HQ Player

[Account Closed]

Jussi, I want to try HQPlayer OS on my i5 8400 machine that has a ASUS Z370I MB. Could you please point me to the correct image.

 

I currently have a Desktop license for this machine and I am now running Desktop under Jammy (22.04 with LL Kernel). Would using your custom Kernel for Jammy be helpful? I have two Sonore NAA units. I do not use USB direct. I could not find the custom Kernel on your site but I probably just don't know where to look. I do remember that it might not be necessary unless direct USB is used.

 

Lastly, would there be any benefit to updating the Jammy Kernel to one of the latest? Jammy is on the 5.15 series but 5.19.3 is the latest. I don't think there would be any benefit but I wanted to get your opinion.

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Miska]

4 hours ago, bobflood said:

Jussi, I want to try HQPlayer OS on my i5 8400 machine that has a ASUS Z370I MB. Could you please point me to the correct image.

 

x64avx2 is the correct build for such hardware.

 

4 hours ago, bobflood said:

I currently have a Desktop license for this machine and I am now running Desktop under Jammy (22.04 with LL Kernel). Would using your custom Kernel for Jammy be helpful? I have two Sonore NAA units. I do not use USB direct. I could not find the custom Kernel on your site but I probably just don't know where to look. I do remember that it might not be necessary unless direct USB is used.

 

The stock lowlatency kernel is fine when you are using a NAA for output. At NAA side it would be beneficial again.

 

4 hours ago, bobflood said:

Lastly, would there be any benefit to updating the Jammy Kernel to one of the latest? Jammy is on the 5.15 series but 5.19.3 is the latest. I don't think there would be any benefit but I wanted to get your opinion.

 

I don't think so, unless you have some specific reason. 5.15 is latest long term Linux kernel version with projected EOL at Oct 2023:

https://www.kernel.org/category/releases.html

 

I personally prefer to stick to these long term ones.

 

If you like to stay more bleeding edge, then Fedora is better distribution.

 

[dericchan1]

Hi Miska, a buddy of mine has a AQUA LA SCALA MKII DAC that supports USB PCM 24 bit / 384kHz – DSD64, DSD128 via DoP. 

Oversampling rate - 1x (does that mean no oversampling?)

 

He took home a AQUA LINQ (with built-in HQPlayer module) for auction yesterday and was absolutely blown away by the sound quality compared to his MELCO N10EX server app.

 

Before he committed to spend $10k on an AQUA LINQ, he wants to figure out if its the AQUA LINQ doing the magic OR it mainly has to do with HQPlayer magic and the sound quality he gets can be achieved with a standard HQPlayer desktop/NAA set up. 

 

I agreed to bring over my HQPlayer desktop, my network switch, and my NAA (a raspberry pi 4B with intona galvanic isolator) to his place to carry out a trial. Obviously if he's happy with the sound quality, its a no brainer he would purchase the HQPlayer license and go the DIY route instead.

 

Do you know anything about his AQUA LA SCALA DAC that can recommend a optimal setting - should we do PCM playback @ 24/384 with LNS15 shaper or perhaps go DSD128 with 7ECV2? 

 

Also, do you know what HQPlayer setting/filters are being used in the built-in module of the AQUA LinQ?

 

Thanks

Deric

[ericuco]

1 hour ago, dericchan1 said:

Oversampling rate - 1x (does that mean no oversampling?)

 

Per the HQP manual for the Settings panel:

 

"Filter/oversampling selection for “1x” rates covers source sampling rates below 50 kHz, so called base rates. Filter selection for “Nx” rates covers everything else above the 1x rates."

 

Base rates are generally 44.1 and 48 files.

[dericchan1]

24 minutes ago, ericuco said:

 

Per the HQP manual for the Settings panel:

 

"Filter/oversampling selection for “1x” rates covers source sampling rates below 50 kHz, so called base rates. Filter selection for “Nx” rates covers everything else above the 1x rates."

 

Base rates are generally 44.1 and 48 files.

Thanks I saw that on the Aqua dac page so it means the Aqua dac only upsamples redbook contents?

[StreamFidelity]

1 hour ago, dericchan1 said:

Also, do you know what HQPlayer setting/filters are being used in the built-in module of the AQUA LinQ?

 

You can call the configuration. This is described in the Setting up LinQ | Core and Roon Manual. 

 

In the example picture you can see the filter "poly-sinc-shrt-mp-2s" and the simple modulator "ASDM5" for DSD64/128. Of course, the LinQ does not have the processing power of a desktop PC.  

 

But computing power alone is not decisive. Possibly the LinQ Bridge fits technically very well to the AQUA LA SCALA MKII DAC. 

I would be interested in the result of the comparison. 😉

[dericchan1]

15 minutes ago, StreamFidelity said:

 

You can call the configuration. This is described in the Setting up LinQ | Core and Roon Manual. 

 

In the example picture you can see the filter "poly-sinc-shrt-mp-2s" and the simple modulator "ASDM5" for DSD64/128. Of course, the LinQ does not have the processing power of a desktop PC.  

 

But computing power alone is not decisive. Possibly the LinQ Bridge fits technically very well to the AQUA LA SCALA MKII DAC. 

I would be interested in the result of the comparison. 😉

But the picture also show “none” as default for pcm playback.

 

does it mean hqplayer is not doing any digital processing for pcm?

[stefano_mbp]

27 minutes ago, dericchan1 said:

does it mean hqplayer is not doing any digital processing for pcm?

… on the first page of the manual:

”The HQPlayer-based LinQ Core remains true to the philosophy of aqua brand, it is not aimed at digital signal processing.”

.

the module is a solution (trick) to not being “obliged” to obtain the Roon Ready certification

[Miska]

2 hours ago, StreamFidelity said:

But computing power alone is not decisive. Possibly the LinQ Bridge fits technically very well to the AQUA LA SCALA MKII DAC. 

I would be interested in the result of the comparison. 😉

 

Of course you can get just LinQ with NAA module, without the HQPlayer module, and run HQPlayer with full DSP elsewhere.

 

I have just LinQ with NAA module (no Aqua DACs though). So I don't have experience with the HQPlayer module part.

 

I guess this is what Aqua recommends primarily if you'd like to use HQPlayer DSP features. Although the HQPlayer module should be able to do at least basic PCM upsampling.

 

[dericchan1]

1 hour ago, Miska said:

 

Of course you can get just LinQ with NAA module, without the HQPlayer module, and run HQPlayer with full DSP elsewhere.

 

I have just LinQ with NAA module (no Aqua DACs though). So I don't have experience with the HQPlayer module part.

 

I guess this is what Aqua recommends primarily if you'd like to use HQPlayer DSP features. Although the HQPlayer module should be able to do at least basic PCM upsampling.

 

@Miska

so with the LinQ being used as a NAA and running your hqplayer processing elsewhere, did you find it sound better than say using a upboard?

 

i suppose I will try pcm 24/384 with gauss for lns15 with my buddy’s aqua dac and see how it compares then

[Miska]

27 minutes ago, dericchan1 said:

@Miska

so with the LinQ being used as a NAA and running your hqplayer processing elsewhere, did you find it sound better than say using a upboard?

 

i suppose I will try pcm 24/384 with gauss for lns15 with my buddy’s aqua dac and see how it compares then

 

Since I can only use S/PDIF or AES/EBU output from the LinQ, it is hard to say. But I would assume it would be a very good combo with Aqua DAC and that also allows 384k rate outputs.

 

[CAMSHAFT]

Has anyone figured out DIRAC Live 3 with HQP?  I found VB Audio virtual strings but they didn't work.

 

@Miska?

[Miska]

39 minutes ago, CAMSHAFT said:

Has anyone figured out DIRAC Live 3 with HQP?  I found VB Audio virtual strings but they didn't work.

 

@Miska?

 

I think best way is to find a way to route Dirac output to HQPlayer input. If nothing else, hardware route should work.

 

[Schafheide]

At present I use Pipeline for one pair of headphones.

How can I set up Pipeline, so that I can setup for a second pair of headphones and then select the headphones that I want?

[Miska]

3 hours ago, Schafheide said:

At present I use Pipeline for one pair of headphones.

How can I set up Pipeline, so that I can setup for a second pair of headphones and then select the headphones that I want?

 

You can save different settings as profiles, and then you can switch these profiles on the fly.

 

I have for example profiles called "Solitaire P" and "HD800", in addition I also have a profiles called "Empty" and "Speakers".

 

Remember that the profile you have loaded at the moment you click "OK" from the dialog, will be saved as default startup profile. It is also the unnamed one you have unless you have created profiles.

 

[Schafheide]

12 hours ago, Miska said:

 

You can save different settings as profiles, and then you can switch these profiles on the fly.

 

I have for example profiles called "Solitaire P" and "HD800", in addition I also have a profiles called "Empty" and "Speakers".

 

Remember that the profile you have loaded at the moment you click "OK" from the dialog, will be saved as default startup profile. It is also the unnamed one you have unless you have created profiles.

 

Thank you.

Profile #1 uses channels 1 & 2. Should profile #2 use different channels?

[Miska]

50 minutes ago, Schafheide said:

Thank you.

Profile #1 uses channels 1 & 2. Should profile #2 use different channels?

 

No, unless you have reason to. In this regular stereo DAC case I'm using same channels for all profiles.

 

On Merging Hapi with 8 output channels, I use different channel pairs for different output devices. So I can run all the corrections in parallel simultaneously.

 

[CAMSHAFT]

On 8/24/2022 at 3:22 PM, Miska said:

 

I think best way is to find a way to route Dirac output to HQPlayer input. If nothing else, hardware route should work.

 

I am using the software version. 

[GMG]

On 8/24/2022 at 11:42 PM, CAMSHAFT said:

Has anyone figured out DIRAC Live 3 with HQP?  I found VB Audio virtual strings but they didn't work.

 

@Miska?

You can use Dirac with HQPlayer by looping Dirac out and back into REW using VB audio hifi cable. You will be able to capture the impulse response of Dirac and export it to WAV to be used in HQPlayer. 
it is a cumbersome process and maybe some loss is introduced. 
 

I switched to “Focus Fidelity”. 
very easy to use, easy export of the filter to be used in HQP or any other sw. It is also cheaper than Dirac.
best of all: I prefer the results. 

[CAMSHAFT]

22 minutes ago, GMG said:

You can use Dirac with HQPlayer by looping Dirac out and back into REW using VB audio hifi cable. You will be able to capture the impulse response of Dirac and export it to WAV to be used in HQPlayer. 
it is a cumbersome process and maybe some loss is introduced. 
 

I switched to “Focus Fidelity”. 
very easy to use, easy export of the filter to be used in HQP or any other sw. It is also cheaper than Dirac.
best of all: I prefer the results. 

Thanks! Ill try that tonight.

 

Is Focus Fidelity "live" like Dirac or is a convolution file like Rephase?

[GMG]

25 minutes ago, CAMSHAFT said:

Thanks! Ill try that tonight.

 

Is Focus Fidelity "live" like Dirac or is a convolution file like Rephase?

Not sure I understand what you mean by “live”. 
to the best of my understanding Dirac is a convolution like any other. They just wrap it in a “virtual sound card” which is performing this convolution. maybe I’m wrong and the “live” means something else, but who cares as long as convolution with other sw provides the same or better end result 🙂 

[CAMSHAFT]

20 minutes ago, GMG said:

Not sure I understand what you mean by “live”. 
to the best of my understanding Dirac is a convolution like any other. They just wrap it in a “virtual sound card” which is performing this convolution. maybe I’m wrong and the “live” means something else, but who cares as long as convolution with other sw provides the same or better end result 🙂 

Dirac is active plugin/program that runs in the background. It is not a convolution file loaded in the HQP program.

[Ngregson]

Has anyone had problems with HQPlayer causing output on a Mac to switch from an attached DAC to the default internal sound?

 

I have Roon running on a dedicated Roon Nucleus which feeds 2 separate instances of HQPlayer on two separate Macs, a Mac Mini M1 in my second system, and a MacBook Air in my main system.  In both cases the Macs are feeding USB DACs: a Sound Devices USBPre2 in my second system, and a Holo May in my main system.  Both systems were running perfectly until a couple of months ago, when my second system started glitching.  For some reason, whenever I tell Roon to stream to HQPlayer on the Mac Mini, the Mac Mini output (as observed in the Audio/MIDI app) switches from the USBPre2 to the default Mac Mini Speakers.

 

I don’t have this problem when playing an audio file in the Mac Mini natively (ie non Roon/HQPlayer), ie. It will play through the USBPre2.  I have tried switching out to a different USB DAC and the problem still occurs.  I have rebooted the Mac several times, upgraded to the latest version on HQPlayer (4.19.2) and the latest MacOS software (Monterey 12.5.1) but nothing seems to work.  Have anyone come across anything like this before?  I emailed Jussi but got no response.  Any ideas?

 

Thanks, Nigel

[Miska]

2 hours ago, CAMSHAFT said:

Dirac is active plugin/program that runs in the background. It is not a convolution file loaded in the HQP program.

 

It is functionally equivalent. It behaves just like EQ or convolution plugin. Which means it imposes various limitations compared to running EQ or convolution "live" inside HQPlayer.

 

[Spacecase]

Can NAA be made to release the DAC after a timeout?  This would make switching between squeezebox, airplay, and hqplayer easier / better.  Currently I have to switch HQPlayer to ALSA mode so it disconnects from NAA.