DAC Opinions

Thank you for all the input. My current DAC is 256, so currently running poly-sinc-xtr (if I am remembering correct) without issue. If I do get a 512 DAC I may have to run the -2 version :)... and maybe if I can get the Nvidia card back that boost will help :).... I guess we will see.

My CPU is listed as 4.0 GHz, quad with hyper-threading. 16 GB, fairly certain 1600 RAM... all SSD, Gold level power supply... mounted on granite base (heavily modified Falcon Northwest Tiki).
 
Mechnutt said:
You were right, my friend runs poly-sinc-xtr-2 without problems at DSD 512. He is using an older cpu that turbo's to 3.9Ghz along with DDR3 1600mhz ram. Still, Randy should be able to do DSD 512 with his current rig, just not the non -2 settings.
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The closed-form filter might be a little hard on the CPU to DSD512 as well. I actually preferred it to XTR.
 
Randy Myers said:
Thank you for all the input. My current DAC is 256, so currently running poly-sinc-xtr (if I am remembering correct) without issue. If I do get a 512 DAC I may have to run the -2 version :)... and maybe if I can get the Nvidia card back that boost will help :).... I guess we will see.

My CPU is listed as 4.0 GHz, quad with hyper-threading. 16 GB, fairly certain 1600 RAM... all SSD, Gold level power supply... mounted on granite base (heavily modified Falcon Northwest Tiki).
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The Cuda won't be enough help you get the non 2s XTR working at DSD512. Not even a 1080ti.

Have you tried the closed-form filter? It's roughly based on what Schiit does, I like it so much I had to try the Yggdrasil. :D
 
I will try the closed-form filter. I have only been playing with HQ Player for about a day, so learning. I do believe I have it all working good now, integrated with Roon. So I am at the point of trying different filters.

Any recommendations on other settings? Again, I am a HQ Player NooB :)...
 
Randy Myers said:
I will try the closed-form filter. I have only been playing with HQ Player for about a day, so learning. I do believe I have it all working good now, integrated with Roon. So I am at the point of trying different filters.

Any recommendations on other settings? Again, I am a HQ Player NooB :)...
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DSD modulators will have an affect on sound as well. I think there is a specialized DSD256+fs that is suppose to be nice but may increase load.

Most important:
-4db min and max volume at the very most. You need headroom to do upsampling. -6db would be real safe. Having the minimum and max the same value basically puts HQPlayer into fixed volume mode, if you want to use the volume control then set minimum to the default -60db or whatever that is.
 
My God, as the calculation needs continue to grow, we will need one of these, to listen to music ....
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Here is a copy of my friends current setting for DSD 512 with his T+A. He was using the Poly-sinc-xtr-2 but recently changed to this and prefers the sound. I don't believe that he is running a video card.

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By the way Randy. His T+A replaced a W4S DAC-2 DSDse with femto clock and a hugo chord. The T+A blows them away
 
I might eventually move to the T+A. It seems to be one that people are in agreement on here in the forum.

I do not see your friends setting here. Did you forget to past it in? :)....

BTW- the DAC-2v2 SE is a fairly big jump from the DAC-2 DSDse. This is when they jumped from the ESS 9018 to the ESS 9038Pro chip.
 
Randy Myers said:
I might eventually move to the T+A. It seems to be one that people are in agreement on here in the forum.

I do not see your friends setting here. Did you forget to past it in? :)....

BTW- the DAC-2v2 SE is a fairly big jump from the DAC-2 DSDse. This is when they jumped from the ESS 9018 to the ESS 9038Pro chip.
Click to expand...

That is strange that you don't see his settings. I copied and pasted a picture from a PDF file. It shows up for me.

He is running the filter and oversampling at poly-sinc-shrt-mp, Dither = NS5, Modulator = ASDM7, Bit rate at 48x512, DAC Bits=32, SDM Pack=none, Buffer=50 ms


I have not heard the W4S 2vs but I was not impressed with the DAC-2 DSDse. It was bright and grainy. The Hugo was much better.

Some time in April, we are going to have a DAC Shoot out with the T+A, PSA DS, Luxman and probably a Lampizator 7 lite if I can get every one together
 
Randy,

You can always up-sample everything to DSD. I am sure it would sound even more fantastic.

Randy Myers said:
I might eventually move to the T+A. It seems to be one that people are in agreement on here in the forum.

edit ...
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Mechnutt said:
I have not heard the W4S 2vs but I was not impressed with the DAC-2 DSDse. It was bright and grainy.
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It sounds like the W4S was not broken in. Bright and Harsh is exactly how I would describe the DACs until they had a good 200-300 hours on them.

The T+A sounds like a good choice. Since I will be up-sampling everything to DSD all that will matter is DSD performance. So I guess now I will have to figure out a way of getting a T+A :)....
 
Randy Myers said:
It sounds like the W4S was not broken in. Bright and Harsh is exactly how I would describe the DACs until they had a good 200-300 hours on them.

The T+A sounds like a good choice. Since I will be up-sampling everything to DSD all that will matter is DSD performance. So I guess now I will have to figure out a way of getting a T+A :)....
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Pumping everything to DSD256 with your current DAC might be all you need. DSD256 is where the magic begins I'm told.

Moving to a different slightly more expensive DSD DAC could yield marginal improvements, but HQPlayer really evens out the playing field. If you still want change, I think you've reached a point where now you should probably try other DAC tech like ladder DACs and such. Just my opinion.
 
Dr Tone said:
Pumping everything to DSD256 with your current DAC might be all you need. DSD256 is where the magic begins I'm told.

Moving to a different slightly more expensive DSD DAC could yield marginal improvements, but HQPlayer really evens out the playing field. If you still want change, I think you've reached a point where now you should probably try other DAC tech like ladder DACs and such. Just my opinion.
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Music players really do sound different and can take a DAC to a new level of enjoyment.

I mainly use Bug Head because it blows HQP out of the water for musicality with my Luxman. The thing with BH is that you have to find a version that you like. The various versions all sound different. I like HQP when I don't want to listen to whole albums or when I want to listen to DSD. And JRiver sounds midfi in comparison to both.

Randy, that W4S was broken in. It sounded good at first listen for me but after 20 minutes I was fatigued and could not listen any more. I am very sensitive to high frequency and sibilants.
 
'W4S was broken in"

I thought it probably was but wanted to put it out there to make sure. I do know the v2 SE with the 9038Pro is an entirely different world. I have listened for hours and hours with no fatigue. But I also believe it might be worth exploring other DAC tech :).... Been slowly fine tuning each components in my system getting it closer and closer to my level of satisfaction.... I think the DAC may be next, but who knows for sure :)....
 
Hello all, so some updates, and discoveries, etc. I am hoping to get some more opinions and thoughts.

So I have been playing around with HQ Player. I really like what is does, especially to PCM. Ripped Redbook CDs sound better than they ever have to me. So much so that I purchased a license for it.

My current Wyred 4 Sound DAC-2v2SE handles DSD256 through native ASIO drivers very well. Roon also seems to hand off to HQ Player just fine for the up-converting to DSD256.

DACs I am considering. PS Audio Direct Stream(Jr). The issue with PS Audio is the max it takes in is DSD128 because it uses DoP. I know DoP works fine but I have also read that Native DSD drivers are a bit better which come into play at DSD256. From my understanding the PS Audio takes in the signal, up to DSD128 and internally up-converts it to 20x dsd and then filters is to DSD128 to then convert to analog and output to the pre-amp/amp. Is HQ Player pre-processing to DSD128 being redundant? However I have what I consider an outstanding deal on the table for the PS Audio DAC taking my DAC on trade.

Or- go with something like the T+A DAC, which has DSD512 through native drivers. Then I would use HQ Player and up-sample everything to DSD512. The issue being that deals are rare and hard to find on the T+A, none including a trade so I would have to sell my outstanding W4S DAC separate.

Another option is to just stick with the Wyred DAC. The unit is pretty darn good, many reviews are putting it at world class levels, maybe the best DAC available using the ESS 9038Pro chip.

Any other good choices in DAC that do DSD512 with native DSD drivers, that would be considered affordable?

Any other thoughts or suggests? I very much appreciate the inputs and thoughts. It really helps me a lot in the long run since actually having these DACs available to me to compare is next to impossible.

Thank you very much guys... it is very much appreciated.
 
PS Audio isn’t the right choice if you want to continue with HQPlayer, from all reviews it’s best fed original content.

IMO, stick with what you have.
 
Randy

My initial reaction is to tell you to stay put until you get through playing with the possibilities of HQPlayer. You have a really good DAC as is. If you want answers to your questions about the DS DACS and HQPlayer go to the PS Audio forum and ask Ted directly. He is not shy about answering.
 
I use PS Audio DS and upsampling doesn't yield any benefits - I have extensive experience using HQP, Daphile, Roon upsampling - with the latest Redcloud, all upsampling is a moot point with PSA DACs.

I actually prefer DACs which doesn't need to upsample in a computer, unless that DAC is purposefully designed and optimized to work with a single sampling rate.
 
I agree with the posted answers to your questions Randy. But I would not let HQP be the determining factor on which DAC you get. You can use Roon directly to PSA DAC or use HQP with it at native resolutions including DSD and use the various filters that HQP provides to tailor the sound to your liking. The issue should be which DAC would you prefer, the PSA or T+A. The T+A needs DSD 512 to sounds its best, anything less and there is a real drop off from what I heard at my friends house. And I am not saying it sounded bad at lower resolutions, it just sounded that much better at 512.

I really like both DAC's. The PSA offers flexibility with its various software packages as well as Ethernet capability to get the best sound possible out of it. If you prefer to go with a PSA DSD DAC as opposed to the Jr., you can save a great deal of money going used on this DAC as they seem to pop up on Audiogon frequently.

By the way, my friend that has a PSA DSD was using Bug Head with it and there are sonic benefits but he loves the GUI of ROON and went this route along with Ethernet.

Larry
 
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