I can help you if you like, but if so lets talk about it in the proper thread: A guide how to do room correction and use it in Roon
Can u guys hear a difference between the different LNS shapers? Eg between LNS9 and 15.
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After a week of trying my last combo, I think Iāve found the ākeeperā ā¦MinringFIR-mp with LNS15. Really suits my system. Wow
Hey Bill,
Gave it a try. With headphones the transients were a bit to harsh for me. It really spread out the soundstage though. Iāve gone back to sinc-m, lns15. The mscaler boys donāt know the choices they are missing.
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It could be the differences in our DACs that give us different answers. Its well worth trying the various options I agree. The MScaler does seem to be bad choice doesnt it
I tried this setting again with my Dave and it gives me a sense of how things can be improved with deeper soundstage and tighter bass, but if find it bright and much less musical than Daveās internal settings. Think it gives off a different sound signature.
I did try the xtr-lp filter since thatās supposed to be the closest to Dave and it was very close. Same general tone but seems to not be able to bring out the sparkle and extra details Dave can on its own. It was actually this filter that led me to Chord dacs in the first place.
If and when I get an mscaler, Iāll report back. I do find it funny that a lot of Chord people almost seem afraid to try HQPlayer as if it did sound better it would destroy the reason they use a Chord. Since I already had both, figure it was worth exploring. Really was hoping those setting would work.
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To me the biggest reason to use HQPlayer is that every DAC is different and, more importantly, every listenerās ears and brain are different. Mass-produced DACs assume we are all the same so there must be one ābestā result. Often that is the result that sounds best to the DACās designer ā but my ears are unlikely to be just like his/hers.
HQPlayer allows me to carefully choose a set of combinations that best suit my DAC/ears/brain combination. The biggest investment is not the cost of the software, it is the time needed to try different combinations and listen to them over time. Things that sound great on day 1 are often overbearing by week 3. For me at least, the best long-term solution was not one I would have chosen early on.
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Heres a question. I have my Hqplayer set to PCM rather that DSD. We know that any DSD files I have will playback at my setting of PCM 24/352.8/384. Do I still get the benefit of the DSD file or not?
If there are two files to choose from to purchase, a dsd 64 (230gb) or a 24/176 (220gb) and knowing the dsd copy has had great reviews, do I still buy that even though I will get PCM 24/352.8?
I guess that DAVE is completley different beast to my Aqua La Scala Mkii Optologoc DAC, as I find the MinringFIR-mp/Aqua combo very analogue, open, deep and quite beautiful, not bright by any stretch of the imagination.
Depends which is closer to the original recording. Always try to get something that is in original recording format, or at least as close to it as possible. That will usually give best results. It also makes you the most future proof. HQPlayer is designed to have as good conversions as possible, so if you change your DAC or output format, your source material will still be the same.
So in my opinion it is better to consider recordings from the point of view of being as close to original as possible, instead of buying material with a certain DAC in mind (which will most likely change anyway).
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Thank you for the reply Jussi and explanation.
Can I just check that āDSD Sourcesā section is set up correctly with my PCM setting below? Is by having āDirect DSMā selected bypassing everything else in that section and using only the settings in PCM Settings? This looks like thats what is happening in roon but I would like to check
Also (bit of a noob question) what is the difference between Minimum and Linear phase?
Thanks
Well my response to how the Dave sounds with HQPlayer was using this setting: sinc-m, lns15. 768k. This was the one that was mentioned to sound the closest to the Chord Hugo Mscaler. I never heard the mscaler but I didnāt feel it was same type of filter as the Chord. Maybe if there was a xtr-lp million setting that would be closer.
I didnāt bother testing any other settings since the Dave itself is the best Iāve heard and not looking to change the sound. They said the mscaler just makes it more Dave, which to me would have same sound but open up soundstage even more.
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Hi Daniel:
I am reading this thread interestingly because I am an HQP user, your comments above this one are instructive thank you, however you comment of āperfectly isolated RFā I have to differ from it and allow me to provide some explanation. I have seen many claim of the perfections of optical electrical isolation (or galvanic isolation) which I understand, now claiming better RF isolation on optical networks it is incorrect, usually I donāt get involved in these types of discussion as honestly I donāt know how RF generated by optical devices actually affects audio, there are no material objective measurements except subjective appreciations. Getting back on point, optical devices generates RF in the 40 dbm range close to the source 1 - 10 ft which is even more powerful than RF generated by electrical circuits, if you are using an RF enclosure this could go down from 40 dbm to 30 - 25 dbm but still more than regular ethernet induced RF
Note Iām not trying to pick an argument here or question whether optical sounds better than ethernet (as that is very subjective) just saying that donāt assume (without measurements) than optical provides better RF isolation when in fact generates more RF.
Just providing some feedback on the subject
With most DACs I have these same settings you are using as my defacto standard, it sounds amazingly realistic
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To bad sinc-M has such a horrible latency! Does the mscaler also has similar latency btw?
@jussi_laako would it not be possible to āfast forwardā to to skip latency? Not sure if thats possible with streaming material, but it should be possible with local content although some additional Roon integration would be needed.
Or maybe a progressive number-of-taps, start with 100k at start of tune, and then 5 seconds in switch to 1M.
Btw nice work with changes in start/stop, other filters are less latency now, although stop should not have any latency at all in my opinion no matter the filter.
I believe Iāve read at 1 million taps itās 0.7 sec delay with 44k input.
I found a good deal on an open box one with an additional one day saving today at Todd the Vinyl Junkie, so I pulled the trigger. This way still get full warranty.
So only thing with a delay is the scrolling lyrics feature in roon will be slightly off. When I tried HQPlayer I was getting about a 4-5 sec delay with my computer, so the feature was very annoying.
Jussi is LNS15 equivalent to an NS15? there was a request for an NS11 so I was wondering
Does that stand for linear noise shaper?
I thought the filters were linear no the modulators but you may be correct
EDIT: correction dithering