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ESOTERIC HR Audio Player
Audio playback application for Esoteric D/A converters with USB
OWNER'S MANUAL
Contents
Overview ...........................................................3
Support for high-resolution audio file formats ...................3
Supported models and operating systems .......................3
Features ............................................................4
Easy music playback with high audio quality using supported
Esoteric equipment .............................................4
Simple screen design reduces CPU load and contributes to higher
sound quality ...................................................4
Other features ...................................................4
Making settings in Windows ........................................5
Starting the application .........................................5
Precautions before use ..........................................5
Deleting the application .........................................5
Configuring the device (D/A converter) ..........................5
Enabling playback with even higher audio quality ...............6
Making settings in Mac OS X ........................................7
Starting the application .........................................7
Deleting the application .........................................7
Configuring the device (D/A converter) ..........................7
Enabling playback with even higher audio quality ...............8
“DSD” is a registered trademark.
ASIO is a trademark and software of Steinberg Media Technologies
GmbH.
Using the application ...............................................9
Preparing audio files .............................................9
Playing back audio files ........................................ 10
Managing playlists ............................................11
Microsoft, Windows and Windows Vista are either registered
trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United
States and/or other countries.
Apple, Macintosh, Mac and Mac OS are trademarks of Apple Inc.,
registered in the U.S. and other countries.
Other company names, product names and logos in this document
are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective
owners.
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Overview
Support for high-resolution audio file formats
This Windows/Mac application supports playback of
5.6MHz DSD and 384kHz PCM audio files.
ESOTERIC HR Audio Player, which is available for both Windows and
Mac operating systems, is a high-quality audio playback application
that can handle high-resolution audio files. You will be able to enjoy
the playback of high-resolution audio files, including DSD, at high
audio quality without a complicated setup by using this application
in combination with a Grandioso D1 or another Esoteric D/A
converter with USB that supports such files.
Supported models and operating systems
Grandioso D1, D-02, D-07X, K-01, K-03, K-05, K-07
Windows Windows Vista (32/64-bit)
Windows 7 (32/64-bit)
Windows 8 (32/64-bit)
Windows 8.1 (32/64-bit)
Mac OS X Lion 10.7
OS X Mountain Lion 10.8
OS X Mavericks 10.9
This application can be used on the above operating systems (as of
March 2014).
o
The D-02, D-07X, K-01, K-03, K-05 and K-07 are only supported
when the USB setting is HS-2 (asynchronous) mode .
While many previous DSD playback applications have been
specialized, requiring a high level of understanding and complicated
setups in order to play back high-quality audio, the Esoteric HR
Audio Player allows you to complete a high-quality audio playback
environment by simply installing the application and selecting the
connected device. After doing this, you will be able to play back
high-resolution files with high audio quality by simply dragging and
dropping the music files into order in the player.
In addition to providing a playback environment for high-resolution
files with little difficulty, this application has also been designed to
maximize the potential of supported devices with high-quality audio
playback. Simplifying the application screen and reducing CPU load
contribute to enabling even smoother playback. When playing
back DSD files from a Windows computer, DSD native playback is
supported using DoP and ASIO 2.1 modes. Each listener can set the
playback method according to personal preference. For listeners
that desire even better audio quality, the included RAM buffer
playback function prevents the degradation of audio quality due to
fluctuations in CPU load by loading the data temporarily into the
computer's memory.
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Features
Easy music playback with high audio quality
using supported Esoteric equipment
You will be able to enjoy the playback of high-resolution audio files
at high audio quality easily by using this application in combination
with a Grandioso D1 or another Esoteric D/A converter with USB that
supports such files. Unlike specialized applications, this application
uses very simple settings and does not require other plug-ins, for
example, to be installed.
Supported models:
Grandioso D1, D-02, D-07X, K-01, K-03, K-05, K-07
o
The Grandioso D1 is the only model with which DSD file playback
is possible (as of March 2014).
o
A file cannot be played back if it exceeds the supported format
specifications of the equipment.
Support for playback of 2.8/5.6MHz DSD files using
ASIO 2.1 and DoP
Simple screen design reduces CPU load
and contributes to higher sound quality
By using a simple screen design, the CPU load is reduced, and
this contributes to higher sound quality. For listeners that desire
even better audio quality, the RAM buffer playback loads the data
temporarily into the computer's memory before playback to enable
playback with even higher audio quality.
Other features
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Playlists can be created, saved and loaded
o
Repeat playback function for playlists and single tracks
o
Shuffle playback function for playlists
When using Windows with a Grandioso D1, DSD native playback,
which converts DSD directly to analog without conversion to a PCM
format, is supported. Playback using ASIO 2.1 and DoP (DSD Audio
over PCM Frames) is possible, and both 2.8MHz and 5.6MHz DSD
files are supported.
Playback also supported for various other high-
resolution file formats
In addition to 2.8MHz and 5.6MHz DSD files, playback of PCM files is
supported for resolutions up to 384 kHz . Furthermore, the playback
of FLAC files with resolutions up to 384 kHz is also supported.
Supported file formats
DSF (.dsf ) 2.8/5.6 MHz
DSDIFF (.dff ) 2.8/5.6 MHz
PCM (.wav) 44.1 kHz – 384 kHz,16 bit – 32 bit
FLAC (.flac) 44.1 kHz – 384 kHz,16 bit – 32 bit
MP3 (.mp3) 32 kbps – 320 kbps
DSD file playback also supported on Mac OS X
DSD file playback using DoP mode is supported not only on
Windows, but also on Mac. (DoP is the only playback mode available
with Mac OS.)
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