HQ Player

[Miska]

3 hours ago, Theobetley said:

I unistalled Pro and am now in HQP Desktop 4.1 and I load files to be played via drag and drop and they don't show on the main screen but they produce  music.

 

If the file doesn't have metadata, current version is not showing anything else than the length, as can be seen on your screenshot. I've already fixed this for next release by showing the filename/URL instead under the "Song" title.

 

[Le Concombre Masqué]

6 hours ago, Theobetley said:

Well I guess I will not run PRO  then. Maybe that is why I am having other problems. Thanks Ted. All I can say it that when Hqp 4.1 runs I get by far the best sound I have ever had.

You triggered my curiosity ;  to my ears Pro 4.1 sounds with the same flavours than 3.25 : I would not see the point of spending 10x more.

The different beast is the new Desktop4 ; can't say it's 100% better to my ears but I consistently perceive it as more focused, tighter, more sophisticated and moreover more matte. I think it translates as "mat" in French but I'm not sure about the polysemy :  mat means both more classy but also duller and that's exactly my problem with 4 vs 3 and why I can't say it's 100% better to my ears

[Miska]

5 hours ago, Le Concombre Masqué said:

on Mojave : Settings issues could be filed under interface issues : incorrect screen real estate but in full screen mode, hazardous manipulation of the volume wheel... it's not a great user experience but it now works.

 

Sorry but I don't understand what exactly do you mean?

 

5 hours ago, Le Concombre Masqué said:

Hence I could try Loopback. I don't feel at all motivated to get 4 and a Loopback license for movies and web inputs : it takes ages to process on my machine

 

You mean delay? It is not intended for anything else than music playback... With some video players it may be possible to adjust lipsync enough for the delay. For me it has been working fine for optical input from Google's Chromecast Audio dongle, for playing Spotify from a mobile phone. I'm also planning to get a Bluesound Node 2 and connect it through coax to see how that works out. I could also try with coax from Auralic Aries.

 

[Miska]

1 hour ago, Le Concombre Masqué said:

You triggered my curiosity ;  to my ears Pro 4.1 sounds with the same flavours than 3.25 : I would not see the point of spending 10x more.

 

Pro is a file conversion utility (can record too) for studios and record labels. It shouldn't be compared to Desktop or Embedded versions which are players...

 

[LoryWiv]

7 hours ago, tedwoods said:

Yes, Client is just a way to control the program

Understood, but what differs from HQ Player 3.xx is how it functioned as a unified desktop app under Win10. Specifically, when one began playback in desktop app. but wanted full-sized album art, we could select the small square icon and it reflected whatever was in main desktop program. In 4.01, to simulate this functionality I need to load both server and client apps., drag files into server than go to client, select "localhost" for playlist to appear then initiate playback within client. It's a bit laborious and not especially elegant but once working it's nice to have full screen art, track information and modulator selection etc...all displayed. I am also very pleased with sound quality, up to HQ Player's high standards although not sure I can discern a major difference from 3.xx.

 

The catch: If I initiate playback from desktop app., then select "localhost" in client it doesn't appear to communicate back to the server app. on a sustaining basis....hence the need to go thorough the somewhat "clunkier" process above. Perhaps this can be addressed in an upcoming release.

[juanitox]

Quote

14 hours ago, Le Concombre Masqué said:

Hence I could try Loopback. I don't feel at all motivated to get 4 and a Loopback license for movies and web inputs : it takes ages to process on my machine

 

You mean delay? It is not intended for anything else than music playback... With some video players it may be possible to adjust lipsync enough for the delay. For me it has been working fine for optical input from Google's Chromecast Audio dongle, for playing Spotify from a mobile phone. I'm also planning to get a Bluesound Node 2 and connect it through coax to see how that works out. I could also try with coax from Auralic Aries.

 

watching movies in x DSD512 is very funny experience ,music ambience and voices becomes thrilling , 

on windows 10 and VLC i just have to resync the audio at -1300ms and it's fine 😉

[Le Concombre Masqué]

22 minutes ago, juanitox said:

 

watching movies in x DSD512 is very funny experience ,music ambience and voices becomes thrilling , 

on windows 10 and VLC i just have to resync the audio at -1300ms and it's fine 😉

do you convolve? 

[Le Concombre Masqué]

7 hours ago, Miska said:

 

Pro is a file conversion utility (can record too) for studios and record labels. It shouldn't be compared to Desktop or Embedded versions which are players...

 

To my understanding Theobetley ranked Pro's SQ above all as a player ; my comment addressed that statement only. I understand Pro does much more.

 

BTW, I can't remember seeing any comment by you about Desktop 4's SQ and why it should be better or even simply different, especially in the case (mine) when only the server part on a single machine is used...

[Le Concombre Masqué]

9 hours ago, Miska said:

 

Sorry but I don't understand what exactly do you mean?

 

 

You mean delay? It is not intended for anything else than music playback... With some video players it may be possible to adjust lipsync enough for the delay. For me it has been working fine for optical input from Google's Chromecast Audio dongle, for playing Spotify from a mobile phone. I'm also planning to get a Bluesound Node 2 and connect it through coax to see how that works out. I could also try with coax from Auralic Aries.

 

about the interface issues : can't get to be 100% sure I clicked OK unless I go full screen for, otherwise, I jut can't access the bottom of Settings. In FS mode it isn't neat, see the the volumes and input lines... moving the volume wheel is tricky too.

 

I did not mean lipsync but processing time. Sometimes it's fast enough but most often I lost my patience before I obtained a convolved sound and I have always lost patience before I got a convolved + SDMed sound. If it's the same when inputing a ADC, I simply won't use it. What should I expect ? (MBPr 2012 15 ")

[Miska]

43 minutes ago, juanitox said:

watching movies in x DSD512 is very funny experience ,music ambience and voices becomes thrilling , 

on windows 10 and VLC i just have to resync the audio at -1300ms and it's fine 😉

 

OK, good to know that VLC has enough delay adjustment range! I guess web browsers don't have such (for YouTube etc).

 

Delay is like 1000 ms + Buffer time setting + filter specific delay. So 1300 ms is quite expected value.

 

[Miska]

2 minutes ago, Le Concombre Masqué said:

about the interface issues : can't get to be 100% sure I clicked OK unless I go full screen for I jut can't access the bottom of Settings. In FS mode it isn't neat, see the the volumes and input lines... moving the volume wheel is tricky too.

 

 

 

I guess this depends on to what size Dock had been adjusted to. Settings dialog is 915 pixels tall, so it should fit on 1080p resolution displays in most cases. I wonder what resolution is your Mac display because in fullscreen it still looks like a little compressed vertically, but other than that it looks OK - just wider.

 

[Le Concombre Masqué]

9 minutes ago, Miska said:

 

I guess this depends on to what size Dock had been adjusted to. Settings dialog is 915 pixels tall, so it should fit on 1080p resolution displays in most cases. I wonder what resolution is your Mac display because in fullscreen it still looks like a little compressed vertically, but other than that it looks OK - just wider.

 

the dock is hidden unless I go for it. Yes scaling the resolution is an option allowing the full display of Settings but not at Apple's default that is 1440 x 900 

[Confused]

In the absence of any manual at the moment that covers all the new filter options available in V4, I would be interested in any technically sound recommendations for the recommended filter(s) for up sampling 16/44.1 to 24/192, with rock, pop and electronica.  OK, I know I can try everything for myself and have a listen, I am just interested in the best starting point from a technical perspective.

 

Thanks!

[LoryWiv]

35 minutes ago, Miska said:

 

I guess this depends on to what size Dock had been adjusted to. Settings dialog is 915 pixels tall, so it should fit on 1080p resolution displays in most cases. I wonder what resolution is your Mac display because in fullscreen it still looks like a little compressed vertically, but other than that it looks OK - just wider.

 

I have same issue as Le Concombre Masqué, dock doesn't quite fit in my 1080p display because I have Win 10 custom size for text, apps, other items of 125% to improve readability (you'll know what I mean when you're my age 🧐.) Perhaps scale down the settings dialogue to allow more flexibility to fit fully in displays w/non-standard resolution.

 

Thanks, Miska, for considering.

[Ipoci]

On 4/30/2019 at 11:50 PM, Miska said:

On MacBook Pro you can use the HQPlayer Client shipped with HQPlayer 4 Desktop for controlling Embedded. The Client doesn't need a license key file, so you can run it as long as you have either Embedded or Desktop v4 somewhere. From iPhone, you can control Embedded using web browser.

Thanks Miska, the combination of the headless Embedded with MacBookPro running the client to control it, sounds interesting ... I'm less enthusiast about using web browser on iPhone, hope someone will provide a nice app in the future.

.

Have a nice day, Massimiliano

[AnotherSpin]

10 hours ago, Miska said:

 

Have you checked that your DAC is not set as default audio device for macOS?

 

This is how things look like for me on iMac:

 

In this case, iFi is selected as device in HQPlayer.

 

And if you run Roon (or A+ or something else) on the same computer simultaneously, make sure the DAC is not enabled as output zone there. Otherwise someone else can end up stealing the audio device and then you get symptoms like that. If you use A+ too, you need to disable it's "system optimization" features.

 

 

Yes, DAC is not selected as a default device. I was comparing the sound of both Roon and A+ with HQP several days ago, but not yesterday, when problem happened again. Also, this problem is with 4 only, 3 functioned ok.

[AnotherSpin]

1 hour ago, Miska said:

 

I guess this depends on to what size Dock had been adjusted to. Settings dialog is 915 pixels tall, so it should fit on 1080p resolution displays in most cases. I wonder what resolution is your Mac display because in fullscreen it still looks like a little compressed vertically, but other than that it looks OK - just wider.

 

 

The same issue here with macbook air, dock is over the bottom of settings in 4.

[AnotherSpin]

11 hours ago, Le Concombre Masqué said:

[...]

The different beast is the new Desktop4 ; can't say it's 100% better to my ears but I consistently perceive it as more focused, tighter, more sophisticated and moreover more matte. I think it translates as "mat" in French but I'm not sure about the polysemy :  mat means both more classy but also duller and that's exactly my problem with 4 vs 3 and why I can't say it's 100% better to my ears

 

After several days listening, I could compare the sound of 3.2.5 and 4.0.1 in my audio set as follows:

3 - more air, more transparency, excellent with jazz and chamber. 

4 - more tight, more focus. The sound collected and has more body. Rock and loud recordings sound better.

 

The sound of 4 is more comfortable, sweet and polished. Keeps attention better, long listening is slightly less tiring with 4. 

 

Also, direct comparing the sound of of HQP with both Roon and A+ gives interesting results. Both Roon and A+ have some slight advantages over HQP 3, but in other respects HQP 3 sounds better than each. However, both Roon and A+ have no important advantages in SQ over HQP 4, while HQP still sounds better overall.

 

The bottom line: I would live with 3 happily, even if 4 has very impressive sound. But, given the fact Miska will not continue with all new developments with 3 I upgraded to 4 already.

[Bob Stern]

1 hour ago, Miska said:

I guess this depends on to what size Dock had been adjusted to. Settings dialog is 915 pixels tall, so it should fit on 1080p resolution displays in most cases

 

I use my 2017 Touchbar MacBook Pro at a scaled resolution of 1440x900, so the 915 pixel tall Settings dialog does not fit.

 

Tip for Mac users:  Option-clicking the green button in the Settings dialog scales it to fit the display, making it shorter and twice as wide.

[bibo01]

@Miska I have a little problem with v4. In both Linux and Windows 7. When I open Settings, the menu is too long for the screen and I cannot scroll down.

Perhaps its a question of libraries, but at least in Linux when I installed it, v4 also installed its libraries dependencies.

[craighartley]

3 hours ago, Bob Stern said:

 

I use my 2017 Touchbar MacBook Pro at a scaled resolution of 1440x900, so the 915 pixel tall Settings dialog does not fit.

 

Tip for Mac users:  Option-clicking the green button in the Settings dialog scales it to fit the display, making it shorter and twice as wide.

Yes, I had to change the screen resolution on my remote Windows PC to get to see the bottom of the new settings dialogue. 

[chriss0212]

On 5/1/2019 at 10:28 PM, Miska said:

 

It is source_channel -> mix_channel  gain_in_db/linear_gain

 

So in this case 0 dBFS / 1.0

 

 

In this case, HQPlayer doesn't get any available formats for output, but it gets some for inputs. I don't know why that happens, I need to find a device that behaves similarly.

 

For some reason it gets formats for inputs, but not for outputs, and the ones it gets are all stereo. You can see that the "CoreAudio output virtual formats" list is empty while the corresponding list for inputs has bunch of stereo formats.

 

Hi Miska

 

what I have tried is 2 channels instead of 8... this is working. As soon as I switch to more than 2 channels it stops working.

 

What I am wondering is, that HQ-Plyer3 is working without problems.

 

Is there anything I could try?

 

Greetings

 

Christian

[freesteve]

Please recommend on a Mac.   96k up sample... What are your best preference so far.  Thank you.

[scintilla]

22 hours ago, Miska said:

 

Matrix pipeline "profiles" are on my TODO-list for 4.x (Desktop & Embedded), which solves this case...

 

Great!  I bought a license yesterday.

[audiodan]

I've tried to install the trial version 4.0 on win server 2019 core mode. Program seems correctly installed, this way no notice of dll lacking as on 2016, but program doesn't start. Any suggestion?