HQ Player

[tims]

I've been using HQplayer for a couple of days now and am sold. I've also downloaded a trial of Roon and like that as well - a great combo.

 

Unfortunately to make the most out of HQplayer's abilities I have to upgrade my laptop so can't afford this plus HQplayer and Roon.

 

Has anyone tried (or is there) any cheaper alternative to Roon without all the bells and whistles (ie lyrics, enhanced album art/info etc). Something that will manage my music library and intergrates well with HQplayer?

 

Thanks

[frederick184]

This is very helpful Jussi. My Intel Xeon Processor E5-2670 (20M Cache, 2.6Ghz) 16 core with 64gB RAM and a MSI Geoforce GTX 970 was about $1500 US (refurbed dell with new MSI card). Running Windows 10 it is doing poly-sinc easily for DSD256 (including upsampling DSD128 files). It handles DSD512 with poly-sinc-2s (including DSD256 files). The CUDA card does make it all possible, however. Additional support for more cores might get it all the way to poly-sinc with DSD512...as the second 8 cores are pretty under utilized. Might also make the CUDA card less important. At this point it doesn't seem more processing power is really needed.

 

Robert

 

I just built a PC to the spec Jussi describes on post #22 of this page - http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f11-software/design-pc-server-roon-and-hq-player-25796/ - and it handles poly-sinc up to DSD512 easily. I used i7-6700K. No Cuda required.

 

Colin

[Miska]

Has anyone tried (or is there) any cheaper alternative to Roon without all the bells and whistles (ie lyrics, enhanced album art/info etc). Something that will manage my music library and intergrates well with HQplayer?

 

Maybe muso would suit your needs?

http://klarita.net/muso.html

[bibo01]

Miska,

 

I have noticed that in Win and Linux, if I set main desktop menus for frequency and type instead of Auto, at the next start frequency is always on Auto, whereas type remains on what I set.

Is this on purpose or is a bug? Shouldn't frequency keep the setting?!

 

The above description is with a poly-sinc-xx family filter. If I my last selection was closed-form and Fsx8 but poly-sinc in Settings, the behavior at restart is odd.

[Miska]

I have noticed that in Win and Linux, if I set main desktop menus for frequency and type instead of Auto, at the next start frequency is always on Auto, whereas type remains on what I set.

Is this on purpose or is a bug? Shouldn't frequency keep the setting?!

 

The above description is with a poly-sinc-xx family filter. If I my last selection was closed-form and Fsx8 but poly-sinc in Settings, the behavior at restart is odd.

 

Filter and dither/modulator are set to the default values at startup (that's what the default is for). Rate is set (when not auto) based on source content rate, selected filter and set output default/limit rate. So for example if you last time had closed-form filter selected and were listening to 96k source content and had 384k PCM rate selected. If you then quit HQPlayer and next time load some 44.1k content, 384k output rate is not available but depending on your defaults/limits could be 352.8k.

[bibo01]

Filter and dither/modulator are set to the default values at startup (that's what the default is for). Rate is set (when not auto) based on source content rate, selected filter and set output default/limit rate. So for example if you last time had closed-form filter selected and were listening to 96k source content and had 384k PCM rate selected. If you then quit HQPlayer and next time load some 44.1k content, 384k output rate is not available but depending on your defaults/limits could be 352.8k.

I understand how AUTO works and its limitation.

If my default value are poly-sinc/352.8/PCM, I load a 44.1 and in the drop down menu I actually set 352.8. Why at the next restart does it revert to AUTO on the main desktop?

[Miska]

I understand how AUTO works and its limitation.

If my default value are poly-sinc/352.8/PCM, I load a 44.1 and in the drop down menu I actually set 352.8. Why at the next restart does it revert to AUTO on the main desktop?

 

Because it is not saved, because there is no simple logic behind what that setting can be. Effectively if you start playback you get 352.8k output in that case, if you have "Auto" rate. Output rate selection is now sort of "manual override".

 

What can be selected there depends on the things I explained in previous post. For example if you quit HQPlayer with empty playlist, or last thing you were using was Roon, next time you start HQPlayer the rate drop-list is empty (apart from the static "Auto" item). Because input sampling rate is 0, since there's no source content selected, and thus you cannot convert it to anything or output anything in first place.

 

Saving UI state for items that can be sometimes restored to same value, sometimes to a different value and sometimes not at all is more confusing than useful...

[pipis2010]

Can I please ask something? I guess this may have been covered before, but what sort of system requirements (especially cpu and RAM) are needed to upsample to DSD256 and higher without any hiccups and dropouts?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile mobile app

[maggio]

I've been using HQplayer for a couple of days now and am sold. I've also downloaded a trial of Roon and like that as well - a great combo.

 

Unfortunately to make the most out of HQplayer's abilities I have to upgrade my laptop so can't afford this plus HQplayer and Roon.

 

Has anyone tried (or is there) any cheaper alternative to Roon without all the bells and whistles (ie lyrics, enhanced album art/info etc). Something that will manage my music library and intergrates well with HQplayer?

 

Thanks

 

+1 for Muso!

[zorntel]

Jussi,

 

Do you have any idea which tests reported by Geekbench would be most useful for assessing the potential of a machine for HQ player use?

 

Integer Performance

AES

Twofish

SHA1

SHA2

BZip2 Compress

BZip2 Decompress

JPEG Compress

JPEG Decompress

PNG Compress

PNG Decompress

Sobel

Lua

Dijkstra

 

 

Floating Point Performance

BlackScholes

Mandelbrot

Sharpen Filter

Blur Filter

SGEMM

DGEMM

SFFT

DFFT

N-Body

Ray Trace

 

 

Memory Performance

Stream Copy

Stream Scale

Stream Add

Stream Triad

 

Still trying to find a way to help new users evaluate possible machines when they don't have the option to go for your recommended processors...and also to set up a empirically based priority list for trying machines I already have access to.

 

Thanks,

 

Robert

[Miska]

Floating Point Performance

BlackScholes

Mandelbrot

Sharpen Filter

Blur Filter

SGEMM

DGEMM

SFFT

DFFT

N-Body

Ray Trace

 

 

Memory Performance

Stream Copy

Stream Scale

Stream Add

Stream Triad

 

Probably two thirds emphasis on overall floating point performance and one third emphasis on overall memory performance...

 

Check something where CPU scores as high as possible in both single- and multi-core results and matches the number of cores formula listed earlier. For example i7-5960X and i7-6700K are good examples of such.

 

But of course budget, performance and other requirements also dictate what is good choice. I explained a bit my own goals for the Win10 machine in the HQPlayer hardware thread here.

[bibo01]

Miska,

 

Can you please help to troubleshoot this friend of mine's installation.

If he goes from PCM to DSD and back to PCM, HQPlayer has problem to "hook back" ASIO PCM and freezes, as evidenced by:

2016/02/18 10:23:48 ASIO failed to change format to PCM.

 

I am attaching the log with the troubled session:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ogl8dvpyddj39gv/HQ%20log%2018_2_16.txt?dl=0

 

Thanks

[Reginald25SF]

I have a Mac Pro 6 core currently running Jriver thur a portable USB DAC(fiio e18) to an Adcom 555 powering Scanspeak loudspeakers. I'm considering a new ifi Dsd and making the switch to HQplayer pro. I know with the new DAC I will see a major jump in performance but I would like to be assured that HQ player will support the DAC and it will allow the ablility to use correction software.

[zorntel]

Probably two thirds emphasis on overall floating point performance and one third emphasis on overall memory performance...

 

Check something where CPU scores as high as possible in both single- and multi-core results and matches the number of cores formula listed earlier. For example i7-5960X and i7-6700K are good examples of such.

 

But of course budget, performance and other requirements also dictate what is good choice. I explained a bit my own goals for the Win10 machine in the HQPlayer hardware thread here.

 

That's super...thanks! It would be nice if there was a simple way to test this plus CUDA performance to have a measure of how they interact. Sorry...day job as a scientist.

 

Robert

[zorntel]

I explained a bit my own goals for the Win10 machine in the HQPlayer hardware thread here.

 

Jussi, was this intended to be a hyperlink to another post?

 

Robert

[Miska]

Jussi, was this intended to be a hyperlink to another post?

 

No, I was a bit busy while posting it. I think link was posted on this thread recently. But here are some links:

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f11-software/design-pc-server-roon-and-hq-player-25796/#post495814

 

And since people were asking for "inexpensive" and powerful GPU for CUDA offload, I obtained GTX 980 instead of M4000:

Upgrade GPU for more CUDA processing power - Blogs - Computer Audiophile

 

Primary purpose of the machine is to be a development machine and used primarily to drive exaSound e28 at DSD256. Up to 8 channels.

[Miska]

That's super...thanks! It would be nice if there was a simple way to test this plus CUDA performance to have a measure of how they interact. Sorry...day job as a scientist.

 

I have one performance test that runs bunch of my algorithms and gives some performance figures, but it is Linux command line only utility and badly outdated (no CUDA etc). When I have time I could develop some performance test into HQPlayer that would run my algorithms and give some percentage figure of processing speed vs realtime. IOW, for example if the algorithm runs twice as fast compared to required speed by the sampling rate result would be 200%. Or just add timing profile display for realtime playback to tell the utilization (how much there is spare left).

 

But for CUDA speed tests, CUDA-Z is good starting point, checking the double-precision floating point speed and memory copy speeds indicate relative performance between cards and computers they are attached to.

[bibo01]

Miska,

 

Can you please help to troubleshoot this friend of mine's installation.

If he goes from PCM to DSD and back to PCM, HQPlayer has problem to "hook back" ASIO PCM and freezes, as evidenced by:

2016/02/18 10:23:48 ASIO failed to change format to PCM.

 

I am attaching the log with the troubled session:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ogl8dvpyddj39gv/HQ%20log%2018_2_16.txt?dl=0

 

Thanks

 

Miska, did you have a look at this?

[ted_b]

Can I please ask something? I guess this may have been covered before, but what sort of system requirements (especially cpu and RAM) are needed to upsample to DSD256 and higher without any hiccups and dropouts?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile mobile app

 

There are 4800 posts on this thread alone, and probably a tenth of them deal with performance and benchmarking. Do a search on things like i7 chipsets, etc. For example, I run two pc, one is my HQPlayer (and Roon) machine, the other is my NAA, connected to various DACS I own or review. (Note: the DAC and its driver has a huge bearing on what kind of luck you'll have in upsampling to DSD256 cleanly). Although my pcs are not huge machines (HQP is i7 3770S, NAA is Caps Carbon Atom-based) I have them tweaked fairly well with WindowsServer 2012, Audiophile Optimizer, battery-powered SSDs for the OS, etc. With my Fore Audio DaisY1 dac, I have no issues upsampling to DSD256 using poly sinc-mp, ASDM7. YMMV.

[Miska]

Miska, did you have a look at this?

 

No, not yet. That driver seems to be quite incomplete. What is the device? It claims to support even DSD1024 and PCM rates to 1.5 MHz, have 16 input channels and 16 output channels and name of each channel is "Sample". It is also making callbacks with unknown action id's and the DSD format it claims is not among the known ones... So the ASIO driver in question would need some love... It also refuses to start in DSD mode.

[bibo01]

No, not yet. That driver seems to be quite incomplete. What is the device? It claims to support even DSD1024 and PCM rates to 1.5 MHz, have 16 input channels and 16 output channels and name of each channel is "Sample". It is also making callbacks with unknown action id's and the DSD format it claims is not among the known ones... So the ASIO driver in question would need some love... It also refuses to start in DSD mode.

It's a Northstar Supremo. It may have an Amanero board, but I am not so sure.

[Miska]

It's a Northstar Supremo. It may have an Amanero board, but I am not so sure.

 

At least the driver name didn't indicate towards Amanero, but it could be a customized one. Amanero has that feature of claiming to support any imaginable rate while it actually of course doesn't. But it has been certainly working for me, apart from reporting bogus rate support. I think I have something like five Amanero boards total...

[trcns]

Is there a keyboard shortcuts for, play, stop, forward and backward? Where can I find them?

[ebrandon]

Hi Miska,

 

Very minor issue. HQPlayer "remembers" everything from session to session except that the time/remain radio button is always reset to "time". I have to manually set it to "remain" every time HQplayer launches.

 

HQPlayer 3.13 on Mac, but this behavior is not new, it has been the same for many versions.

 

Thanks!

[Nikhil]

How do you down sample DSD256 to DSD128?

 

My DAC can play DSD128 max. With the earlier version of HQP I could limit the bit rate to 5644800.

Now with the Auto feature it follows the source file settings in the bit rate drop down menu.

So with DSD256 material HQP defaults to 11.2 MHz and higher in the Transport window.

 

Regards.