At Music To My Ear, we obviously love vinyl. But serious listening does not begin and end with a turntable.
Digital music can sound astonishingly natural, spacious and involving when the playback system is built and configured correctly. That is exactly why we are so excited about our new HQPlayer demonstration system.
HQPlayer is powerful audio-processing software designed to handle much of the filtering, modulation and upsampling that would ordinarily take place inside a streamer or digital-to-analog converter. Instead of being limited to the processing selected by a component’s manufacturer, HQPlayer gives listeners access to an enormous range of highly sophisticated options for shaping how digital audio is reconstructed and delivered to the DAC.
Put more simply: HQPlayer can help your digital music sound far better than you may have thought possible.
What Does HQPlayer Actually Do?
Every DAC uses digital filters as part of the conversion process. Those filters can influence the sound you hear, including its sense of space, transient response, tonal character and overall presentation.
HQPlayer moves that processing onto a computer, where substantially greater processing power can be used. Depending on the equipment and settings involved, it can perform extremely advanced PCM or DSD upsampling and allow the listener to select from filters and modulators suited to different systems, recordings and musical preferences. Some filters emphasize spatial presentation, while others may prioritize transients, timbre or particular types of source material.
HQPlayer can also be integrated with Roon, combining Roon’s familiar music-management interface with HQPlayer’s much more extensive audio-processing capabilities.
That flexibility is enormously powerful. It can also be intimidating.
Want to go deeper? Our Northern Audio team has prepared a much more technical exploration of HQPlayer’s filters, upsampling options and digital-processing capabilities.
Read: HQPlayer Offers Unrivaled Sound at Northern Audio
Experience Matters
HQPlayer is not necessarily something you download, switch on and immediately understand.
The computer, graphics processing, network configuration, streamer, DAC, output format, filters and modulators all have to work together properly. Selecting the wrong combination can produce disappointing results—or no sound at all.
That is where Music To My Ear and Northern Audio can help.
Greg has spent nearly seven years personally working with HQPlayer and compatible products. He has tested different configurations, added and removed components, worked through the inevitable networking issues and learned which changes produce meaningful sonic improvements.
We are not simply displaying a computer loaded with unfamiliar software. We can help you understand where HQPlayer fits into a digital system, determine which approach makes sense for you and provide support as that system evolves.
Built for the Listener, Not Just the Computer Expert
HQPlayer can appeal to several different kinds of listeners.
For the technically inclined audiophile, it offers access to an extraordinary number of settings, extremely high-rate processing and a system that can be expanded with specialized streamers, network equipment, linear power supplies, reclockers and master clocks.
For someone who would rather listen than constantly adjust settings, it can also be incorporated into a more streamlined, user-friendly system. Once everything is properly configured, you can select music through a familiar interface and let HQPlayer handle the processing behind the scenes.
You may even own part of what you need already. A capable existing computer or gaming PC may provide a starting point, although the most demanding filters and highest DSD rates require considerably more processing power.
Bring Music You Already Know
The best way to understand HQPlayer is not by reading a list of technical specifications.
You need to hear it.
Our demonstration system is set up so visitors can sit down, choose their own music and experience what HQPlayer can contribute. These do not need to be exotic audiophile recordings or specially prepared files. In fact, familiar songs often provide the most convincing demonstration because you already know how they normally sound.
Bring a playlist. Choose something you have heard dozens—or hundreds—of times. Then listen for the space around the instruments, the clarity of individual voices, the depth of the presentation and the small musical details that can suddenly become much easier to hear.
Several visitors have described the experience as being almost like hearing familiar music for the first time. That is a bold claim, so we would rather let you decide for yourself.
Follow the HQPlayer Build
The system currently on demonstration is only the beginning.
Greg and the Music To My Ear / Northern Audio team will continue developing the digital chain one component at a time. As new DACs, clocks, network products, power supplies and other upgrades are introduced, we will create additional videos explaining what changed, why it was added and what difference it made.
Follow Music To My Ear and Northern Audio on YouTube and social media as we take a deeper look at HQPlayer and high-performance digital playback.
Better yet, visit us at 3003 Babcock Blvd., Pittsburgh, PA 15237. Bring your favorite playlist and hear the HQPlayer demonstration for yourself.
Questions? Call Music To My Ear at 412-223-9747. Music To My Ear operates on the first floor below Northern Audio at the same Babcock Boulevard location, offering both recorded music and a wide selection of high-performance audio equipment.
For a more detailed look at HQPlayer’s filters and processing options, visit our companion article at Northern Audio.