Did you try all possible filters? I have been following the AudiophileStyle forum too and understand that there are tons of filters you can apply. Might be you want to reach out in that forum and identify the one that might surpass your expectations. Now that you already invested so much, why not give it a shot? If there are folks here who have achieved what they like with HP Player, hope they read this thread and share their filter settings with you.
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.
Showing 5 responses by milpai
Wanted to revive thread in appreciation of HQ Player. I am in awe of what it has been doing with FLAC files upsampled to 512 DSD. I was gravitating more to streaming for the past couple of years. But with the HQ Player, I have been looking more to listening to my albums. It had Qobuz integration and I will give that a shot soon. @lalitk , I am a bit perplexed with your experience with DSD on HQ Player. Are you using it still? |
That DAC you own is a level above the DAC 200 and HQ Player can only take it higher, per my experience. I am new to this whole HQ Player setup and not using the NAA feature. Have you tried the AudiophileStyle forum? I would like to know about this feature (for future) and can post it there. BTW, your system is awesome, yet simple at the same time. @lalitk , I have always admired your setup. Very meticulous and well treated. As for the external PC that goes into sleep, you need to go into settings and choose the power plan to "High Performance". Then you can edit the "power plan" such that when it is "plugged in", it should never sleep, but the display can go into sleep in 1 minute. I suggest that you give that a try and PM me, if needed To each his own and I am glad that you found what you like. Thanks for sharing your experience. |
That is a fascinating upgrade to look forward to - completely different league. Before you sell the DAC 200, I hope you get a chance to experience DSD 512 on this DAC. In my experience the DAC 200 without DSD 512 is like Clark Kent. And with DSD 512, it is like Superman. At least in my setup, when you gop from DSD 256 to DSD 512 there is this "drive" or "zest" along with a "naturalness" that makes the recordings come alive. There is no real tinkering, if your PC/laptop is set up correctly. The best part is that you can experiment with the filters/modulators from your phone/tablet. T+A's chipless design is optimal for DSD playback and was one of the reasons for me to get this DAC.
Actually living rooms with large open space and high ceiling makes music sound so spacious. Unfortunately I do not have that liberty and hence had to move to the basement. Luckily that space is under the morning room, so that even if I play at 85db level, sound does not go to the bedrooms, since there is nothing above the morning room. |
One thing I will mention is that "not all the bits are the same". So when I got the T+A new, I used Foobar to send DSD 512 and DSD 1024 to the DAC and noticed a difference over the previous DAC. But it was not a "game changing" experience that folks talking about. So I decided to give the HQ Player a try. All I will say is that with 30 seconds of 512 DSD with HQ Player to this DAC, I simply purchased the HQ Player. Hence I hope that you are able to try out the HQ Player with the new DAC. |