Thread Rating:
  • 1 Vote(s) - 5 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
HQPlayer
Some fascinating reading:

https://archimago.blogspot.com/2019/02/m...5.html?m=1
1000 Pro - KEF Blade - iFi Zen Stream - Mutec REF10 - MC3+USB - Pro-Ject Signature 12
Reply
Over the last two weekends I have been trying the new HQPlayer version 4. Initially, I was finding HQPlayer 4 somewhat frustrating, a case of me being on a bit of a learning curve, combined with my time being very limited at the moment, so I have tended to dive in and rush things. Anyway, now I have become used to the new quirks, I have to say that I could not be more impressed with this update.

Initially, the changes seam fairly modest. There are now some more filter options, plus a new "1x" and "Nx" filter selection option, plus a few other tweaks. The 1x" and "Nx" filter selection option allows you to select different filers which are the automatically applied depending on if you are playing "hi res" material or not. So if you are playing 16/44.1 material then the 1x filter selection will apply, if you are playing 24/88.1 or higher then the Nx filter will apply. The idea is that for a given system, what works best with Redbook 16/44.1 material might not be optimum when playing 24/192 source material, or whatever. A subtle change, but a nice touch. The new filters are interesting too, for example, a favourite of mine in version 3 was poly-sinc-xtr. In version 4 we now have poly-sinc-xtr-LP and poly-sinc-xtr-MP, so a bit more choice and almost certainly these will be developed further over time.

The bad news is that version 4 comes at quite a price hike over version 3. With UK taxes it now comes in at £225 - ouch! Some good news here, there is a discount for those with an HQPlayer 3 licence. For me, applying the discount code took the UK price to £180. There is lots of debate about the price rise over on Audiophile Style (Computer Audiophile), I guess nobody really likes paying for software. One thing I had not realised was that original purchasers of HQplayer 3 received a full six years of support and upgrades from version 3. So if the same applies to version 4, the price does not seem to bad to me. At the end of the day, that's the price now, it is up to individuals to decide if it is worth it or not, purchase is not obligatory.

I like HQPlayer, and I feel it has enhanced my listening pleasure, so if the above had been it, I would have paid my £180 happy in the knowledge I had an enhanced version of the software and a few years of support and further enhancements to look forward to. I kind of feel that HQPlayer is a part of my system, the same as any cable, power supply or piece of electronics, so a few pounds to keep it up to date is fair enough.

But here come the game-changer...…

HQPlayer 4 has a new "Input Loop" feature. I run HQPlayer on a Windows 10 PC, so I can now set my soundcard to VB-Audio H-Fi cable, and then set VB-Audio H-Fi cable as an input device in HQPlayer. This basically makes HQPlayer function as a virtual soundcard. To be honest, setting this up was less than intuitive and I have benefitted enormously from one poster on AS who was struggling to set this up but ultimately posted how he achieved it. Following his troubles, I was able to get it up and running fairly easily. A case of easy when you know how. So with this set up and running, I was able to run all sorts of things on my PC and stream via NAA to my sMS-200Ultra Neo. As some examples, I can run iTunes WASAPI to HQPlayer, upsample to 24/192 to the sMS-200. Shut down iTunes, switch to YouTube, and you can stream music directly to you main rig. This to me is a excellent feature, in essence, anything that will run on you PC can now be streamed via HQPlayer, upsampled to PCM or DSD with your preferred filters. You can use any music player, YouTube, internet radio, whatever you want. As an example, I was listening to a BBC sounds podcast on my iPad yesterday. I have just picked this up on my PC, and I can stream it upsampled to 24/192 on the big rig. I am listening to this now as I type, and it sounds excellent.

So, HQPlayer 4. Some nice updates, a little pricy, but if the new virtual soundcard functionality is useful to you, then I think this is an absolute game changer.
1000 Pro - KEF Blade - iFi Zen Stream - Mutec REF10 - MC3+USB - Pro-Ject Signature 12
Reply
I am not sure how many people are using HQPlayer with Devialet kit these days?  Anyway, this might be of interest to some.

Over the last couple of months, there have been a few posts on Audiophile Style regarding the possible interaction between filters used in HQPlayer, and hardware filters used in the DAC. 

This got me wondering, so I posed a question on the HQPlayer thread.  There was a bit of back an forth between myself and HQPlayer developer Jussi Laako, but the interesting bit is as follows:

Me:
Then I have my Devialet.  This is a very unusual case as the DAC is fully integrated with Devialet's ADH amplification, and no filter options are offered, you get what you are given.  I do know that Devialet use PCM1792 DAC chips, and will upsample any digital inputs below 24/192, but to be honest, I have no idea what filters they might be imposing.

Jussi:
There you can just always send 192k and there won't be problem with the combination of filters. Likely the sharp filter is used there. Most source material is 44.1/48k which leaves a lot of space between the source content band and the filters operating from 192k up. There is plenty enough space also for 88.2/96k inputs.

As it happens, I experimented a bit when I first had HQPlayer, but soon settled on the approach of upsampling everything to 24/192.  Based on the above, this looks like this is the correct approach technically.  In other words, by upsampling to 24/192, you are basically using whatever filter you have selected in HQplayer, without any negative conflicts with the Devialet DAC hardware filters.

It occurs to me that this might also be of interest to anyone who wants to play MQA files on a Devialet.  I am as sure as I can be that Devialet will never implement MQA, but you can do the first unfold in the player software (such as Roon or Tidal), and then you could then use the HQPlayer MQA filters to get somewhere close to full MQA decoding.

I am not a huge fan of MQA, but MQA is out there, so it is at least some comfort that if you absolutely had to play an MQA file with a Devialet Expert, there is a reasonably technically sound way of doing it.

EDIT: Is anyone (other than myself) using HQPlayer these days? And if so, how are you finding the latest versions? (V4.9+) I might be kidding myself, but I do think that the recent updates are better than ever for sound quality.
1000 Pro - KEF Blade - iFi Zen Stream - Mutec REF10 - MC3+USB - Pro-Ject Signature 12
Reply
Yes, I'm still using HQPlayer (via Roon) and my system is very similar to yours. I find upsampling everything to DSD256 to sound the best (the max the MC3+USB can receive) but I will have to figure out how I can programme the MC3+USB to convert this back to 192kHz.
I also found that setting the max bit depth at 24, rather than 32 may sound better too. A bit perhaps (pun intended)
Finally, a knowledgeable friend suggested turning off the MQA decoding and rendering in HQPlayer (that is in the DSP setting options in Roon) and just turn on the "Enable MQA core decoder" in Roon.
What settings do you have?
Win10/HQPlayer / Roon - Uptone Audio Etherregen switch / SOtM-SMS-200 ultra with clock input - Mutec REF 10 clock for the switch and the streamer - Denafrips GAIA DCC - Devialet D800 - YG Acoustics Carmel - Dual Elac SUB-2090 
power supplies: Uptone JS-2, SOtM SPS-500
Reply
(28-May-2021, 10:19)zdenes Wrote: Yes, I'm still using HQPlayer (via Roon) and my system is very similar to yours. I find upsampling everything to DSD256 to sound the best (the max the MC3+USB can receive) but I will have to figure out how I can programme the MC3+USB to convert this back to 192kHz.
I also found that setting the max bit depth at 24, rather than 32 may sound better too. A bit perhaps (pun intended)
Finally, a knowledgeable friend suggested turning off the MQA decoding and rendering in HQPlayer (that is in the DSP setting options in Roon) and just turn on the "Enable MQA core decoder" in Roon.
What settings do you have?

Hello Mr Z

A long time ago I experimented with feeding DSD to the MC3+USB, but found that I preferred the sound keeping with PCM.

For a while now I have been using poly-sinc-short-mp, NS9, upsampling everything to 24/192.

I am sure you are aware that there have been a number of new filters added to HQPlayer in recent updates.  I have not yet got around trying these.  My most recent "upgrade" has been the use of convolution filters produced using Focus Fidelity Filter Designer.  This has made a pretty profound change to how my system sounds (in a good way), so I need to get fully used to this before I try the new HQPlayer filters.
1000 Pro - KEF Blade - iFi Zen Stream - Mutec REF10 - MC3+USB - Pro-Ject Signature 12
Reply
(28-May-2021, 10:19)zdenes Wrote: but I will have to figure out how I can programme the MC3+USB to convert this back to 192kHz.

I'd guess the MC3+USB does this already? Output from the  MC3+USB is max 192kHz, but maybe it uses 176.4 as this is a better match for 44.1 multiples. Have you looked at what your Devialet is receiving?

EDIT: MC3+USB can be configured to send DSD conversion as either 44.1k, 88.2k or 174.6k. I haven't checked how to do it as I don't have a MC3+USB at the moment.
*
Devialetless!
Roon, ROCK/Audiolense XO/Music on NAS/EtherRegen/RoPieee/USPCB/ISORegen/USPCB/Sound Devices USBPre2/Tannoy GOLD 8
250 Pro CI, MicroRendu(1.4), Mutec MC-3+USB
Reply
Since some months i'm also a happy HQplayer user in combination with Roon.

My setup is following:
Roon installed on my Synology NAS -> HQPlayer installed on old Macbook Pro (2009) using "CoreAudio" as backend and as device "Devialet AIR". The Macbook is always on with the amphetamine app -> ethernet cable from macbook to Devialet 250. The Devialet has a fixed IP address.

Is this a "OK" way to reap the benefits of HQplayer or would there be any benefit by buying devices like Holo May or any other NAA devices? One issue i do have is when i hit "next track" the track which is already playing seems to stutter for some seconds and then the next track starts playing.
Mac Mini M2 - Roon + HQplayer - Devialet 250 - B&W 802 D4 - WireWorld Starlight CAT8 - Van Damme Up-Lcofc - Orea Bronze
Reply
you can get big improvements by using an ifi Zen Stream as NAA endpoint. Devialet AIR does not sound very good.
I would also recommend a newer PC with more CPU power for HQPlayer. Some 500€ mini PC will do.
Reply
@Confused Intetesting to hear - I am following that approach too. FocusFidelity Designer brought a great improvement and now intending to use both upsampling and convolution in HQPlayer.
Is the approach „using poly-sinc-short-mp, NS9, upsampling everything to 24/192“ still what you are using?
Reply
(13-Dec-2023, 13:58)markush Wrote: @Confused Intetesting to hear - I am following that approach too. FocusFidelity Designer brought a great improvement and now intending to use both upsampling and convolution in HQPlayer.
Is the approach „using poly-sinc-short-mp, NS9, upsampling everything to 24/192“ still what you are using?

Yes, I am still using poly-sinc-short-mp, NS9, upsampling everything to 24/192.

Is this the optimum setting for my system? Maybe not. HQPlayer has now evolved to version 5, with a number of new filter options. Have I tried them? No I have not. I guess I am a victim of being happy with my system at the moment. When I get some free time next year I will probably try some of the new options. Meanwhile, I am happy.  Wink
1000 Pro - KEF Blade - iFi Zen Stream - Mutec REF10 - MC3+USB - Pro-Ject Signature 12
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)