32f/352.8. When I do PCM to PCM upsampling using sinc-M/LNS15/768 max, does HQPlayer output 32 bit floating as well? I see this: Since the output is not 32f but 32, does that mean the upsampled output is 32-bit integer? From an SQ perspective, I feel like bit-perfect 32f sounds better with my DAC (DAVE). DAVE can natively handle 32f, according to Chord. Speaking of bit-perfect, is there an easy way in HQPlayer to toggle between bit-perfect (pass though source to output) and upsampled for PCM input? I guess something like a "PCM Direct" flag analogous to "SDM Direct?" More generally, is it possible to change filter and shaper on the fly, without having to open "Settings?"

Do check out the TRPTK catalog. This one is just delightful! https://open.qobuz.com/album/nsjqbernebt2b

I'm a big fan of Dausgaard's Brahms cycle on BIS, but on first listen, this recording isn't quite grabbing me like the other 3.

As an aside — I've had a bad cable elsewhere in my house bring my entire network to its knees. Bad cables can be... bad!

Sampling some TRPTK DXD recordings someone mentioned...

Thanks, excellent point. I was actually aware of that, but should have indicated correctly in the diagram!

Hi folks, I'm checking out HQPlayer to drive my DAVE directly. I am finding the DSD Settings and Settings menus very confusing, but think I'm beginning to understand. The key appears to be that not all filter/oversampler/dither/modulator options apply for any particular scenario. Could y'all experts and @Miska please advise if my understanding is correct? I want to look at 3 scenarios: PCM to PCM DSD to PCM DSD to DSD. Here are my DSD Settings and Settings: Scenario 1: PCM to PCM Upsampling Only the following settings apply: Scenario 2: DSD to DSD upsampling Only these settings apply: Scenario 3: DSD to PCM upsampling Obviously, other flags and options apply, but my focus is on the filtering, dithering, and upsampling options. Is my understanding correct? Thanks for your guidance.

My completed Ode to your Wounded Switch Oh give me a home Where the Buffalo roam And the Fauns and the LPSes play Where seldom is heard A discordant note And the highs are not muddy all day. Submitted with a big

Sadly, no. I wish that were the case. As many have observed, and certainly in my own experience, there appears to be some SQ cost to merely the presence of a network connection, even when playing local content. So the upstream quality and mods still matter. However, that said, the ability to buffer network streams does raise their SQ.

I didn't do a lot of deep digging into LMS, but I didn't find any existing parameters to control buffering in LMS. I bet if you go hack the code, you could implement something, but this isn't a feasible approach for most. This is what makes the Stylus player such a gem. I regard its "buffer queue to RAM" feature to be one of its major strengths, and one of the reasons it sounds so good. You should definitely try this. Assuming you're using a good quality LPS on your NUC, you may be pleasantly surprised.

No, because these settings only apply when running the Squeezelite player. Stylus does not use Squeezelite. These settings would only come into play if your were running these two "Audio systems" in the settings menu: Squeezelite Roon core + Squeezelite. Let's be clear on terminology: Euphony refers to the OS. It is a Linux variant based on the Archlinux distribution. Stylus refers to a web application that encompasses 2 distinct functions: It provides a web UI to control OS configuration and settings It also implements the Stylus music server, which is Euphony's native music player the Stylus web app implements the library management, indexing, and UI for the player the actual playback engine runs in a separate executable called "gstp." You can run other music servers on Euphony OS, like Roon, HQPlayer Embedded, or AirPlay. You can run other renderers (or endpoint software) on Euphony OS, like Squeezelite (SL), Roon Bridge, NAA, and StylusEP (essentially the gstp player accessible via a SL and HQPlayer API). So when referring to a configuration, it is not enough to simply say Euphony. One has to specify both the OS AND the music software. For example, I run a standalone music server, and alternate between Euphony/Stylus and Euphony/Roon+StylusEP.

Sad to see the loss of one these noble creatures. "Oh give me a home... Where the Buffalo roam... ..."