Where to put HQ Player in a complicated chain with studio gear

Hi Everyone,

I stream from Qobuz within HQ Player Client to HQ Player Desktop, where the signal is upsampled to 192k. This feed goes into my Prism Sound Titan interface, which outputs the signal through various pieces of high end studio gear (Neve 1073 DPX preamps, etc.) in the analogue domain. The signal is then reconverted back to digital (to use the Titan's preamps), and sent out to my speakers.

I enjoy how this setup adds body, width and permits EQ shaping. However, I'd like to determine whether an additional conversion to DSD just before playback could further enhance the signal. So, I'm trying to send the post-processed 192k PCM signal to another instance of HQ Player, to be converted/upsampled to DSD and sent out to an NAA for playback.

Three questions:

1. Can I run two instances of HQ Player Desktop on one PC, processing two different feeds?
2. Is it even worth converting/upsampling to DSD after the initial 192k PCM signal has been converted to analogue, gone through analogue studio gear, and then converted back to a 192k PCM signal? Or has the original signal been so drastically altered that further conversion to DSD would provide no additional benefit?
3. Is there any SQ loss in having the Qobuz stream come through Roon at the start of the chain, thereby freeing up HQPlayer to upsample after the signal is processed through the studio gear?

Let's ask @Miska

4 hours ago, NotABot said:

 

1. Can I run two instances of HQ Player Desktop on one PC, processing two different feeds?
2. Is it even worth converting/upsampling to DSD after the initial 192k PCM signal has been converted to analogue, gone through analogue studio gear, and then converted back to a 192k PCM signal? Or has the original signal been so drastically altered that further conversion to DSD would provide no additional benefit?
3. Is there any SQ loss in having the Qobuz stream come through Roon at the start of the chain, thereby freeing up HQPlayer to upsample after the signal is processed through the studio gear?

1) Not really, usually you would have two separate pieces of input/processing/output hardware..

2) It depends on what happens in the overall signal path. What I've described, I would convert analog to something higher than 192k PCM. For example with RME ADI-2 Pro I've using, I can use 768/32 PCM input or DSD256 for analog sources. And then best output format depends on the DAC used for the output. Point is to use optimal output format for the used D/A conversion hardware.

3) It shouldn't, if you don't perform any DSP at Roon. But HQPlayer supports Qobuz natively, so using HQPlayer standalone has less potential variables in the picture. If you like Roon interface, it is totally fine with HQPlayer as long as all the DSP is disabled there. I personally run Roon server alone on an old NUC and several HQPlayer servers separately.

For analog studio gear, I would personally feed the analog gear from DSD DAC and then if you want second stage digital processing, for example something like 705.6/32 PCM to DSD256 final output. Or even better (but notably heavier) play DSD256 output to the analog gear, and further processing from DSD256 ADC to DSD256 DAC final output.

1 hour ago, Miska said:

RME ADI-2 Pro

Whoa, I didn't realize this could do A to D in DSD. I guess I need to get one immediately!

"sample rates up to 768 kHz as well as DSD record and Direct DSD playback (256 / 11.2 MHz)."

Thanks for your quick responses. I didn't know RME's ADI-2 Pro did DSD recording either.

All of the options appear to involve considerable extra expense. I think I'll start with Roon's 14-day trial outputting to the analogue gear via PCM, then convert/upsample the signal to DSD in HQ Player, and then output DSD to a NAA. Over time I may replace the PCM parts of the chain, we'll see.

Thanks again.