[Progisus]

The EX TT is a very satisfying combo but I would entertain upgrading to a TT2. Dave will never happen (haha). I’ve moved roon core to a MBPro with the EX running only HQP. I think that’s the best sound I will get from the EX without moving HQP to the MBPro and just the naa on the EX. Time to listen to a little Prog by the pool on a warm sunny afternoon here in the Peg.

 

[andrewd01]

I have breifly tried some of the settings in HQPlayer with Roon.

I disconnected Mscaler from Dave and removed Roon Ready from the EX.

I tried HQ Player without any settings (straight through) and it killed the SQ of Dave... no AB it was that bad.

I then played around with some of the settings and liked what HQP can do in regards of different sound for different moods, genre and or personal preference.

I liked the IIR and the sinc M but did not find the music engaging as Dave with Roon Ready.

Dave and the Bryston Amps I have are not forgiving to poorly recorded music and I have particular issues with hot recorded tracks so the IIR was very useful.

With the settings I tried, all different, I always felt if I was losing something (that toe tapping experience) and I emailed the developer if there was a lite version rather than loading the HQ Player server onto the EX. There was no lite version and the filters used most of the resources...CPU power.

So if you find that HQP does not make too much of a hit (straight through) it may be worth paying for as it does give a range of different sounds depending on personal choice and save a lot of money for the Mscaler and associated cables.

When I put back the Mscaler I realised how much I like what it does, it would be great to have different filters built into Mscaler similar to HQP.

PS.

Today I added The CX EX to the Dave Mscaler - Woo Wa33 plus LCD4 (the Melco Z1a was used before) a big step up.

Thanks for sharing your findings. Which noise shaper did you try in HQP? There are reports that this makes a big difference. I have not done any experimenting on the noise shaper, just going with the recommendation of LNS15 for 16x upsampling. Lower order shapers are better for less upscaling, but the whole point of HQP is to upscale to the limit of your DAC’s capability.

What was your CPU load when running HQP for PCM upscaling? Mine runs at 18% with sincM upscaling from 44.1 to 705kHz.

Did you have any problems with the USB handshake when running HQP at 16x upscaling? I have found that if the TT2 is turned off and on again while the server is still running, the USB handshake fails and I get white noise through the DAC. Problem is fixed by resetting HQP (press apply on the settings page). I am curious to know if this is just a TT2 problem.

 

[frankensmurf]

@Clive101 funny you should suggest that. I moved my core to another computer and removed the software from the EX. Very slight improvement in the soundstage. I do like having my core on the EX to drop the number of boxes. The core is a bit snappier on the Macbook Pro. Here is a little trick I have been using. Firstly I am the only user of HQP endpoints. I setup HQP with sdm, dsd256 to my rme adi-2 on its pi4 naa. I then setup HQP with pcm, sinc-m to my TT on it’s pi 4 naa. Then its a simple 2 clicks to change listening positions. Click 1 for sdm or pcm, click 2 for naa selection. Then apply.

BTW - I have done extensive mscaler / HQP comparisons but that was using different computers. Comparing HQP on the EX to HQP on a Macbook Pro to HQP on a nuc7i3 all to the same dac. There is definitely a difference. EX first, MBP second, Nuc last. All very very close but the EX opened up the midrange a touch more.

I'm curious about what you moved to, what's in between (networking and ethernet cables) and how you'd characterize the difference.. I have an EX, and honestly finding it a bit slow, although it's still new and I'm constantly ripping CDs, etc.

Of course, I've considered the CX [edit], but it's a lot of cash, and given that I already have an EtherRegen could I not save a bundle by just buying any old silent i7 (or just a Nucleus+) and keeping the EX on the the 'Clean' side of the ER?

 

[frankensmurf]

I think pcm is best for the chord dacs except Dave, as they just decimate dsd back to pcm anyway.

has anyone played with HQP into a PS Audio DirectStream? ...I'm guessing based on its topology that DSD upsampling might be more in line?

 

[frankensmurf]

Anyway, sorry for the multiple posts, new HFer, Antipodes owner here too.

router > in-wall CAT7 > Blue Jeans Cat6 > EtherRegen > AudioQuest Cinnamon > Antipodes EX > Curious USB Cable > Antipodes P2 > PS Audio AC12 Silver HDMI > PS Audio DirectStream > (sometimes PS Audio BHK Preamp) > Focal SM9 pro studio monitors.
Shure KSE1500, previously run from Hugo2.

 

[Progisus]

I'm curious about what you moved to, what's in between (networking and ethernet cables) and how you'd characterize the difference.. I have an EX, and honestly finding it a bit slow, although it's still new and I'm constantly ripping CDs, etc.

Of course, I've considered the EX, but it's a lot of cash, and given that I already have an EtherRegen could I not save a bundle by just buying any old silent i7 (or just a Nucleus+) and keeping the EX on the the 'Clean' side of the ER?

Welcome to head-fi. You’ll find a lot of good advice/info and a few rants.

At present my core is on a MacbookPro. My library on an attached usb drive. This is ethernet to a switch and then my Velop sends wifi to an Airport Express which provides ethernet connection to the EX. I thought this might provide an ethernet break and cut any noise. My wifi is pretty bulletproof as it is connected backhaul by ethernet. The EX runs HQPlayer, naa and roon ready. For best sound I get rid of naa and roon ready but the convenience outweighs the improvement I feel. I have also had my core on the EX and it ran everything with no cpu stress.

I am running a Chord TT by usb from the EX to headphones. I have also tried my Hugo 2 but the TT is so much more musical and has more driving power.

I‘ve heard Directstream is an end game dac. I believe it converts to dsd? I’m thinking HQPlayer pcm in would be best. You could try it as HQP runs for 30 min in demo mode.

 

[Clive101]

Thanks for sharing your findings. Which noise shaper did you try in HQP? There are reports that this makes a big difference. I have not done any experimenting on the noise shaper, just going with the recommendation of LNS15 for 16x upsampling. Lower order shapers are better for less upscaling, but the whole point of HQP is to upscale to the limit of your DAC’s capability.

What was your CPU load when running HQP for PCM upscaling? Mine runs at 18% with sincM upscaling from 44.1 to 705kHz.

Did you have any problems with the USB handshake when running HQP at 16x upscaling? I have found that if the TT2 is turned off and on again while the server is still running, the USB handshake fails and I get white noise through the DAC. Problem is fixed by resetting HQP (press apply on the settings page). I am curious to know if this is just a TT2 problem.

I only tried the LNS15 as I have the Dave but will try some other settings when I have a rainy day (sunny at the moment and enjoying as much as I can) not too long away I fear.

Do you know how to find the CPU loadings on the CX or EX or does anyone else know how ?

I left Dave on all the time during trying HQP so again a rainy day.

I'm curious about what you moved to, what's in between (networking and ethernet cables) and how you'd characterize the difference.. I have an EX, and honestly finding it a bit slow, although it's still new and I'm constantly ripping CDs, etc.

Of course, I've considered the EX, but it's a lot of cash, and given that I already have an EtherRegen could I not save a bundle by just buying any old silent i7 (or just a Nucleus+) and keeping the EX on the the 'Clean' side of the ER?

With the CX EX combo I found no noticeable difference on the network side either with network cables or low noise network switches, I do however with other servers. I have posted a my findings on other threads.

I do find a difference with network cables between the CX and EX combo.

On the network side I use a Supra cat8 and between the CX and EX I used the supplied cable (which is the best sounding ethernet cable I found up to 2.5K).

"I've considered the EX" I presume you mean CX ? I have the same dilemma as I feel the two box system is better to lower noise and investigating if my Melco will possibly be Roon ready.

@Progisus I found the DirectStream for the price very good I had it on demo for a short time and it does a lot for one box and no preamp needed (plug straight into your amps) streams and pays. I compared to a Chord Dave (DAC preamp only) so not a fair comparison for cost or features but it did come out on top (IMHO) for SQ.
There is a full review by @austinpop here https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/reviews/ps-audio-directstream-dac-snowmass-full-review-r819/

Edit I found HQP plays for 60 mins before it needs a reset ?

 

[andrewd01]

Tony Devitt revealed how to check the CPU status in another forum. It is a hidden feature.

On a browser go to Antipodes.online, and then click Configure and then click Apps.
In the title bar type the following after the IP address of the server: /app_status.php

 

[Whazzzup]

there is also the light dot on roon to find processing speed

 

[Whazzzup]

ps direct stream isn't that a dsd dac, versus say chord which favours pcm?

 

[frankensmurf]

I only tried the LNS15 as I have the Dave but will try some other settings when I have a rainy day (sunny at the moment and enjoying as much as I can) not too long away I fear.

Do you know how to find the CPU loadings on the CX or EX or does anyone else know how ?

I left Dave on all the time during trying HQP so again a rainy day.



With the CX EX combo I found no noticeable difference on the network side either with network cables or low noise network switches, I do however with other servers. I have posted a my findings on other threads.

I do find a difference with network cables between the CX and EX combo.

On the network side I use a Supra cat8 and between the CX and EX I used the supplied cable (which is the best sounding ethernet cable I found up to 2.5K).

"I've considered the EX" I presume you mean CX ? I have the same dilemma as I feel the two box system is better to lower noise and investigating if my Melco will possibly be Roon ready.

@Progisus I found the DirectStream for the price very good I had it on demo for a short time and it does a lot for one box and no preamp needed (plug straight into your amps) streams and pays. I compared to a Chord Dave (DAC preamp only) so not a fair comparison for cost or features but it did come out on top (IMHO) for SQ.
There is a full review by @austinpop here https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/reviews/ps-audio-directstream-dac-snowmass-full-review-r819/

Edit I found HQP plays for 60 mins before it needs a reset ?

Yes, the DSD (DirectStream DAC) is a DSD DAC. @Whazzzup It reclocks and upsamples all inputs to, I believe now, 20x DSD64, then outputs this waveform to a passive transformer output stage. As you likely know, it's also an FPGA DAC (like Chord), and (unlike Chord to my knowledge?) Ted Smith/PSA continuously refine the code and digital filtering, and release a free FPGA code update maybe once a year. So the value proposition is pretty compelling.

Clive101 I was very interested to hear of your comparison between the DAVE (which def gets talked about a lot) and the DSD.. I consider them very different, but I (at least in my system with active monitors and beryllium tweeters) have always preferred the DSD sound to the DAVE even though the DAVE definitely has more 'detail'. As a listening preference, the sound of instruments (which is about body, timbre, overtone structure) is a lot more meaningful to me than detail (which can come down to mouse farts and chair squeaks). I'm sure the DAVE sounds great in the right system -- it's obviously retrieving a ton of detail and is well engineered. It is also a clean-sheet design, whereas the DSD is actually kind of a retrofit of Ted Smith's DAC idea crammed into PS Audio's existing / previous PerfectWave DAC platform. That in itself is a remarkable bit of industrial engineering but I digress.

For the PS Audio fanboys (I fell like I should be saying fanpeople, perhaps just fans), Ted Smith is perhaps months away from revealing the TSS (Ted Smith Signature) DAC, which is an all-out assault, two-chassis beast which should challenge the top stuff out there, price expected to comfortably exceed $20k.

As far the DSD, I have compared my own and dealer models (its ubiquity makes it easier to compare to other DACs -- many dealers have one) many times, and I continuously prefer the DSD to substantially more expensive DACs (including, in some systems, the DAVE) and even when I've gone in with a spendy upgrade in mind, I've pulled back. Of course the convenience of the built-in Bridge streaming card is great, and also allows Roon to directly control the DAC's digital volume control (which given its 50? bits of resolution is very usable and not much of a compromise at all).

However, it has only become an end-game DAC for me (as I dream about Bartoks or Rossinis) after I have started addressing my digital front-end -- a very popular topic indeed over at the PS Audio forums. Adding the EtherRegen to clean up the ethernet input into the DSD's Bridge input made a surprising difference. So.. I read some more.. The DSD is sensitive to USB cables and servers (like everything), it has an I2S-over-HDMI input, fascinating, etc., etc. Soo I've ended up finding a deal on an EX + P2 which -- hurray -- has I2S-over-HDMI out and supports the PS Audio pin-out, and the extent to which even USB (Curious Cable) out of the EX exceeded the naturalness, pace and musicality of EtherRegen into the DSD Bridge was surprising, and welcome. To be honest, I haven't done critical listening between the HDMI vs USB connections, but I do still need to *remove* the Bridge from the DSD and listen again. (If you think about it, removing a computer from your DAC is likely to have a positive impact on the noise floor).

Anyway, yes, I did* mean the CX, I fixed the original post, and I'm fascinated by the details of your experience. Could the EtherRegen (connected to my known-dirty bog-standard network) possibly provide as much 'clean-up' as the CX itself? This is definitely not an apples-to-apples comparison. However, even if I unboxed a CX right now, I would actually now have a new question: Given that I have a network jack in the wall, let's say 4 or 5 reasonably-priced ethernet cables (by which I mean like $100 reasonable), do I go wall > EtherRegen > CX > EX > DAC? or wall > CX > EtherRegen > EX > DAC?


Oh look, I've created a rant. Sorry.

 

[Progisus]

Reading the Style review got me to thinking about front ends. So... I moved roon core back to EX, using HQP to upscale, output alsa to EX perfect usb and then one AQ cinnamon usb cable to TT and no front end at all to worry about. Voila.

 

[andrewd01]

there is also the light dot on roon to find processing speed

My light dot is always blue, so it is therefore not particularly informative. But the good news is that 16x PCM upscaling is a very easy task for the EX even if also running the Roon core. DSD upscaling would be more intensive, but Chord Dacs don’t need this since they down-convert to PCM anyway.

 

[Whazzzup]

try clicking on the dot and access roon dsp, device set up, signal path, processing speed and other goodies

 

[Clive101]

@andrewd01 Thanks for the tip on CPU status both the CX (6 cores with Roon Server) and EX (4 cores with Roon Ready) are running 1% average when playing.
When I added HQP it added about an extra 1% in standby. I output bit perfect from Roon.

@frankensmurf I could not find any difference using a network cable or network switch from the CX EX combo to my network although I did with another server so I guess the network ports on the CX EX are doing some sort of filtration, two units so double the filtration ..? Others may be able to hear a difference but any small differences I am unable to detect. I do however find a difference between the CX and EX with ethernet cables, I did try the switches but no improvement.
Regarding Dave, yes I get the point about detail vs musicality, I prefer musicality over detail. When I added the Mscaler it toned down Dave, detail still there but just more musical. Same reason why I purchased the CX EX vs Innuos Statement or Melco n10. At this level they are all good but personal choice comes into play more.

I also tried my SOtM tX-USBultra USB with the combo powered by P Hynes power and realised it impacts its own the signature on to the CX EX combo as it did with the Melco.
I sold the SOtM for this reason, good I guess for some but I found the sound was better without it in the CX EX Combo, YMMV.

The more I try other products with the combo the more I realise no tinkering is needed, again YMMV, so for me becoming better value saving the cost of added hardware.