HQ Player

[acatala]

Hello guys,

 

I would like to know if there are any known issues with HQPlayer (running on Linux and/or MacOS) with the DAC embedded in the preamplifier Rotel RC-1590. I am interested in playing PCM and DSD64/128.

 

Thanks!!

[tboooe]

4 hours ago, zoltan said:

I'm looking for some advice on processor load from more experienced people. I'm building a passive system and wondering what the processor load may be in the following scenario: 
upsampling to DSD256 for all other DSD and PCM formats in 2 channel stereo only with Roon also running. (and NAA further down the line). No graphics card.

 

I am asking this as the case will be one that can cool processors up to 65W TDP but it seems from tests of this case that if the processor load is constantly high temperature can go up to unwanted levels. Can anyone make educated guesses on the possible processor load?

Thank you. 

Are you doing any convolution?  For me, using an old i7-3770s CPU in a fanless case, my load is 30% for PCM and 40% for DSD converted to dsd256. With convolution, converting from DSD increases load to 75%.

[zoltan]

12 minutes ago, tboooe said:

Are you doing any convolution?  For me, using an old i7-3770s CPU in a fanless case, my load is 30% for PCM and 40% for DSD converted to dsd256. With convolution, converting from DSD increases load to 75%.

 

This is very useful, thank you. No, I'm not planning to do convolution for now. I intend to install an i7-7700 (not the K, just standard) which will probably give me lower load figures than yours. 75% sounds too much constant load. Which case do you use? Do every have overheating problems?

[tboooe]

Yeah I am sure the newer processor will give you lower load.  I don't have a lot of DSD files so the higher load is not a big deal for me.  I am using a Streacom FC5 case without any problems.  When I build another PC I will get the fc9 case so I can have more flexibility to add pcie expansion.  

[pkane2001]

9 hours ago, acatala said:

Hello guys,

 

I would like to know if there are any known issues with HQPlayer (running on Linux and/or MacOS) with the DAC embedded in the preamplifier Rotel RC-1590. I am interested in playing PCM and DSD64/128.

 

Thanks!!

Don't know of any issues with MacOS and HQP. That's how I'm using it in my system: Macbook-Pro to USB to DAC. I feed my DAC with either PCM 384KHz or with DSD256 using DoP. My DAC is not a Rotel preamp, though.

 

My biggest problem was that with the Mac audio driver HQP doesn't provide a setting for buffering of data. This caused me problems since I was reading data from a NAS drive over Wi-Fi. The solution was to use HQP NAA on the same laptop as HQP (allowed me to turn on buffering) and also to put a WiFi bridge next to the system which improved wireless performance. 

[PowerQuality]

Hi guys

 

I´m not able to get HQplayer read a http stream.

I have made files with this simeple line: http://192.168.xx.25:8000/ with .pls and . m3u as file extension. 

 

The stream plays just fine in the browser, and in VLC, so I know the stream is alive. I also tested with URLs from web radio providing FLAC stream without success. 

 

Has anyone successfully made Hqplayer play a http stream? How do I make a file pointing to a stream the HQplayer will accept. 

 

Thanks a lot for all help. 

[Miska]

32 minutes ago, PowerQuality said:

I´m not able to get HQplayer read a http stream.

I have made files with this simeple line: http://192.168.xx.25:8000/ with .pls and . m3u as file extension. 

 

The stream plays just fine in the browser, and in VLC, so I know the stream is alive. I also tested with URLs from web radio providing FLAC stream without success. 

 

Has anyone successfully made Hqplayer play a http stream? How do I make a file pointing to a stream the HQplayer will accept.

 

What is the content type of your stream?

 

Easiest way to add such stream to HQPlayer's playlist is to use hqp-control command line utility.

 

[PowerQuality]

@MiskaThanks for your answer.

 

It is a FLAC stream. I am using VLC to make the stream. 

 

Do you have any hqp-control for dummies documentation? 

[Miska]

46 minutes ago, PowerQuality said:

@MiskaThanks for your answer.

 

It is a FLAC stream. I am using VLC to make the stream. 

 

Do you have any hqp-control for dummies documentation? 

 

No, but you can just run it without arguments for help.

 

Basically you do just "hqp-control localhost http://somestream" and that's it. Assuming you are running hqp-control on the same host where HQPlayer is running.

 

First check if the HTTP server in VLC properly supports HEAD request. You can do this with telnet like:

telnet 192.168.1.2 8080
HEAD /mystream

 

[Hammer]

18 hours ago, zoltan said:

This is very useful, thank you. No, I'm not planning to do convolution for now. I intend to install an i7-7700 (not the K, just standard) which will probably give me lower load figures than yours. 75% sounds too much constant load. Which case do you use? Do every have overheating problems?

 

It probably also depends on what filters you use.  I have a i7 7700k and it's  not able to use the xtr filters even with CUDA offload (GTX 980) if the source is DSD.  However, the -2s variant works fine.  My load is generally around 20-25% (I also run Roon Core on this machine) and heat is not an issue in my HDPlex H5 case - although I do leave the lid off given the 980 gives off a lot of heat.  With the lid off, the fan on the 980 barely spins. 

 

One benefit of the k processor if you use Roon is that you can RDP into the machine and run the Roon front end.  Nvidia drivers do not support OpenGL via RDP, but the intel drivers do and Roon front end requires OpenGL.  (assuming you are running Windows).

[PowerQuality]

@Miska

 

I´m a noob. 

 

I guess I have to download the hqp-control source code, then compile it or something before it gets useful?

 

It seems like VLC does not support HEAD request. Extensive googling seems to confirm. Is that a requirement? 

 

My intention here is to find a way to push any audio source through HQP. I use it as a convolver for for FIR XO. Now the wife is demanding to use Spotify. She is tired of Roon interface. 

[Miska]

1 hour ago, PowerQuality said:

I guess I have to download the hqp-control source code, then compile it or something before it gets useful?

 

No no, it is included with every copy of HQPlayer Desktop, so you can find it from the installation directory. Easiest way to access it is to add the HQPlayer installation folder to the OS' PATH-environment variable.

 

1 hour ago, PowerQuality said:

It seems like VLC does not support HEAD request. Extensive googling seems to confirm. Is that a requirement?

 

Yes, it is a requirement... Have you found any indication that they would be adding it in near future? It shouldn't be too hard...

 

1 hour ago, PowerQuality said:

My intention here is to find a way to push any audio source through HQP. I use it as a convolver for for FIR XO. Now the wife is demanding to use Spotify. She is tired of Roon interface.

 

Does VLC support Roon nowadays or how are you planning to approach this?

 

[PowerQuality]

4 hours ago, Miska said:

Does VLC support Roon nowadays or how are you planning to approach this?

 

VLC and Roon will run separately. No interaction.

 

VLC has a nice audio capture feature that lets me capture Spotify output, then stream it out over http. Using the original Spotify app let me remotely control it by Spotify connect.

 

Thanks for your help! I have got the hqp-control up and running. Still having a struggle to get the HQP to play any stream though. 

[Miska]

14 minutes ago, PowerQuality said:

VLC and Roon will run separately. No interaction.

 

VLC has a nice audio capture feature that lets me capture Spotify output, then stream it out over http. Using the original Spotify app let me remotely control it by Spotify connect.

 

My brain is obviously getting soft, I meant if VLC supports Spotify somehow these days...

 

But anyway you answered the question I was trying to ask!

 

[PowerQuality]

@Miska

 

Trying to install the hqpplayerd, but having some errors I can't figure out. Google could not help me out on this one.

 

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
hqplayerd : Depends: libstdc++6 (>= 6) but 5.4.0-6ubuntu1~16.04.4 is installed

 

Some helpful hints will be appreciated! Thanks a lot

[PowerQuality]

2 hours ago, PowerQuality said:

@Miska

 

Trying to install the hqpplayerd, but having some errors I can't figure out. Google could not help me out on this one.

 

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
hqplayerd : Depends: libstdc++6 (>= 6) but 5.4.0-6ubuntu1~16.04.4 is installed

 

Some helpful hints will be appreciated! Thanks a lot

 

Foud it! I needed to uprade GCC to v6.

 

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-toolchain-r/test -y
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gcc-snapshot -y
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gcc-6 g++-6 -y
sudo apt-get update

[westside]

Hi,

According to you what is the best OS to use with Hqplayer in order to have the best SQ ?

Thank you by advance for your answer.

[Dr Tone]

35 minutes ago, westside said:

Hi,

According to you what is the best OS to use with Hqplayer in order to have the best SQ ?

Thank you by advance for your answer.

 

I don't know if it matters if using a quality NAA.

[tboooe]

I finally got around to trying DSD512 + AMSDM7+512 fs.  There is definitely a difference. I am hearing more extension at the higher frequencies and what sounds like just an overall more crispness and clarity to the music.  I need to listen more but so far it seems going from DSD256 to 512 definitely different.

 

BTW, my lowly i7-3770S cpu is at 70-80% load when I convert to DSD512.  At 256 load is between 30-35%.

[zorntel]

1 hour ago, westside said:

Hi,

According to you what is the best OS to use with Hqplayer in order to have the best SQ ?

Thank you by advance for your answer.

 

As a long time mac user it pains me to say Windows…and possibly linux.  The key is being able to handle DSD512 which is not possible on a mac.  Currently I’m using a heavily stripped down (Audiophile Optimizer and then some custom scripts) Windows 10 Anniversary 6700K machine with an optical to usb card powered by a LPS-1 power supply for output to the DAC (a IFI Black Label).  Linux has had problems with high resolution DSD files with some DACs, however, we believe that has been fixed in the most current releases…we’ll see.  Thus, Audiolinux might be a great option, but I haven’t tested the most recent build yet.

 

While an NAA is a great option, the mac still can't pass DSD512 files to it.

 

Robert

[OlivierFH]

1 hour ago, tboooe said:

I finally got around to trying DSD512 + AMSDM7+512 fs.  There is definitely a difference. I am hearing more extension at the higher frequencies and what sounds like just an overall more crispness and clarity to the music.  I need to listen more but so far it seems going from DSD256 to 512 definitely different.

 

BTW, my lowly i7-3770S cpu is at 70-80% load when I convert to DSD512.  At 256 load is between 30-35%.

I'd like the DSD512+AMSDM7+512fs too, on my Ryzen the cpu load is around 16% with poly-sinc-xtr-mp-2s ...this cpu was built for HQP ;-)

[tboooe]

23 minutes ago, OlivierFH said:

I'd like the DSD512+AMSDM7+512fs too, on my Ryzen the cpu load is around 16% with poly-sinc-xtr-mp-2s ...this cpu was built for HQP ;-)

May I ask which CPU you are using exactly?  I want to build another fanless pc for HQP and Roon.  Also, did you have to add card?  I run my system headless but will need to attach a monitor while setting up the PC and for more involved troubleshooting.  I ask because I understand the Ryzen chips do not have integrated graphics?

[pkane2001]

1 hour ago, zorntel said:

The key is being able to handle DSD512 which is not possible on a mac.

 

As another long time Mac user, that is disappointing. Does the limitation come from the Mac audio driver, HQP, or the MacOS itself?

[Dr Tone]

7 minutes ago, pkane2001 said:

 

As another long time Mac user, that is disappointing. Does the limitation come from the Mac audio driver, HQP, or the MacOS itself?

 

 

CoreAudio is the issue, it doesn't understand DSD so you can only do DOP.  Custom ASIO drivers like Exasounds' can get around this issue but it really isn't a priority for most other DAC makers.

 

[OlivierFH]

23 minutes ago, tboooe said:

May I ask which CPU you are using exactly?  I want to build another fanless pc for HQP and Roon.  Also, did you have to add card?  I run my system headless but will need to attach a monitor while setting up the PC and for more involved troubleshooting.  I ask because I understand the Ryzen chips do not have integrated graphics?

 

I use the Ryzen 1700 (without X), my system is there: http://forum-hifi.fr/thread-3802-post-78264.html#pid78264 , but in French... sorry !

Not fanless, but I hear nothing, even during heavy loads. Just have a very cheap graphic card.

My NAA client is a little Wintel CX8