"Roon Ready" Device - Roon + HQPlayer

[tobes]

I see that the ultraRendu has a HQPlayer mode:

 

Mode #4 - HQ Player NAA Output - This output utilizes streams from Signalyst's HQ Player running on your computer. Digital signal processing is performed by HQ Player and then asynchronously streamed to the Network Audio Adapter (NAA) output. This output supports true gapless playback of PCM, DSD/DoP, and native DSD.

 

So I guess that allows the benefits of HQP to be accessed (up to DSD128 with the DSJ) - while Bridge II is limited to DSD64 and lacks interface with HQP.

 

The question remains for me as to whether introducing the ethernet connection with the Rendu beats the (iFi isolated) straight usb connection to my Mac(?). This is a bit of a gamble given my results with Bridge II - admittedly without HQP and limited to dsd64.

[jamesg11]

I had the same sort of lack of stability with this HQP mode as per A+ 3. mode, using the direct bridge from macmini setup.

No problems with bridging & Roon.

[diecaster]

Okay, I did some more critical listening comparing the DirectStream DAC with Bridge II card as a Roon endpoint and the DirectStream DAC using an ultraRendu as a Roon endpoint with the Bridge II card removed. The ultraRendu setup sounds better enough to justify the cost of the ultraRendu and Teddy Pardo 7v linear power supply. I am using a sonicTransporter i5 as a Roon core.

 

I just bought HQPlayer Embedded 4 for the sonicTransporter i5. I tried testing with the trial version but the 30 minute limit was a real pain. Here are my current settings:

 

 

Does anyone have filter settings they really like that I should try? I have done no critical listening with these settings as I just figured out that the DIrectStream DAC USB input supports up to 384kHz sample rate.

 

Thanks!

[diecaster]

Fascinating HQPlayer is!

 

Let’s backup a bit. Until several days ago, I had been using my DirectStream DAC with its Bridge II card acting as a Roon endpoint plugged into Ethernet fed by my sonicTransporter i5 Roon core. I liked the simplicity of the setup but I never really felt like it sounded as nice as using an ultraRendu as a Roon endpoint. So I picked up another ultraRendu and was immediately happy with improvement in sound quality. 

 

Now that I had an ultraRendu again, I decided it was time find out if using HQPlayer through Roon was as big an improvement over Roon by itself as some people had professed on the Internet. 

 

I have been experimenting with HQPlayer embedded in my sonicTransporter i5 for the last 36 hours. Right now, I am quite pleased upsampling everything to 352.8k (the max input rate the DirectStream) with the poly-sinc-mp filter and NS5 dither. I’ve tried several other poly-sinc filter variants but the poly-sinc-mp filter is what sounds best to me. I’ll keep experimenting though. I did try converting everything to DSD128 but I preferred the PCM setup.

 

So, what do I think about how the Roon/HQPlayer setup sounds versus Roon alone? I am kicking myself for not buying HQPlayer a long time ago. I don’t know how much of the improvement is bypassing RAAT and how much is the filters. Regardless, the sound quality is noticeably better and not by a small margin. Run to the Signalyst’s store and buy this product. It is a game changer.