[wikaudio]

Hi Wikaudio, can you mke one more version for this new update FW with Tidal connect+upnp and no Roon.

Unofficial firmware version 1.42 with TIDAL Connect support but with Roon Bridge disabled ready for download. I wrote about why with disabled Roon support HERE

R26_Release_1v42_+Tidal_-Roon.zip (787MB)

 

[kenjamin0523]

Unofficial firmware version 1.42 with TIDAL Connect support but with Roon Bridge disabled ready for download. I wrote about why with disabled Roon support HERE

R26_Release_1v42_+Tidal_-Roon.zip (787MB)

Thank you very much for sharing. Love this one, song play from tidal without delay and smooth.

 

[Jake2]

Another thing worth noting is how much horsepower you need for the HQPe or Desktop version for the R26, the R26 likes PCM, I feel some feedback would be appreciated here, for PCM processing there is much much less processing required. People have reported that a Rpi4 is enough, but my old 2013 MacBook Air i5 copes very well not getting at all hot or using the fan. An M1 Mac mini might be overkill for the task is all.... your 2017 MacBook Pro sounds ideal, you won't need to look at the screen at all, all config is done via a web page.

Any comments from HQplayer veterans much appreciated.

HQplayer musings

Rod, a belated reply on HQplayer. I jotted down a few thoughts, then a few more.. then it turned into a novel sorry!

I'm far from an expert but for what it's worth here's my experience. I bought a Mac Mini M1 16gb off the bat as I knew DSD upscaling is resource intensive and Jussi seems to favour DSD256+ as representing the best of HQplayer's peformance capability. He aland others over at AudiophileStyle also seem to favour Apple processors like the M1 as an efficient and effective (read: quiet, cool & relatively inexpensive for their power) means of upscaling to DSD256 and DSD512 (on certain settings). I had the 8GB M1 for a week or two, but returned it for the 16GB, as it struggled a bit with DSD256 and DSD512 from time to time. Apparently the extra RAM means it pages the disk half as much so theoretically less noisy and less wear.

The M1 16GB can manage these settings all day long without breaking stride or getting warm, smooth as silk:

• PCM768 - any filters work (I've used poly.sinc.ext2/3 now moved to Poly-sinc-gauss-long / long-lp on a recommendation) as does any noise shaper/dither (NS5 and LNS15 are recommended at bitrates 368khz and above, LNS15 sounding more refined with PCM768). I agree with Camrector that setting the DAC bits at 15 gives the most resolution and dynamics for PCM with the R26, set at 16 bits the sound gets warmer and smoother - very pleasant but smooths over a bit of detail. I found PCM768 (LNS15) > PCM384 (NS5), the former has a more refined and spacious sound.
• DSD256 - I've followed Jussi's recommendation here of late, his new default, he recommends for most listening is this - Poly-sinc-gauss-long / long-lp filters with his latest, highest performance & demanding ASDM7ECv2 modulator
• DSD512 - filters as for DSD256 - but can only manage the AMSDM7 512+fs modulator, not the latest EC modulators.

My preference has varied over time between upscaled PCM and DSD, PCM a little more full bodied in the midrange and forgiving, DSD on the above settings more resolving with what feels like a slightly greater dynamic range, bigger transients and more weighty bass, and more airy and detailed soundstaging if a little less palpable vocals. I used DSD512 for quite a while on settings as above for its resolution, dyamics and finesse, then went back to PCM768 in recent months for its naturalness, warmth and flow (then recently further optimised with DAC bits at 15 and the LNS15 filter). I recently tried DSD256 again with the 7ECv2 modulator and filters above. This last one is Jussi's recommendation over DSD512 with a lesser modulator, and feels like the highest performance DSD so far - very dynamic, lively, refined and holographic. A step over PCM768 in that respect. Apparently to do DSD512 with the ECv2 modulators is beyond even the Mac Studio M2, so demanding it is. I'd be curious to hear it.

There's a small catch to HQP DSD upscaling with the R26 that has been described upthread that bothers some folk more than me. With 44.1khz rate multiples there's a bit of background hiss/low level white noise that is not there with 48khz multiples. I experimented with lots of combos of source and upscaled rates and concluded that the R26's 1-bit (apparently Sony per Afterdark) DSD circuit implementation is simply not quite as happy with 44.1khz multiples as it is with 48khz - the hiss is always there for the former, never for the latter, regardless of upscaling setting or source file used to generate this. (Footnote - this also corresponds to the loud DSD popping that was only present in Gustarender v1.3 with 44.1khz rate multiples not 48khz multiples, now a non-issue with firmware v1.4) You can force upscaling to a 48khz multiple like DSD256 48khz in the adaptive upscaling settings irrespective of the source rate (select anything other than "Auto rate family" along with a 48khz DSD rate). Downside of doing this though is to my ears it loses some precision, the interpolation (which I'm sure is sophisticated) smooths over some detail and dynamics that is present when one sticks to a pure integer multiple of the source rate. The lesser of two evils to me is a bit of innocuous low-level hiss I can't normally hear relative to the music playback level rather than the smoothing of interpolation. Of course you get the best of both worlds with 48khz source rate upscaled to an integer multiple - no hiss and uncompromised precision/dynamics.

 

[rodthebod]

Thank you very much for sharing. Love this one, song play from tidal without delay and smooth.

Does this firmware offer any benefits for sound quality with non streamed content over the standard 1v4 firmware? It was mentioned that a different version of linux app is being implemented.

 

[rodthebod]

HQplayer musings

Rod, a belated reply on HQplayer. I jotted down a few thoughts, then a few more.. then it turned into a novel sorry!

I'm far from an expert but for what it's worth here's my experience. I bought a Mac Mini M1 16gb off the bat as I knew DSD upscaling is resource intensive and Jussi seems to favour DSD256+ as representing the best of HQplayer's peformance capability. He aland others over at AudiophileStyle also seem to favour Apple processors like the M1 as an efficient and effective (read: quiet, cool & relatively inexpensive for their power) means of upscaling to DSD256 and DSD512 (on certain settings). I had the 8GB M1 for a week or two, but returned it for the 16GB, as it struggled a bit with DSD256 and DSD512 from time to time. Apparently the extra RAM means it pages the disk half as much so theoretically less noisy and less wear.

The M1 16GB can manage these settings all day long without breaking stride or getting warm, smooth as silk:

• PCM768 - any filters work (I've used poly.sinc.ext2/3 now moved to Poly-sinc-gauss-long / long-lp on a recommendation) + as does any noise shaper/dither (NS5 and LNS15 are recommended at bitrates 368hz and above, LNS15 sounding more refined with PCM768). I agree with Camrector that setting the DAC bits at 15 gives the most resolution and dynamics for PCM with the R26, set at 16 bits the sound gets warmer and smoother - very pleasant but smooths over a bit of detail. I found PCM768 (LNS15) > PCM384 (NS5), the former has a more refined and spacious sound.
• DSD256 - I've followed Jussi's recommendation here of late, his new default, he recommends for most listening is this - Poly-sinc-gauss-long / long-lp filters with his latest, highest performance & demanding ASDM7ECv2 modulator
• DSD512 - filters as for DSD256 - but can only manage the AMSDM7 512+fs modulator, not the latest EC modulators.

My preference has varied over time between upscaled PCM and DSD, PCM a little more full bodied in the midrange and forgiving, DSD on the above settings more resolving with what feels like a slightly greater dynamic range, bigger transients and more weighty bass, and more airy and detailed soundstaging if a little less palpable vocals. I used DSD512 for quite a while on settings as above for its resolution, dyamics and finesse, then went back to PCM768 in recent months for its naturalness, warmth and flow (then recently further optimised with DAC bits at 15 and the LNS15 filter). I recently tried DSD256 again with the 7ECv2 modulator and filters above. This last one is Jussi's recommendation over DSD512 with a lesser modulator, and feels like the highest performance DSD so far - very dynamic, lively, refined and holographic. A step over PCM768 in that respect. Apparently to do DSD512 with the ECv2 modulators is beyond even the Mac Studio M2, so demanding it is. I'd be curious to hear it.

There's a small catch to HQP DSD upscaling with the R26 that has been described upthread that bothers some more folk more than me. With 44.1khz multiples there's a bit of background hiss/low level white noise that is not there with 48khz multiples. I experimented with lots of combos of source and upscaled rates and concluded that the R26's 1-bit (apparently Sony per Afterdark) DSD circuit implementation is simply not quite as happy with 44.1khz multiples as it is with 48khz - the hiss is always there for the former, never for the latter, regardless of upscaling setting or source file used to generate this. (Footnote - this also corresponds to the loud DSD popping that was only present in Gustarender v1.3 with 44.1khz multiples not 48khz multiples, now a non-issue with firmware v1.4) You can force upscaling to a 48khz multiple like DSD256 48khz in the adaptive upscaling settings irrespective of the source rate (select anything other than "Auto rate family" along with a 48khz DSD rate). Downside of doing this though is to my ears it loses some precision, the interpolation (which I'm sure is sophisticated) smooths over some detail and dynamics that is present when one sticks to a pure integer multiple of the source rate. The lesser of two evils to me is a bit of innocuous low-level hiss I can't normally hear relative to the music playback level rather than the smoothing of interpolation. Of course you get the best of both worlds with 48khz source rate upscaled to an integer multiple - no hiss and uncompromised precision/dynamics.

That's very helpful, thanks Jake

 

[kenjamin0523]

Does this firmware offer any benefits for sound quality with non streamed content over the standard 1v4 firmware? It was mentioned that a different version of linux app is being implemented.

Not sure about the SQ, but the release of memory and tidal connect are great.

 

[Zaurux]

The changelog (A26 - Official 1.42 but i think it's the same for R26) :

Fix for UPnP 24bit/96Khz, this version of UPnP does not include DSD support. For DSD support in UPnP, please use the previous version.

 

[wikaudio]

The changelog (A26 - Official 1.42 but i think it's the same for R26) :

Fix for UPnP 24bit/96Khz, this version of UPnP does not include DSD support. For DSD support in UPnP, please use the previous version.

There is a FIX in the description but they actually changed the UPnP Media Renderer. Instead of upmpdcli based on MPD it is now GMediaRender. I described it in this post. It's hard to say what effect this has on the sound, because it's a little known project. More important is the stability and playback of Hi-Res files.

 

[DeckHiFi]

HQplayer musings

Rod, a belated reply on HQplayer. I jotted down a few thoughts, then a few more.. then it turned into a novel sorry!

I'm far from an expert but for what it's worth here's my experience. I bought a Mac Mini M1 16gb off the bat as I knew DSD upscaling is resource intensive and Jussi seems to favour DSD256+ as representing the best of HQplayer's peformance capability. He aland others over at AudiophileStyle also seem to favour Apple processors like the M1 as an efficient and effective (read: quiet, cool & relatively inexpensive for their power) means of upscaling to DSD256 and DSD512 (on certain settings). I had the 8GB M1 for a week or two, but returned it for the 16GB, as it struggled a bit with DSD256 and DSD512 from time to time. Apparently the extra RAM means it pages the disk half as much so theoretically less noisy and less wear.

The M1 16GB can manage these settings all day long without breaking stride or getting warm, smooth as silk:

• PCM768 - any filters work (I've used poly.sinc.ext2/3 now moved to Poly-sinc-gauss-long / long-lp on a recommendation) as does any noise shaper/dither (NS5 and LNS15 are recommended at bitrates 368khz and above, LNS15 sounding more refined with PCM768). I agree with Camrector that setting the DAC bits at 15 gives the most resolution and dynamics for PCM with the R26, set at 16 bits the sound gets warmer and smoother - very pleasant but smooths over a bit of detail. I found PCM768 (LNS15) > PCM384 (NS5), the former has a more refined and spacious sound.
• DSD256 - I've followed Jussi's recommendation here of late, his new default, he recommends for most listening is this - Poly-sinc-gauss-long / long-lp filters with his latest, highest performance & demanding ASDM7ECv2 modulator
• DSD512 - filters as for DSD256 - but can only manage the AMSDM7 512+fs modulator, not the latest EC modulators.

My preference has varied over time between upscaled PCM and DSD, PCM a little more full bodied in the midrange and forgiving, DSD on the above settings more resolving with what feels like a slightly greater dynamic range, bigger transients and more weighty bass, and more airy and detailed soundstaging if a little less palpable vocals. I used DSD512 for quite a while on settings as above for its resolution, dyamics and finesse, then went back to PCM768 in recent months for its naturalness, warmth and flow (then recently further optimised with DAC bits at 15 and the LNS15 filter). I recently tried DSD256 again with the 7ECv2 modulator and filters above. This last one is Jussi's recommendation over DSD512 with a lesser modulator, and feels like the highest performance DSD so far - very dynamic, lively, refined and holographic. A step over PCM768 in that respect. Apparently to do DSD512 with the ECv2 modulators is beyond even the Mac Studio M2, so demanding it is. I'd be curious to hear it.

There's a small catch to HQP DSD upscaling with the R26 that has been described upthread that bothers some folk more than me. With 44.1khz rate multiples there's a bit of background hiss/low level white noise that is not there with 48khz multiples. I experimented with lots of combos of source and upscaled rates and concluded that the R26's 1-bit (apparently Sony per Afterdark) DSD circuit implementation is simply not quite as happy with 44.1khz multiples as it is with 48khz - the hiss is always there for the former, never for the latter, regardless of upscaling setting or source file used to generate this. (Footnote - this also corresponds to the loud DSD popping that was only present in Gustarender v1.3 with 44.1khz rate multiples not 48khz multiples, now a non-issue with firmware v1.4) You can force upscaling to a 48khz multiple like DSD256 48khz in the adaptive upscaling settings irrespective of the source rate (select anything other than "Auto rate family" along with a 48khz DSD rate). Downside of doing this though is to my ears it loses some precision, the interpolation (which I'm sure is sophisticated) smooths over some detail and dynamics that is present when one sticks to a pure integer multiple of the source rate. The lesser of two evils to me is a bit of innocuous low-level hiss I can't normally hear relative to the music playback level rather than the smoothing of interpolation. Of course you get the best of both worlds with 48khz source rate upscaled to an integer multiple - no hiss and uncompromised precision/dynamics.

Thanks for the great thoughts! If I ever wanted to upscale PCM to DSD on this dac, what settings on dac and HQPlayer for bit rate would you suggest?

Also, Jake - I just want to also thank you so much for your reminder for me to use poly-sinc-gauss-hires-lp for Nx content. I think I was missing so much perceived detail not switching my filter for Nx content when using poly-sinc-gauss-long. Hires content sounds so incredible now, I'm blown away. Thank you!

 

[DivinesGaming]

A bit of a noobier question here, with a quick explanation of my current setup.

PC -> USB -> R26
--- ALSO ---
Switch -> FMC's -> Ethernet into R26

I run my main PC as my Roon Core for headphone listening of Music through LAN, and switch to USB for other general PC usage scenarios, YouTube, Gaming, etc.

My question is, is there a streamlined way of getting all computer audio to go through the LAN into the R26 (say if my USB cable was unplugged) i.e. YouTube, Gaming, Discord, etc.

This would free up a rather expensive USB cable and prevent me from having to switch inputs back/forth. Ideas? I'm not very familiar with things like NAA/UPnP etc.

If I'm distracting the convo of the thread feel free to PM with suggestions. Cheers guys.

 

[MickelJam]

HQplayer musings

Rod, a belated reply on HQplayer. I jotted down a few thoughts, then a few more.. then it turned into a novel sorry!

I'm far from an expert but for what it's worth here's my experience. I bought a Mac Mini M1 16gb off the bat as I knew DSD upscaling is resource intensive and Jussi seems to favour DSD256+ as representing the best of HQplayer's peformance capability. He aland others over at AudiophileStyle also seem to favour Apple processors like the M1 as an efficient and effective (read: quiet, cool & relatively inexpensive for their power) means of upscaling to DSD256 and DSD512 (on certain settings). I had the 8GB M1 for a week or two, but returned it for the 16GB, as it struggled a bit with DSD256 and DSD512 from time to time. Apparently the extra RAM means it pages the disk half as much so theoretically less noisy and less wear.

The M1 16GB can manage these settings all day long without breaking stride or getting warm, smooth as silk:

• PCM768 - any filters work (I've used poly.sinc.ext2/3 now moved to Poly-sinc-gauss-long / long-lp on a recommendation) as does any noise shaper/dither (NS5 and LNS15 are recommended at bitrates 368khz and above, LNS15 sounding more refined with PCM768). I agree with Camrector that setting the DAC bits at 15 gives the most resolution and dynamics for PCM with the R26, set at 16 bits the sound gets warmer and smoother - very pleasant but smooths over a bit of detail. I found PCM768 (LNS15) > PCM384 (NS5), the former has a more refined and spacious sound.
• DSD256 - I've followed Jussi's recommendation here of late, his new default, he recommends for most listening is this - Poly-sinc-gauss-long / long-lp filters with his latest, highest performance & demanding ASDM7ECv2 modulator
• DSD512 - filters as for DSD256 - but can only manage the AMSDM7 512+fs modulator, not the latest EC modulators.

My preference has varied over time between upscaled PCM and DSD, PCM a little more full bodied in the midrange and forgiving, DSD on the above settings more resolving with what feels like a slightly greater dynamic range, bigger transients and more weighty bass, and more airy and detailed soundstaging if a little less palpable vocals. I used DSD512 for quite a while on settings as above for its resolution, dyamics and finesse, then went back to PCM768 in recent months for its naturalness, warmth and flow (then recently further optimised with DAC bits at 15 and the LNS15 filter). I recently tried DSD256 again with the 7ECv2 modulator and filters above. This last one is Jussi's recommendation over DSD512 with a lesser modulator, and feels like the highest performance DSD so far - very dynamic, lively, refined and holographic. A step over PCM768 in that respect. Apparently to do DSD512 with the ECv2 modulators is beyond even the Mac Studio M2, so demanding it is. I'd be curious to hear it.

There's a small catch to HQP DSD upscaling with the R26 that has been described upthread that bothers some folk more than me. With 44.1khz rate multiples there's a bit of background hiss/low level white noise that is not there with 48khz multiples. I experimented with lots of combos of source and upscaled rates and concluded that the R26's 1-bit (apparently Sony per Afterdark) DSD circuit implementation is simply not quite as happy with 44.1khz multiples as it is with 48khz - the hiss is always there for the former, never for the latter, regardless of upscaling setting or source file used to generate this. (Footnote - this also corresponds to the loud DSD popping that was only present in Gustarender v1.3 with 44.1khz rate multiples not 48khz multiples, now a non-issue with firmware v1.4) You can force upscaling to a 48khz multiple like DSD256 48khz in the adaptive upscaling settings irrespective of the source rate (select anything other than "Auto rate family" along with a 48khz DSD rate). Downside of doing this though is to my ears it loses some precision, the interpolation (which I'm sure is sophisticated) smooths over some detail and dynamics that is present when one sticks to a pure integer multiple of the source rate. The lesser of two evils to me is a bit of innocuous low-level hiss I can't normally hear relative to the music playback level rather than the smoothing of interpolation. Of course you get the best of both worlds with 48khz source rate upscaled to an integer multiple - no hiss and uncompromised precision/dynamics.

Thanks Jake! That’s some great setting recommendations for me to play with this evening.

 

[camrector]

A bit of a noobier question here, with a quick explanation of my current setup.

PC -> USB -> R26
--- ALSO ---
Switch -> FMC's -> Ethernet into R26

I run my main PC as my Roon Core for headphone listening of Music through LAN, and switch to USB for other general PC usage scenarios, YouTube, Gaming, etc.

My question is, is there a streamlined way of getting all computer audio to go through the LAN into the R26 (say if my USB cable was unplugged) i.e. YouTube, Gaming, Discord, etc.

This would free up a rather expensive USB cable and prevent me from having to switch inputs back/forth. Ideas? I'm not very familiar with things like NAA/UPnP etc.

If I'm distracting the convo of the thread feel free to PM with suggestions. Cheers guys.

I believe i saw a setting either on Roon or the PC audio settings where it said allow Roon to have complete control.
This was to prevent any other computer sounds from playing through the speakers (notifications and etc etc)
You could switch that off but then might have to deal with random computers sounds interrupting, unless you turned all those off.

 

[camrector]

HQplayer musings

Rod, a belated reply on HQplayer. I jotted down a few thoughts, then a few more.. then it turned into a novel sorry!

I'm far from an expert but for what it's worth here's my experience. I bought a Mac Mini M1 16gb off the bat as I knew DSD upscaling is resource intensive and Jussi seems to favour DSD256+ as representing the best of HQplayer's peformance capability. He aland others over at AudiophileStyle also seem to favour Apple processors like the M1 as an efficient and effective (read: quiet, cool & relatively inexpensive for their power) means of upscaling to DSD256 and DSD512 (on certain settings). I had the 8GB M1 for a week or two, but returned it for the 16GB, as it struggled a bit with DSD256 and DSD512 from time to time. Apparently the extra RAM means it pages the disk half as much so theoretically less noisy and less wear.

The M1 16GB can manage these settings all day long without breaking stride or getting warm, smooth as silk:

• PCM768 - any filters work (I've used poly.sinc.ext2/3 now moved to Poly-sinc-gauss-long / long-lp on a recommendation) as does any noise shaper/dither (NS5 and LNS15 are recommended at bitrates 368khz and above, LNS15 sounding more refined with PCM768). I agree with Camrector that setting the DAC bits at 15 gives the most resolution and dynamics for PCM with the R26, set at 16 bits the sound gets warmer and smoother - very pleasant but smooths over a bit of detail. I found PCM768 (LNS15) > PCM384 (NS5), the former has a more refined and spacious sound.
• DSD256 - I've followed Jussi's recommendation here of late, his new default, he recommends for most listening is this - Poly-sinc-gauss-long / long-lp filters with his latest, highest performance & demanding ASDM7ECv2 modulator
• DSD512 - filters as for DSD256 - but can only manage the AMSDM7 512+fs modulator, not the latest EC modulators.

My preference has varied over time between upscaled PCM and DSD, PCM a little more full bodied in the midrange and forgiving, DSD on the above settings more resolving with what feels like a slightly greater dynamic range, bigger transients and more weighty bass, and more airy and detailed soundstaging if a little less palpable vocals. I used DSD512 for quite a while on settings as above for its resolution, dyamics and finesse, then went back to PCM768 in recent months for its naturalness, warmth and flow (then recently further optimised with DAC bits at 15 and the LNS15 filter). I recently tried DSD256 again with the 7ECv2 modulator and filters above. This last one is Jussi's recommendation over DSD512 with a lesser modulator, and feels like the highest performance DSD so far - very dynamic, lively, refined and holographic. A step over PCM768 in that respect. Apparently to do DSD512 with the ECv2 modulators is beyond even the Mac Studio M2, so demanding it is. I'd be curious to hear it.

There's a small catch to HQP DSD upscaling with the R26 that has been described upthread that bothers some folk more than me. With 44.1khz rate multiples there's a bit of background hiss/low level white noise that is not there with 48khz multiples. I experimented with lots of combos of source and upscaled rates and concluded that the R26's 1-bit (apparently Sony per Afterdark) DSD circuit implementation is simply not quite as happy with 44.1khz multiples as it is with 48khz - the hiss is always there for the former, never for the latter, regardless of upscaling setting or source file used to generate this. (Footnote - this also corresponds to the loud DSD popping that was only present in Gustarender v1.3 with 44.1khz rate multiples not 48khz multiples, now a non-issue with firmware v1.4) You can force upscaling to a 48khz multiple like DSD256 48khz in the adaptive upscaling settings irrespective of the source rate (select anything other than "Auto rate family" along with a 48khz DSD rate). Downside of doing this though is to my ears it loses some precision, the interpolation (which I'm sure is sophisticated) smooths over some detail and dynamics that is present when one sticks to a pure integer multiple of the source rate. The lesser of two evils to me is a bit of innocuous low-level hiss I can't normally hear relative to the music playback level rather than the smoothing of interpolation. Of course you get the best of both worlds with 48khz source rate upscaled to an integer multiple - no hiss and uncompromised precision/dynamics.

Excellent post.
I recently scaled back my upsampling from pcm 768 to pcm 384 using poly sinc gauss hires and LNS15.
Pianos were at bit smeared so I wanted to test some different settings. I lowered the upsample rate so that I could use ext3 and long/long lp. I was shocked.
Pianos were stunning again.
I thought it was the filter but remembered my convolution room correction filters highest rate was pcm384. HQplayer is supposed to upsample them to the output bit rate I thought and maybe they are but I believe the smearing was occurring there.
Once I switched back to my standard poly sinc hi res/LNS15 the naturalness, and clarity of piano was better than I have ever heard them.

 

[labeelen]

Excellent post.
I recently scaled back my upsampling from pcm 768 to pcm 384 using poly sinc gauss hires and LNS15.
Pianos were at bit smeared so I wanted to test some different settings. I lowered the upsample rate so that I could use ext3 and long/long lp. I was shocked.
Pianos were stunning again.
I thought it was the filter but remembered my convolution room correction filters highest rate was pcm384. HQplayer is supposed to upsample them to the output bit rate I thought and maybe they are but I believe the smearing was occurring there.
Once I switched back to my standard poly sinc hi res/LNS15 the naturalness, and clarity of piano was better than I have ever heard them.

Cam, did you ever consider using HQPlayer’s ‘Matrix’ functionality as an alternative for ‘Convolution’ ?
It has several advantages:
- you don’t have to export wav files for every possible bitrate
- you only need to export the text file with the filters for left and right which will be used independent of the actual bitrate (because you use the filter formula’s)
- you can include the needed headroom in the filter file itself by adding the ‘preamp: -x dB’ statement.
- when you have multiple targets (e.g. use multiple headphones like me) you can very easily switch between filters, almost on the fly by uploading these very small text files to HQPlayer.
- it is very easy to create and export these filter.txt files … from REW or similar EQ apps

You might consider to try it some time?
Just for reference I have included an old (simple) filter I exported from REW for one of my headphones.

 

[Jake2]

A bit of a noobier question here, with a quick explanation of my current setup.

PC -> USB -> R26
--- ALSO ---
Switch -> FMC's -> Ethernet into R26

I run my main PC as my Roon Core for headphone listening of Music through LAN, and switch to USB for other general PC usage scenarios, YouTube, Gaming, etc.

My question is, is there a streamlined way of getting all computer audio to go through the LAN into the R26 (say if my USB cable was unplugged) i.e. YouTube, Gaming, Discord, etc.

This would free up a rather expensive USB cable and prevent me from having to switch inputs back/forth. Ideas? I'm not very familiar with things like NAA/UPnP etc.

If I'm distracting the convo of the thread feel free to PM with suggestions. Cheers guys.

No this is a good question and I've wondered the same thing. I don't know personally of a method or software to do this but I remembering seeing a shorthand/acronym reference in a thread I was reading re a streamer to something that in the context sounded like software that did this. I meant to go back to look it up when I had the time, now if only I could remember where I read it...