Thanks once more @Stefan_Jorma, @Bruce_Orr & @Rugby!
@Stefan_Jorma could you provide me your HQP settings please for DSD?
I thought you got HQP to actually play DSD 256 to the DAC, you mentioned it above, or did I misunderstand.
As for Roon, anything you do to setup HQPlayer has nothing to do with Roon, completely seperate playback systems. So, an NAA endpoint would not allow Roon to do anything as Roon cannot use an NAA endpoint. Now setting up a Roon endpoint, assuming you setup the right one, will allow you to run DSD256 to the AMP using Roon. But, HQP cannot use a Roon endpoint. Again, separate playback environments.
With HQPlayer, Roon is only functioning as a management system, the playback and distribution is handled by HQPlayer after Roon hands the audio stream off to HQPlayer.
Also, you should contact Moon tech support, and see if your amp can work with Linux and native DSD. All I see on Moon’s support site is mention for Windows and running the Windows ASIO drivers for native high res DSD support.
I don’t have a HQP subscription but play with it a little. Still debating if it adds substantially. With HQP I can play at DSD256, not with Roon controlling the DAC (w/o HQP).
The M4 seems to be working fluently with DSD@44.1kHz/256 ASDM7ECv3/poly-sinc-gauss-xla, or should I enable 48k DSD output?
Hi
I don’t want to pass myself off as an expert on HQP/roon, so pls get other opinions about any thing I’m saying!
As I understand HQP - and has been my experience - it will not function without it’s proprietary NAA in an endpoint it can connect with - either a bridge device, or embedded in the DAC.
Bruce
Thanks but it does normally work over USB, doesn’t need NAA per sé but I’m asking if it’s needed regarding SQ
That’s a personal preference. There are those who would say that no DAC should be connected via USB to a computer. Others disagree. Like I mentioned, get a USB isolator like Jussi recommends, the Intona USB isolator I think, and see for yourself if SQ is a goal.
I do believe roon does not hand off the stream but feeds it continuously to hqplayer. In all cases roon converts the stream to pcm and retransmits it.
The reason is that the NAA is more quiet in operation, the sole purpose is to just feed out the bitstream. While the culculation pc is working hard, thus giving noise output. But the normal NAA is not as quiet as it can be, hence my PCIE card. It still operates using a computer switch power supply and even if it was a good linear PSU, the MB har a number of DC/DC converters onboard.
Do you mean all of tem, page by page? If so, I will post captures of them tomorrow here, if OK?
I’ve never listened to HQP/roon with the set up ur suggesting, so can’t say one way or the other, although I agree conceptually with some of the others who responded the NAA should be quieter.
Good luck. Look forward to hearing how you think it sounds if you go ahead with it.
Bruce
NAA is by no means required. It is an option. You can as well use local USB connection for playback if you like.
Depending on DAC there are benefits of using NAA though. Since macOS CoreAudio doesn’t support DSD natively, DoP is needed to pass it through the USB connected DAC. This can impose some output rate limitations. While when using a suitable NAA for output, native DSD (without DoP) can be sent to the DAC, lifting this limitation. Because then the macOS CoreAudio is not involved in the audio.
HQPlayer NAA is similar to Roon Ready / Roon Bridge network endpoints.
I have talked with Moon people and they are not interested in getting their DACs having native DSD support in Linux… I offered to do it for them for free, like I have done for many other DACs, I would have just needed some information… 
But if one Moon device owner is not scared of booting up Linux from USB memory stick and performing couple of commands to provide me with the output, it could be done. Some Moon models may already work though, depending on how they sourced the USB interface.
Settings according to my wish to have fast transients. While this was impossible to listen to in the earlier reinkarnation of my gear, the mains, ground and network mods and consequential naked and non-sibilent sound makes me just wish for more and more rapid transient response filters. It makes all music sound realistic, there is no longer any typical music for my settings. Even contemporary sh*t masters is possible to enjoy even if there is no doubt it is sloppy craftmanship. This is the most honest setting I have found so far, in my rig and thankfully it does give the impression of having a life of its own, finally. Love it, in sickness and health, for better and for worse … 
Thank you very much!! As you’re using NAA, why do have DoP enables? I understood the NAA allows you to use DSD direct, in cotract to me using an direct USB-link.
And how does the IIR filter relates relate to the poly-sinc-gauss-xla (and similar) filters?
The DAC is not compatible with DSD256 native source.
Poly-sinc-guass-xla was my former choice. But then I started to feel that the notes were smeared and softened. It played a role at the introduction of the filter, but when I later felt the lack of transients, especially drums and percussion, I started to listen to short minimum phase filters and FIR and the pace and beat started to make sense again. Again, suggested from the friends here, off course also Jussi. The IIR2 choice, came out of reading the manual and filter descriptions. I tried short-mp, FIR filters and the IIR2 back and forth several times and decided that the latter offered best overall SQ. I would not have chosen this say one year ago. The sibilence would have killed the joy of music, with harsch high mids on bad productions. But having paid a lot of attention to the details mentioned before, I no longer need a sonic “brake”. Most music, except really good classical, jazz and some contemporary genres almost “needs” apodizing filters. When listening to much music, from various genres, one soon realizes how good British Decca was, especially their talented staff and master techs. You don’t even notice the sonic traces of valve tube sound when done by these guys, even though the recordings are old. Talent and quality does not age, once done it will be for ever green…
RME ADI-2 only supports DoP, there’s no native DSD support there in the hardware. OTOH, it works the same 705.6/768k PCM and DSD256 on any hardware and OS…
Hi Stefan! Your post has me swapping filters around like crazy today! Like u I have the RME ADI DAC AKM version with a LPS and I feed it via an ultrarendu with a LPS and an intona with curious usb cables…for the longest time I have been upsampling to dsd 256 with the standard poly-sinc-gauss/poly-sinc-hires-lp with the EC-super…love the sound and also was trying out the newer versions recently released including the EC-fast. I have never tried the IIR2 filter until today. I kinda like it…def improved transients and piano takes on a slightly more natural quality Imo when testing on classical tracks like the new John Field nocturnes by Alice Sara Ott or piano driven tracks by The National such as Once Upon a Poolside. So fun to try diff combos!
Thanks
Doug
Yepp, it is 
thing is to find the way to playback music so musicians individual characteristic phrasing survives the process. Transient response is one of those long lost components to really trigger feet stomping. It seems hard to achieve really fast transients without over-doing it. Music simply need the transient response to live, or it will sound like lazy blues beat quarter past twelve all in all.
Lots of replies here. I’ll add my 2c. I ditched Roon for my own internal platform. I did not replace HQPlayer and have no intention of doing so. It’s the best music playback / rendering software, period.
All my ‘stuff’ is abstracted over HQP (sorta similar to how when you use Roon with HQP, you’re using Roon for all the actual interaction / library interface). I’ve just never had a problem with HQP or felt like it gets in the way. It does one thing, very well. An absolute shining example of software consistently hitting the mark, in a sea of feature creep-y, inflexible garbage.
I find NAA a great way to get music to my endpoints cleanly, while it’s not ‘real time’, it’s stable and just works, so it fits the bill for audio without a visual component. All audio transport is AoIP, I just rely on HQP with NAA for music.
Once you delve into HQP, good luck going back.
As someone who was messing around with DSD production back in it’s infancy, I actually don’t think it makes much sense for distribution (once you examine the lineage of most DSD releases, you’ll see what I mean, it’s largely a total joke) but I’m convinced it’s what you want to do for playback of PCM sources.
Very well said Eve. I would say for myself at least, I would not have stuck around in the audio hobby still without hqplayer.
All four of my systems in different rooms are settled in terms of speakers/headphones and other components. Without hqplayer every few months come out with new exciting features and sound quality improvements and offering so many different combination of filters and modulators, I would have simply grown bored and moved on to some other hobbies.
It’s hqplayer keeping me excited and I have topics to talk about amongst my hqplayer buddies, take the time to learn using different Linux distros and play around with power management, learn about setting up a rpi4 upnp hub, input NAA and usb loopback, getting a handheld gaming pc to use as a Hqp5 dap…
It’s funny, in spite of all the ‘tweakery’ that HQPlayer and deploying HQPlayer can offer, one of the strongest arguments for at least investigating HQP is that it can kind of just work out of the box without a huge amount of technical know how, just a tiny a bit of computer competency and you’re good.
That lil handheld gaming PC rig you’ve got going on is pretty sweet. Extremely overkill on first blush but the more I’ve chewed it over, the more sense it makes.
