HQ Player

[sootshe]

I've just started using HQ & really love the sound & potential there.

 

I've got my head around some of the basics, but after reading about 30 pages in this thread, haven't come across any answers to my questions.....so.....

 

My settings are attached & I'm interested to try the DSD settings, but can't figure out how to do this.

 

Does my DAC have to be DSD capable??? I use a NAIM DAC & can update the firmware so that it will play DSD files. Should I do this?

 

Thanks for any help.

 

 

Screen Shot 2018-09-27 at 3.05.32 pm.png.pdf

[sootshe]

   16 hours ago,  sootshe said: 

My settings are attached & I'm interested to try the DSD settings, but can't figure out how to do this.

 

On Mac you would select "DoP" as "SDM Pack" option to enable DSD output. But you need a DSD capable DAC that can understand it.

 

OK...can follow that.

 

   16 hours ago,  sootshe said: 

Does my DAC have to be DSD capable??? I use a NAIM DAC & can update the firmware so that it will play DSD files. Should I do this?

 

Yes, it needs to be...

 

This one? Yes, that is the DAC I have.

https://www.naimaudio.com/product/dac

It is a true pure PCM DAC (BB PCM1704 R2R ladder chips) and DSD inputs are certainly converted to PCM first. So it is better to send PCM there instead of DSD... So not really worth updating the firmware for that use case. If you have DSD content, it is best to let HQPlayer convert it to PCM first before sending it to the DAC.

 

I don't have any DSD files - they are all RedBook CD's - 16/44.1 - ripped to both WAV & AIFF.

I hear people talking about upsampling their files to DSD & getting much better SQ. but maybe that's not the best way to go with my DAC.

 

In short, I think your reply is that I shouldn't bother updating the firmware & use HQ in PCM mode???

 

Sorry to be a pain, but this is very foreign language to me & hard for me to get my head around. I have tried all the other major players - A+, Pure Music, Amarra & HQ is by far, easily the best sounding of them all. 

 

Thanks for your efforts. 

[sootshe]

17 minutes ago, Miska said:

 

Yes, at least not for getting DSD support for use with HQPlayer. With HQPlayer better stick to PCM output mode in this case. The firmware update may bring some other benefits though, depending on what it exactly contains apart from DSD input support. But without knowing details of the update it is hard to say.

 

Your DAC is technically sort of rare piece these days in a way that it uses pure PCM throughout to the actual conversion stage. That's all fine, it just means that it is better used in PCM mode.

Thanks for the clarification, I really appreciate it.

 

The NAIM website says that the update for the DAC also gives improvements to the sound, so I don't think I've got anything to lose by doing the update.

 

Really enjoying the sound of HP & it will only continue to improve as I experiment with filters, etc. Where most of the other players are coloured in some way or other, I would describe HQ  as very neutral with fine rendition of detail & resolution & very smooth. Soundstaging is exceptional & contributes greatly to the listening experience. 

 

Many. many thanks.

17 minutes ago, Miska said:

 

 

[sootshe]

Some help with album art please.

 

I'm using a Mac with HQ Desktop.

 

I don't see any album art when I'm using "full screen/touch mode" & on the "album view" screen.

The album art for each album is there when I select play view.

 

Is this how the program is supposed to work?

[sootshe]

14 hours ago, Miska said:

 

At the moment, the cover flow requires a detached cover image. So a file that contains either "cover" or "folder" in file name of jpg or png file and located in same folder where the tracks are. Most download purchases come with both detached and embedded cover art. Some few even have different embedded cover art for each track...

 

However, I could probably make HQPlayer extract embedded cover art to detached files automatically...

 I tried this - see attached & a number of other variations & still don't get cover art in cover flow.

The album art file is 26Kb.

What am I doing wrong?

[sootshe]

39 minutes ago, sootshe said:

 I tried this - see attached & a number of other variations & still don't get cover art in cover flow.

The album art file is 26Kb.

 

OK....so I've figured it out.......I forgot to scan the tree after adding the cover art files.....works a treat. Fantastic.

 

Luckily I only have just over 400 albums to do. 

[sootshe]

1 hour ago, lucretius said:

 

I have detached cover images for both .flac and .dsf files.  Only the images for .flac files show up in Touch mode. What am I doing wrong?

Do you have the detached files in the same folder as the album tracks? named as "cover".....as JPG or png files?

 

If this is all OK, try deleting all the library & scan it again. 

[sootshe]

I just tried to upgrade my HQ Player Desktop to the latest version. I currently have HQPlayer 3 Desktop & downloaded the new HQPlayer 4 Desktop, but obviously this is not going to work as a stand alone player.

 

Is the stand alone player not available anymore? 

What do I do if I have to reload my computer or get a new computer?

 

Many thanks,

John

[sootshe]

13 hours ago, Miska said:

 

It is still "standalone" player, but split into two parts, server and client. You can run both in the same computer as well.

 

You can also use the server as standalone player in various ways, just browser for the built-in library has been split out as a separate client. Everything else is as it used to be.

 

OK...so I have both "Client" & "Desktop" opened, but can't get my library into the software. Do I need to have both of these running?

 

I usually  go to ....file...library...scan, with "structure only" selected, but this doesn't work. 

 

If I go to ....import library....it will let me import a single album, but not the whole library, but it still won't play.

 

When I enter my license key it is still in evaluation mode.....do I have to purchase this software again?

 

Regards,

John

[sootshe]

27 minutes ago, Le Concombre Masqué said:

yes you have to pay for 4

go through "browse" to import a single album.

 

Thanks for clearing that up.

 

Will look at the opinions on "4" before purchasing,as I'm very happy with "3".

 

I only use PCM & upsample, so DSD & other features aren't really of interest.

[sootshe]

On 5/9/2019 at 4:10 PM, Le Concombre Masqué said:

yes you have to pay for 4

go through "browse" to import a single album.

 

So I've made a little progress.

 

Went through browse & imported 1 album.....still won't play.

When I press play, it shows the album loading, but doesn't play. 

 

Also, I can't get to the settings at the bottom of the screen in preferences....see attached. 

 

[sootshe]

39 minutes ago, ckpiv said:

Click the green Maximum button on the preference pane to expand to full screen. Your output and input devices cannot be the same. 

 

Yes, expanded to full screen, but it just overlays the part I can't see over the top of the other one & you can't figure out what you're adjusting. 

 

I changed the output & input to different ones & it just reverts back to the same. 

[sootshe]

58 minutes ago, ckpiv said:

Click the green Maximum button on the preference pane to expand to full screen. Your output and input devices cannot be the same. 

 

I was trying to get this to work just with the stand alone computer through the built in speakers.

When I connect the computer into my system & select my DAC it works fine.

 

Still can't get the preferences panel to show the full screen, but can work around that.

 

Sorry for wasting everyone's time.

 

I have to say that this is absolutely the best sounding software I have ever heard. I was a long time Amarra user & when I think of the amount of dollars invested in that, HQP is truly a real bargain. Couple that with the best support in the business from Miska & it's an unbeatable package.

 

Thanks Miska for upgrading our system for a mere pittance.

[sootshe]

Can someone enlighten me on the new filters in HQP4?

 

With HQP3 we had in PCM  - "Filter - Dither - Sample Rate".

 

Now we have - Filter 1X - Filter Nx - Dither - Sample Rate.

 

What is the difference between Filter 1X & Filter Nx? Do you set them to the same values?

 

Thanks.

[sootshe]

4 minutes ago, Miska said:

 

What are you using as a front-end? Because most front-ends display this information. I can also add it as display to the main window, that is not a problem.

 

 

I also cannot see this information anymore. 

 

I use NAIM DAC, Berkeley ALPHA USB, with MacBook Pro.

[sootshe]

9 minutes ago, AnotherSpin said:

 

You can check previous pages of this thread, it was explained in details. 1x for redbook, Nx for hi-res.

 

So if I upsample to 192, do I use NX filters & set 1X to none?

....or does it mean if all my files are RedBook, I use 1X & set NX to none?

[sootshe]

21 minutes ago, Miska said:

 

Don't set either to none. You can use same filter for both to have same behavior v3 had.

 

HQPlayer will automatically select between the two choices  depending on your source. For RedBook and 48k sources, 1x filter is used, for any source rates above these, Nx filter is used.

 

 

Thanks Miska.....too easy.

 

And thanks also for a great program & by the way, I love the client interface, nice & simple to use.