HQPlayer Impressions and Settings Rolling Thread

[kopczas]

haven't really noticed any downsides

Yeap, that's the point. there is no compromise to my ears. New modulator gives depth to the extend that I could not believe was preserved by recording ( Steely Dan- Aja - Deacon Blues; echoes go so deep into the hall it feels like well), width is not as far as 7EC-super with Sinc-M but on the other hand it fells more natural as the height of sound stage with AHM is much taller.
Another great thing is it's universal: Sepultura sound as great as Bach Cantatas.
It's detailed but not overwhealming or annoyingly revealing.
Separation is amazing.
Overall presentation is joyful, dynamic and colorful.
What is important for loudspeaker systems, it sounds very good at low listening levels.

Clear winner to me.

Oh and it needs 80W to upsample 44.1 to DSD1024 with sinc-Lh and 100W with sinc-L. DSD to DSD 70W. 96khz to DSD1024 90W. Dac correction is enabled !!

 

[plumpudding2]

Yeap, that's the point. there is no compromise to my ears. New modulator gives depth to the extend that I could not believe was preserved by recording ( Steely Dan- Aja - Deacon Blues; echoes go so deep into the hall it feels like well), width is not as far as 7EC-super with Sinc-M but on the other hand it fells more natural as the height of sound stage with AHM is much taller.
Another great thing is it's universal: Sepultura sound as great as Bach Cantatas.
It's detailed but not overwhealming or annoyingly revealing.
Separation is amazing.
Overall presentation is joyful, dynamic and colorful.
What is important for loudspeaker systems, it sounds very good at low listening levels.

Clear winner to me.

aah ok, I misread your comment and thought you weren't a fan but i'm glad to hear you enjoy it too!
The depth is really amazing, it finally feels that elements in the mix have a good sense of distance to them instead of simply having a lower volume.

 

[dericchan1]

thanks for the feedback / info guys.

@dericchan1 ice been following along in that other thread and I read your comparisons - I’ve enjoyed reading about your journey to this point.

I’ve got a cyan 2 but I can’t afford thousands experimenting and technical as I am I don’t think I have the time or inclination for a diy board - if I could solder better I might but alas

I’ll keep my eyes out for a dsc2 on the market meantime - if you ever want to sell yours or hear of someone who does let me know!

Issue with the DSC on the used market is that due to the DIY nature, there are many iterations of DSCs. I believe the Vietnamese manufacturer is using the DSC1 board from the most original Jussi's design from like 15 years ago with analog reconstruction filters, but added a tube stage at the analog output and all the fancy stuff with a screen and other digital inputs. It looks great and I am pretty sure even Jussi would be impressed by the work.

Amongst the DSC2, it has seen modifications over the years from the original version 2, to 2.5, 2.5.2 to 2.6 each with further refinements in power delivery and optimization. Some would use a transformer for the power supply while some takes a DC adapter, some uses a pair of transformers at the analog output stage while others add a tube buffer stage. Some has a mini linux NAA built-in and goes i2s direct to a reclocker before it gets to the DA section while some uses Amanero USB. So Its hard to draw a comparison.

 

[collectbab]

Asus ROG Ally can also play DSD-1024 (so cool)!

However, it is a bit of a stretch to let Asus ROG Ally perform DAC calibration.

Still have to say (this is amazing!)

That’s desktop level stuff in a gaming handheld.
Super cool. But yeah, using it for DAC calibration bit of a reach. It’s not built for that kind of precision noisy USB, less-than-ideal power, not super stable.

 

[dericchan1]

That’s desktop level stuff in a gaming handheld.
Super cool. But yeah, using it for DAC calibration bit of a reach. It’s not built for that kind of precision noisy USB, less-than-ideal power, not super stable.

Actually None of that...

DSD256 7EC Fast with dac correction works fine with the Asus Rog in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. Make sure you either install Jussi's proprietary kernel or Ubuntu's low latency kernels. I don't have a dac that plays DSD1024 anymore so I can't test to see if the new 8bit 1024 modulator will work or not with DAC correcton

DSD512 7EC Fast with no dac correction hardly break a sweat - CPU temp under power saver mode around 45ish c. DSD512 7EC Super - CPU temp under balanced power mode around 65ish c. I leave it on playing DSD512 with jazz/piano stuff over night. Super stable as well.

Actually. USB C port from the Asus Ally Rog is surprisingly very clean that it make no difference whether I insert a JDS Synapse or not.
Battery Power is plenty, I take it out on the road playing DSD512 with convolution to my iems will last at least 4 hours. If you need more, get an Anker powerbank that can do another full charge

 

[collectbab]

Actually None of that...

DSD256 7EC Fast with dac correction works fine with the Asus Rog in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. Make sure you either install Jussi's proprietary kernel or Ubuntu's low latency kernels. I don't have a dac that plays DSD1024 anymore so I can't test to see if the new 8bit 1024 modulator will work or not with DAC correcton

DSD512 7EC Fast with no dac correction hardly break a sweat - CPU temp under power saver mode around 45ish c. DSD512 7EC Super - CPU temp under balanced power mode around 65ish c. I leave it on playing DSD512 with jazz/piano stuff over night. Super stable as well.

Actually. USB C port from the Asus Ally Rog is surprisingly very clean that it make no difference whether I insert a JDS Synapse or not.
Battery Power is plenty, I take it out on the road playing DSD512 with convolution to my iems will last at least 4 hours. If you need more, get an Anker powerbank that can do another full charge

Thanks for correction!
You clearly have the setup dialed in well, and it works impressively with DSD512 and low latency setups.

 

[dericchan1]

Thanks for correction!
You clearly have the setup dialed in well, and it works impressively with DSD512 and low latency setups.

It’s my go to hqplayer dap. I take the unit with me anywhere, on the train, even taking a poop.

 

[collectbab]

It’s my go to hqplayer dap. I take the unit with me anywhere, on the train, even taking a poop.

That's dedication to sound quality!

 

[TedB]

I had a moment to play with the new HQP 5.13.0 desktop to investigate what L@eric reported about being able to use the new AHM7EC8B modulator upsampled to DSD1024 with the ASUS ROG Ally Z1 Extreme running Win 11. I listened to some familiar 44.1/16 content with poly-sinc-ext2 to get a quick and dirty comparison with my default DSD128 ASDM7EC-fast and sinc-Mx. Granted it wasn't an apples-to-apples comparison due to the modulator/filter difference and no DAC correction, but my first impressions were a bit leaner bass weight and a soundstage that seems perhaps a bit more airy and ethereal. This is with a large speaker system, so one's experience with headphones may be different. I'll have to go back and do some proper listening, but I'm curious if others have noted something similar.

What became clear is I hadn't realized the DAC correction (Holo Cyan 2) takes quite a bit of horsepower to run. With the correction, I can only run DSD256 on the least intensive filters with ASDM7EC-fast.

 

[dericchan1]

I had a moment to play with the new HQP 5.13.0 desktop to investigate what L@eric reported about being able to use the new AHM7EC8B modulator upsampled to DSD1024 with the ASUS ROG Ally Z1 Extreme running Win 11. I listened to some familiar 44.1/16 content with poly-sinc-ext2 to get a quick and dirty comparison with my default DSD128 ASDM7EC-fast and sinc-Mx. Granted it wasn't an apples-to-apples comparison due to the modulator/filter difference and no DAC correction, but my first impressions were a bit leaner bass weight and a soundstage that seems perhaps a bit more airy and ethereal. This is with a large speaker system, so one's experience with headphones may be different. I'll have to go back and do some proper listening, but I'm curious if others have noted something similar.

What became clear is I hadn't realized the DAC correction (Holo Cyan 2) takes quite a bit of horsepower to run. With the correction, I can only run DSD256 on the least intensive filters with ASDM7EC-fast.

And some of the 2s filters are great and not resource heavy, depending on the genre of music you are into, ie poly sinc HB-2s is my go to filter for jazz/classical,

Poly sinc short lp -2s or xtr short lp for pop/rock …

 

[TedB]

And some of the 2s filters are great and not resource heavy, depending on the genre of music you are into, ie poly sinc HB-2s is my go to filter for jazz/classical,

Poly sinc short lp -2s or xtr short lp for pop/rock …

I'll have to spend some time with those. With this speaker system and this very large room, I've become addicted to deep but precise soundstaging, which I try to balance with incisiveness and transient resolution.

 

[BShaw]

I'll have to spend some time with those. With this speaker system and this very large room, I've become addicted to deep but precise soundstaging, which I try to balance with incisiveness and transient resolution.

In other words, the whole enchilada harhar. Just teasing Ted, I’d say that’s a pretty accurate description of what I’m after too.

 

[L@eric]

I had a moment to play with the new HQP 5.13.0 desktop to investigate what L@eric reported about being able to use the new AHM7EC8B modulator upsampled to DSD1024 with the ASUS ROG Ally Z1 Extreme running Win 11. I listened to some familiar 44.1/16 content with poly-sinc-ext2 to get a quick and dirty comparison with my default DSD128 ASDM7EC-fast and sinc-Mx. Granted it wasn't an apples-to-apples comparison due to the modulator/filter difference and no DAC correction, but my first impressions were a bit leaner bass weight and a soundstage that seems perhaps a bit more airy and ethereal. This is with a large speaker system, so one's experience with headphones may be different. I'll have to go back and do some proper listening, but I'm curious if others have noted something similar.

My playback process has always been through NAA (RPi 4/10M OCXO clock).
Even in Windows OS, ASIO/USB port is never used.
At the same time, I am a retired person over 70 years old, so I don’t need to play HQPlayer on the go.
Miska said that AHM7EC8B needs enough bandwidth.
My home internet bandwidth is 1 GB, so the streaming is very smooth!

Cheers!

 

[dericchan1]

My playback process has always been through NAA (RPi 4/10M OCXO clock).
Even in Windows OS, ASIO/USB port is never used.
At the same time, I am a retired person over 70 years old, so I don’t need to play HQPlayer on the go.
Miska said that AHM7EC8B needs enough bandwidth.
My home internet bandwidth is 1 GB, so the streaming is very smooth!

Cheers!

I think what Miska meant for “bandwidth” is that you can’t really use digital volume with these 1024 modulators. You will need an analog preamp because it does not have enough “bandwidth” for attenuation without impacting dynamics

 

[theveterans]

Even in Windows OS, ASIO/USB port is never used.

You can use ASIO + Diretta instead of NAA to your RPi 4/10M OXCO clock by selecting it on the backend of HQPlayer