First time user of HQplayer with Diretta and roon

Audio Gear Talk HQ Player
1

Hi everyone,

I’m looking to fine-tune my digital playback chain and would love to get some tips and recommendations from the community regarding optimal settings for HQPlayer and my RME DAC.

Here is a quick overview of my current setup:

Core: Roon ROCK (Intel NUC)

DSP / Upsampling: HQPlayer (nuc i5)

Network Streamer: SOtM sMS-200ultra (running Diretta)

DAC: RME ADI-2 DAC

What I’m looking for advice on:

1. HQPlayer Settings:

What are your favorite filter, shaper, and modulator combinations for this type of setup (PCM vs. DSD)?

Are there specific HQPlayer profiles or settings that work particularly well with the RME DAC?

2. RME DAC Settings:

When letting HQPlayer handle the heavy lifting upstream, what internal DAC settings do you recommend (e.g., NOS/Slow filter, Bit Transparency, DSD Direct)?

Best practices for gain / auto-ref level setup when fed by HQPlayer.

I’d really appreciate any insights, favorite configurations, or lessons learned from anyone running a similar chain!

Thanks in advance for your help.

Best regards,

Berry de Haas

The Netherlands, Arnhem

2

Always output DSD256 from HQPlayer to ADI-2, with ADI-2 set to DSD Direct mode.

1x = poly-sinc-gauss-long / poly-sinc-ext2-long

Nx = poly-sinc-gauss-hires-lp / poly-sinc-ext2-hires-lp

Modulator = ADM7EC-fast

48k DSD = enabled

Adaptive rate = enabled

IIRC, drop the reference level two notches from the maximum for best analog performance.

3 Likes
3

Unfortunately, this wasn’t successful using Diretta, and I’m currently playing via HQPlayer NAA software on the SOtM. Diretta struggles to process DoP/DSD data packets correctly."

“I experimented with different settings, but unfortunately, the NUC just doesn’t have enough CPU power to handle the heavier processing. Because of that, I’m now looking at a Mac Mini M2. On the bright side, DSD128 already sounds fantastic!”

4

Get a m4 Mac mini with 16gb ram if you want a base version.

5

I have no budget for a m4 16gb at this moment.

A second hands m2 8 gb (2023) is playing at the moment : poly-sinc-ext2, ASDM7, DSD128

That is the max that wil play fleunt in my setup

Roonrock—> Mac mini m2 8 Gb—> ( lokal network) SOtM sms 200 ultra (NAA)—> RME adi-2 fs dac

Anny tips for filters to test?

Thanks

6

It should do ADSM7EC-fast at DSD256 without trouble. If it doesn’t work, there is possibly some unoptimal setting…

7

Hi @jussi_laako,

I got incredibly lucky yesterday and managed to score a Mac mini M4 via Marketplace!

I did run into a few issues at first with the settings you suggested, but right now it is running completely smoothly without any. It is handling HQPlayer perfectly with my configuration.

For quick reference, here are the settings it is currently running without breaking a sweat:

  • Mode: SDM (DSD)

  • Filter: poly-sinc-gauss-long

  • Shaper: ASDM7EC-fast

  • Format: 48k / 24 / 2 → 12.288M / 1 / 2

I couldn’t be happier with how smoothly this machine handles everything!

4 Likes
8

I Finally got it working. The missing part was a raspberry pi 4 with Gentooplayer set as diretta host. En can talk to Hqplayer.