[Tobes]

Well, i've come to the conclusion that using HQP could drive you crazy.....so many possible filter combinations and often certain combos sound best with a specific type of music.
After suffering filter burnout, I turned off all the filter/dither settings in HQP and passed through straight 16/44  to the m920 - sounded pretty good!
So I played with the built in m920 filters and guess what? Now I find myself preferring the 'S' setting.

I then went back and compared HQP to A+ - no added filters/upsampling.- HQP still sounds fresher and more transparent. However as far as filters go the stock 'S' setting holds it's own. I feel like I've just gone in a circle.

 

[Dreaming Jester]

  Well, i've come to the conclusion that using HQP could drive you crazy.....so many possible filter combinations and often certain combos sound best with a specific type of music.
After suffering filter burnout, I turned off all the filter/dither settings in HQP and passed through straight 16/44  to the m920 - sounded pretty good!
So I played with the built in m920 filters and guess what? Now I find myself preferring the 'S' setting.

I then went back and compared HQP to A+ - no added filters/upsampling.- HQP still sounds fresher and more transparent. However as far as filters go the stock 'S' setting holds it's own. I feel like I've just gone in a circle.

Yes, it's not easy for me too. Even if someone has sufficiently good hearing and resolving equipment I doubt the differences are striking. BTW, I also prefer the 'S' filter from the beginning although I find the differences subtle at best. I've thought whether this is a placebo because I'd prefer less harsh and fatiguing sound, especially with some recordings.

 

[Tobes]

I've found the filters to have significant differences, but often I will concentrate on certain aspects and find the 'best' combination - only to find that a different genre/type of music is not as well suited. In other words, it's a compromise. 

 

[Dreaming Jester]

  I've found the filters to have significant differences, but often I will concentrate on certain aspects and find the 'best' combination - only to find that a different genre/type of music is not as well suited. In other words, it's a compromise. 

And all this is about the stock filter settings. Whether hardware or software upsampling (to the max supported resolutions) is beneficial to the sound quality is up to everyone to decide. Some swear by upsampling and claim it gives more faithful reproduction, some swear by nos dacs. Some dacs give users a choice, some force upsample internally with no control whatsoever. Violectric dacs, for example, can resample but give a choice whether to or not. The m920 doesn't upsample which I favour, but then again other great dacs like Benchmarks do upsample and so on...

 

[Tobes]

I agree that this is very much personal preference.
Prior to using HQP I certainly preferred using the m920 (and Yggdrasil) without upsampling (using A+). I still assert that HQP sounds more transparent than A+ even in passthrough mode.
 
I think its fair to note that a lot of the differences in focus/soundstaging/instrument separation are not as obvious via headphones, but fairly plain to hear via my speaker setup. With HQP there is a lot of scope to subtly (or not so subtly) adjust the sound to ones preference. However there is probably no 'best' - certainly not a universal best for every person/system.
 
FWIW I have another filter/dither suggestion for you: FIR/Gauss1. This is somewhat similar in sound to the stock 'S' setting but offers more clarity, focus and separation - very nice on acoustic material (though without the more solid/punchy bass and positively panoramic soundstage of the poly-sinc-shrt-mp/TPDF setting).
At the moment I'm listening to the Sinc/Gauss1 setting which has a great combination of virtues - but I have to do more listening (very processor intensive unfortunately).
**I've left the firmware filter setting of the m920 in 'S' mode.

 

[Dreaming Jester]

  I agree that this is very much personal preference.
Prior to using HQP I certainly preferred using the m920 (and Yggdrasil) without upsampling (using A+). I still assert that HQP sounds more transparent than A+ even in passthrough mode.
 
I think its fair to note that a lot of the differences in focus/soundstaging/instrument separation are not as obvious via headphones, but fairly plain to hear via my speaker setup. With HQP there is a lot of scope to subtly (or not so subtly) adjust the sound to ones preference. However there is probably no 'best' - certainly not a universal best for every person/system.
 
FWIW I have another filter/dither suggestion for you: FIR/Gauss1. This is somewhat similar in sound to the stock 'S' setting but offers more clarity, focus and separation - very nice on acoustic material (though without the more solid/punchy bass and positively panoramic soundstage of the poly-sinc-shrt-mp/TPDF setting). **I've left the firmware filter setting of the m920 in 'S' mode.

Thanks, Tobes! Will check. I've yet to optimise my speakers placement.

 

[Tobes]

Deleting my further comments on HQPlayer filter settings.
Still forming my opinion on what sounds best (to me) and making suggestions of a 'best' setting is probably misleading.
 
On a different tack, really enjoying the Focal Utopia HP's with the m920.

 

[Here2rock]

Why only 3 reviews on Amazon? Is it a well regarded brand in USA, I am in Australia and looking to buy this one listed on Massdrop but don't know who to trust. 
 
Only one committed person on Massdrop does not give me a lot of confidence.
 
What is DSD coding anyway?

 

[ZGojira]

  Why only 3 reviews on Amazon? Is it a well regarded brand in USA, I am in Australia and looking to buy this one listed on Massdrop but don't know who to trust. 
 
Only one committed person on Massdrop does not give me a lot of confidence.
 
What is DSD coding anyway?

 
I'm in Aus, and I brought my m920 through Massdrop in one of the previous drops.
Grace design is a very well known and well regarded brand in the professional world, not only in the USA.
Interestingly, professionals (and some of the more experienced audiophiles) are not the most vocal bunch

They just sit down and enjoy their music, rather than posting reviews online...(e.g. sr-009, 8 reviews on this site only

)
 
Rest assured that the m920 is a very! nice piece of equipment, and can be considered end game for many

 
I'm not sure what you mean by DSD coding....

Are you referring to the various DSD formats/standards?
 
BTW...what headphones are you going to pair with it?

 

[Hunki Chunki]

   
I'm in Aus, and I brought my m920 through Massdrop in one of the previous drops.
Grace design is a very well known and well regarded brand in the professional world, not only in the USA.
Interestingly, professionals (and some of the more experienced audiophiles) are not the most vocal bunch

They just sit down and enjoy their music, rather than posting reviews online...(e.g. sr-009, 8 reviews on this site only

)
 
Rest assured that the m920 is a very! nice piece of equipment, and can be considered end game for many

 
I'm not sure what you mean by DSD coding....

Are you referring to the various DSD formats/standards?

They are called.. the "Silent Majority" haha

 

[Here2rock]

   
I'm in Aus, and I brought my m920 through Massdrop in one of the previous drops.
Grace design is a very well known and well regarded brand in the professional world, not only in the USA.
Interestingly, professionals (and some of the more experienced audiophiles) are not the most vocal bunch

They just sit down and enjoy their music, rather than posting reviews online...(e.g. sr-009, 8 reviews on this site only

)
 
Rest assured that the m920 is a very! nice piece of equipment, and can be considered end game for many

 
I'm not sure what you mean by DSD coding....

Are you referring to the various DSD formats/standards?
 
BTW...what headphones are you going to pair with it?

 At this stage I am looking to pair with Sennheiser HD800S and HiFiMan Edition X V2. Two very different headphones and easy to drive. 
 
 
I am also looking at the Audio-GD Master 11 as an option. 
 
DSD Decoding I was referring to the title of this thread. 
 
I also listened to some high resolution files on the weekend in Sydney, they had some .msd extension files from memory, seemed to have a lot more depth in the music. 

 

[ZGojira]

 
 At this stage I am looking to pair with Sennheiser HD800S and HiFiMan Edition X V2. Two very different headphones and easy to drive. 
 
 
I am also looking at the Audio-GD Master 11 as an option. 
 
DSD Decoding I was referring to the title of this thread. 
 
I also listened to some high resolution files on the weekend in Sydney, they had some .msd extension files from memory, seemed to have a lot more depth in the music. 

 
I think it just means that it decodes DSD files....There is a DSD light on it that light up when a DSD file is playing

 
This might be of some interest to you: http://www.head-fi.org/t/825224/looking-for-solid-state-amplifier-with-matching-dac-for-hd800
 
File resolution is a big can of worms, you can argue your life over it...
At the end of the day, just listen to what you enjoy

 
So what amp/dac are you using ATM to drive the HD800S and HE-X?

 

[Here2rock]

   
I think it just means that it decodes DSD files....There is a DSD light on it that light up when a DSD file is playing

 
This might be of some interest to you: http://www.head-fi.org/t/825224/looking-for-solid-state-amplifier-with-matching-dac-for-hd800
 
File resolution is a big can of worms, you can argue your life over it...
At the end of the day, just listen to what you enjoy

 
So what amp/dac are you using ATM to drive the HD800S and HE-X?

Well this is going to be my first real purchase, I had no idea what to expect from hi-end headphones so I went to a retailer who kindly let me listened to various headphones and amps he had in stock. He put no pressure on me which was great, so I could let my ears decide. I intend to buy the headphones from this retailer as he gave me his valuable time, I owe that to him.
 
At the end of 3-4 hours sessions, I really liked the HD800S abd HE-X, the most enjoyment I got out more enjoyment from the Oppo HA-1 amplifier with both these headphone, and it sounded fantastic. I also tried Woo Audio Fireflies (which I did not like) and Simaudio Neo 430HAD and Neo230HAD. I just kept coming back to Oppo HA-1 despite the fact it was getting very hot to touch!
 
I am not going to make this sort of purchase very often, I like the sound signature of the Oppor HA-1 but is there a better option? That's the reason for me asking all these questions. I can't test this amp in Australia so I am really relying on  you guys whether I am heading in the right direction.

 

[ZGojira]

  Well this is going to be my first real purchase, I had no idea what to expect from hi-end headphones so I went to a retailer who kindly let me listened to various headphones and amps he had in stock. He put no pressure on me which was great, so I could let my ears decide. I intend to buy the headphones from this retailer as he gave me his valuable time, I owe that to him.
 
At the end of 3-4 hours sessions, I really liked the HD800S abd HE-X, the most enjoyment I got out more enjoyment from the Oppo HA-1 amplifier with both these headphone, and it sounded fantastic. I also tried Woo Audio Fireflies (which I did not like) and Simaudio Neo 430HAD and Neo230HAD. I just kept coming back to Oppo HA-1 despite the fact it was getting very hot to touch!
 
I am not going to make this sort of purchase very often, I like the sound signature of the Oppor HA-1 but is there a better option? That's the reason for me asking all these questions. I can't test this amp in Australia so I am really relying on  you guys whether I am heading in the right direction.

When I brought my HD800, I auditioned the actual pair that I brought for two consecutive days

(approx 4hrs each), deciding between the HD700 and HD800.
There are some goods and bads of jumping straight into the higher-end, but that's another discussion

 
The HA-1 has a really pretty screen

  Believe it or not, that is actually something I really like....
I think both the HA-1 and the m920 uses the same DAC chip, so if you liked the Oppo HA-01, you would most likely also like the m920.
Now, I'm not saying that they sound identical, but some people really don't like the sabre 'sound', the HA-01 should be clean enough for the sound to get through 

So if you don't mind it, or it didn't jump out at you, you'll be fine.
 
My understanding is that the m920 is slight "better", i.e. cleaner, more detailed, controlled, compared to the HA-01 (this is not to say the HA-01 is bad).
You might not notice it at first (this is why A/B'ing with untrained ears seldom leads to anything meaningful), but once you get used to the m920, the differences will be apparent...
So, the m920 is kind of a step up from the Oppo HA-01.
 
In terms of all-in-one DAC/Amps, this is pretty much one of the best ones...
To get any significant improvement in sound, you will need to get separate DAC, and amp

 
 

 

[Here2rock]

When I brought my HD800, I auditioned the actual pair that I brought for two consecutive days :tongue_smile: (approx 4hrs each), deciding between the HD700 and HD800.
There are some goods and bads of jumping straight into the higher-end, but that's another discussion

The HA-1 has a really pretty screen :bigsmile_face:   Believe it or not, that is actually something I really like....
I think both the HA-1 and the m920 uses the same DAC chip, so if you liked the Oppo HA-01, you would most likely also like the m920.
Now, I'm not saying that they sound identical, but some people really don't like the sabre 'sound', the HA-01 should be clean enough for the sound to get through  So if you don't mind it, or it didn't jump out at you, you'll be fine.

My understanding is that the m920 is slight "better", i.e. cleaner, more detailed, controlled, compared to the HA-01 (this is not to say the HA-01 is bad).
You might not notice it at first (this is why A/B'ing with untrained ears seldom leads to anything meaningful), but once you get used to the m920, the differences will be apparent...
So, the m920 is kind of a step up from the Oppo HA-01.

In terms of all-in-one DAC/Amps, this is pretty much one of the best ones...
To get any significant improvement in sound, you will need to get separate DAC, and amp

To be honest, the screen is the only thing I did not like on the zippo HA-1, just a bit of distraction from the sound. It can probably be tuned off.

The thing I noticed on the m920 is that there is no balanced headphone out on the m920.

Is m920 better than Audio-gd Master 11?