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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. 

128x128lalitk
sworksone
29 posts
 

@hgeifman I can upsample from 44.1 to 192kHz PCM to DSD256 with most HQPlayer modulator / filter combinations and to DSD512 with some, but I personally prefer DSD256 with some of the more demanding ones.  This is with an 8GB M1 MacBook Air.  The HQPlayer interface is functional but not in the ballpark of Sense / BluOS / Roon.  Roon through HQPlayer is amazing.  It might be the fact that I’m running both Roon and HQPlayer on the same M1 laptop that I notice an improvement running HQPlayer alone - not sure as I haven’t been able to test this.

designsfx
791 posts
 

Hey Lalit-

Have you by chance read through the many threads/posts by Miska and the members at Aphile Style? I know there are more than a few Merging owners there.

HQ Player Software

hhudo's avatar
hhudo
9 posts
 

Why don't you check for yourself - HQPlayer has 30min trial, and after that you just restart the app to continue listening. Plenty of time to evaluate. 

Also, your sentence "actually compared Roon vs HQPlayer or using HQPlayer exclusively" doesn't make sense. HQP works WITH Roon, as addon, and does upsampling, even though Roon has its own upsampling DSP, but HQP is much better. So those 2 apps can't be compared directly. 
Sure, HQP can also be a player, but its not really its selling point, it can't be compared to Roon, not even close as a player or music catalog. 

Benefits of HQP solely depend on your system, what kind of DAC you have and will it benefit from the external upsampling, does it prefer DSD or PCM, do you have powerful enough computer for DSD, whats the resolution and transparency of the rest of the system... So, you just have to test it your self, opinions about HQP setup here are very individual and will be very different from what you'll hear. 

lalitk's avatar
lalitk OP
5,113 posts
 

@designsfx 

Thanks for the link. I will definitely check it out, looks like lots of good info there. 

lalitk's avatar
lalitk OP
5,113 posts
 

Update: 

I got my HQPlayer up and running as of yesterday.  After 6.5 listening session and few adjustments with default filters/modulators, I found my favorite tracks through HQPlayer clearly had more texture, tangibility, richer tone and detail vs Roon. I was skeptical going in but this is indeed a very nice upgrade over Roon (audio). There was no hint of superficiality and edginess that I experienced through Roon…..no listening fatigue whatsoever with HQP. 

I tested lot of my of favorite tracks ranging from 44.1kHz to 192kHz, streaming from Qobuz and my local files, they all sounded more lifelike through HQPlayer vs Roon. As far as DSD tracks, I didn’t like what I heard. To my ears, the DSD tracks sounded compressed…it could very well be the filters being used. 

Moving forward, the biggest challenge I see is finding the optimal settings between Filters and Modulators with different resolutions and as little impact to the original bits. For now all I can say if you love Roon and stream via Qobuz, you gotta hear HQPlayer in your system. 

My total outlay so far, $525 (mini PC off Amazon plus HQP License fee). Mini PC is currently powered through stock wall wart. I will add JCAT Optimo 3 Duo LPS in the mix once I gain better understanding on gamut of filters/modulators included with HQP. 

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