Late to this string but was doing some research. I tried roon+HQPlayer and Audirvāna. I was so impressed with HQplayer I bought the desktop version but after checking out Audirvana there is no doubt in my mind when it comes to clarity, texture dynamics etc. Audirvana is better to my ears. I highly suggest trying out the trial. It has its quirks - no convolution built in like roon and hqplayer but it is clearly better than roon and tidal and qobuz apps in how it presents the music and it works with dlna so it is more versatile than both roon with roon cert endpoints and hqplayer naa. I feel bad I dropped near $300 on hqplayer but hoping they will let me trade it for hq player embedded which works with dlna to get the best two of the three apps and will be dropping my roon sub as soon as translate some my playlists over. Just wanted to share my experience.
Signalyst HQPlayer - Is it worth the upgrade?
I have been reading high praises in audio forums about HQPlayer rendering the best sound quality from Qobuz or Tidal. I realize best is subjective in the context of one’s system and end user’s personal preferences driven by choice of gear and budget.
I have been a long time Aurender user and also been using Roon now for past 3 years. Those who have read my posts knows my take on Roon as not the best sounding renderer when directly compared with Aurender’s Conductor app. Others may disagree with my position on Roon but those are my findings within the context of my system. I do enjoy Roon interface for obvious reasons but not so much the sound.
The purpose of my post is to explore the possibility of elevating the sound of my existing Roon player (Merging Technologies + player) by integrating HQPlayer as the final renderer. By doing so, Roon will pass along a stream of bits from my local stored files on SSD and stream from Qobuz. This configuration allows me to enjoy the benefits of HQPlayer SQ and the fabulous library management capabilities of Roon at the same time.
I am seeking opinions from those who have actually compared Roon vs HQPlayer or using HQPlayer exclusively. Did you find HQPlayer worth the upgrade? What hardware or device you’re using to enjoy HQPlayer in your system.
Thank you!
PS: Please refrain from posting if you’re in bits are bits, 1’s and 0’s camp or believe high end streamer/servers are over priced and waste of money.