HQPlayer

[zdenes]

Thanks Confused for the input. I have a similar setup and similar conclusions. I have a SOtM SMS-200 Ultra, not the Microrendu, but then it goes into the Mutec just like in your system. I also tried DSD upsampling and converted back to PCM by the Mutec and got exactly the same conclusion as you so I will not repeat it. I have everything converted to 192kHz PCM, though by HQ Player and that is reclocked by the Mutec, so Devialet always sees 192kHz.

As an experiment, I also tried to remove the Mutec and use the SMS-200 Ultra straight to USB on the Devialet. I thought that since the 'ultra' has a good clock already and if I use DSD64 material only, I might get a better result straight into the Devialet. I did not. Everything sounded better through the Mutec, even native DSD converted to PCM.

I have not yet tried the new Roon via ethernet but my current chain is considerably better sounding than the AIR 3 with HQ player or JRiver (both working more or less flawlessly for me) I don't expect to go back to ethernet streaming. I wish I was wrong... But it may well be that will sound better on DSD64 materials.

I think next thing I need to try, apart from Roon/ethernet is a clocked switch and/or the new JPlay ethernet card. Possibly a Mutec Ref10 clock but that is a much bigger investment.

On the filters, I know that a lot of people dig the poly-sync-ext but I prefer the poly-sync-shrt. More details and life-like sound to my ears and also to my audiophile friend's ears who I made to listen to both the other day without me saying what I changed. Since he doesn't use HQPlayer, he had no clue anyway. To be honest, that is an area where I still need a lot more testing and retesting, just too many combinations in HQ Player.

Zoltan

[Confused]

Interesting observations Zoltan, thanks for posting.  It is perhaps worth mentioning that when I ran through all the PCM filter options, poly-sync-shrt was one that made my 'final four' short list.  There is a key point here, after some repeated A/B tests, I settled for poly-sync-ext, and to date, poly-sync-ext is the only one that I have sat down and spent some extended listening time with.  I plan to stick with poly-sync-ext for a while, then maybe simply try one of the other 'shortlisted' filters for a while.  I think extended listening can very often tell you a lot more than quick A/B's.  It's interesting that you mentioned 'details and life-like' for poly-sync-shrt, in my notes for the same filter I have 'natural', which is a pretty similar result, I also made a positive comment re bass power, something else entirely!

As for the REF10, I have my eye on that one too!  I do have some questions as to how exactly the Devialet 'extracts' the clock signal from AES3 feed, I think the answer to this is critical to how well the REF10 might perform with a Devialet.  However, that is off topic here, I'll pick this up in the Mutec thread when I get a chance.  If anyone knows the answer to this one, please post here:

https://devialetchat.com/showthread.php?...ight=ref10

[Confused]

I had a very strange experience with HQPlayer over the last weekend. Much listening to all sorts of music on Friday evening, but I was having one of those slightly paranoid sessions where audiophilia nervosa was taking hold, and nothing sounded quite right. Very strange, but the system just did not sound right, a slight digital edge to everything that I was finding quite disconcerting. OK, you get these things sometimes, maybe mood, some might blame inconsistent electricity supply, but there was something that irritating me, not that it was a straightforward task to identify exactly what it was that might be causing the issue.

One culprit came to mind, HQPlayer. The reason for this was that when I started HQPlayer that evening, it seamed to take a very long time to load and then work with Roon, I was with friends that evening and so did not want to spend time messing about with computer audio related stuff, but I did try a quick and simple switch to iTunes, and curiously things seamed to be a much better listen, so I parked the possible HQPlayer issue for investigation at a more convenient time.

On Sunday I had some quiet time on my own to investigate HQPlayer and it took me about 3 minutes to discover the issue, both the filter and dither settings had changed. I flicked these back to my preferred settings, and everything sounded fine again. I am thinking back now to try and work out when or how this has happened. One possibility relates to the fact that there have been a couple of HQPlayer updates recently. When doing these updates I had checked the settings were still as they should be, so I remain puzzled. I will certainly keep a watchful eye on this one in the future, maybe one day I will work out how the 'self changing' filters come to occur. Meanwhile, I have to say it was an interesting experience. It is a kind of blind testing, when your system changes itself without telling you! I'll be honest here, I cannot quite remember what the 'rouge' settings were. It was a case that I easily spotted the settings were wrong, selected the correct settings, played some music, it sounded great, I then thought, what settings was it on? I might be wrong, but I think the filter setting was FFT, something very obviously visually different to poly-sinc-ext, this could be my memory playing tricks though.

The key point here is that I have stated previously that the effects of HQPlayer's filters are very subtle, but this experience has demonstrated to me that these subtle differences can make the difference between sitting down and happily listening to music or sitting down and being hit with audiophilia nervosa, which is no fun.

[zdenes]

Can I ask you what your preferred setting are? Both for PCM and DSD? Do you do upsampling?

[Confused]

Can I ask you what your preferred setting are? Both for PCM and DSD? Do you do upsampling?

I am still running poly-sinc-ext, NS9, per my comments in post #108 of this thread.  It is interesting for me to read back though this thread because for a while I have had a plan to further evaluate the filter settings, but the reality is that I very quickly arrived at poly-sinc-ext NS9 and have simply left it at that since.  It has been a very busy time for me recently, a case of me having far less time with my system that I would like, so when I have had time with my system I have been playing and enjoying music rather than spending time tinkering!

That said, reading this back I am genuinely surprised that I have not experimented at all with the settings since July of this year!  This has actually inspired me to experiment again at the weekend.  I feel that having lived with the same settings for a few months this could actually be a good time to revisit. 

As for DSD, I tried PCM to DSD and found that I have a strong preference for PCM, plus I do not have any 'native' DSD material, other than a handful of old SACD's that have never been ripped.

[zdenes]

@Confused Thank you for sharing. I also use poly-sinc-ext now but earlier I tried a few and sometimes I felt that poly-sinc-shrt-mp sounded better on certain recordings. As for dither, I'm not sure which one to use, now it is set to TPDF because that was the default. The problem is that I don't really understand what these settings really do (or what the acronyms even stand for) and how they are supposed to change the sound.
I upsample everything to 192kHz as the Devialet seem to sound best when it is fed at that frequency. DSD files are streamed as they are but the Mutec MC3+USB changes them to PCM 192kHz. With the recent addition of the Mutec Ref10 and changing the power supply of the MC3+USB to linear, I start to feel that I'm near the 'end of the road'. If you haven't had the Ref10 in your system yet, it's a must. It sounds sooooo much better with that in the chain.

[Spindrift]

@Confused Thank you for sharing. I also use poly-sinc-ext now but earlier I tried a few and sometimes I felt that poly-sinc-shrt-mp sounded better on certain recordings. As for dither, I'm not sure which one to use, now it is set to TPDF because that was the default. The problem is that I don't really understand what these settings really do (or what the acronyms even stand for) and how they are supposed to change the sound.
I upsample everything to 192kHz as the Devialet seem to sound best when it is fed at that frequency. DSD files are streamed as they are but the Mutec MC3+USB changes them to PCM 192kHz. With the recent addition of the Mutec Ref10 and changing the power supply of the MC3+USB to linear, I start to feel that I'm near the 'end of the road'. If you haven't had the Ref10 in your system yet, it's a must. It sounds sooooo much better with that in the chain.

Hi zdenes - 

+1 on your observations - I was actually quite surprised by the difference in the sound with the Ref 10 in the loop.  I also find 192 sample rate is best - have you tried the Poly Sinc XTR filters?  For live non amplified music I find the soundstage, clarity and space around instruments to be great.  Reluctant to go for teh CI upgrade with everything sound so good!

Cheers

[zdenes]

Hi Spindrift,
I also use Poly Sinc XTR now. NS9 dither, although I'm not sure what that means exactly...
My Devialet dealer promised to lend me an upgraded D-250 expert pro with CI board, so I will be able to compare side by side with the Mutec/SOtM system. I don't think it stands a chance but I will report back on this forum.
BTW, I had the Dynaudio C1s two speaker upgrades ago. They are really good and if you want audio heaven buy two good subs and use the active crossover in the Devialet. That is what I do and it leaves many seasoned audiophiles coming to my place speechless.

[Confused]

Hi Spindrift,
I also use Poly Sinc XTR now. NS9 dither, although I'm not sure what that means exactly...
My Devialet dealer promised to lend me an upgraded D-250 expert pro with CI board, so I will be able to compare side by side with the Mutec/SOtM system. I don't think it stands a chance but I will report back on this forum.
BTW, I had the Dynaudio C1s two speaker upgrades ago. They are really good and if you want audio heaven buy two good subs and use the active crossover in the Devialet. That is what I do and it leaves many seasoned audiophiles coming to my place speechless.

It would certainly be interesting if you do manage to listen to the Core Infinity board versus your SOtM / Mutec / Mutec set up.  For a while I have been thinking of getting the REF10 but the one thing holding me back is the thought that the Core Infinity board might actually be very good for sound quality.  So I have been patiently waiting!

[Spindrift]

Hi Spindrift,
I also use Poly Sinc XTR now. NS9 dither, although I'm not sure what that means exactly...
My Devialet dealer promised to lend me an upgraded D-250 expert pro with CI board, so I will be able to compare side by side with the Mutec/SOtM system. I don't think it stands a chance but I will report back on this forum.
BTW, I had the Dynaudio C1s two speaker upgrades ago. They are really good and if you want audio heaven buy two good subs and use the active crossover in the Devialet. That is what I do and it leaves many seasoned audiophiles coming to my place speechless.

Hey zdenes - 

Eagerly awaiting your review!  To confused's point, I might have waited to assess the new Ci boards SQ before opting for the Ref 10 if given the choice now - but with the Ref 10 in the system I have much of the high frequency detail (contextual information of the recording space) I've always wanted (but thought the Dynaudio's silk domes couldn't quite get!)  

Will think about those subs - thanks for the heads up!

cheers