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HeadMania UpSampler v1.35.3

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@danghe danghe released this 14 Jun 23:17
1.35.3
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HeadMania UpSampler v1.35.3 — Higher rates from your hi-res files, and a screen that shows you what's really going to the DAC

Support the ongoing development of this project on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/HeadMania

Need help, want to share feedback, or chat with other listeners? Join the Telegram group: https://t.me/+lIFYDf6ZmMk4N2E0

Found a bug or have a feature request? Report it on the issue tracker: https://github.com/danghe/HeadManiaReleases/issues

This release rolls up everything since 1.32.0 into a single update — ×16 from hi-res sources, a new now-playing screen, clearer rate-negotiation logging, and two default changes I'll be straight about below. None of it adds a new in-band sound claim; the changes are about reach, transparency, and getting the defaults right.

What's new

  • ×16 from hi-res sources. In 1.32.0, ×16 (705.6 / 768 kHz) was limited to 44.1/48 kHz material. Now an 88.2 / 96 / 176.4 / 192 kHz source reaches 705.6 / 768 kHz too, on the FFT-mega family (MegaOrganik, MegaLinear and the rest) and the direct-FIR presets. The million-tap filter still runs at its validated rate; a transparent band-doubler lifts the last octave. I measured it end-to-end: in-band-identical to ×8 (0.0000 dB), gain-neutral, true-peak compliant. As with 1.32.0, there's no new in-band sonic claim here — the benefit is the higher rate handed to your DAC. Judge it by ear on your own gear.

  • Rate-negotiation diagnostics (Debug tab). With tracing on, the log now shows why a rate was chosen or capped — source rate, requested multiplier, ceiling, final target — alongside the actual ASIO / WASAPI / CoreAudio result, including when a DAC quietly downshifts. No more silent caps or mystery rates.

  • A new Play tab — a now-playing screen. Mainly for running HeadMania as a network (UPnP/DLNA) renderer feeding a local DAC — pushing from Audirvana, mconnect and the like used to land on a blank screen. You now get album art, track / artist / album, elapsed and total time, and a progress bar. The centerpiece is the live signal chain — SOURCE → FILTER → STREAM → DAC — showing the real incoming format, the active filter, the stream bandwidth (Mbps), and the actual DAC output, with DSD labelled honestly ("DSD256 (DoP)", never a fake PCM rate). It also works for file playback and live capture in the desktop app, and degrades gracefully when metadata is thin (filename as title, a clean placeholder for missing art).

  • Now-playing for live capture. When you capture live system audio (Tidal / Qobuz / Spotify / YouTube → HeadMania → DAC) there are no tags or cover art. The STREAM card now shows the real bitrate to the DAC (it used to read "—"), and an animated HeadMania logo with reacting lightning stands in for the missing artwork.

  • Stereo Width now defaults to Normal — a real sound fix. On a fresh install with no saved setting, the engine was wrongly defaulting Stereo Width to Extra Wide instead of Normal. That subtly widened the image, recessed vocals, and lifted sibilance — without you asking for any of it. It now defaults to Normal (0.0), matching the slider. If you'd set a width yourself, nothing changes.

  • True-Peak Protection now defaults to Off. Most well-mastered music sits below 0 dBFS and plays bit-transparent this way — the purest path — so that's the new default, consistent on Windows and macOS.

Honest caveats

  • The transient-corrected presets reach ×16 only from a 44.1/48 kHz source — by design. AURORA, Transient-Perfect (V4 monotone), Halfband and Kinetic dual-path keep their zero-overshoot / bit-exact guarantees only at their validated inner ratio, so they stay on their proven path instead of routing through the doubler. For ×16 → 768 on those, feed them a 48 kHz source. For ×16 from any source, use the mega / direct-FIR family.

  • True-Peak Protection Off is a purity-first default, not a free lunch. If you play hot or already-clipped masters, the loudest inter-sample peaks are clamped at 0 dBFS. Turn True-Peak Protection ON in Settings to get the transparent limiter back. DSD output is always protected regardless.

  • Stereo Width on an already-affected install. If you were hit by the old default, the slider may still read 0.50. Drag it to 0.00 once and it sticks.

  • The Play tab progress bar is read-only (no seek), and cover art is best-effort from whatever the control app advertises.

  • Windows release only. The macOS build is pending its own Clang gate.

Need help, want to share feedback, or chat with other listeners? Join the Telegram group: https://t.me/+lIFYDf6ZmMk4N2E0

Found a bug or have a feature request? Report it on the issue tracker: https://github.com/danghe/HeadManiaReleases/issues

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