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    The Computer Audiophile

    Streaming Services Through HQPlayer Natively

     


    I never thought I'd see the day. HQPlayer now offers native support for streaming music from Qobuz and HIGHRESAUDIO STREAMING. Wait, what!? Yes, Jussi Laako has added streaming services through the HQPlayer interface and it's glorious. Many in this community already discovered Jussi's holiday gift to music lovers worldwide, but incase you missed the full-court press by Jussi's PR team, marketing manager, and publicist, only kidding, I thought I'd write about it and how to enable it. 

     

    The information below is mostly available in the HQPlayer "really brief quick start guide" that nobody reads. OK, six of you guys have read it and the rest have no clue it even exists or where to find it. That's not a knock on anyone, I count myself in that group much of the time. 

     

    I've added some screenshots and a bit of information below. 

     

    Requirements: 

    1. HQPlayer 4 Client version 4.15 or higher, and one of the following

     

    2a. HQPlayer 4 Desktop version 4.15 or higher, or
    2b. HQPlayer Embedded version 4.28


    The HQPlayer website lists this streaming support under only the Desktop version, but it also work with the embedded version. The key is the Desktop Client software. This can run on any machine and doesn't require a separate Desktop license to connect to HQP Embedded. 

     

    Enabling Qobuz in HQPlayer is very easy. Make sure either HQP Desktop of Embedded is up and running on any computer on your network. Open the HQPlayer 4 Client that's included with the HQPlayer Desktop application download. GO to the Album View and click the dropdown arrow to display Qobuz. If you can't find album view, look on the edge of the window for options like Play View, Transport View, Album View. Click through them and you'll find what you need. 

     

     

    HQPlayer Select Qobuz.jpg

     

     

    Selecting Qobuz bring up this screen where you login.

    HQPlayer Qobuz Login.jpg

     

     

    After login you'll see this success screen. Click the Back button in blue. 

    HQPlayer Qobuz Login Success.jpg

     

     

    You'll be presented with your Qobuz favorited albums by default. As seen here.

    HQPlayer Qobuz Initial Screen.jpg

     

     

    Clicking the right hand dropdown you can see the Qobuz options. 

    HQPlayer Qobuz Interface Dropdown Selection.jpg

     

     

    One option that isn't in that list is search. To search Qobuz from within HQPlayer, I selected My Favorite Albums, then put my cursor in that box immediately after the word Albums. Then I deleted the text and entered my own search criteria. Here you can see my search for Neil young. 

     

    I'd love if there was an option to select search that cleared the search box automatically, but I can live with this for now. 

    HQPlayer Qobuz Search.jpg

     

     

    Here's a screenshot of playing an album from Qobuz to my HQPlayer Embedded server. It's really nice and full of more information that I expected. 

    HQPlayer Embedded Qobuz.jpg

     

     

    Here's a screenshot of my HQPlayer Desktop version, while streaming a different album from Qobuz. Nothing special, but I want to show it so people can see. More information is available here than when streaming from Qobuz to HQP through Roon. 

     

    HQPlayer Desktop Qobuz Info.jpg

     

     

     

    That's it for this glorious holiday gift from @Miska. I know many people who can now use HQPlayer as their sole user interface for playing music. It's pretty cool to have this as an option. Options are good.

     

     

     

     




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    "but incase you missed the full-court press by Jussi's PR team, marketing manager, and publicist"

    It's a thankless job, but I do my best. The pay is good though, I get the best sound quality!  I am really happy about this as it greatly increases the sound quality of streaming, and it simplifies the process. I have no doubt that Jussi will work out the few kinks in due time.

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    I did try it over the wknd (trial 4.x) and this added functionality is pretty cool for sure.  I did have issues going back to the "home" qobuz screen after playing a track or two from current album.  I had to restart the application for it to show up / display home screen (the pull downs were blank).  However, I'm sure it was me as I didn't spend a lot of time with it, I'll give it another go soon.

     

    I use my purchased 3.x version full time inside of roon, as I haven't figured out / committed to what 4.x version I would upgrade to should I do so (embedded, Linux, Win etc..)

     

    Am I to understand I can use HQP client on another device (my laptop) -  sort of like the remote control - while HQP desktop is on my high power wkst in another room doing the heavy lifting sending to NAA in audio rack?  Yes I'm a huge proponent of  RTFM 😄, I just haven't used 4.x enough

     

    I wish Jussi all the best with the ongoing dev of HQP,

     

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    2 minutes ago, Foggie said:

    Am I to understand I can use HQP client on another device (my laptop) -  sort of like the remote control - while HQP desktop is on my high power wkst in another room doing the heavy lifting sending to NAA in audio rack?

     

    Absolutely.

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    4 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

     

    Absolutely.

    OH SNAP!!!  Now we're cooking with gas.  Prob old news for many, but was unaware of that.  I'm now really, really, really even more interested 👍

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    Has anyone tried using HQP Client on a Surface Go device (or other Windows tablet)?

     

    Currently, I use an iPad to control Roon. It is my understanding that Client will not work on an iPad so I would need to switch to something like a Surface Go to use Client unless I am missing something.

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    1 hour ago, ericuco said:

    Has anyone tried using HQP Client on a Surface Go device (or other Windows tablet)?

    It will run on anything capable of running Windows or supported Linux versions.
    Win10 tablets usually run on Intel Atom or Intel Celeron low power consumption processors.
    As an example here is HQPlayer Client running on Atom Z8350 mini PC (there are tablets running on the same processor):


    image.thumb.png.c90476b01b7c178f3031f2b77764323d.png

     

    image.thumb.png.3c3b0db58aa99a91d95e72b560397b9e.png

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    1 minute ago, ted_b said:

    Jussi released this with no fanfare, no addtl revenue (i.e it's a free upgrade) and no early clues he was doing this.  Clearly a holiday gift!!  👍🙂🌲

    Gotta love it. 

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    I have downloaded 4.15.1 Desktop Client  (demo) to WIndows 11, but do not see Qobuz in the drop-down list, only library and HRA. I am connected to HQP Embedded on a Linux Server. Any idea why I might not be seeing the Qobuz option?

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    34 minutes ago, tdevitt said:

    I have downloaded 4.15.1 Desktop Client  (demo) to WIndows 11, but do not see Qobuz in the drop-down list, only library and HRA. I am connected to HQP Embedded on a Linux Server. Any idea why I might not be seeing the Qobuz option?

     

    Did you update your embedded as well?

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    14 minutes ago, AudioDoctor said:

     

    Did you update your embedded as well?

    No, I cannot do that as I do not have s/w update access to the Linux server (Antipodes). However HQPe is currently at 4.26.2. The Desktop localhost view shows no options (there is no library on the Windows server), neither Qobuz nor HRA. Tried on a Windows 8.5 laptop with same result. Will contact Signalyst.

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    Just now, tdevitt said:

    No, I cannot do that as I do not have s/w update access to the Linux server (Antipodes). However HQPe is currently at 4.26.2. The Desktop localhost view shows no options (there is no library on the Windows server), neither Qobuz nor HRA. Tried on a Windows 8.5 laptop with same result. Will contact Signalyst.

     

    Then you need to contact Antipodes and ask them to update the system to the latest HQP embedded version.

     

    However, if you have both the Desktop and Client running on the same PC, and you select Localhost, and then go to album view and try to select Qobuz it should appear.

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    On second thoughts, I wonder if HQP checks countries where Qobuz is available. New Zealand was added relatively recently, April this year.

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    .... and on third thought, highly unlikely. Have sent email to Jussi.

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    You have BOTH Client and Desktop open on the same PC like this?

     

    Screen Shot 2021-12-13 at 6.49.49 PM.png

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    I can have Client and Server windows open on the laptop, but the local server has no library so there is no point. Looking at the release notes on the Signalyst website it appears that the streaming access is in the client software anyway, and HQPe is not changed:

     

    Dec 12 2021 HQPlayer 4 Desktop 4.15.1 released.
    Small improvements and bug fixes. This is slow release available under "Other downloads" button.
    Dec 10 2021 HQPlayer 4 Desktop 4.15.0 released!
    Support for highresaudio.com Streaming and Qobuz streaming services in HQPlayer Client. New CPU core allocation algorithm. Preliminary support for 12th Gen Intel CPUs. Component updates and bug fixes.
    Dec 6 2021

    HQPlayer 4 Embedded 4.28.0 released!
    New CPU core allocation algorithm. Preliminary support for 12th Gen Intel CPUs. HQPlayer OS updated and now includes also ssh client and server (requires configuration). Component updates and bug fixes. 100th build for Ubuntu milestone!

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    I created a small library on the laptop, and can now see the Qobuz option and login when I use localhost. Still no luck with the remote HQPe server, even after rescanning the library, which is visible in the Desktop client.

     

    image.thumb.png.4f473e8703fd8139da1325420329736a.png

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    Interesting review. I tried HQP with ROON and never could get it to function-I probably didn't pay attention to the directions but thought I would try since I was a'lifetime subscriber'--another example of ROON screwing up and not helping. Is the independent form of HQP then easier to use I would be interested since  use Qobuz. hope the price is reasonable.

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    3 hours ago, AudioDoctor said:

     

    Did you update your embedded as well?

    You were right .... needs Embedded 4.28 for Qobuz. Many thanks for your help.

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    28 minutes ago, bobbmd said:

    Interesting review. I tried HQP with ROON and never could get it to function-I probably didn't pay attention to the directions but thought I would try since I was a'lifetime subscriber'--another example of ROON screwing up and not helping. Is the independent form of HQP then easier to use I would be interested since  use Qobuz. hope the price is reasonable.

     

    I don't find HQP hard to use. I find it pretty straightforward and simple. If you need help, ask me.

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    This is great news for HQPlayer - when will other streaming services be included, e.g Tidal?

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    The sound quality difference between listening to Qobuz directly through HQPlayer and listening to it through the HQPlayer plus Roon implementation is pretty dramatic in favor of direct.  I wonder how much of that is due to additional processing load put on the system by the HQP plus Roon combination and how much is just added (noise?) resulting from running the stream through both applications?  Have those of you running Roon on a NAS or a separate computer from the one running HQP noticed a similar improvement in sound quality?

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