HQPlayer Impressions and Settings Rolling Thread
May 27, 2024 at 2:27 PM Post #1,426 of 1,431
I was encouraged by other expert users to try bit settings closer to the actual measured signal to noise capabilities of the Gustard R26. People were telling me that the operating theory of HQ Player, and measurements of the R26, predicted optimal settings as low as 16 bit. I find with listening that there is a sweet spot for the R26 around 22-24 bits. Any higher and the sound gets artificially wider and slightly thinner and less solid. Any lower than 20 and it gets more and more compact and slightly more opaque.
 
May 27, 2024 at 5:50 PM Post #1,427 of 1,431
While i'm making bug reports: I've noticed sometimes there's an inconsistency between the limited counter and the Max value from the spectrum analyzer. In the past whenever I saw the limiting counter go up i'd also see the reported Max from the spectral analyzer be above 0.

Today they are inconsistent, To demonstrate I started a song and the meter at the same time (both reset to 0 first). 30 seconds into the song the client and main hqp window show limited count of 1 but the level meter shows maximum value of -1.71.

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.
 
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May 27, 2024 at 6:17 PM Post #1,428 of 1,431
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!
 
May 28, 2024 at 5:54 PM Post #1,429 of 1,431
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.
 
May 28, 2024 at 6:45 PM Post #1,430 of 1,431
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.
 
May 28, 2024 at 7:03 PM Post #1,431 of 1,431
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?
 

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