HQ Player

[nautibuoy]

I only use HQPlayer for upsampling to DSD256 and output is fed, via an NAA device, to a Low Pass filter=based DSD 'converter' so no PCM capability.

 

I am currently 'driving' HQPlayer through Muso and tend not to interact with HQPlayer directly, however, if I forget to turn things on in the correct order and cause HQPlayer to error because it cannot find the expected NAA/decoder the output on the main screen defaults back to PCM and I have to access the HQPlayer main screen to reset to SDM (DSD) - something else to remember and inconvenient if you're using remote control.

 

Is it possible to configure HQPlayer for a DSD-output only scenario by disabling PCM or locking the output option to SDM (DSD)?

 

Ray

[nautibuoy]

I only use HQPlayer for upsampling to DSD256 and output is fed, via an NAA device, to a Low Pass filter-based DSD 'converter' so no PCM capability.

 

I am currently 'driving' HQPlayer through Muso and tend not to interact with HQPlayer directly, however, if I forget to turn things on in the correct order and cause HQPlayer to error because it cannot find the expected NAA/decoder the output on the main screen defaults back to PCM and I have to access the HQPlayer main screen to reset to SDM (DSD) - something else to remember and inconvenient if you're using remote control.

 

Is it possible to configure HQPlayer for a DSD-output only scenario by disabling PCM or locking the output option to SDM (DSD)?

 

Ray

[ridom]

Hello again guys. Is anybody able to give me some clues about my concerns explained below? Many yhanks again, Ricardo

Hello. I am still with the trial version, and pretty impressed with the sound quality of HQP. But before going definitively onboard I would want to know more about some issues.

I have a PS Audio Direct Stream with Bridge II, a Mac Mini mid 2010, a Lenovo NAS and a Surface book. I am now using either Jriver thru Ethernet and the PSA bridge, or Roon via USB. I would prefer to keep on using the bridge. So my main question is if I would be able to use HQP with a NAA seated on the mac mini and the main HQP program managed by the Surface book, everything hooked up via RJ45. The other option could imply to "install" the NAA on the bridge and the HQ player on the Surface, avoiding therefore the use of the mac mini computer. Are either or those options feasible? If yes, how? Or if not, which would the alternative for keep on using the bridge of the Direct Stream? Regards, Ricardo.

[Miska]

Is it possible to configure HQPlayer for a DSD-output only scenario by disabling PCM or locking the output option to SDM (DSD)?

 

HQPlayer recognizes the situation where ASIO driver reports device to support only DSD and no PCM at all. But if the driver claims PCM support, then in some cases the output mode may get reverted since PCM is the default.

[nautibuoy]

HQPlayer recognizes the situation where ASIO driver reports device to support only DSD and no PCM at all. But if the driver claims PCM support, then in some cases the output mode may get reverted since PCM is the default.

 

Thanks Miska. I use a JLSounds USB board, plugged into a Debian Stretch-based NAA so it will have PCM capability, though I never use it. It would be nice to be able to set DSD as the default?

 

Or perhaps I could do something in ALSA...

[shadowlight]

Folks who are using JLSounds USB board which one is it? Is it the I2SoverUSB or the OEM Board?

[bibo01]

Hello. I am still with the trial version, and pretty impressed with the sound quality of HQP. But before going definitively onboard I would want to know more about some issues.

I have a PS Audio Direct Stream with Bridge II, a Mac Mini mid 2010, a Lenovo NAS and a Surface book. I am now using either Jriver thru Ethernet and the PSA bridge, or Roon via USB. I would prefer to keep on using the bridge. So my main question is if I would be able to use HQP with a NAA seated on the mac mini and the main HQP program managed by the Surface book, everything hooked up via RJ45. The other option could imply to "install" the NAA on the bridge and the HQ player on the Surface, avoiding therefore the use of the mac mini computer. Are either or those options feasible? If yes, how? Or if not, which would the alternative for keep on using the bridge of the Direct Stream? Regards, Ricardo.

Perhaps you do not get replies because there is not much experience with DirectStream with Bridge II, at least relative to HQPlayer.

You can use HQP with a NAA seated on the mac mini. Having HQP on a Surface book, it's possible but it may limit your usability. It depends on what CPU requirements you have. You can connect directly, but it is usually easier to connect HQP PC and NAA through a switch.

I do not have experience with Bridge II, but I doubt you can install networkaudiodeamon, the program necessary for NAA, on your Bridge II. I believe the Bridge is a UPnP device.

HQP offers a solution for UPnP - it's called HQPlayer Embedded and it works on Linux only. It is free for owners of Mac/Linux license.

[nautibuoy]

Folks who are using JLSounds USB board which one is it? Is it the I2SoverUSB or the OEM Board?

 

I2SoverUSB

[Rasmussen]

Thanks for your advice John!

 

Hi Morten,

 

A short while back, pages ago, I wrote of my experience with my "Feeble computer" - a Win8.1 2.5GHz AMD quad-core with a Firewire connection to a Mytek 192DSD. The situation is complicated; but, I'm assuming that you've got the HQP "2-wire" box checked and have been playing DSD128. I've used the volume min/max setting at -3dB with success.

 

Using any of the "-2s" filters seems to allow for mixing 44kHz-base and 48kHz-based files for DSD128 upsampling. The DSD7 modulator seems to work well as does the ASM7 one. I tend to playback whole albums, and don't mix files much as of yet.

 

The situation changes when using the using the 'full computation' filters. With the Feeble computer mixing of 44/48 base files doesn't work well at all. The "Poly-sinc" filter takes 20 whole seconds to initialize on the Feeble computer. In addition to Poly-sinc, I've used "Poly-sinc-short-mp" which is identified in the manual as having 'optimal transient response.' "Poly-ext" works too, and does sound different a bit.

 

So the question for you is 'just how feeble is a Mac Mini from 2011'? The main error modes I've experienced with the Mytek have been dropouts associated with the LED readouts going into the red. Sometimes, like with the Poly-ext the dropouts seem to be very rare and infrequent - yet, with the Poly-sinc-short-mp I've not yet heard a dropout.

 

Also a while back I asked thread members using Myteks whether anyone had noticed whether the DSD128 upsampling to either the 5.6MHz or 6.1MHz rates represented a 'sweet spot' for Mytek playback. One person said it was an interesting question, but had no opinion. Since then its become clear that using the 'full computation' filters that my Feeble computer won't upsample 44-base to DSD128 6.1MHz - just too much computation needed.

 

You'll probably just have to 'try things out' like I had to do so. Get a handle on your Mac Mini's performance using the "-2s" filters, and then see what it does with the 'full computation' filters - and be ready for dropouts.

 

John

[ridom]

Perhaps you do not get replies because there is not much experience with DirectStream with Bridge II, at least relative to HQPlayer.

You can use HQP with a NAA seated on the mac mini. Having HQP on a Surface book, it's possible but it may limit your usability. It depends on what CPU requirements you have. You can connect directly, but it is usually easier to connect HQP PC and NAA through a switch.

 

I do not have experience with Bridge II, but I doubt you can install networkaudiodeamon, the program necessary for NAA, on your Bridge II. I believe the Bridge is a UPnP device.

HQP offers a solution for UPnP - it's called HQPlayer Embedded and it works on Linux only. It is free for owners of Mac/Linux license.

 

Thx for the answer, but still I do not know how to proceed. How can i install NAA on my Macmini? I have a netgear active bridge in the network. How can i take advantage of it? An i agree, i do not think that there is a way of installing anything on the bridge, so the only exit seems to be via the macmini, if i am able to ellucidate the way of using it with the NAA. REgards, Ricardo

[Iain]

Thx for the answer, but still I do not know how to proceed. How can i install NAA on my Macmini? I have a netgear active bridge in the network. How can i take advantage of it? An i agree, i do not think that there is a way of installing anything on the bridge, so the only exit seems to be via the macmini, if i am able to ellucidate the way of using it with the NAA. REgards, Ricardo

 

Indeed.

 

I'm evaluating NAA, but I'm not sure it's installed correctly on my laptop running Win 7 Pro x64. There doesn't seem to be a proper installation procedure, so I simply have the .exe startup icon pinned to my taskbar and run it from there.

 

Is this the correct way to run it?

[bibo01]

Thx for the answer, but still I do not know how to proceed. How can i install NAA on my Macmini? I have a netgear active bridge in the network. How can i take advantage of it? An i agree, i do not think that there is a way of installing anything on the bridge, so the only exit seems to be via the macmini, if i am able to ellucidate the way of using it with the NAA. REgards, Ricardo

I do not use Mac so perhaps other users can give you more detailed instructions, but I think that you just have to start networkaudiod (the program you D/L from Signalyst for NAA) and make sure it's loaded at startup, if it does not do it automatically. Then, if server and naa are on the same network domain, you should be able to see NAA and DAC from HQPlayer Setting menu. Start NAA and DAC first, then your server.

[yincr]

The easiest way to try HQPlayer/NAA, is connecting directly the computer that runs HQPlayer to the mac mini with the NAA, just configure with static IPs on the same subnet, like 10.10.10.1 and 10.10.10.2, mask 255.255.255.0. Just run the NAA on the Mac Mini (you just see it running on the terminal window) with the DAC connected and working. Then run the HQPlayer, in settings select NAA, choose the DAC and play some música.

[ridom]

Done, and it works! Many thx for your answers. However, i still have a doubt. It works perfectly thru usb. Is there any way of using the ethernet input of the dac (e.g the bridge), instead?

[zackthedog]

The easiest way to try HQPlayer/NAA, is connecting directly the computer that runs HQPlayer to the mac mini with the NAA, just configure with static IPs on the same subnet, like 10.10.10.1 and 10.10.10.2, mask 255.255.255.0. Just run the NAA on the Mac Mini (you just see it running on the terminal window) with the DAC connected and working. Then run the HQPlayer, in settings select NAA, choose the DAC and play some música.

 

Say, thank you for this little tip. I had tried running the NAA on a little Dell notebook through my network but wasn't really impressed. However, directly connected in this fashion it is a tremendous improvement over my Mac Mini alone. I'm now convinced of the NAA approach and will investigate one of the little custom headless units made for this purpose.

[kilroy]

Didn't want to scroll through the 1000s of posts for a simple answer, so... will HQ Player run on Server 2012 R2? Website says not officially supported but I seem to remember someone saying they had luck with this. Also interested in hearing about any particular tricks to install and use on Server, if needed.

 

Happy Thanksgiving (in the US).

 

Thanks.

[maggio]

Didn't want to scroll through the 1000s of posts for a simple answer, so... will HQ Player run on Server 2012 R2? Website says not officially supported but I seem to remember someone saying they had luck with this. Also interested in hearing about any particular tricks to install and use on Server, if needed.

 

Happy Thanksgiving (in the US).

 

Thanks.

 

Yes, WS 2012 R2 is a good choice. I use WS 2016 TP3.

No tricks, just install.

Maggio

[free]

Is there a way to reset Hqplayer stettings to default? I put the wrong filter files in the convolution settings and now it crashes directly when I start Hqplayer.

[Miska]

Is there a way to reset Hqplayer stettings to default? I put the wrong filter files in the convolution settings and now it crashes directly when I start Hqplayer.

 

Please see post #3920 here.

 

On OS X and Linux the corresponding directory is ~/.hqplayer

[ampsarus]

I am eager to give HQP a spin; Any idea if it will play nice with Apogee Rosetta 200 or Lynx L22? Also is there an iOS based remote available? (like JRemote) Thanks.

 

Andy

[ridom]

The easiest way to try HQPlayer/NAA, is connecting directly the computer that runs HQPlayer to the mac mini with the NAA, just configure with static IPs on the same subnet, like 10.10.10.1 and 10.10.10.2, mask 255.255.255.0. Just run the NAA on the Mac Mini (you just see it running on the terminal window) with the DAC connected and working. Then run the HQPlayer, in settings select NAA, choose the DAC and play some música.

 

Thx again for the answer, but I am still trying to know if I can use the RJ45 connection of my DAC (PS Audio DS with bridge II) instead of the USB one to play HQPlayer/NAA, the latter loaded in the MAcMini.

[yincr]

Could you connect your DAC to your computer through that port, and play music?.

[ampsarus]

If any readers of this thread happen to live in the Los Angeles area plz send PM, meal is on me

[Miska]

Thx again for the answer, but I am still trying to know if I can use the RJ45 connection of my DAC (PS Audio DS with bridge II) instead of the USB one to play HQPlayer/NAA, the latter loaded in the MAcMini.

 

I'm not sure what kind of functionality that bridge supports now, but for direct NAA support it would require PS Audio to add support to their bridge product.

[ridom]

I'm not sure what kind of functionality that bridge supports now, but for direct NAA support it would require PS Audio to add support to their bridge product.

 

Thanks Yincr and Miska. The RJ45 port of the DAC goes to the switch, as the ethernet port of the MacMini. If I use Jriver, it handles this connection and steam music from the NAS which is also connected to the network. If I understand Miska's post, there are no chances to reproduce this setup with HQP/NAA.