HQ Player and Vivaldi DAC

dCS Products
1

Hello,

I have the opportunity to test HQ Player on a decent server running on Windows 2019. My ambition is to test the HQ Player upsampling in front of the Vivaldi Upsampler. This is purely fun and curiosity.
The Server Player is running with Windows Server 2019 as said, and JCAT Netcard Femto and XE USB are integrated. The JCAT XE USB is connected to the Vivaldi DAC with USB cable and the Vivaldi DAC is seen under windows 2019 device manager.
My problem is that i can not see the Vivaldi in the HQ Player settings.

Did somebody succeeded to connect a Vivaldi or Rossini in USB with a machine running HQ Player ? Any recommendations ?

Thanks

2

I answer to myself, downloading and installing the good USB Class 2 ASIO drivers helped a lot :slight_smile: I can now enjoy HQ Player tests :hugs:

3

Did you draw any conclusions?

4

I prefer by far the Vivaldi dsd upsampling compared to hqplayer. It has been validated by few other pairs of ears.

1 Like
5

Were you able to form an opinion of HQPlayer in the absence of the upsampler?

6

Connecting in usb to the Vivaldi dac and bypassing the upsampler : yes.
Only tested with roon and asdm7 EC for dsd upsampling. I did not tested pcm upsampling as by default I use the dsd128 upsampling with the upsampler.

7

The Vivaldi DAC’s USB input is not mind blowing in term of sonic performance. It is preferable to use the DAC’s AES/EBU input(s).
So no surprise the Vivaldi Upsampler delivers a better result, compared to HQPlayer straight into the DAC.

The upsampler is definitively a killer proposition in streamer mode with single or dual AES output(s).

I wish I had chosen an Upsampler instead of a NBridge back in 2018.

8

You can plug hqplayer through usb inside the upsampler letting hqplayer managing the upsampling and it will be the same conclusion.