I had to set up my system again. When I play native DSD files through HQPlayer to Holo Ted to DAC 200, the DAC 200 is showing the native DSD bitrate, but all it plays is static. Before I reset the system it was working fine. Direct SDM is checked in HQPlayer.
Which OS are you running HQPlayer on? And what are your HQPlayer output settings?
Usually you wouldn’t have Direct SDM checked though. In particular if your sources are DSD64.
Mac OS. HQPlayer desktop. Most of my files are 44.1 upsampled to DSD1024 through HQPlayer with no issues. I have a few DSD 64 files in my playlists and when I was running the demo version of HQPlayer the DAC 200 would switch to DSD64 automatically and keep playing the files. Now it shows DSD64 on the DAC 200 when it gets to those files but I just hear static. I must have changed a setting somewhere.
Usually you would also upsample DSD64 files as well.
Please note that DirectSDM does not work if you have matrix processor enabled in HQPlayer, for example due to DAC correction. Performing these DSP operations for DSD sources is fairly heavy, so you may be also running out of CPU power. So if you have matrix processor enabled, please try leaving the Direct SDM disabled.
That helped.
I have another question. With adaptive rate checked the DAC 200 shows DSD1024 at 44.1. (When I have the SDM rate set to 48k x1024). It plays without issue. If I check adaptive rate the DAC 200 shows DSD1024 at 48, but then I get pauses. Is this a DAC 200 issue or a processing power issue with my Mac?
When the adaptive rate is unchecked, HQPlayer does the requested rate regardless of source rate. Or if it is grayed, then this is the same, but with “if possible by the filter” exception. This is generally somewhat heavier operation than staying within same rate family. So it is likely due to your Mac running out of steam at that point. Since DAC 200 supports DSD correctly also at multiples of 48k (hence you can have “48k DSD” checked), you can also keep adaptive rate checked and save some processing power.
Typical case for conversion between rate families is converting 48k-base sources to 44.1k-base DSD output. Reason is that most DACs don’t support DSD at multiples of 48k. Luckily this is lighter operation though, than doing 44.1k-base sources to 48k-base DSD output…
So is there a processing advantage to choosing 1024/44.1 in HQPlayer? In other words, is it possible that by choosing 44.1 instead of 48 there would be processing power left to possibly use some of the more processor intensive filters?
Also, as asked in another thread. Would running 512 at 48k be more desireable than running 1024 at 44.1k on the DAC 200?
No, the processing power advantage is having “48k DSD” and “Adaptive rate” checked. And rate limit set to 48k x1024. This works on DAC 200, but not on majority of DACs out there on market.
It is better to keep all related things in same thread, instead of asking same thing on multiple threads. Although forum moderators will usually collect these up when they have time.
It depends on how you run the DAC. Generally DSD256 gives you best audio band performance, while DSD512 is good balance if you also want to minimize left-over out-of-band noise levels, for example if you use class-D amps that can have aliasing issues.
With the new AHM7EC8B modulator DSD1024 can actually show up results that make it competitive choice. So the modulator choice is also important, whenever we are talking about any specific rate.
Ah, perfect.
As far as amps go, I’m probably in the minority here. I run my DAC 200 into 2W 45 tube SET monoblocks which use very high bandwidth vintage transformers. I’ll have to play with the different DSD rates to see what works best.
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Hi Jussi, I’m having a similar issue, but even with the insights from this thread you’ve provided, been unable to get a good result.
I am using an iMac M4 (10x10 CPU/GPU) to host the roon library and HQP5 with DAC correction and upsampling to ASDM7EC-ul 512+fs via T+A 200 (using NOS1).
- Adaptive Gain is greyed (appearing as green on the remote Client iPad app).
- DSD48 is not checked as it causes dropouts at 512
This sounds great, but I cannot get DSD format files to play. When trying to play DSD64, Roon shows it is processing (bars moving with processing speeds) but no sound and no movement of progress bar). The roon process map continues to show it’s trying to process DSD512, as does the DAC.
Initially, Direct to DSD was checked, but I unchecked it after learning DAC Correction makes it moot, leaving Adaptive Gain grey and DSD48 off.
From what I read, using DSD48 and Adaptive Gain (grey or checked) should reduce required processing power, correct?
Any thoughts on how to play DSD, or further minimize required processing power needed at 512 is welcome.
Thank you,
Bruce
Adaptive gain is volume leveling, but it is not useful at the moment with Roon, since Roon doesn’t pass on the necessary information to HQPlayer. So you can keep it off. Maybe a confusion with adaptive rate here?
What are your DSD → SDM processing settings? What does HQPlayer show when trying to play DSD content?
With DAC200 (or HA200), you can keep 48k DSD enabled and adaptive rate checked to save some processing resources.
Hi Jussi. Thx for reaching out. Yes, I meant adaptive rate. Here are screen shots of my HQP setup. I have been getting drop outs with 48DSD so it’s not being used here. Also I’m using DAC correction. The homepage shot shows what HQP is processing when trying to play DSD64. Also included a screen shot of what roon shows is playing when trying to play the same DSD 64. T+A 200 also displays DSD512 when we’re trying to play native DSD64.
Thanks in advance for your time and counsel.
Bruce
One major problem here. You have volume leveling active and as result Roon is doing unwanted DSP on the DSD and not passing it bit-perfect to HQPlayer. So as first thing I would disable this part.
I also recommend to leave “Multicore DSP” in HQPlayer to grayed (auto).
Thx, Jussi
Got it.
Do you expect that these 2 items might allow HQP to pass native DSD direct without upsampling as it should? I can continue trying with and without the Direct DSD box checked, if there’s a chance checking the box might work.
I’m sure you noticed from the hqp screenshot that it was applying the DSD/SDM settings correctly AND trying to upsample to 512 - I assume because the Direct to DSD feature was not checked.
Earlier, DSD hadn’t worked even with the Direct box checked, although I expect in that instance HQP would no longer be trying to upsample. I can check.
Learned earlier today that I should turn off roon volume leveling. I did that and native DSD still didnt play. As expected, volume level did increase significantly.
It also seemed the sound was harsher, not as smooth. Should I have expected the sound profile to change?
Again, thanks for your help.
Bruce
PS. Any chance the NAA could contribute to the DSD issue? I dont think so, but …
By the way, when using Roon, I highly recommend to set idle time for example to 30 seconds. This will improve your Roon interoperation experience a lot.
I’m not sure what you want to do. Yes looks correct upsampling DSD64 to DSD512, which is higly recommended, since playing DSD64 straight to a DAC is not recommended in any case.
But for Direct SDM to work, you need to make sure matrix processor is disabled. Which means you won’t have DAC correction. But this part is not clear from the above screenshots if you are trying to include DAC corrections for the DAC 200 or not (HQPlayer Client screenshot would be more descriptive in this respect). These DAC corrections of course will add their own share to the processing load though.
Thank you.
My only interest was to see if I could play direct DSD because I did not have enuff power to upsample it. Now after adopting all of your suggestions to configure and optimize processing efficiency, I can be certain I also do not have power sufficient to process native DSD.
Maybe I could if I shut down DAC corrections, but I don’t think that’s a good tradeoff. I can simply upsample Redbook format to 512 and be very content.
The harshness in sound I mentioned earlier seems to be the result of clipping as the volume control turns red at -3 now that I’ve disabled roon volume leveling and MQA.
Is the best remedy to simply decrease hqp volume to -10 or whatever setting gets rid of the red clipping alert?
Thanks, Jussi.
Bruce
In my experiences, up sampling DSD64 to higher rate is less of a resource hog than upsampling PCM to DSD. Upsampling from DSD only requires a shaper, the filter is not used.
Not sure why that isn’t what occurs in my system. Even with no upsampling DSD files require more processing power than Redbook (44x16), so the upsampling just increases the processing power needed. Getting to DSD512 is even more demanding, especially because I don’t want to sacrifice DAC correction. I’d rather upsample Redbook with DAC correction, than upsample DSD64 without.
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You can leave MQA decoding active, that is recomended. But just no DSP such as volume leveling. You are not as likely to hit MQA these days, unless you use Tidal a lot.
I wouldn’t recommend that.
These are my recommended Roon settings:
How does Roon signal path and HQPlayer playback information look like?
For this case, DAC correction takes the same amount of processing resources, regardless if source is RedBook or DSD256.