HQ Player

[Superdad]

7 minutes ago, Miska said:

 

Yes, this was fixed earlier today. I've added some extra sanity check features to the control API to prevent bad behavior if misused, but unfortunately as a side effect it broke this feature from properly switching between PCM and DSD outputs on the fly (unusual use case to use, but should of course work anyway).

 

That is what is anyway done most of the time. There are very few DACs where switching between the two makes any sense.

 

Thanks for your quick reply Jussi.  

I never really thought that mine was an unusual case.  In 3.x choosing AUTO takes care of it perfectly.  With AUTO set (and DirectDSM box ticked), a list of mixed Redbook and DSD tracks will automatically switch between playing PCM at 352.8 and DSD tracks playing at DSD64.

 

I assumed that in HQP 4.x what was "Auto" in 3.x is now called "[source]", meaning to follow the source.  But really I would think that tells HPQ to not upsample at all.

I'll be interested to try your fix as what I really want is what I put in boldface above.

 

[Miska]

3 minutes ago, Superdad said:

Thanks for your quick reply Jussi.  

I never really thought that mine was an unusual case.  In 3.x choosing AUTO takes care of it perfectly.  With AUTO set (and DirectDSM box ticked), a list of mixed Redbook and DSD tracks will automatically switch between playing PCM at 352.8 and DSD tracks playing at DSD64.

 

I assumed that in HQP 4.x what was "Auto" in 3.x is now called "[source]", meaning to follow the source.  But really I would think that tells HPQ to not upsample at all.

I'll be interested to try your fix as what I really want is what I put in boldface above.

 

I renamed many items called "Auto", because many seemed  to think that setting something to "Auto" was recommended or desirable. In addition it wasn't always clear what will happen when "Auto" was selected.

 

Holo Spring is one of the very few DACs that actually have two DACs inside and the PCM side is actually a PCM thingie. And only for such there could be justification for switching between output modes.

 

[dean70]

5 hours ago, lucretius said:

 

But what if the loudness analysis was done by another software (e.g. JRiver Media Center) and the values stored in the metadata.  Could HQPlayer work with that metadata?

 

 

 

Alchemy Desktop sets the volume based on replay gain ( and can dynamically reduce volume when clipping is detected). Upcoming Alchemy v2 will be more advanced in managing volume level.

[Superdad]

Also...

 

Can't seem to get HQP 4.x Desktop (macOS) to play a CD (inserted in USB-attached Apple slim drive and mounted on the desktop).

HQP's "Content Source URI" bar can have its drop-down triangle clicked to allow for selection of "cd:", but that is all that appears.  Can't figure out how to get it to play.  What am I doing wrong?

Thanks!

[Le Concombre Masqué]

41 minutes ago, Lio_B said:

 

Does anyone have an answer for me ?

thanks

please trial 4 and report how it sounds in your context

[Miska]

4 minutes ago, Superdad said:

Can't seem to get HQP 4.x Desktop (macOS) to play a CD (inserted in USB-attached Apple slim drive and mounted on the desktop).

HQP's "Content Source URI" bar can have its drop-down triangle clicked to allow for selection of "cd:", but that is all that appears.  Can't figure out how to get it to play.  What am I doing wrong?

 

It is a bug somewhere if cd-URI appears there at all, because just like v3, CD playback is not supported on macOS, only on Linux and Windows.

 

[Le Concombre Masqué]

33 minutes ago, Miska said:

 

 

 

That is what is anyway done most of the time. There are very few DACs where switching between the two makes any sense.

 

 

 

which ones? (with a better via PCM for PCM section and better via SDM for DSD section) 

[Miska]

8 minutes ago, Le Concombre Masqué said:

which ones? (with a better via PCM for PCM section and better via SDM for DSD section) 

 

Better? None.

 

But Holo Spring and Denafrips come to mind as dual-DAC.

 

[lucretius]

54 minutes ago, Miska said:

 

OK, strange, because only thing that source URI will do is to set input sampling rate to 705.6 kHz and when playback is started the input is started at that rate.

 

 

Since output is set for native DSD, shouldn't that be 352.8 kHz instead of 705.6 kHz?

[Miska]

3 minutes ago, lucretius said:

Since output is set for native DSD, shouldn't that be 352.8 kHz instead of 705.6 kHz?

 

Source URI involves only inputs, not outputs. Since input is WASAPI with DoP enabled, DSD256 means 705.6 kHz.

 

[Jud]

6 hours ago, Miska said:

8 hours/day * 21 work days per month

 

I have no questions or argument about your pricing. But I thought this was not your "day job." Perhaps I was incorrect, or perhaps you work at another full time job as well as treating HQPlayer like one.  Just curious, I guess.

[Bob Stern]

1 hour ago, Superdad said:

No direct support for ripping CDs.  Guess I would need to switch to a standalone CD ripper utility that also gathers disc metadata from web.

 

XLD is infinitely better than iTunes for ripping CD's.  It reports whether the ripped tracks match the AccurateRip database and whether there were any samples that were unreadable after repeated attempts.  It has been discussed extensively here over the years.  Here are my prefs settings for the CD Rip tab:

[Jud]

1 hour ago, Superdad said:

No direct support for ripping CDs.  Guess I would need to switch to a standalone CD ripper utility that also gathers disc metadata from web.

 

XLD.

[Miska]

1 hour ago, Superdad said:

iTunes (before Apple bloated it, though I know how to strip it back) has always been my gold standard for direct music library management.  My brain just works best with its multi-paned column-browser format and I find its selecting/editing flexibility and easy playlist building very intuitive.

 

 

Haha, I never managed to use iTunes for anything. For one reason because it is Mac-only and I want something that runs on all three platforms. So anything else is out of question for me. Another reason is that iTunes never supported aggregated content views of scattered/distributed content that is not stored locally in one place, but instead in various different places based on where it is sourced from.

 

But the Client has that column-browser style, as well as cover flow. I personally prefer tree views, but now I don't have such anymore in my own player...  But I can manage with the current one.

 

1 hour ago, Superdad said:

If part of @Miska's purpose in splitting out his loved-only-by-him () minimalist Client

 

You know, I hate these kind of statements, because it doesn't describe what is missing from this "minimalist" Client? I don't particularly "love" it, it has been created because before that the user interface was called "ugly" and "stone age". I have been trying to create something better. And I can try to improve things, but it is very hard if the only information is "minimalist", "ugly", "loved-only-by-him".

 

I personally prefer view that shows as much of my content on one screen as possible. On Roon for example I would need to magically remember what I had, I have not found view there "show me as compact view as possible of all the music I have". That means no cover pictures, just text.

 

But I can manage with the two library views of Client.

 

[Superdad]

@Jud and @Bob Stern:

Thanks, I have had XLD on my machine for a long time.  And thanks for the screenshot of your settings--I just saved that to my XLD folder!

Cheers,

--ALEX

[Miska]

8 minutes ago, Jud said:

I have no questions or argument about your pricing. But I thought this was not your "day job." Perhaps I was incorrect, or perhaps you work at another full time job as well as treating HQPlayer like one.  Just curious, I guess.

 

LinkedIn gives anyway a picture of this. I was doing it besides my day job (that's how I funded it), but ending up working like 16 hours a day 7 days a week was a bit much. It has been the only thing I do for a year now, but now it's just all 16 hours into this instead of being split to two 8 hour job slices.

 

[Superdad]

10 minutes ago, Miska said:

Another reason is that iTunes never supported aggregated content views of scattered/distributed content that is not stored locally in one place, but instead in various different places based on where it is sourced from.

 

I think it does.

 

Quote

You know, I hate these kind of statements, because it doesn't describe what is missing from this "minimalist" Client?...

I personally prefer view that shows as much of my content on one screen as possible.

 

Sure, something like this, and 100% customizable.  This is Swinsian by the way:

 

[Miska]

1 minute ago, Superdad said:

 

I think it does.

 

 

Sure, something like this, and 100% customizable.  This is Swinsian by the way:

 

 

Why is it showing such horribly long list (based on length of the scroll bar)? But otherwise that is a little like what was in Desktop v3. I just consider it better to collapse artists/albums/tracks into tree model where you can expand the items as you want and filter the tree based on given criteria(s). For example that genre listing is also taking just screen space, now in the Client you can search based for example on genre (plus year for example) without having to waste space for listing those.

 

While many people call that ugly because it doesn't have graphical bling of Roon for example, but instead based on standard old school OS widgets.

 

Some people want to create skins, etc. Actually the interface that is now in Client can be easily made fully customizable like it's previous version was in v3. Then the entire look and visual details can be completely rewritten.

 

[Le Concombre Masqué]

2 hours ago, Superdad said:

 

I run a modified Singxer SU-1 via I2S into a Holo Spring L3 set to NOS. I much prefer Redbook played at 352.8 (polysinc-short, 20 DAC bits, NS5), and DSD played at native rate (or sometimes 256).

 

 

Inspired me to try ! it's very late here and I have a bit of a headache, so nothing definitive but:

with TEAC 501 : though I'm not as happy with 4 with PCM sources as I am with DSD sources, SDM still rules. However, almost by chance, I found out that I preferred 64 on the one piano track I listened to. That hold true with the single DSD file I listened to 64 >128.

 

That's embarrassing, the 501 being documented cleaner by Archimago @128, recommended @128 by Miska as well +if  I remember correctly, Miska recommends at least x2 oversampling when convolving....

 

However, whatever the source, 128 sounded more projected and thinner to my ears on small sample of tracks and to my tired head tonight.

 

Everybody should try for oneself and take the opportunity of 4 to reassess his previous choices. one possible ground for the superiority of 64 in my context would be CPU load (26 rather than 36% with the DSD file). It's way below some here published charges but certainly way above Miska's reference.

 

Wish we had an indication of when more (oversampling, convolution...) is a liability because of CPU charge and things like that

 

with PCM output I prefer shaped to NS5 ; have you tried it?

[lucretius]

1 hour ago, Miska said:

 

Source URI involves only inputs, not outputs. Since input is WASAPI with DoP enabled, DSD256 means 705.6 kHz.

 

 

I tried again with input set to "none".  Still the same behaviour with Roon source; sometimes when I start up the Desktop, I get 11.2M (DSD256), other times I get 384k.  

[Miska]

7 minutes ago, lucretius said:

So what if input were set to "none"?

 

It doesn't go anywhere. When you see the URI on the playlist below, it has been "loaded" to the transport.

 

[LoryWiv]

As I spend more time with it I am really warming to HQ Player 4.02. Still a few minor quirks I hope can be fixed:

1. Stopping playback does not stop the program from using CPU cycles just as if it were still playing
2. Click-Selecting a track in Client playback list does not highlight it to confirm correct selection,  that only occurs after I hit play button.

But overall the much maligned GUI actually works for me, nice display of full-screen album art with settings to left and current playlist on right...simple, elegant and aesthetically pleasing except that long track names spill over onto the album art.

 

Most importantly, I am very impressed with the quality of sound I am hearing with my chain / ZMF Auteur (PCM to DSD256, poly-sinc-xtr-mp-2s, DSD7 256+fs). Transparent, resolving and detailed but still musical and euphonic. My preferred genres of classical piano music, classic jazz and most other genres have never sounded better.

 

Audio memory is too transient for me to compare rigorously with HQ Player 3 but I do feel sound quality is a step better with 4. In any case my objective is the most enjoyment of music I can obtain without taking out a second mortgage, and HQ Player 4 is now at the center of that enjoyment. Amongst all the quibbles, including my own, a word of appreciation seemed in order. Thank you, Jussi.

[lucretius]

26 minutes ago, lucretius said:

1 hour ago, Miska said:

 

Source URI involves only inputs, not outputs. Since input is WASAPI with DoP enabled, DSD256 means 705.6 kHz.

 

 

I tried again with input set to "none".  Still the same behaviour with Roon source; sometimes when I start up the Desktop, I get 11.2M (DSD256), other times I get 384k.  

 

I changed the USB cable from the Belkin (which was a good cable) to my Emotiva USB cable.  Still the same result: when I start up the Desktop, I get 11.2M (DSD256), other times I get 384k. I've ordered a certified USB 3 cable and I'll check that when I get it but I seriously doubt there will be any change.

 

Is there anyway to prevent the Desktop from using 384k (I want the 11.2M DSD 256) with a Roon source?  Thanks.

[Miska]

15 minutes ago, LoryWiv said:

Stopping playback does not stop the program from using CPU cycles just as if it were still playing

 

What OS does this happen on? Because I have not seen such, it should stop in about 10 seconds after playback has stopped.

 

17 minutes ago, LoryWiv said:

Click-Selecting a track in Client playback list does not highlight it to confirm correct selection,  that only occurs after I hit play button.

 

Hmmh, this has been fixed in 4.0.2... If you are on Mac, did you remember to replace/update the client too?

 

[Miska]

8 minutes ago, lucretius said:

I changed the USB cable from the Belkin (which was a good cable) to my Emotiva USB cable.  Still the same result: when I start up the Desktop, I get 11.2M (DSD256), other times I get 384k. I've ordered a certified USB 3 cable and I'll check that when I get it but I seriously doubt there will be any change.

 

Is there anyway to prevent the Desktop from using 384k (I want the 11.2M DSD 256) with a Roon source?  Thanks.

 

This was Mytek with latest drivers? Can you email me log  of one playback session where it first succeeds and then fails?

 

Another case where this has happened for some people has been with latest Windows 10 releases where Windows suddenly decides to load it's own UAC2 driver instead of the the manufacturer supplied one. Which of course breaks the ASIO  driver's operation. That can be noticed from the logs when ASIO is suddenly unable to switch between PCM and DSD modes for example.

 

 

P.S. I have a fight on one machine where Windows keeps silently installing latest feature update every now and then. Which results in Intel's Ethernet driver VLAN support disappearing/breaking. Then I need to uninstall the Windows update, and after some days it is again re-installed silently behind the scenes...