I think most people use HQPlayer with Roon for its up-sampling and sigma-delta modulation (“PCM->DSD Conversion”) capabilities. I generally leave HQP on poly-sinc-short-mp/ASDM5 but it can be fun to try out different combinations. The modulators can have a darker/brighter influence. What I find (varying with filters) is enhanced detail and micro-dynamics, larger and more focused soundstage and improved transient response (especially decays with mp). Nearly all DACs will also convert upsampled PCM into a Sigma Delta Modulated bit stream (SDM to engineers, DSD to us) and feeding upsampled DSD to the DAC can bypass that step also. The Orbiter having an NAA is a great invitation to experiment. In your case Steve I’d suggest trying upsampling to 192 kHz (which will bypass your DAC’s internal PCM upsampling). I would try DSD 256 but my Vega doesn’t have the firmware upgrade. In my case I am upsampling everything to DSD 128 and sending it to an Auralic Vega. I think the trick to HQP is to find what input to your DAC sounds best. There is also this helpful précis by Jussi/Miska (the developer) of the theory and a brief description of the function of the various filters. There’s a very useful Kick-Start Guide by Geoffrey Armstrong which reduces the learning curve associated with the wide variety of HQP options and it’s functional UI (intuitive it’s not).
Again, you would have to fool with the HQP trial to see which group you fall into. My personal opinion is that this is system dependent to a large degree, especially with regard to one’s DAC. Many people (including me) think that the sound quality achievable with HQP is great. It’s worth noting, though, that once you have HQP set up to your satisfaction and integrated with Roon, you don’t really have to do much with HQP other than launch it (although for those so inclined, you can try different filter settings more or less endlessly). If you really don’t want to fiddle around with HQP’s settings and try its different filters, I would suggest that HQP isn’t for you. To minimize problems, I would get HQP up and running to your satisfaction by itself first and then proceed to set up the integration with Roon, which is pretty easy if you follow these instructions.
Most likely, you will need to read the manual to get it set up.
HQP’s user interface is somewhat impenetrable at first glance.
If you want to check this out, you can download a trial of HQPlayer and see for yourself whether you think it’s worthwhile. I think most people who use HQPlayer with Roon use it because they think they can achieve better sound using HQP as Roon’s playback engine than they can using Roon alone. My enjoyment of headphone listening has always been diminished by a skewed stereo image. Interesting times…Īdded bonus for me is that the Speaker setup functionality of HQP allows me to lower the left channel volume by 2 dB – matching my hearing.
So much so, I upgraded my i5 Mac mini to a quad core i7 – imagine upgrading your audio by throwing raw CPU horsepower at it. Compared to sending a ‘regular’ audio stream to the DAC it’s a whole different universe. Since the DSPs are limited to 96/24 there was not a lot of headroom for HQP to perform its magic – and the speakers do a pretty good job at upsampling and filtering (apodising) by themselves.įor my modest headphone corner (AKG K550, iDSD nano, Cubox NAA) however, HQP has performed miracles by upsampling anything to DSD256 and giving a smooth, smooth (did I say smooth?) sound that is rich in texture and incredibly detailed. I tried it first on my main rig (a pair of Meridian DSP5200’s) and was not overly impressed.
It’s really not as complicated as some make it out to be: after initial selections to your preferences, it’s pretty much set and forget. It’s a high quality upsampler, allowing you to bypass any filtering by your DAC by upsampling files in the highest resolution and allowing you to select your own filters & noiseshaping/dithering/modulation. HQ Player is much, much more than BitPerfect or the likes.