However and strangely DSD files clearly sound better using SDM than converting to PCM. I think leaving HQplayer in Auto and letting PCM upsample to 384 Sinc-M…and DSD upsample to 6144000 Sinc-M is my best setting
Hi @jussi_laako I’m “new” using Roon and HQPlayer, what filter/dither combo would you suggest for a warm/bassy sound?? or something to avoid sibilance.
I have a Denafrips Ares II DAC and Topping A90 amp.
If you want to correct tonal balance then the Roon PEQ is the best place to start.
Generally speaking filters in HQP make trade offs as to length and phase. A shorter filter usually has better impulse response in the time domain, but a wider roll off and les bandwidth rejection in the frequency domain. Longer filters have sharper roll off and deeper rejection, but can be less dynamic. A linear phase filter has both pre and post ringing artefacts but has a consistent phase response by frequency. A minimum phase filter has only post ringing but the phase response varies with frequency.
The HQP manual that comes with installation describes where on the above spectrum a filter lies.
When in doubt, I like ext2. It is a linear phase longer filter that preserves good dynamics.
For avoiding or eliminating sibilance, apodizing filters are good. You can refer to the table in the manual which ones are apodizing. But from that category, good starting point are the already stated poly-sinc-ext2 and you can also try poly-sinc-short-mp. You could also try both variants of poly-sinc-mqa even though it is intended for MQA content, it can also work for other content where the filter needs to cut in early and if you prefer a relatively short one.
For HQPlayer Desktop It is included in all installers.
On Windows you can find manual from Start-menu in HQPlayer group. If you open Windows Start-menu and start typing “HQPlayer” you’ll find it quickly.
On Linux it is installed together with the software and you can find it from Start-menu of the desktop environment.
On macOS it is included in the DMG and while installing you can drag and drop it to some suitable place where you like to keep it.
HQPlayer Embedded doesn’t come with a manual, but instead help pages on it’s web interface. There you can find the relevant information from Help-link in top-right corner of /config page.
poly-sync-xtr-mp does sound nice, it’s very big and open. However, I don’t find IIR to be fatiguing with my system. The other filters seem to create a “bubble” of sound in the room, where as the IIR filter blends into the room tone.
Native roon is highly detailed, but bright to my ears. MPD is more saturated, but less detailed.
I don’t know if it’s to do with my speakers (B&W Nautilus 803), or whether I just prefer the more analog sound.