billfort

I use a BK Precision 1730A bench-top supply for a Regen, which also supplied a few USB powered DACs (Concero HD, Korg DS-DAC-10R) and a SOtM sMS-100 server in HQPlayer NAA mode. The BK has no fan, makes no buzzing noises, has good PS 'specs' and was a step-up audio performance-wise to the various wall-warts it replaced, but I haven't compared it to an 'audiophile' supply, so have no comment on how it compares.

I've started to do some vinyl rips to DSD5.6 using the Korg DS-DAC-10R and am very happy with the results. VPI Aries Series-1, Zyx Airy-3 MC, Sonic Frontiers SFP-1 phono-stage straight to the Korg, monitored using headphones. Track tagging is done with Korg's Audiogate software on a Win10 computer, files stored and played back as DSD5.6. My main playback system is in a dedicated, treated room, built around Altec 604s, SET amplification and HQPlayer/Roon to various DSD DACs. Roon picks up the rips when they hit my NAS, catalogs them nicely using the tags and seamlessly slide these albums in with the rest of my digital catalog. I'm a die-hard vinyl guy and never thought I'd hear digital get close to what I enjoy in hearing my favorite music on a good LP, but these first few rips to DSD5.6 have me really questioning that. All I love about that vinyl front end seems to be captured for the most part on these rips; all the texture, depth and flesh-and-blood presence that pulls me into records, is there. Quite a revelation for me really, and I'd honestly have a hard time picking the vinyl from the rip if I wasn't the one controlling playback. I don't really bother with PCM as I just love the HQPlayer/DSD DAC approach so have only converted a few of these rips to wav or flac for playing on other systems (with great results). For me, going to DSD5.6 as the primary vinyl archive format on my network works best; I can play the rip back from within Roon as DSD5.6 in the big system, as hi-res PCM to my home-theater system (using Roon) or make a flac copy for my phone or car if I want something portable (using Jriver). It is a lot of work to rip an LP for me (I'm pretty obsessive about the details) but DSD5.6 seems to be the sweet-spot that will get me working through that big vinyl rack – I'm looking forward to seeing all that music start to pop up in the Roon interface.

Same problem with my Regen, couldn't find a ready-made adapter to do this and wanted to avoid a cable - so I made an adapter. USB no-cable build - HiFi Haven

Does anyone know if HQPlayer NAA running on the SOtM sMS-100 Mini Sever can output DSD128 and DSD256 (using DSD native mode)? I am considering a Musical Paradise MP-D2 DAC that supports DSD256 native Linux (XMOS U8 asynchronous USB chip) and would love to use my existing NAA set-up instead of USB direct from my Win10 player PC. Thanks.

And a 3rd here - I just love the combination of Roon, HQP, and HQP NAA on an SMS-100. I just built a fast HQP focused player PC (Win10) and tried it for a while straight into my Concero HD DAC but it still sounds best using NAA and the SMS-100 - which makes me wonder about what the microRendu will bring. I love what HQP to DSD can do but Roon and NAA on a dedicated renderer really seems to be the incing on the cake.

Does anyone have this working with Windows 7, Kodi 15 and HQPlayer NAA? I'm getting no-where with this and was wondering if it's just time to throw in the towel.

Has anyone seen a 90 degree 'twist' solid USB connector - one that results in the Regen being mounted vertically? I'd need this for cable clearance.

Yes, ASDM7 is very nice playing redbook>DSD128 - thank you Miska! I love what this software does.

Where can I download the latest 'beta' for Windows? I'd like to try ASDM7.

Hi Tony; I agree, Hqplayer and the Concero HD work great together and I now upsample everything to DSD128 – fantastic sounding combination. Here's my settings which are somewhat aimed at getting along with my older AMD PhenomII Windows7 player pc (I use an sotm sms-100 NAA to feed the Concero) but this combination running 3.5.1 is very stable with no clicks or drop-outs. Poly-sinc-shrt and DSD7 is where I mostly leave it but I'm liking DSD5v2 now too – I love this software.

I use a Concero HD in a Windows/Linux based system so this may not be applicable but I am very happy with this DAC. I used it with a Win7/PC & laptop USB connected initially, then via a Linux based SOtM sMS-100 mini server, using Jriver and HQPlayer on the PC. The Concero sometimes serves as a USB>spdif converter for an AudioNote DAC but is primarily used for DSD128 ( DoP). The Concero is USB powered and I feel it does sound a little better now that it’s on the sMS-100 were I use a linear power supply, but the difference across the 3 connected devices I tried was very small. I’m not sure how this would translate to the HP version with a built in headphone amp but for the HD, USB power seems well executed and a reasonable compromise for this price point and size. I had set-up problems with the sMS-100 system (unrelated to the Concero) but PC>Concero worked right away after driver installation and all configurations worked reliably in regular use with any format I use up to 24/192 or DSD128. The best sounding configuration (to my ears) is feeding the Concero DSD128 via the sMS-100 in NAA mode, using HQPlayer to do the upscaling & filtering on a remote PC.

This is strange - loaded 3.5 (Windows) and now all my DSD files play OK in the L channel, only clicking in the R. PCM up-scaled to 2xDSD is fine.

That can be a pretty big deal for some - I struggled getting the SMS-100 working (and stable) with Jriver but with HQPlayer and the pre-installed NAA in the SMS, it was a snap and has been rock-solid. Not sure how this would all go with a Cubox or similar but I'm glad I started and ended with the SMS-100 from Sonore.

Interesting. I've heard the Exasound in a few systems and loved it - especially with DSD. When they release drivers that allow the HQPlayer>NAA thing to work, I think I will move up to the E22, I'd love to hear what HQPlayer could do with an Exasound via NAA.

I have limited experience with HQPlayer direct to the Concero – only tried it briefly and preferred the NAA so was glad to get that big noisy PC back out of the room. Before HQPlayer though, I used Jriver direct to the Concero with a Win7 laptop. Adding the SMS-100 to the mix (as a renderer, Jriver as the player in another room) was a significant improvement over the direct mode, particularly when I added the linear PS to the SMS. It might have been better isolation from that noisy PC, maybe the linear PS benefiting both the renderer/NAA and the USB powered Concero, maybe the streamlined OS, hard to say, but the results were there for me. Most apparent; dynamic contrasts were better and the soundstage seemed wider, deeper and more detailed. I don’t know that this all translates directly to HQPlayer>SMS-100 as an NAA but I sure don’t think it hurts – and I really like having that hefty PC (which it must be to get the best out of HQPlayer) on the other end of my wired network. It’s also nice not to be obsessing over building and tweaking a do-all PC to feed that USB dac directly – the NAA just does that one task clean, simple and quiet.