jroyer

Phil, is this computer built still something that is available? If so could you send me a PM maybe? I am wondering if this could be a good option either as a standalone unit or even in a two computer configuration. I just checked on your website but could not find this computer built. Thanks in advance, Jacques P.S.: I assume the computer is strong enough to handle DSD upsample with HQPlayer :-)?

bodiebill, what settings are you using with JPLAY when you feed it from HQP? I found also that some DSD upsample settings in HQP with a NAA sound more analytical and less analog then another setup I use for DSD upsample using Audirvana+. So I am sure I have not found the best tuning yet! Thanks!

NAIDIVER, wow what a build! Do you know of any place that could make the same build? I would love to buy a similar build without doing it myself!

Thanks for taking the time to share this! A more relaxed sound is always good! I will start ordering stuff!

Great idea! Would you be able to point me to what I would need to buy and where could I source this? What sort of improvement did you get feeding NAA computer? Now you got me excited!

Alright thanks! I will start there. My NAA machine already has a linear supply but I will check my Ethernet cable...

Ok, after reading this thread and educating myself on HQPlayer and NAA I was able last night to setup HQPlayer on my PC with Roon and install NAA on my Windows Server 2012 R2 based music server which connects to my DAC. The PC running HQPlayer does not have a linear supply and currently using a cheap power cord... I really see the potential with this setup, albeit a bit more complex then my previous Mac Mini only setup going directly to my DAC. My question is: when using a setup with NAA, how important is the PC running Roon and HQPlayer for the best audio result? By that I mean, I always use linear power supply on the computer I use to feed USB to my DAC and making sure I use a good power cord (such as Shunyata cable) and even plug my linear supply into my Shunyata Triton/Typhons combo - aka I treat my computer like any audio equipment... But when I use NAA since the main processing is done on a computer not in my audio setup (in this case in my office) and since the signal is sent through the Ethernet connection and on my home network, how important to the sound is the computer running the actual HQPlayer doing all the processing? Do folks running this setup (aka using NAA) what did you find improve/influence sound? For example: 1- should I pay as much attention to power cord, linear power supply, USB cable and such for the computer in my office as much as I do for the computer running NAA and connecting to my DAC? 2- Does the network router "quality" have an influence here? Should I use a linear supply for it? 3- How about the Ethernet cable? I am using a standard cable from a computer shop...should I find a "better" Ethernet cable? Any recommendation on what should be the optimum hardware setup to support my NAA configuration? I already made sure the computer using the NAA has a linear supply, it has a SOtM usb audio card to feed my DAC etc... Thanks in advance for any insight. I hope these questions are relevant to this thread. If not please let me know where I should post this! I am only aiming to get the best possible result in a HQPlayer using NAA configuration...

After a more systematic testing of all the possible choice of filter and other setting that HQPlayer offers (some more CPU hungry then others), my conclusion at least in one of my setup was that my CPU was not strong enough because a simple DSD upsample was using over 55% of the CPU which likely accounted for the clicking of the sound I was hearing... The good news is I can make HQPlayer works with my Nagra DAC, that bad news is it wont be possible with one of the server I had... Thanks for the insights...JAcques

Thanks! I just sent you an email with a few screen shots. Thanks in advance MIska! Jacques

Fair enough and good point. My A+ setup is with a Mac Mini, my DAC is a Nagra HD Dac which supports DSD128. I up sample everything on A+ to DSD128 with no issues. My Mac Mini has an i7 3GHZ with 16Gb of RAM (latest model). My HQPlayer setup is a PC based setup, not a Mac. However the problem I describe happens as well if I run HQPlayer on my Mac Mini . Coming back to my PC, I tried two PC setup, one with an i7 4.0Ghz and 16Gb of RAM and another with a SOtM WE server 2012 R2 with AO which has a smaller processor. On both of these PCs, I installed the Nagra PC drivers that came with the DAC (so I am using indeed a PC drivers for my DAC). I think I tried all the permutation with HQPlayer between DoP and SDM and with everything I tried, I always get a noisy sound for 1 sec, then noise and then another bits of noisy music, etc. While this is happening, my DAC shows it is syncing at 5.6Mhz just like when I upsample from my Mac with A+. Closing with my earlier comments, the same phenomenon happens if I install HQPlayer on my Mac Mini which is powerful enough and try to upsample anything to DSD or DSD2. At this point I see two potential explanation: 1- either I really am missing a specific setup that I need to do with HQPlayer to work with my DAC or; 2- could my DAC driver be the issue? This is rather frustrating because I know how much of a difference upsampling to DSD128 makes with A+ on my Mac and I am sure if I could figure out how to do the same with HQPlayer with one of my PC setup I might even surpass my MAC setup. Hope this provides context...Jacques

I am new to HQPlayer. I like what I ear so far but to compare with my Audirvana+ setup on which I oversampler to DSD128 with no problem, I still need to figure out how to oversample to DSD128 with HQPlayer. Untill I crack the code on this one A+ sound better. I am actually able to upsample to 5.6M with HQPlayer but something must be wrong in my setup because I eard noise or should I say 1 sec of sound then noise then 1 sec of sound etc...My DAC has no issue when I upsample to 5.6M using A+. ANyone has insights?

I am new to HQPlayer. I like what I ear so far but to compare with my Audirvana+ setup on which I oversampler to DSD128 with no problem, I still need to figure out how to oversample to DSD128 with HQPlayer. Untill I crack the code on this one A+ sound better. I am actually able to upsample to 5.6M with HQPlayer but something must be wrong in my setup because I eard noise or should I say 1 sec of sound then noise then 1 sec of sound etc...My DAC has no issue when I upsample to 5.6M using A+. Anyone has insights?

I am new to HQPlayer. I like what I ear so far but to compare with my Audirvana+ setup on which I oversampler to DSD128 with no problem, I still need to figure out how to oversample to DSD128 with HQPlayer. Untill I crack the code on this one A+ sound better. I am actually able to upsample to 5.6M with HQPlayer but something must be wrong in my setup because I eard noise or should I say 1 sec of sound then noise then 1 sec of sound etc...My DAC has no issue when I upsample to 5.6M using A+. ANyone has insights?

Ok thanks. The server is already optimized but I will try again and be more patient this time! I really need to try the Core mode once at least! :-). Thanks.

Ok thanks I was able to do it. Is it normal when I try to enable the core mode, the service tool has been working for 45 minutes and still not done. Is it normal to take so long when switching modes?