HQPlayer Impressions and Settings Rolling Thread

[plumpudding2]

Limited counter can also increment for other reasons, so it is not just simple function of the output level. It is more of indication that bad output has been detected and action taken based on that. So it is more elaborate than just level indication.

Ok thanks, i'll trust the limited counter and not the output level meter then!

 

[ericx85]

Posting here since it's likely more relevant than the Wandla thread.

Anyone with the Wandla know if HQPlayer can only do DSD over DoP through the dac? Trying to do DSD without DoP just goes back to PCM when I try to play it. I can do DSD in Roon and Audirvana fine, but HQPlayer seems to force PCM unless using DoP.

 

[jlaako]

Posting here since it's likely more relevant than the Wandla thread.

Anyone with the Wandla know if HQPlayer can only do DSD over DoP through the dac? Trying to do DSD without DoP just goes back to PCM when I try to play it. I can do DSD in Roon and Audirvana fine, but HQPlayer seems to force PCM unless using DoP.

Yes it works fine without DoP. Except of course on macOS. Which OS are you using?

If you are using Windows, especially if you are using Roon as HQPlayer front-end, remember to disable Wandla from Roon Settings -> Audio. Otherwise both applications will try to access the ASIO driver at the same time. And in such case, all Thesycon drivers disable DSD capability (probably because they attempt to do some software mixing, which should never happen with ASIO). In other cases, on Windows, please make sure

Please also see last bullet point here:
https://help.roonlabs.com/portal/en/kb/articles/hqplayer

Roon doesn't have any setting for DoP, it will automatically use DoP if native DSD is not available. I don't know about Audirvana. In any case, on Windows you need to ensure you have only one application accessing (running) the ASIO driver at a time.

 

[ericx85]

That did the trick Jussi, thanks! Also you deserve a lot more credit for the contributions you made to the Wandla's filters. The thing sounds so good even outside of HQPlayer with the help of your filters.

I know Wandla doesn't have a nos mode, would it just be best to leave it on the HQ Apodizing filter when using HQPlayer?

 

[jlaako]

I know Wandla doesn't have a nos mode, would it just be best to leave it on the HQ Apodizing filter when using HQPlayer?

If you are using HQPlayer to run Wandla, run it at 705.6/768k PCM and the built-in filters get bypassed.

Or you could run it at DSD256 or DSD512 for example (using ASDM5EC-ul/light/super modulator).

 

[BShaw]

I finally received my Holo Cyan 2 yesterday and set it up (not exactly intuitive). My buddy Cam helped me get it dialed in so I wasn't floundering all night, and I was running PCM 768 and had the DAC correction in place. Holy smokes, I just have to really hand it to Jussi for what he's brought to digital audio. I told Cam today I consider HQP a component in my system no less than a DAC or a preamp. I'm sure the Cyan sounds great without HQP, but without directly comparing all I can say is this DAC with HQP/correction is ridiculously good and I can hardly imagine what a May KTE sounds like if it's sibling that costs 1/5 sounds like this. Switched to DSD tonight, I'll be listening all weekend to understand what the differences are, but right off the bat I hear less air/sparkle, a slightly more laid back presentation, and incredible holographic and 3 dimensional presentation. Timbre maybe a bit warmer and more organic, but that's an early impression. I'll report back after several more hours of gleeful listening and toggling between PCM and DSD, but this is an embarrasment of riches and either way it's a big win as far as I'm concerned. I'll also compare with/without DAC correction, because I have a suspicion this feature alone turned my Cyan into a Spring KTE if not more. It just doesn't seem possible this DAC could be so good for $1200, and clearly mop the floor with the R26.

 

[dericchan1]

I finally received my Holo Cyan 2 yesterday and set it up (not exactly intuitive). My buddy Cam helped me get it dialed in so I wasn't floundering all night, and I was running PCM 768 and had the DAC correction in place. Holy smokes, I just have to really hand it to Jussi for what he's brought to digital audio. I told Cam today I consider HQP a component in my system no less than a DAC or a preamp. I'm sure the Cyan sounds great without HQP, but without directly comparing all I can say is this DAC with HQP/correction is ridiculously good and I can hardly imagine what a May KTE sounds like if it's sibling that costs 1/5 sounds like this. Switched to DSD tonight, I'll be listening all weekend to understand what the differences are, but right off the bat I hear less air/sparkle, a slightly more laid back presentation, and incredible holographic and 3 dimensional presentation. Timbre maybe a bit warmer and more organic, but that's an early impression. I'll report back after several more hours of gleeful listening and toggling between PCM and DSD, but this is an embarrasment of riches and either way it's a big win as far as I'm concerned. I'll also compare with/without DAC correction, because I have a suspicion this feature alone turned my Cyan into a Spring KTE if not more. It just doesn't seem possible this DAC could be so good for $1200, and clearly mop the floor with the R26.

again I don’t think there is any dac out there that would not benefit from hqplayer but for a dac like the cyan2, hqplayer is a necessity. If YouTube reviewers think the cyan 2 is close to a spring or may but not quite, they have not heard the cyan 2 with hqplayer in dsd with dac correction..

 

[sendler2112]

again I don’t think there is any dac out there that would not benefit from hqplayer but for a dac like the cyan2, hqplayer is a necessity. If YouTube reviewers think the cyan 2 is close to a spring or may but not quite, they have not heard the cyan 2 with hqplayer in dsd with dac correction..

Is running the Cyan with DAC correction highly demanding of processing power? I had tried the DAC correction pipeline with my Gustard A26 but it was very demanding of CPU, GPU, and using 96% of the 16GB RAM in my new gaming laptop that I bought just for this. With the cooling fan blaring. Even just using ASDM7EC-super at 256 without the correction pipeline pushed my cooling to the limits. I thought about buying a new $2000 super computer to be able to play with PCM to DSD conversion and correction at the highest levels. But the correction pipeline for the A26 is only available in conjunction with USB selected. And the Gustards sound their best via LAN even up against an excellent sounding Supra Excalibur USB cable. So the mild improvement of the DAC correction was out. And then comparing the best that the A26 can do on DSD, to the R26 that sounds its best on PCM768, which takes like 1/5 of the processing power, The R26 sounds better anyway. And no blaring fan or new $2000 computer.

I don't play any original DSD files and probably never will. So, for me at this time, the hype train of PCM to DSD conversion via HQ Player has derailed. And I am sticking with R2R DACs which run native with high rate PCM direct for their superior fine detail of expansive hall sound and attack of drum kit.

I'm anxious to try the newest Denefrips Pontus with high rate HQ Player next. It uses like 3 times as many resistors in the ladders as the R26.

 

[plumpudding2]

Is running the Cyan with DAC correction highly demanding of processing power? I had tried the DAC correction pipeline with my Gustard A26 but it was very demanding of CPU, GPU, and using 96% of the 16GB RAM in my new gaming laptop that I bought just for this. With the cooling fan blaring. Even just using ASDM7EC-super at 256 without the correction pipeline pushed my cooling to the limits. I thought about buying a new $2000 super computer to be able to play with PCM to DSD conversion and correction at the highest levels. But the correction pipeline for the A26 is only available in conjunction with USB selected. And the Gustards sound their best via LAN even up against an excellent sounding Supra Excalibur USB cable. So the mild improvement of the DAC correction was out. And then comparing the best that the A26 can do on DSD, to the R26 that sounds its best on PCM768, which takes like 1/5 of the processing power, The R26 sounds better anyway. And no blaring fan or new $2000 computer.

I don't play any original DSD files and probably never will. So, for me at this time, the hype train of PCM to DSD conversion via HQ Player has derailed. And I am sticking with R2R DACs which run native with high rate PCM direct for their superior fine detail of expansive hall sound and attack of drum kit.

I'm anxious to try the newest Denefrips Pontus with high rate HQ Player next. It uses like 3 times as many resistors in the ladders as the R26.

which version of HQPlayer are you using? there was a bug in 5.7 that caused excessive RAM usage

 

[dericchan1]

Is running the Cyan with DAC correction highly demanding of processing power? I had tried the DAC correction pipeline with my Gustard A26 but it was very demanding of CPU, GPU, and using 96% of the 16GB RAM in my new gaming laptop that I bought just for this. With the cooling fan blaring. Even just using ASDM7EC-super at 256 without the correction pipeline pushed my cooling to the limits. I thought about buying a new $2000 super computer to be able to play with PCM to DSD conversion and correction at the highest levels. But the correction pipeline for the A26 is only available in conjunction with USB selected. And the Gustards sound their best via LAN even up against an excellent sounding Supra Excalibur USB cable. So the mild improvement of the DAC correction was out. And then comparing the best that the A26 can do on DSD, to the R26 that sounds its best on PCM768, which takes like 1/5 of the processing power, The R26 sounds better anyway. And no blaring fan or new $2000 computer.

I don't play any original DSD files and probably never will. So, for me at this time, the hype train of PCM to DSD conversion via HQ Player has derailed. And I am sticking with R2R DACs which run native with high rate PCM direct for their superior fine detail of expansive hall sound and attack of drum kit.

I'm anxious to try the newest Denefrips Pontus with high rate HQ Player next. It uses like 3 times as many resistors in the ladders as the R26.

Even after the memory bug fix in the latest hqp version, the dac correction feature is still pretty demanding for processing power. It did fix the memory usage tho.

Again, it runs totally fine with my 13600k desktop pc so it’s not like you need a super computer to run it. But I don’t own and never heard of a Gustard a26 so I do not know if the dac correction makes as much of an improvement and whether it is worth an upgrade

Maybe it’s a complete hype train for the Gustard a26 to convert pcm to dsd.
I know all the dacs I have benefits tremendously with hqplayer dsd upsampling to a point it’s been years since I last touch pcm… (except the chord mojo 2 which I no longer have)

 

[LXMc]

I have Dac correction running but it means I've had to stick to DSD256 instead of 512 if I want to run anything other than poly-sinc-gauss-short and ASDM5EC-ul 512+fs. Even that can drop out occasionally if I'm multitasking too much while I listen (PC specs: Ryzen 5900x, 3080ti and 32gb DDR4). I decided to stick with 256 so I could run different filters/modulators and then it will just be something to look forward to with a future PC build.

DSD1024 is right out, even with no correction on the easiest filters I could find, I get like 3 seconds max before dropout.

 

[dericchan1]

I have Dac correction running but it means I've had to stick to DSD256 instead of 512 if I want to run anything other than poly-sinc-gauss-short and ASDM5EC-ul 512+fs. Even that can drop out occasionally if I'm multitasking too much while I listen (PC specs: Ryzen 5900x, 3080ti and 32gb DDR4). I decided to stick with 256 so I could run different filters/modulators and then it will just be something to look forward to with a future PC build.

DSD1024 is right out, even with no correction on the easiest filters I could find, I get like 3 seconds max before dropout.

My 13600k with 3080ti can run any modulators and filters (except sinc L)
at dsd512x48 with correction

Dsd1024 can only be run on the two experimental modulators and any of the non-ec modulators - like AMSDM7.

Actually pcm1536 with dac correction does sound quite nice and can be run with a rpi5

 

[LXMc]

My 13600k with 3080ti can run any modulators and filters (except sinc L)

Yeah I've read that AMD chips aren't as good with HQPlayer as Intel chips (assuming due to clock speeds). Nothing's really maxed out though so I'm not sure what the situation is. With DSD512 with dac correction while dropping out (and also some little speed up skips) two cores are around 38%, memory is at 37% and gpu core load is 65%.

I ran into a situation with DSD dropping out constantly despite low loads and it was the USB hub I was using. Now I've got a decent wireworld USB 3.0 cable and I've used it directly from the mobo fastest 3.0 slots as well as a 3.0 PCI USB card so I'm unsure what's causing the limitation this time.

 

[dericchan1]

Yeah I've read that AMD chips aren't as good with HQPlayer as Intel chips (assuming due to clock speeds). Nothing's really maxed out though so I'm not sure what the situation is. With DSD512 with dac correction while dropping out (and also some little speed up skips) two cores are around 38%, memory is at 37% and gpu core load is 65%.

I ran into a situation with DSD dropping out constantly despite low loads and it was the USB hub I was using. Now I've got a decent wireworld USB 3.0 cable and I've used it directly from the mobo fastest 3.0 slots as well as a 3.0 PCI USB card so I'm unsure what's causing the limitation this time.

Ya it’s probably an Intel vs amd thing. My friend with a 13500 no gpu, can still run dsd512x48 on his spring 3 kte but default filters only, he also runs audiolense convolution too. He sold his 4080 because he had gone through all the different filters and always ended up liking the default filters and have now decided to just stick with default

My ancient i7 6700k with 980ti can run dsd256 with super 7EC and most of the filters except for sinc L. But it could not run the correction settings

 

[jlaako]

My 13600k with 3080ti can run any modulators and filters (except sinc L)
at dsd512x48 with correction

Dsd1024 can only be run on the two experimental modulators and any of the non-ec modulators - like AMSDM7.

Actually pcm1536 with dac correction does sound quite nice and can be run with a rpi5

My 13900T can do DSD1024 with default filters and ASDM7EC-light. I have also RTX2080 on that one, and the combination can run DAC corrections at DSD512 for T+A DAC 200. Maybe one important aspect is DDR5-6400 CL32 RAM (G.Skill). HQPlayer Embedded on Fedora 39.