HQPlayer's Network Audio Adapter

[zaumator]

Can somebody confirm that a { hqplayer -- linux naa (beaglebone) -- wave io card } is a working solution with native 4x dsd?

[Miska]

HQPlayer desktop 3.13.x, I think. Where I can download the beta version? I might try again to see BBB works or not.

 

I'm preparing 3.14 final, hopefully out by Monday...

[ds2k]

I'm preparing 3.14 final, hopefully out by Monday...

 

I googled and downloaded 3.14beta8 to try with your pre-built NAA BBB image. Same annoying issue. Do I have to give up BBB?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[audiodesignguide]

nautibuoy, can you contact me by email ? [email protected] or [email protected]

[jroyer]

I am new to HQPlayer. I like what I ear so far but to compare with my Audirvana+ setup on which I oversampler to DSD128 with no problem, I still need to figure out how to oversample to DSD128 with HQPlayer. Untill I crack the code on this one A+ sound better.

 

I am actually able to upsample to 5.6M with HQPlayer but something must be wrong in my setup because I eard noise or should I say 1 sec of sound then noise then 1 sec of sound etc...My DAC has no issue when I upsample to 5.6M using A+. ANyone has insights?

[zorntel]

If you are not running NAA I suggest you send this post to the hqplayer list

[ted_b]

If you are not running NAA I suggest you send this post to the hqplayer list

 

I have responded to him on another thread (he posted this on three threads, including this inappropriate one, being that he is not using NAA, as you point out.)

 

JRoyer, let's take this on the HQplayer filter guide one. I responded by asking a couple questions there. Thx

[tboooe]

Miska, just a curiosity question about the data transmitted from HQP to NAA. i have a managed switch that connect HQP (port 9), NAA (port 10), and NAS (port 1). I was looking at the TX and RX data for each port and there is a very big difference between the amount of data received on the HQP port (received from the HQP pc) and the amount of data transmitted from the NAA port (sent to NAA pc). Over a listening session, the amount of data sent from HQP was 4gb while the amount of data sent to NAA was 18gb! For comparison, the amount of data received on the NAS port(data sent from NAS) is very close the amount of data transmitted on the HPQ port (data sent to HQP pc).

 

I was wondering if you could help explain why there is such as big difference in the amount of data sent by HQP and the amount of data received by NAA. See attached.

 

[Miska]

It is quite hard to interpret the table without knowing which port is connected where. Note that the statistics is usually counter since start of the switch, so the figures also largely depend on what is counted as traffic, what else the particular device has running (including the OS) and uptimes of the particular device vs others.

 

The total number of all the ports should add up...

[tboooe]

It is quite hard to interpret the table without knowing which port is connected where. Note that the statistics is usually counter since start of the switch, so the figures also largely depend on what is counted as traffic, what else the particular device has running (including the OS) and uptimes of the particular device vs others.

 

The total number of all the ports should add up...

 

Thank you. Port 1 is NAS, port 9 is HQP and port 10 is NAA.

 

I agree all the data numbers should roughly add up which is why I was so surprised to see port 9 RX (from HQP) is so much less than port 10 TX ( to NAA).

[Miska]

Thank you. Port 1 is NAS, port 9 is HQP and port 10 is NAA.

 

I agree all the data numbers should roughly add up which is why I was so surprised to see port 9 RX (from HQP) is so much less than port 10 TX ( to NAA).

 

Which port is towards the internet? Maybe the traffic on that ports added on top makes the numbers match. The combined total for the switch (all ports) should add up, or otherwise the switch is doing something strange on it's own.

 

Also look out for packet loss, but usually retransmissions are from the sender node and not from the switch, but that depends on what layer the switch operates on.

[scan80269]

Just let you know this image worked on my Beaglebone Black https://www.signalyst.eu/bins/naa/images/naa-340-beaglebone.zip. But it is very annoying.

 

After image booted I can get HQPlayer desktop find the NAA Beaglebone Black, play music to it. However if I stop playing music then start playing music again then HQPlayer desktop can not find NAA BBB any more. I have to restart NAA BBB in order to play another music. The cycle lost-connection -> have-to-restart-NAA-BBB happens again and again each time I stop HQPlayer

 

I installed the newly available HQPlayer 3.14.0 today, and tried both Raspberry Pi3 and Beaglebone Black as NAA with the pre-built images, and did not encounter the above issue, so it looks like it's fixed.

 

Being a perpetual Linux newbie, however, I'd like some tips on how to get the NAA pre-built image for BBB loaded into the onboard eMMC flash for booting, and eliminate the need for the microSD card and the "holding down the boot switch while powering up" bootup procedure. Thanks.

[Miska]

Being a perpetual Linux newbie, however, I'd like some tips on how to get the NAA pre-built image for BBB loaded into the onboard eMMC flash for booting, and eliminate the need for the microSD card and the "holding down the boot switch while powering up" bootup procedure. Thanks.

 

You can either dump for example 4 MB of zeros to the eMMC to destroy the preloaded image (using the preloaded image itself), then it'll automatically boot from the microSD. Alternatively you can use Debian installation or similar on the microSD to dump the NAA image to the internal eMMC.

 

I have just zeroed out the eMMC on my BBB's so those always just boot from microSD (easier to deal with).

[jroyer]

Ok, after reading this thread and educating myself on HQPlayer and NAA I was able last night to setup HQPlayer on my PC with Roon and install NAA on my Windows Server 2012 R2 based music server which connects to my DAC. The PC running HQPlayer does not have a linear supply and currently using a cheap power cord... I really see the potential with this setup, albeit a bit more complex then my previous Mac Mini only setup going directly to my DAC.

 

My question is: when using a setup with NAA, how important is the PC running Roon and HQPlayer for the best audio result? By that I mean, I always use linear power supply on the computer I use to feed USB to my DAC and making sure I use a good power cord (such as Shunyata cable) and even plug my linear supply into my Shunyata Triton/Typhons combo - aka I treat my computer like any audio equipment... But when I use NAA since the main processing is done on a computer not in my audio setup (in this case in my office) and since the signal is sent through the Ethernet connection and on my home network, how important to the sound is the computer running the actual HQPlayer doing all the processing? Do folks running this setup (aka using NAA) what did you find improve/influence sound?

 

For example:

 

1- should I pay as much attention to power cord, linear power supply, USB cable and such for the computer in my office as much as I do for the computer running NAA and connecting to my DAC?

 

2- Does the network router "quality" have an influence here? Should I use a linear supply for it?

 

3- How about the Ethernet cable? I am using a standard cable from a computer shop...should I find a "better" Ethernet cable?

 

Any recommendation on what should be the optimum hardware setup to support my NAA configuration? I already made sure the computer using the NAA has a linear supply, it has a SOtM usb audio card to feed my DAC etc...

 

Thanks in advance for any insight. I hope these questions are relevant to this thread. If not please let me know where I should post this! I am only aiming to get the best possible result in a HQPlayer using NAA configuration...

[firedog]

IME, the PS to the NAA makes a difference, the PS to the Roon/HQP server not really. Makes sense, that's sort of the whole point of the NAA.

 

Router- I think the main issue is does the router inject noise back into the AC which can effect your other components. So I'd orient my efforts toward that.

 

Ethernet cable - controversial issue. At the least insure your cable meets spec. Many off the shelf ones don't, and some expensive audiophile ones also don't. BlueJeans are a relatively inexpensive one that does meet spec and come with test measurements to prove it; or find a fancier one that meets spec.

[jroyer]

IME, the PS to the NAA makes a difference, the PS to the Roon/HQP server not really. Makes sense, that's sort of the whole point of the NAA.

 

Router- I think the main issue is does the router inject noise back into the AC which can effect your other components. So I'd orient my efforts toward that.

 

Ethernet cable - controversial issue. At the least insure your cable meets spec. Many off the shelf ones don't, and some expensive audiophile ones also don't. BlueJeans are a relatively inexpensive one that does meet spec and come with test measurements to prove it; or find a fancier one that meets spec.

 

Alright thanks! I will start there. My NAA machine already has a linear supply but I will check my Ethernet cable...

[tboooe]

Alright thanks! I will start there. My NAA machine already has a linear supply but I will check my Ethernet cable...

It may be interesting for you if you are so inclined to check out fiber optic between the router and NAA. Doing so will theoretically remove any noise traveling down the ethernet cable. I recently added fiber and was pleased with the results, especially considering it cost me less than $75. I have since added a fiber switch and fiber to my pc running HQ Player as well. YMMV.

[jroyer]

It may be interesting for you if you are so inclined to check out fiber optic between the router and NAA. Doing so will theoretically remove any noise traveling down the ethernet cable. I recently added fiber and was pleased with the results, especially considering it cost me less than $75. I have since added a fiber switch and fiber to my pc running HQ Player as well. YMMV.

 

Great idea! Would you be able to point me to what I would need to buy and where could I source this? What sort of improvement did you get feeding NAA computer? Now you got me excited!

[tboooe]

Great idea! Would you be able to point me to what I would need to buy and where could I source this? What sort of improvement did you get feeding NAA computer? Now you got me excited!

Ha ha! My nerdy side got excited to try this tweak too even if it didnt result in any audio benefit. The result I got was a more relaxed sound, without necessarily losing dynamics. It is really hard to explain to but I found myself listening at higher volumes. Music just sounded more pleasing.

 

Anyway, check out this thread for more info:

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f22-networking-networked-audio-and-streaming/optical-network-configurations-24641/

 

In a nutshell you will need the following:

2 x FMC (I use TP-Link MC-220L)

2 x SFP (I bought some from ebay here)

2 x short ethernet cable (I use 1 ft Blue Jeans Cat6 cables)

1 x fiber cable (I bought some from ebay here)

 

Some people have also purchased Jameco linear wall wart power supplies for the FMC. I use my HDPlex linear.

 

I personally use multi-mode but you can use single-mode as well. For our application and distances multi-mode is fine. Let me know if you have any questions.

[jroyer]

Ha ha! My nerdy side got excited to try this tweak too even if it didnt result in any audio benefit. The result I got was a more relaxed sound, without necessarily losing dynamics. It is really hard to explain to but I found myself listening at higher volumes. Music just sounded more pleasing.

 

Anyway, check out this thread for more info:

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f22-networking-networked-audio-and-streaming/optical-network-configurations-24641/

 

In a nutshell you will need the following:

2 x FMC (I use TP-Link MC-220L)

2 x SFP (I bought some from ebay here)

2 x short ethernet cable (I use 1 ft Blue Jeans Cat6 cables)

1 x fiber cable (I bought some from ebay here)

 

Some people have also purchased Jameco linear wall wart power supplies for the FMC. I use my HDPlex linear.

 

I personally use multi-mode but you can use single-mode as well. For our application and distances multi-mode is fine. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

Thanks for taking the time to share this! A more relaxed sound is always good! I will start ordering stuff!

[bodiebill]

I have installed NAA on a minimal debian distribution, however NAA is not recognized by HQP. The error messages I get when I start the daemon:

 

networkaudiod] (22884): networkaudiod Copyright © 2011-2016 Jussi Laako / Signalyst. All rights reserved.

[networkaudiod] (22884): asoundlib version: 1.0.29

[networkaudiod] (22884): clSocket::Create(): socket(): Address family not supported by protocol

[networkaudiod] (22884): clSocket::Create(): socket(): Address family not supported by protocol

 

etc. etc. until I stop this with Ctrl-C; then it says:

 

^C[networkaudiod] (22884): ALSA backend uninitialized

 

Any clue what is the problem here?

[Miska]

I have installed NAA on a minimal debian distribution, however NAA is not recognized by HQP. The error messages I get when I start the daemon:

 

networkaudiod] (22884): networkaudiod Copyright © 2011-2016 Jussi Laako / Signalyst. All rights reserved.

[networkaudiod] (22884): asoundlib version: 1.0.29

[networkaudiod] (22884): clSocket::Create(): socket(): Address family not supported by protocol

[networkaudiod] (22884): clSocket::Create(): socket(): Address family not supported by protocol

 

etc. etc. until I stop this with Ctrl-C; then it says:

 

^C[networkaudiod] (22884): ALSA backend uninitialized

 

Any clue what is the problem here?

 

You don't have IPv6 support enabled for your network interface. Do for example following before starting networkaudiod:

export NETWORKAUDIOD_IPV6=0

 

This disables IPv6 dual-stack support in networkaudiod and falls back to IPv4-only.

[bodiebill]

You don't have IPv6 support enabled for your network interface. Do for example following before starting networkaudiod:

export NETWORKAUDIOD_IPV6=0

 

This disables IPv6 dual-stack support in networkaudiod and falls back to IPv4-only.

 

Thanks, Miska. Indeed no more error messages when I restart networkaudiod, and HQP discovers the IP address of the NAA PC.

However, HQP does not see my DAC (Combo384 Amanero), even though other players (LMS, JR MC22) do recognize it.

I will try again tomorrow. Suggestions welcome.

[Miska]

Thanks, Miska. Indeed no more error messages when I restart networkaudiod, and HQP discovers the IP address of the NAA PC.

However, HQP does not see my DAC (Combo384 Amanero), even though other players (LMS, JR MC22) do recognize it.

I will try again tomorrow. Suggestions welcome.

 

Does "aplay -l" show it on the list? Also make sure other processes are not keeping the device busy (LMS, JRMC or others).

[bodiebill]

Does "aplay -l" show it on the list? Also make sure other processes are not keeping the device busy (LMS, JRMC or others).

 

I closed all other players and rebooted the NAA machine.

 

"aplay -l" shows "no soundcards found".

 

However, the OS system page shows PCH as card 0 and the Amanero as card 1/usb device 0. Also, "cat \proc\asound\cards" does show the Amanero.