so ive been using an RTL-SDR v3 for maybe a year now, mostly just scanning trunked systems and poking around on airband, but lately ive been wanting to get into HF more seriously. right now im using the direct sampling mode on the v3 and honestly it works better than i expected but there's a lot of noise floor issues and the dynamic range just isnt there when i try to listen to anything crowded like the 40m band in the evenings.

been looking at the SDRplay RSP1C which is like $110 or so, and i know it has actual HF coverage built in without the direct sampling workaround, plus the 12-bit ADC versus the 8-bit on the RTL which i assume is part of why the dynamic range suffers. but im not sure if the software situation is as good — ive gotten pretty comfortable with SDR# and also been messing around with GQRX on linux. does SDRplay even play nice with those or do you have to use their own SDRuno thing?

i guess my real question is whether that jump in price actually translates to a noticeably better HF experience or if im just gonna be chasing the noise floor no matter what until i sort out my antenna situation, which... yeah, that's probably a whole other thread.

the RSP1C is genuinely a step up for HF, not gonna sugarcoat it. the dynamic range difference is real and you'll notice it immediately if you're in any kind of RF-dense environment. 8-bit vs 12-bit sounds like marketing but when you're trying to pull a weak SSB signal out next to a strong broadcast station it actually matters.

as for software, SDRuno is fine and has gotten a lot better over the last couple years but yeah it has a learning curve and the interface is a bit all over the place. the good news is there's an ExtIO plugin for SDR# that works with the RSP series, so you dont have to abandon what you're used to. GQRX support is a little hit or miss depending on your distro but the SoapySDR driver usually gets it working. took me an afternoon to sort it out on debian but its been solid since.

that said — and i say this having gone through the same upgrade path — your antenna is going to matter way more than the SDR hardware once you get past a certain baseline. if you're on a random wire or a short vertical, the RSP1C will still show you a messy 40m band at night. fix the antenna first if you can, then decide on the SDR.

i went RSP1C about 8 months ago coming from the same v3 direct sampling setup and yeah HF is just... cleaner. like not magic clean but noticeably less garbage. the MW broadcast stations dont splatter across everything the way they used to.

one thing nobody mentioned to me before i bought it was to grab a good upconverter even with the RSP if you're serious about the lower HF bands, some people disagree on this but i found it helped with my specific noise situation. might be overkill for you though.