How would I EQ Listening in Tidal exclusive mode on PC?

[punkedrock]

I'm looking at a new DAC and I'm curious if I would have to just get one with eq possiblities or not. Can I still rolll exclusive mode for that sweet FLAC?
Just a quick pointer is all I'm looking for. Though I don't mind paying for a program if it's got a whistle and bell like a Sony DAP with their EQ settings.

 

[msing539]

You could use an external EQ like a Lokius, or something with more bands if you want finer control.

 

[bixby]

Not sure What in the whole world (botnik hf reanimated my what the fransisco) you are talking about? Sweet flac, whistle and bell, c'mon who are you trying to impress? Uh, pretty much no dac will have EQ built in except for some pro stuff or something like Quedilix

Now to reality, your title implies PC, ergo Windows, unless you are a Linux user then you are on your own. For PC, do some research on Peace EQ, it is free and there is a gui app also free. Anything running through your PC, like Tidal, can go through Peace and walla!

Good luck on your EQ journey

 

[Roseval]

Rme-adi-2-dac-fs comes with a 5 band EQ.
Most of the time we do it either system wide (EQ APO/Peace) or if we use the media player in exclusive mode, the one that comes with the media player or a VST pluging.

 

[FuzzyLuck5550]

Yeah, just use Equalizer APO and Peace GUI like the rest of us.

 

[Deckard001]

Does Peace EQ working with Qobuz-Tidal when bit-perfect? I thought that only Roon which is paid can do that.

I was looking for a solution for that too

 

[Roseval]

As stated in #4 (but many not clear enough), bit perfect (automatic sample rate switching) means bypassing the Win audio completely so Equalizer APO or any other APO won't work.
The moment an app uses exclusive mode, you can use its own EQ (if it has one) or a hardware solution to reiterate the posts above.

 

[bixby]

Does Peace EQ working with Qobuz-Tidal when bit-perfect? I thought that only Roon which is paid can do that.

I was looking for a solution for that too

@Roseval is correct!

I would not get all spun up in "bit perfect" if you plan to use EQ. The mere fact that you use EQ means none of your audio is any longer bit perfect. The exclusive mode in windows keeps any other programs (inc. an EQ app) from using your audio device (also eliminating win mixer) when using Tidal for example. So you will not hear a youtube video on top of a song playing on Tidal.

I used to use peace and set a general EQ on my Windows machine for my desktop speakers. Not sure if it worked or not with Jriver for playing my owned music.

Now I use a Jriver driver (included with Jriver license) that routes all audio on the pc through Jriver and a free VST plugin for EQ called Reap EQ. So everything from Tidal, Bandcamp Youtube, and JRiver for my own music gets the benefit of the EQ for my desktop speakers. I can also set another EQ profile for my IEMS or headphones.

I think getting your output device to sound great via EQ outweighs any nervosa about bit perfection.

 

[WILLJS]

any

Not sure What in the whole world (botnik hf reanimated my what the fransisco) you are talking about? Sweet flac, whistle and bell, c'mon who are you trying to impress? Uh, pretty much no dac will have EQ built in except for some pro stuff or something like Quedilix

Now to reality, your title implies PC, ergo Windows, unless you are a Linux user then you are on your own. For PC, do some research on Peace EQ, it is free and there is a gui app also free. Anything running through your PC, like Tidal, can go through Peace and walla!

Good luck on your EQ journey

any digital eq is cancelled with tidal exclusive mode, must be external/physical

 

[Deckard001]

So only Roon can bypass this conflict as I see

 

[BS5711]

Regardless of what Roon indicates it is doing, can the signal be considered bit perfect when digital EQ has been applied.

Surely by definition it isn’t bit perfect any longer unless the EQ is added in the analog stage.

Not that I think it matters but if you are committed to the signal being “bit perfect” doesn’t that simply rule out any sort of DSP ?

 

[Deckard001]

As stated in #4 (but many not clear enough), bit perfect (automatic sample rate switching) means bypassing the Win audio completely so Equalizer APO or any other APO won't work.
The moment an app uses exclusive mode, you can use its own EQ (if it has one) or a hardware solution to reiterate the posts above.

So with JRiver you can apply EQ and at the same time the signal of the bit-rate to be perfect from Qobuz/Tidal?

Is JRiver as I see a more budget option of Roon?

 

[punkedrock]

Ugh. I am so stuck on my Digital Audio Player, but peace doesn't work quite yet on my Windows.
Anyways, two speared question coming up.
Using "bitperfect drivers" what's the best one for windows 11 and Qobuz?
Also is there no way to make any of these drivers work with peace? It'd make me happy if they did... I know, but bit-perfect is only to have all of the data in my opinion streaming properly. And eq goes against the idea behind it... sure... but... well... this seems like an incidental possibility here.

 

[Roseval]

Not that I think it matters but if you are committed to the signal being “bit perfect” doesn’t that simply rule out any sort of DSP ?

Correct.
The (bit)perfectionist won't tolerate any kind of DSP. By definition DSP is altering the bits.

IMHO there was a time (2000-2010) when using a PC as a transport was popular and indeed not without problems.
Operating systems run a mixer all the time. If your DAC is 16 bit, it will convert the audio to float, mix (even if 1 stream is running), dither and convert back to 16 bit integer.
So you add some noise to the recording but it is completely senseless to do so.
Hence the need to bypass the OS audio.
Obvious, if you have a 24 or 32 bit DAC (common today) and choose 24 or 32 as the default, you won't have this problem as dither at -144 or -192 dBFS is way below the noise floor of you playback chain so inaudible.

Likewise most OS run at a fixed sample rate. All audio running at a different sample rate must be resampled. Again at that time this was not without issues. Win XP was famous for its K-mixer. Because of computational elegance, all was done in integer. Very fast but highly inaccurate as well.
Some nice examples: https://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/KB/SRC.htm
Once again, a good argument to bypass the OS.

Today sample rate conversion is completely transparant with a known exception that can be solved using EQ APO: https://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/SW/Windows/SRC.htm

Using a modern DAC and a recent operating system, dither and sample rate conversion are solved problems.
No reason to avoid DSP if this gives you a better sound.
In fact better use DSP if it improves the sound instead of clinging to a dated concept.

 

[Deckard001]

If I am not wrong how can with Roon be used EQ and have bit-perfect?

Can it be without paying so much for Roon? I am using Windows 10.

I have tried to find a way so as to listen Qobuz/Tidal bit-perfect and using EQ, but can not find nothing, so still APO/Peace and not bit-perfect