Devialet Chat

I hope @Focus Fidelity can give an insight on his take to this topic.

Hi,

I haven't used HQ Player myself but have customers using it to apply the room correction filters with excellent results.

I do use Roon's upsampling feature in combination with Roon applying the correction filters, so the signal path looks like,
[attachment=4879]

I'm not recommending Roon instead of HQ Player as I don't have experience with both.
Using the PC platform for upsampling makes sense just as it does for applying room correction filters as there is so much CPU power available.

Kind regards,
David

Devialet DAC is automatically upsampling internally to some degree if I remember correctly.

Yes, I think it is 192kHz. ADH in Expert (and Pro) amps have a 192kHz working rate. ADH in Phantom speakers is different. The 48kHz that was revealed when RAAT was introduced suggests this. In both cases re-sampling is taking place. I'm not even sure sending 192kHz or 48kHz respectively ( i.e. re-sampling in Roon or HQPlayer) escapes the internal algorithm, but I do not know this of course. In the Kii THREE speaker, for example, the digital circuit runs at a proprietary 93.75kHz so everything gets re-sampled.

Following on from my earlier post about the potential benefits of running the Focus Fidelity convolutions after upsampling. (Post #60)

I have recently tried running the convolutions in HQPlayer, rather than Roon. So I am still using Roon to feed HQPlayer, but previously I loaded the convolutions into Roon, so they would typically be used at 16/44.1, and then sending the convolved result to HQPlayer, which would upsample to 24/192 before feeding the Devialet. Now HQPlayer looks after both the upsmpling and convolutions, which are dealt with at 24/192.

Does it sound any better? To my ears yes, most definitely. The most noticeable thing being a noticeable uptick in overall clarity and definition. Things like cymbals now take on an incredible sense of impact and realism. I could write much audiophile waffle about this, but I think it is enough to say that this is now the best I have ever heard my system, I am very glad that I tried this.

As a thought, I suspect that a similar uptick in performance could be obtained using the convolutions in Roon and also using Roon to perform the 24/192 upsmpling. (much as David mentioned in an earlier post) Although this is just supposition from myself, I have not actually tried this. (and I am not likely to bother trying this either, as I much prefer my system with Roon plus HQPlayer, rather than Roon on it's own. I mentioned this in the Zen Stream thread)

I have to admit that I was a little worried about trying the convolutions in HQPlayer. Relative to Roon, HQPlayer is not the most user friendly and intuitive piece of software. These worries proved utterly unfounded however, it was very easy to get Focus Fidelity to produce the mono filters required by HQPlayer. (this is detailed in the latest instructions) Then loading them into HQPlayer proved to be surprisingly quick and simple. I think from deciding to try this, to creating the mono filters and actually having them up and running in HQPlayer took maybe 10 minutes.

One disadvantage of running the convolutions in HQPlayer is that you lose the capability Roon has to swap between filters using the remote app whilst listening. Although in a way this might actually be a positive for HQPlayer, as when listening it stops any temptation to mess about with filters and rather forces you to simply listen to music. Although you cannot remotely change filters in HQPlayer, it is still very easy to do, taking much less than a minute for the swap.

EDIT: Something I forget to mention in the above post. One other advantage of using the convolutions in HQPlayer, is HQPlayers "loopback" function. I sometime use the PC to play YouTube clips, playlists in iTunes, sometimes free Spotify, and so on. HQPlayer loopback is basically a virtual soundcard, so anything you play on the PC runs via your main system. So with the Focus Fidelity convolutions in HQPlayer, I get the benefit of the convolutions even when using YouTube or similar. This is quite a bonus.

Any update on the Focus Fidelity measurement application? I'm very interested in Focus Fidelity software but kinda waiting to see where the measurement app lands rather than struggling with REW. Any info is greatly appreciated.

I have been in contact with @Focus Fidelity recently - but it’s best he gives an update here in his own words. I am excited about anything coming and glad we as a community with Devialet & SAM can help contribute making this as good as possible.

Hi @mdconnelly

The development of the application is nearing completion. I'll send out a newsletter via the Focus Fidelity mailing list in the next couple of days to update everyone.

If anyone is interested in testing out a beta version please drop me an e-mail or a message from here https://www.focusfidelity.com/contact

Kind regards,
David

Hi Everyone,

I am close to delivering a beta release of the measurement application for several customers to test. Assuming this goes smoothly, an official release should be out this year.

The application will be standalone, separate from the filter designer, and available for download free of charge. This application will have everything you need and nothing you don't for taking measurements for digital room correction.

Key features include,

Measurements of left and right channels taken at multiple positions are saved to a single file (*.ffm) which you can open in Focus Fidelity's filter design software.
Measurements may also be exported as *.wav files for use with 3rd party software.
Exported measurements have the microphone calibration applied.
The relative timing of the left and right channels is captured.
The measurement project file (*.ffm) includes microphone calibration and relative timing information, creating a seamless workflow with Focus Fidelity's filter design software.
Audio hardware is accessed via the Microsoft Windows WASAPI exclusive mode interface eliminating issues with Windows audio mixers and sample rate converters.
Measurements can be taken with a correction filter applied. The filter is applied to the test signal the same way it is to music which allows the performance of the filters to be verified.
Tested with MiniDSP UMIK-1 & UMIK-2 microphones and XMOS based USB Audio interfaces.
I have included a pink noise generator tool for setting the volume level.

Future features will include,

Waterfall & spectrogram plots.
Additional channels when required for digital crossovers, including subwoofer integration.

Kind regards,
David

Hi David @Focus Fidelity

No ASIO support? I don't think my trusty Sound Devices USBPre2 can be tricked into using WASAPI...
What about Windows versions? 7?