HQPlayer's Network Audio Adapter

[sondale]

I would like to try NAA on a Cubietruck - is this possible? If not I can resurrect a Via Eden board and load a Debian release on it.

 

I have not yet purchased HQPlayer - would that mean I cannot run NAA?

[Miska]

I would like to try NAA on a Cubietruck - is this possible?

 

If you install Debian on it and then the "armhf" binary package of networkaudiod, it should work.

 

I have not yet purchased HQPlayer - would that mean I cannot run NAA?

 

Trial version of HQPlayer can be used with NAA. But NAA is useless alone without HQPlayer.

[sondale]

Thanks Miska,

 

I have now loaded Debian Wheezy on the Cubietruck followed by networkaudiod. HQPlayer on my Mac Mini (2009) into the CT into a Bushmaster II dac - sounds very promising.

 

A few wrinkles - firstly when loading networkaudiod it could not find linux-image-rt-686-pae (nor any derivatives that I could find) however this did not seem to have any effect.

 

With the combo above I get some dropouts (hardly noticeable) if I upsample to 192/24, none evident at 44.1/16. Not sure whether this is the Mac or the CT but I will investigate tomorrow. I also noticed a very small gap when playing some Beethoven Sonatas where the music is continuous but there is a change of track.

 

Whatever, this setup sounds very good over headphones, so I will put it into my main system tomorrow and see how the network stands up!

[sondale]

Some people have reported problems with switches and ARM based NAA devices; today I connected both a Mac and a Ubuntu machine to a Cubietruck (acting as NAA) with no problems. The PCs are connected to a Netgear switch to a TPLink router to a Netgear switch thence to the CT.

 

The reason for the minor dropouts reported earlier appears to be the Mac mini not being always capable of up sampling to 192/24, I am going to reconfigure my NUC PC to run Ubuntu Studio (msata drive and 16GB memory should do the trick).

 

The NAA is working beautifully on the headless CubieTruck.

[planner]

Should I be using the better computer as NAA or the processing PC?

[4est]

The processing PC should be the powerful one. The NAA can (and should?) be a simpler/lower powered device.

Should I be using the better computer as NAA or the processing PC?

[vgrubb]

Just curious whether I can use a USB->SPDIF converter with an SOtM SMS100 as the NAA. Jesus wasn't sure if this would work with HQPlayer.

[planner]

I think it depends on the type USB convertor. I have tried Oppo 105D USB > SPDIF and DSpeaker Anti-mode Dual Core 2.0 USB > SPDIF with no issues. But no luck with NuForce U192S.

[4est]

This would be a question for SOtM or Jesus of Sonore more than one for Miska. With that said, I have used mine with several USB>i2s devices which are essentially the same thing.

Just curious whether I can use a USB->SPDIF converter with an SOtM SMS100 as the NAA. Jesus wasn't sure if this would work with HQPlayer.

[Geoffrey Armstrong]

This would be a question for SOtM or Jesus of Sonore more than one for Miska. With that said, I have used mine with several USB>i2s devices which are essentially the same thing.

 

I'm using an M2Tech HiFace 2 with mine and it works just fine with HQP

[vgrubb]

Jesus said it should work fine, but I should check with Jussi. I'm considering a Hydra-Z and I will eventually use the I2s output.

[Miska]

Just curious whether I can use a USB->SPDIF converter with an SOtM SMS100 as the NAA. Jesus wasn't sure if this would work with HQPlayer.

 

Pretty much any audio device recognized by SMS100 should work. When you use USB->SPDIF converter with HQPlayer, I recommend using the "DAC Bits" setting to tell the how many bits the DAC is actually capable of. SPDIF doesn't have a return channel, so DAC cannot report it back. In any case it cannot be more than 24-bit since SPDIF cannot pass more in normal cases. Some XMOS based devices like MuFi V-Link192 claim 32-bits and thus the setting should be set to 24 or less to avoid truncation by the USB->SPDIF converter.

[kodric]

Dear Miska,

 

I am interested in the HQ Player/NAA combination setup. I would like to install a demo Win version of HQ Player on my HP Probook. Whereas the role of the NAA would be played by an Atom (DN2800MT) PC. I hope I could do the Win installation without much issues. However, I cannot get any documentation how the NAA should be set up/installed. I have read some users were talking about a bootable USB-drive that you prepared for them. Is there some ISO for NAA included in installation demo version package? What would be the simplest way to convert the PC into NAA?

 

Thank you very much.

 

Best regards.

[daniel_the_swede]

Multichannel works too, given that the DAC supports it.

 

 

I'm guessing DSD over HDMI to a compatible receiver is not possible as usual?

 

I have a Pioneer SC-LX90 connected to SACD-player that sends DSD over HDMI for decoding in the

receiver. Theoretically it should be possible to forward the DSD stream from a computer too, but it

seems there is no support in the audio drivers to do this.

 

Thanks

[Miska]

I'm guessing DSD over HDMI to a compatible receiver is not possible as usual?

 

I have a Pioneer SC-LX90 connected to SACD-player that sends DSD over HDMI for decoding in the

receiver. Theoretically it should be possible to forward the DSD stream from a computer too, but it

seems there is no support in the audio drivers to do this.

 

Yes, audio drivers are the problem. And I'm not sure if the used interfaces even support DSD or if the hardware is hard coded to PCM (GPUs and co-chips)...

[daniel_the_swede]

Yes, audio drivers are the problem. And I'm not sure if the used interfaces even support DSD or if the hardware is hard coded to PCM (GPUs and co-chips)...

 

Alright. Thanks for a quick response and merry christmas!

[Superdad]

Hi Miska:

Hope you are well. Any news about when HQP will have an update to allow users to specify (in the desktop app) the IP address of where to find the NAA? As you have learned, I am not the only one for whom pairing has been an issue. Would be great if the live DNS requirement was not the only means of discovering the NAA. The NAA reports its IP address when it boots, so just let us tell that to HQP. I know actual implementation of that is not as simple as I make it sound, but you are a VERY clever fellow--and I know you would appreciate wider adoption of NAA set ups.

 

Thanks and regards,

--Alex C.

[bibo01]

Dear Miska,

 

I am interested in the HQ Player/NAA combination setup. I would like to install a demo Win version of HQ Player on my HP Probook. Whereas the role of the NAA would be played by an Atom (DN2800MT) PC. I hope I could do the Win installation without much issues. However, I cannot get any documentation how the NAA should be set up/installed. I have read some users were talking about a bootable USB-drive that you prepared for them. Is there some ISO for NAA included in installation demo version package? What would be the simplest way to convert the PC into NAA?

 

Thank you very much.

 

Best regards.

Step by step instructions:

Index of /naa-install

[shadowlight]

HQPlayer Embedded separates the player into headless server and touch-optimized GUIs. The GUI works also with mouse, but is designed specifically for touch. It is probably most convenient with Windows 8 (non-RT) tablets. It supports both 4:3 and 16:9 display ratios with different layouts. Embedded server uses same configuration file as the Desktop version and is usually most convenient to initially configure using the Desktop version smaller modifications can be made by hand with text editor.

 

Miska,

 

I am in the process of trying out various options with HQPlayer and had a question on the above statement. Planning to have NAA setup connected to DAC in the listening room. The server will be sitting in the basement connected via gigabit wired connection. Will the HP Windows 8 tablet be good enough for the remote portion if I go the embedded route. Initial thought was to run HQPlayer on Win 8.1 or Win 2012R2 server and use RDP to manage but if I can run embedded on the server and use the Win tablet to manage configuration and control it would be great.

 

Will 801.11n be good enough for DSD (128-bit) traffic or should I use 802.11ac? I have option to run both.

Thx

[jabbr]

You need Windows and ASIO driver to get DSD256 on iDSD Nano. Same thing for DSD512 on iDSD Micro...

 

For DSD512 on iDSD Micro do I need Windows as desktop (HQPlayer) or for NAA? Was is best hardware for NAA?

[Miska]

For DSD512 on iDSD Micro do I need Windows as desktop (HQPlayer) or for NAA? Was is best hardware for NAA?

 

Upcoming NAA 3.x will allow DSD512 with iDSD Micro. HQPlayer can be running on any OS, only the NAA matters.

[Miska]

Will the HP Windows 8 tablet be good enough for the remote portion if I go the embedded route.

 

Atom can probably do upsampling to higher PCM rates, but not necessarily even DSD64. Core i5 and i7 tablets like Surface Pro 3 can manage more. All the processing is done where the HQPlayer runs, so the CPU there matters. NAA doesn't consume much CPU time, so pretty much anything goes.

 

Will 801.11n be good enough for DSD (128-bit) traffic or should I use 802.11ac? I have option to run both.

 

Faster is usually better, but 802.11n has been fine for me. DSD128 in stereo is just around 12 Mbps so it is not so heavy. Channel / frequency selection and planning the access point location for wireless is important, especially in crowded areas.

 

We have only one other WLAN network visible so there's no congestion.

[YashN]

Ok, so this should work, right?

 

Mac OS X Mavericks running HQ Player -> Ethernet -> NAA on Raspbian with NAD -> USB -> DAC

 

I can't find the NAA in this configuration.

 

Ethernet cable is a normal one, not a cross-cable, correct?

 

Upcoming NAA 3.x will allow DSD512 with iDSD Micro. HQPlayer can be running on any OS, only the NAA matters.

[Superdad]

Ethernet cable is a normal one, not a cross-cable, correct?

 

You will have to go through an Ethernet switch and/or router. HQP desktop won't find the NAA on the network unless there is a DNServer running. (I asked Miska about this again in post #192 above; Hopefully he is planning to allow manual IP address entry--on player side--to tell it what address to look at for an NAA.)

 

P.S. Modern Macs--and probably PC Ethernet boards--have not required crossover EN cables for many years now. The computer/interface figures out what it is connected to and swaps its signals around accordingly.

[Le Concombre Masqué]

SuperDad claimed the superiority of Mac mini over Cubox as NAA and second hand a Mac mini might even be cheaper :

is it possible to get an image for Mac Mini?

would I need a keyboard and screen to install Debian etc or will i see the NAA through my MACbook pro to do the install ?

 

 

which is the oldest/cheapest Mac mini that would do ? is a G4 OK or should it be Intel, is 512 Mo of RAM enough?

 

 

What would your ideal/suggested NAA be ?

I own a usb to Ethernet adaptor from a defunct MB air ; I understand I need a thunderbolt to Ethernet adaptor for my MBPro R ; is it as kosher as a native Ethernet port in terms of isolation and whatever benefits are expected from going the NAA route ?