You seem to have things reversed. Short filters are not short attenuation but actually long attenuation, as in they take a while (in the frequency domain) to reach their maximum attenuation. Longer filters reach it much quicker, with the most extreme sinc-M being basically a brickwall filter reaching maximum attenuation almost immediately after the passband. Instead they are longer in the time domain, with Sinc-L taking up to 20 seconds to start if you're upsampling to DSD256. The difference between Sinc-M and Sinc-Mx is that Mx will scale with the upsampling ratio. Sinc-M always has 1 mil taps, Sinc-Mx will have 1 mil at 768k, 2 mil at 1536k and .5mil at 384k. So if you were listening at 768k it is no surprise Sinc-M and Sinc-Mx sounded exactly the same. It is a shame your computer was unable to process the EC DSD modulators, ASDM7ECv3 at DSD256 or higher fed into a bit-perfect DSD dac like a Holo dac or the RME ADI-2 is to me a revelatory audio experience. Finally there's a wealth of knowledge, experiences and interactions with the dev over at the Roon thread, definitely recommended reading: community.roonlabs.com/t/which-hqp-filter-are-you-using-2015-2023/6061/3668

Great review - thank you. So, I asked Microsoft COpilot the following question. "What are recommended configuration parameters for HQPlayer software working with RME ADI-2 DAC FS while receiving music stream from Qobuz service?" Answer (darn awesome): There are different configuration parameters for HQPlayer software depending on your preferences and system capabilities. However, a possible setup that works well with RME ADI-2 DAC FS and Qobuz service is as follows: • Output mode: Select SDM (DSD) to enable direct DSD mode on the RME ADI-2 DAC FS. This will bypass the internal PCM filters and volume control of the DAC and use the HQPlayer’s processing instead. • Backend: Select ASIO to use the native driver of the RME ADI-2 DAC FS and ensure low latency and bit-perfect playback. • Device: Select ASIO MADIface USB to use the RME ADI-2 DAC FS as the output device. • SDM Pack: Select None to avoid any unnecessary packing or conversion of the DSD signal. • Bit rate limit: Select DSD256 to match the maximum supported DSD rate of the RME ADI-2 DAC FS. You can also try higher rates if your system can handle them, but you may not notice any audible difference. • Buffer time: Adjust this value according to your system performance and stability. A lower value reduces latency, but a higher value increases reliability. A good starting point is 100 ms. • DAC bits: Select 32 to match the bit depth of the RME ADI-2 DAC FS. • Volume control: Select Software to use the HQPlayer’s volume control instead of the DAC’s. This will preserve the full resolution of the DSD signal and avoid any clipping or distortion. • Dither: Select None to disable any additional noise shaping or dithering of the DSD signal. • SDM filter: Select the filter that suits your taste and system capabilities. There are many options to choose from, but some popular ones are poly-sinc-ext2, sinc-M, and sinc-S. These filters offer different trade-offs between steepness, aliasing, ringing, and computational cost. • SDM modulator: Select the modulator that suits your taste and system capabilities. There are many options to choose from, but some popular ones are ASDM7EC, ASDM7, and DSD7 256+fs. These modulators offer different trade-offs between noise, distortion, and computational cost. You can also experiment with other settings and options in HQPlayer, such as upsampling, resampling, noise shaper, etc. However, the above setup should provide a good starting point for enjoying high-quality music streaming from Qobuz with your RME ADI-2 DAC FS. 🎶 For more information and tips on HQPlayer configuration, you can check out these resources: • HQPlayer settings for specific DACs: A forum thread where users share their favorite HQPlayer settings for different DACs, including the RME ADI-2 DAC FS. • ADI-2 DAC FS and streaming rates: A forum thread where users discuss the optimal streaming rates and settings for the RME ADI-2 DAC FS with various sources, including Qobuz. • HQPlayer User Manual: The official user manual for HQPlayer, which explains all the settings and options in detail.

Thank you so much for making this video. It gave me enough info to actually try HQPlayer. Now that I've heard Qobuz played through ASDM7EC, I don't want to hear it any other way. Truly transformative experience for me. BTW, I only got the EC filter to work after I lowered the DSD bit rate to 128. To my ear, it still sounds more lush and vibrant than the standard ASDM7 at 256.

One thing that is worth noting and may be worth revisiting is the noise shapers with a true NOS DAC. With Delta Sigma DACs or Oversampling R2R DACs, the 'bit depth' setting makes little difference as the DACs internal dithering/noise shaping will 'overwrite' HQP's noise shaping work anyway. BUT, on a NOS R2R DAC, you can get a substantial improvement (one you can also measure!) by setting bit depth correctly. Setting it to within the linear range of the DAC (I believe that'd be 16 bits for the R26) allows the noise shaper to work most effectively. Keeping it set at default/24 bits actually means the noise shaper won't be working to the best it can

Very very nice review. I watched a first 50+min video today. Loved it!

Goldensound just did a review on the Ferrum WANDLA DAC. That dac has a couple of HQPlayer filters built in. So it does exactly what you're talking about. Just a few specific filters that work great with the DAC according to him. Makes the whole situation a lot easier. Maybe check out that Dac in the future to compare with TT2/Mscaler combo. Also, you said a few months ago you were going to tackle the hqplayer, thanks for that. Great review!

Incredible job, you deserve a medal for this work. Thank you.

Superb review as always. I've tried HQPlayer and like some, I like to just listen to music instead of playing with settings. I had a i9 with the Matrix Audio Element H. Ended up selling all that. I have a Chord Qutest in my headphone setup and recently added a M Scaler (bought cheap from a friend) and while I was never a 'up sampling' fan, I was really blown away with the sound from it. I thought I'd end up selling it, but now I need to get the Wave Storm cables to see if that helps. The only PC's I have in my hifi setup now days is a Nuc (12th gen) running Roon rock and one running Roon remote with a touchscreen. With HQPlayer, I believe some people will also need to have a quality PC to be able to run HQPlayer's up sampling and then other quality parts to make sure everything in the chain is up to spec. So that pushes the price up. While I managed to get the M Scaler for $3500 AUD I know people that spend more on a PC for hifi. My wife likes the convenience of just powering on the hifi gear and no PC. But now, thanks to this video, I am going to get HQPlayer 5 (as I tested 4) and give it another go. thanks again for another great video

Long time HQP user here and I agree with everything you say and endorse your settings choices. I don't fret too much over changing them anymore - I have a Qutest and use Sinc-M or Sinc-L with LSN15 or TPDF and leave everything else at default. I never get glitches, especially if I increase the buffer to 100ms. I also use Jussi's excellent NAA software to stream the output to a Raspberry Pi4 which cleans up the output too. Don't forget, it's generally perceived that M-scaler needs high quality and very expensive bnc cables to work at its best which can add 30% to its cost. That makes HQP an even better value proposition compared to M-scaler. You're getting 99% of the sound quality for 5% of the cost. It's like comparing a Bugatti to a VW ! (One of which I could never afford)

Thank you very much for this helpful video brother. G+k from Canada!

Thanks for your review. Reviewing this software is so hard to do and you have put in so much effort. I am trying hqplayer and I find your review useful. Users who have not tried hqplayer will find it too complicated. I would not have believed it has good results if I had not tried it. I convert all my music to DSD and play it natively on my quad 8741 dac. It does improve the music. I was shocked at the level of results. When hqplayer is installed, it is already populated w all the filters etc for both pcm and dsd. It is plug and play. Tweaking all the parameters can be done later.

Upsampling to DSD 512 with Sync M, ASDM7EC modulator absolutely transformed my Spring 3 KTE

Awesome review

Great job, thanks!

Huge effort on this vid, thanks!! Myself personally, I won’t even buy a DAC that has filters on it, for the fear of option paralysis!! HQPlayer looks like my worst nightmare, but fascinating nonetheless. Thanks for the insight.

Great effort into getting started with HQP! One of the biggest downsides you touched on is the learning curve and pc power/cost and you nailed it in that it's not elegant or cheap in the upper realm. But, a far cry from other hifi kilobuck equipment out there. What it can do is something I find difficult to remove myself from in that once it's something heard and experienced, it's tough to go back to the music before. Of course, a lot of this will be down to transducer, synergy and music, but HQP can have greater potential than what's explored here. It depends on how much effort, money and time one is willing to give. In my case and system, it is integral in producing provocative auditory and sensory sensations that invokes tears and frisson unexperienced and unknown to anything I expected in audio. Good luck HQP fam!

Very interesting review

I Never understood what HQPLAYER was about and too lazy to do the research. I've been waiting for Rob Watts on his oft hinted at update to the M Scaler in the form of a DAVE companion and as an owner of a DAVE I've avoided the current M Scaler thinking thee update was just around the corner. After watching your video I feel confident enough to give HQPLAYER a try with Roon which I use. I obviously found this review useful and appreciate the work you put into it. Thanks!

I personally owned TT2 for years and wen I received the Holo Spring 3 with and used HQ player I got rid of the TT2. The Spring 3 with HQ player sounded better to me. Better soundstage, separation and realism were the 3 biggest standouts. If I use HQ player with smsl su-9 it does not sound as good 👍🏻

Such a good job my friend ! Thanks for this effort ! Just a very small detail that i changed that might help someone, in output settings Default mode in Yours is set PCM. In my case (PC -> Singxer su6 -> Denafrips Pontus 12th ) I had to set it to "Source" so i can hear DSD in Roon ) If it help to anyone please take a look, apart from that amazing job, actually You should get a cut from HQplayer team, because your simplification of the settings made me to go back to this software and pull the trigger for full version. With out your work i would not find those settings and propably would not buy it. Ps: Just Idea for Hq Developers, it would be amazing in the future to see it possible working with VLC player or any other video player upsampling the video content like DTS, Atmos movies etc Once again Thank You 🙌

Thank you.

I'm one of those people who don't even like the tuning switches on IEMs, so this would simply be too distracting and a pain to deal with. Thank you Lachlan for taking on these esoteric corners of our hobby to flash out the answers, like dealing with cables 😆, especially when you dealt with USB cables. You are a brave guy man, you're appreciated here in Cape Town, South Africa.

Brave and good review!!! Why did you tested HQ-Player without the SU-6 DDC when comparing to TT2+M-Scaler? I can guess the reason but it was not mentioned.

Thanks for this, much appreciated. There are not many true NOS DACs out there for software upsampling, Metrum make them though.

A lot of work here, sorry you were sick when undertaking it but a RME-ADI-2 set for DSD Direct using HQPlayer 5 in my tube amp monoblocks system is insanely divine. No more PCM "dithering" pardon the pun. Everything goes SDM setting in HQPlayer 5 using Qobuz. SDM settings; Oversampling 1x: poly-sinc-gauss-long, Oversampling Nx: poly-sinc-ext2, Modulator: ASDM7es-light, bitrate: 48K x 256. Played through a M1 Macbook Air. Runs beautiful. Try it with DSD Direct on RME and let us know. 😁

For my system I use the same PCM Shaper but use the Sinc-Mx when over sampling. The Dac is the Holo May KTE

Brilliant! I own the hqplayer software and it is a journey to understand the ocean of options. But I think it’s a wonderful option to access some high quality sound processing at a more affordable price. I learned a few things from your review as well. Maybe there’s more content to be had with hqp as I also wonder about comparing it to high end cables. Personally I like the DSD sound, but that might be because I think DSD allows me to bypass the filtering on my Soncoz DAC. In effect, maybe that’s the same as NOS or bypassing PCM filtering on nicer, more expensive DACs with needing pay for one? I digress, thanks for the helpful review!

FYI - it comes configured out of the box to provide good sound on all tracks and will work on most PC hardware. 👍

Thanks great review.....I am interested to know how upsampling improves the sound,as the usual measurements dont show anything?

The DO300 has a setting that is listed as 'NOS' but it's not actually NOS (NOS is not possible on a delta sigma chip). The filter off mode means the first stage FIR filter is no longer used, but the 2nd stage upsampling/modulation is still active.

FYI with an 8C/16T AMD CPU + RTX 4070 I can run any filter/modulator combo I have tried so far including the dreaded sinc-Mx at DSD512 (i.e. with CUDA offload)

I'm pretty impressed with HQPlayer and your recommended settings. I have had a couple of " Wow I hadn't heard that before" moments and am seriously considering a buy. I now wonder how much music was thrown away when mixed and recorded between samples, especially at lower bit rates. Oh and I have a 1stgen Schiit Yggy with the firmware update and set the bit depth to 21 bits if that helps anyone. Also for some reason the absolute phase seems to be reversed but maybe that is just an anomaly on my DAC (I'm glad it has that phase button).

Excellent review. Long time HQPlayer user here. I completely agree that the sheer number of choices is overwhelming. I have a question - in your comparison with the M-Scaler, is there a reason why you did not go with PC > SU-6 > TT2?

Great review I may give it a bash! In the digital domain I guess its all software at the end of the day. The Grimm MU1 made the largest difference I have ever heard going into a DAC. I would love for you to try that thing. I could literally can play anything on it and enjoy it and that was with Susvaras 👌

Maybe get a user poll on preferred settings.

Hello. Thanks for your deep review of HQPlayer software. A thought about the remaining difference between HQPlayer and M-Scaler witch gives the latter a better SQ: the direct connexion between PC with HQPlayer to the target DAC. This may give the not dedicated operating system, the required power (CPU, GPU and so on) for computation a disadvantage to HQplayer versus the M-Scaler. Did you tried with a NAA (the network dedicated protocol of HQplayer) compatible device attached to the TT2 allowing a better "isolation" between the compute part and the audio part? HQPlayer dedicated OS for example on a simple Raspberry PI 4 or better, or a more advanced setup such as SOTM SMS-200 or SMS-200ultra (with dedicated SPS-500 power)? Philippe

Great video. I Applied the settings you listed for pcm. The difference with and without hqplayer now is really noticeable! I haven’t heard the difference before now. Thank you. Would it be even better if I get another dac that can turn off the dac upsampling ? I have the moon 430had with internal dac ESS Sabre 9018K2M

Did you try HQ Player with the Yggdasil? they have a new model, the Yiggy +, with an NOS mode

HQ player might be something worth trying via roon to my R26.

After A/B comparing the Gustard A26 and R26 both in DSD Direct mode, it is unfortunate you went with the DO300 for your DSD tests. The R26 DSD Direct impl blows the doors off the A26 and its AK4499EX (i.e. with nearly the same output stages). I anxious to hear the Holo DSD experience but for now I am super happy with the R26 using HQplayer and DSD512 direct.

I use a spdif in, usb adapter and that way I can use it with any source I like.

Speaking of DS we want the A26 review mate. Cheers

pls correct me if i’m wrong, but in order to run the HQplayer you will need a rather powerful PC as a roon core or streamer in front of your dac, while cord TT/M-scaler one could use a low power & low(er) noise streamer? I suppose the comparison TT-M/scaler vs the more affordable DAC+HQP was conducted using the same source? yes, incredible work you have done 👏👏👏!!!

This is full time work 🤯 the other hidden cost which you touched on is what sort of PC hardware you truly have to have invested in prior to licensing HQP. Could you pin a comment with your final conclusions/suggested pairing/configurations?

Can I use HQPlayer to enhance the quality of an already mixed track and download the upscaled file?

Hello, my system is KEF R5/ Kink Studio EX M1/ Denafrips Ares 2/ Hp mini linux computers( upnp bridge connection by each other). I respect your experience about this hobby and I've chosen close m form/lns15 ( 768 khz/ 16bit). Is it worth upgrading my computer system in order to run DSD over my PCM settings sound quality wise with my Ares 2 R2R Dac? Best Regards from Turkey/Istanbul :))

This may come a bit late considering when you did this review, but I went through your analysis with my own equipment, and I am finding that the closed form M filter, while it is true it really improves imaging, soundstage (depth particularly) and music body, I find it can change tone, particularly in male vocals. Is this something you observed and contained somehow?

Great job! But shouldent you have included the su-6 in the test with the hq-player?

Hi Lachlan. You know how you can just plug in an M Scaler into anything with ease and it works. I think "HQ Player embedded" is the equivalent way to do this but I can't quite figure out how to do it on the exact same PC that you are running your music software (ie:qobuz). By any chance do you have a video where you could teach us how to do it even if only on your Patreon? Thanks so much

Audirvana (mac) also has an upscaling function. I switched it back on to listen if i can hear a difference after seeing this. Not sure yet.

Do you think HDplayer with a Dave would be much different than with M-scaler? I’m just thinking there’s no point buying an M-scaler right now as it’d be better to wait for the Dave-Scaler, so I guess my question is would HDplayer work as a good stop-gap in the interim?

I don't use a computer, per se. Instead, my Innuos Zen Mini Mk 3 provides a digital signal to my DAC via USB. I think probably not, but is there any way to use HQ Player to enhance the audio signal coming from the Innuos? Advance thanks!

Which mouse is that? Did you do the ceramic bearings mod?

According to Goldensound, only Dacs that have a real NOS mode done properly are Holo dacs.

Did you use DSD Direct when testing on the R26?

Amd epyc 9654 or threadripper pro 3995wx ? I use Hqplayer 5 with roon.

I just purchased HQPlayer. I'd rather have the M Scaler but I don't have five grand. I did have $300 and, while there are more knobs on it than the cockpit of a 747, it at least shows me some of the wonders of upsampling beyond what I've been getting off the Chord Qutest. I don't yet know how to use it with a streamer without involving Roon, so my impressions are based on a few Flac files I've purchased off of Qobuz. The files, themselves, are already pristine but when run through the HQPlayer, they produce a slight 3D effect. The music sounds more holographic. Some music/styles showcase this better but I'm hearing a slight echo, like a reverb, a noticeably larger soundstage and some degree of instrument separation. It's like that aha moment with the HD800, the Utopia, the Susvara, the AB-1266, the LCD-5 and the SR-009. Tighter timing doesn't elevate the bass or treble but the definition and staging are enhanced, as if you're dancing between the raindrops. The M Scaler has the advantage of plug-n-play. It's not fair to say a piece of software, alone, is comparable when you also need a fast PC to run it. Having a decently-fast PC, I was impressed by what $300 can do. One thing I don't like about the HQPlayer is that all these little changes - as rich as they may be - can't be selected and heard while the track is playing. A change to the settings requires a kind of start-over, which makes any A/B-ing clunky and tedious. You can't just make changes while listening to the track in real time. I need to get an M Scaler to make a direct comparison, but from where I am at this point, it looks like the difference between a Mac and a PC. With their plug-and-play ease-of-use, Chord products look more like a Mac. HQPlayer is more like a PC, where you might be able to get better, more tailored, performance but only if you know enough about the guts of the machine to know what to do with it.

Not halfway through, but limiting choices is the key.

Interesting hoodie caption :) Now If it weren't for those pesky AB tests.

Does anyone know if you can get HQPlayer to play on iPad with Roon (even if you’re running it on a PC)?

Slightly pedantic but I believe HQPlayer IS adding information that was not there in the original signal, via that reconstruction mechanism. Because you are essentially guessing what the true waveform is, and there are multiple ways to guess this as evidenced by the multitude of filter options. If upsampling is able to reconstruct the true original waveform, then you may have stumbled across the most efficient compression algorithm ever seen 😊

100% - great product, but the user experience design is nearly criminal. I suspect the developer is just extremely disinterested in user experience considerations. Your suggestions are spot on - have a few presets that are optimized for specific sound preferences would be low hanging fruit.

So if I'm feeding my DAC through a NUC running ROCK I cannot use Hqplayer?

What would you advice for the chord qutest? pcm? (Or dsd but then it is pc for sure) I have the option of using ifi zen stream and NAA network transfer from hqplayer. The benefit of zen stream is, that it has a real clean usb output (or coax output). And the pc is not connected(so no noise transfer) directly to dac, the zen stream is. BTW top notch review as always, thanks!)

A tough product review to do.

Got to minute 10. For me I need to know more about how to set up with a Mac, Qobus and a Qutest ( or similar) before I would consider taking this complex step further.

I like a bit depth of 19 on the R26. Based on the specs I would not set it higher than 20 on the R26.

Audirvana?

Can someone show, what is the way to play some music on this big shit?

Hi, I am on edge in getting the HQP. I need to know why you made the filters off on the SMSL? My VMV DAC doesn't have Filter OFF option. Was there a great difference between using HQP VS standard when you are using the SMSL DAC? Thanks

I am not a mathematician so I can say nothing about the algorithms used, but I can not disagree more on the sound quality part. Compared to even a stock Hugo 2 (without M scaler) the filters provided by this program sound a lot worse to me, like not even comparable. Still enjoy your open minded approach to your videos though.

Why not path 2: PC > SU-6 > HQP ?

You'll be a believer once you tried comparing i2s vs noisy USB. HQPlayer made it as clean as i2s / cuts the usb noise via dsd transport even with cheap usb cabling.

I've not watched the full video yet but as much as I love your work in general, you don't seem to have a good understanding of the subject and you don't seem to have read the manual - you're talking about not knowing what the difference between sinc-M and Mx is whereas the manual explains that it's about fixed vs conversion ratio-dependent number of taps. When you do the calculation you'll see that they have the same number of taps at the 16x conversion rate that you tried them on. Hence you heard no difference! Multiply that by 512 (DSD512) which is the conversion rate I use (although I rarely use this filter, there's better ones) and the difference in taps is huge. I'll keep watching the video but it's disappointing that you don't seem to have done your research. EDIT: I have now watched the rest of the video. Whilst I appreciate that you're pointing out that this piece of software is not for everyone (it's not bug-free and some people will value plug-n-play over potential sound improvements), I don't think that you've done it justice, although everyone's experience is of course different and it's possible that your perception of changes in sound is different to mine. The reason why I'm saying that this review doesn't do it justice is that in my experience with Delta-Sigma DACs, the difference that HQPlayer brings in PCM (and its filters do make a difference) is nothing compared to what it does in DSD. I have not heard the SMSL DAC that you've got here, but having previously owned a Topping D90 (now I have a Gustard X26 Pro), the Topping was just not showing what HQPlayer is capable of, compared to the Gustard. And, technically speaking, my Gustard is far from perfect as it has ESS chips (two of them) which are known for still doing internal modulation even when fed DSD signal (hence volume control). An AKM DAC which offers DSD Direct and is well-designed (something like the Gustard A26) would be an even better choice to let HQPlayer shine. Or the Holo Audio May which has a separate DSD ladder - that would be interesting, in fact, being able to compare both PCM and DSD on a DAC like that. Why not use your R26 for DSD playback? However, even with that caveat, what HQPlayer in DSD mode does for my Gustard (which has a NOS mode for external filtering) is nothing short of spectacular. I bought this DAC after having owned a Topping D90 and Ares II and considered it better than either of those two even in its stock form, so I was a happy owner already. HQPlayer's filters in PCM mode made the experience smoother, more refined, but it wasn't until I switched over to DSD that things got eerily real (in a good way). What GoldenSound once described as "things simply are" (admittedly, when talking about Holo Audio), DSD got rid of digititis, the ever so irrirating feeling that I'm listening to sounds made up of Lego blocks, a decent reconstruction of the original signal but never quite tricking me into believing that I'm hearing real sounds. I believe that it's got a lot to do with extra space around each sound and holography, as opposed to depth as such - I used to only pay attention to depth when I started this hobby, not understanding what it means for sounds to appear as tactile, full-bodied, 3D, just "present". Speaking of depth vs holography - I have tried using the filter you've recommended (closed-form 16M) and it sounds poor to me. It sounds like the kind of sound I enjoyed at the beginning of this hobby, or the kind of "unoffensive" sound that I don't mind when I'm working out in the gym. But when I sit down at home with a pair of Focal Utopia or HE1000se, it's just too "polite". It's not harsh, and in this sense not as "digital-sounding" as some other filters, but it still feels like listening to a reconstruction of the digital signal as opposed to a musical performance. My settings are: PCM to DSD512, modulator: ASDM7EC-super, filters: poly-sinc-gauss-long, poly-sinc-gauss-xla and poly-sinc-gauss-hires-lp. Another reason why I think you approached this review wrong is your assumption/preference/expectation that it's going to offer one solution (as in filter) that will be ideal for all genres. Whereas in my experience, as frustrating as it may be, the beauty of it lies in laying bare the fact that perfect does not exist and that digital filters are a game of trade-offs (time domain vs frequency domain, hence the statement that "the more taps = the better" is not true and HQPlayer allows you to experience that for yourself). I understand your disappointment because those were my initial feelings too when I discovered this software. But, firstly - it's not the software's fault that we can only approximate an ideal reconstruction given real-world limitations, and secondly, thankfully - HQPlayer does offer amazing filters that, especially on highly-revealing headphones - do transform the experience in a way whose significance can only be appreciated after one tries to go back after a few months. There is simply no going back. I recommend the gauss-xla filter to everyone who's looking for one that does everything right. Its timing and transient reconstruction are spectacular, at the same time it goes almost all the way to Nyquist so almost fully reconstructs the frequency domain. I also recommend trying the gauss-long filter as certain tracks sound better with it. It is shorter than -xla, therefore it trades a bit of space for a more intimate experience and even better immediacy/transients. It might actually be the preferred filter for those who like intimacy in their music listening. For big-sounding, grandiose experience (albeit with less-than-ideal transients), especially for classical/jazz music, I recommend trying Sinc-L and Sinc-Mx. They won't do so well in other genres, though. Try some well-mastered music from Logic's "No Pressure" album and then switch over to either of the above filters. In my system the difference is staggering. For high-res content, with the caveat of this being genuinely high-res content, not for instance MQA stuff which gets unfolded in Roon - try the gauss-hires-lp and experience how it affects the amount of breathing space that each instrument is given. Try for example Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon album, e.g. the "Time" track - play it using a long filter (e.g. Sinc-Mx) and then switch to gauss-hires-lp. The difference is stunning, isn't it? It's also worth trying that with Daft Punk's "Random Access Memories". I've just played with closed-form 16M, to pick "non-audiophile" tracks that people will be familiar with - play Justin Bieber's "Sorry" and Logic's "Dadbod" using this filter and then switch over to gauss-xla. Closed-form sounds two-dimensional (the depth is there, for sure, but holography is lacking" and "flat" in comparison, the Gauss filter transforms these tracks into a live organism vs a corpse which we're struggling to resuscitate (a bit of a harsh comparison, I know, but genuinely on the Utopia the difference is that big). I'll finish by saying that I've always loved my Focal Utopia but thought it was too-revealing in a way. Hence I used to consider getting a tube amplifier to try to mask some of the flaws, not knowing if it was the headphone itself or the source material. The HQPlayer has totally transformed my experience and only proved to me that the headphone has always been spectacular, it was simply letting through was I was feeding it (even the HE1000se is not as good at presenting the subtle differences). I can't wait to upgrade my DAC to one which will allow HQPlayer's modulation to be passed through untouched. I'm tempted to say: "I can't believe how things could say any better than this", but I've said it way too many times before to fall into this trap again. But to anyone thinking about upgrading from their Topping D90/Ares II level of DAC, in my opinion you'll be blown away by the Gustard X26 Pro fed DSD signal converted and upsampled by the HQPlayer.

Life wasn't meant to be easy

Seems too complicated and not designed well. Should have a wizard or something to make it far more user friendly.

Is there any decent 'poor man's M-Scalers' on the market?

Predictive AI upsampling in the future... Say a song lacks high end then AI will try to fill in the gap for example a low res guitar sound compares it to higher resolution guitar sounds and then applies the improvements

Way too complicated for me to play with. Seems more for those wanting to fiddle than people who just love to listen.

!

First world problems are a real bummer

Im sure HQ player is a fantastic piece of software for the 14 people in the world that prefer tinkering endlessly rather than simply enjoying the music. My upsampling optimization took 3 minutes. Plug source into mScaler, plug mScaler into Chord Dave. and plug Dave into amp. Turn on....listen. brilliance without all the fuss. Voila

All that money just for very tiny improvements, kinda takes away the enjoyment of music when you’re always sitting and analysing the sound trying to justify it. Get a Mojo 2 or RME ADI and just be done with it, relax and enjoy your tunes.

You really believe in the audiofool mambo jambo you are talking?

i still dont ear or understand the benefits .... pure snake oil

fantastic job! thank you! ... now... could it be possible to have your opinion about HQplayer vs. the dsp integrated in Roon? ... feeding a R2R dac (no DSD), via digital-to-digital converter, with maximum possible frequency of 192kHz does the power coming with HQp make real benefit? my Roon run on dedicated NUC, so not a very powerful beast thks in advance :)