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HQPlayer experiences . . .

iansr

pfm Member
After reading about Audiolense and deciding its something I need to pursue, I’m now also wondering about HQP. So I’m curious to hear about the experiences of people who have tried it; do you think it improves on the SQ of Redbook, or is it just different?

Please share your experiences.
 
My music server is a Cocktail Audio X100 Pro, currently connected via ethernet to my SBT. The X100 Pro includes HQ player software, but I can't figure out how to use it.
Is it possible to use it via the SBT? Or is it necessary to use the X100 as a streamer and use it directly connected to the DAC?
I've downloaded a control app on my android phone and it can see the HQ player on the server, but I don't know what to do from here. Any help that anyone can provide would be gratefully received.
Mike
 
It works like this. HQPlayer Server —> HQPlayer NAA (network audio adapter)

SBT can’t be a NAA

Don’t use Squeeze but you might be able to add HQP into LMS and use analogue out from the X100

What are you trying to do with HQP, generally I use it for fannying about with PCM to DSD into a DAC via USB
 
My music server is a Cocktail Audio X100 Pro, currently connected via ethernet to my SBT. The X100 Pro includes HQ player software, but I can't figure out how to use it.
Is it possible to use it via the SBT? Or is it necessary to use the X100 as a streamer and use it directly connected to the DAC?
I've downloaded a control app on my android phone and it can see the HQ player on the server, but I don't know what to do from here. Any help that anyone can provide would be gratefully received.
Mike
You can normally connect your PC with HQPlayer directly to your DAC via USB etc. There are millions of combinations of settings in HQPlayer so no way to explain everything here. Check the manual provided with HQP installation. The developer frequents Audiophile Style web site - there are well over 700 pages of help, info and discussions! If you peruse recent postings, say page 700 +, you should find some basic get you started settings.
You should be able to get an idea of HQP capabilities (DSD<>PCM, PCM rate conversion, convolution DSP, headphone DSP) and limitations (the UI) with your installation. Best start with low rate conversions and work up until you get stuttering (CPU can't upsample in real time so audio drops out). There seems to be no CPU on the planet which can do PCM>DSD512 yet but the more you spend on state of the art CPU/motherboard/GeForce GPU the closer you get!
 
Thanks jamjar. I did use my X100 connected by USB to my DAC for quite some time, but although it worked fine, and the device is fanless, it did make some interference on the system and I went back to a remote location and streamed to the SBT earlier this year.
Perhaps I will try it again over the holiday. I must admit that when it was connected that way I downloaded some free DSD, 128 and 256 and they sounded superb, but those were native DSD files. Does upsampling from PCM sound similar/better than just PCM?
Thanks again.
 
I “played” with HQP and Holo Spring NOS DAC to see what all the fuss was about.

PCM and DSD do sound different to my ears and for a while my Hugo was relegated to second place. However I found that I was listening to filters more than music and if you have any amount of audio OCD it’s a dangerous path and really is “computer audio”.

I then trialed an Auralic Aries which I couldn’t use HQP with and which sounded better with the Hugo TT. The Holo was relegated for a year, put back in the system now and again in that period but the league tables remained the same (by this time I had m-scaler -> Hugo TT2). I sold my ultraRendu and Holo Spring earlier this year.

Still well worth trying as I had a good year using HQP but plug n play it ain’t.

.sjb
 
It works like this. HQPlayer Server —> HQPlayer NAA (network audio adapter)

SBT can’t be a NAA

Don’t use Squeeze but you might be able to add HQP into LMS and use analogue out from the X100

What are you trying to do with HQP, generally I use it for fannying about with PCM to DSD into a DAC via USB
What’s the advantage of running a separate HQP NAA? Is it just to isolate the noise of the PC that runs HQP Server?

I presume a RPi 4 could act as the NAA?
 
He added Pi4 as an NAA in embedded Dec last year

convenience too I guess, your endpoint in the music room and server spinning away in the office or garage.

If you have a trawl around you’ll find some guys who take this stuff SERIOUSLY, using industrial fibre network boards from Israel etc.
 
I “played” with HQP and Holo Spring NOS DAC to see what all the fuss was about.

PCM and DSD do sound different to my ears and for a while my Hugo was relegated to second place. However I found that I was listening to filters more than music and if you have any amount of audio OCD it’s a dangerous path and really is “computer audio”.

I then trialed an Auralic Aries which I couldn’t use HQP with and which sounded better with the Hugo TT. The Holo was relegated for a year, put back in the system now and again in that period but the league tables remained the same (by this time I had m-scaler -> Hugo TT2). I sold my ultraRendu and Holo Spring earlier this year.

Still well worth trying as I had a good year using HQP but plug n play it ain’t.

.sjb
Have you ever given any dCS kit a spin out? I had decided to finish the G2 stack with Sirius about a year ago but COVID and delays including the chassis change mean I’m looking elsewhere, have a Bartok arriving next week to pit against the Auralics.
 
I presume a RPi 4 could act as the NAA?
Yes, I think so. As a alternative to the SBT that @mickhick1 has, a R.Pi running RoPieee XL can be set up as a HQPlayer NAA end-point. It can then drive an external DAC via built-in USB or via S/PDIF if you add a HAT to the R.Pi.

Note that I have not tested HQPlayer NAA on my RoPIeee XL installation as I don't have HQPlayer. However, the RoPieee XL configuration pages do have a HQPlayer NAA set-up section.
 
He added Pi4 as an NAA in embedded Dec last year

convenience too I guess, your endpoint in the music room and server spinning away in the office or garage.

If you have a trawl around you’ll find some guys who take this stuff SERIOUSLY, using industrial fibre network boards from Israel etc.
There are certainly some extremists on Audiophilestyle eg those who spend large sums on linear PSs for their PCs. Don’t they know that cleaning up the external PS is pointless because all the embedded switchers on the motherboard are just going to cancel out all the money they’ve spent. Crap coming out of the computer and getting into your mains should be the real concern.
 
Have you ever given any dCS kit a spin out? I had decided to finish the G2 stack with Sirius about a year ago but COVID and delays including the chassis change mean I’m looking elsewhere, have a Bartok arriving next week to pit against the Auralics.
Before spending that kind of money I’d definitely want to also audition the Tambaqui DAC.
 
It's interesting software. A little complex to setup and use. Lots of filters and modulators.The most extreme ones need a VERY power computer to even run them.
You can use it to give "flavors" to sound. Some people find, for example, that they much prefer the sound of 256 or even 512 DSD and upsample everything to that output. You can play around with the different combinations to see what they sound like.

Personally, I find the differences audible but not overly compelling. I sometimes use it to upsample everything to DSD just for a change of pace. A slightly different sound than PCM.
One of the virtues it claims is that it puts the heavy processing outside the DAC and at the server, so that the DAC "doesn't work as hard" and then gives a cleaner output. I don't know if this is true, but I do find the processing in HQP slightly preferable to that of Roon - but the difference isn't big.
You may or may not find it makes a difference for you. Worth a try via the trial.
 
It's interesting software. A little complex to setup and use. Lots of filters and modulators.The most extreme ones need a VERY power computer to even run them.
You can use it to give "flavors" to sound. Some people find, for example, that they much prefer the sound of 256 or even 512 DSD and upsample everything to that output. You can play around with the different combinations to see what they sound like.

Personally, I find the differences audible but not overly compelling. I sometimes use it to upsample everything to DSD just for a change of pace. A slightly different sound than PCM.
One of the virtues it claims is that it puts the heavy processing outside the DAC and at the server, so that the DAC "doesn't work as hard" and then gives a cleaner output. I don't know if this is true, but I do find the processing in HQP slightly preferable to that of Roon - but the difference isn't big.
You may or may not find it makes a difference for you. Worth a try via the trial.
Yeah, what piqued my interest was a guy on DIYA who says the best digital sound for him is when he uses HQP to convert to DSD 256 then into a DAC that has direct DSD capability ie the DSD input goes straight to the conversion stage without further processing.
 


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