HQ Player

[LoryWiv]

7 minutes ago, Miska said:

 

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

Windows 10 keeps CPU cycles engaged after stopping playback...definitely longer then 10 seconds although I've not timed it. 

7 minutes ago, Miska said:

 

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

Not Mac, Win 10...click-selecting a track in Client works but there is no visual highlight to confirm until play buttom pressed. Not a big deal but occasionally leads to wrong track playback started.

[lucretius]

26 minutes ago, Miska said:

 

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...

 

 

Yes, I am using the latest Mytek driver (v4.45).  I haven't had a problem lately with Windows (10) loading its own UAC2 driver (it has happened in the past in previous Windows updates).  I have emailed the log to you at the address noted on your website.  Thanks for taking a look at it.

 

 

[JTS]

Quote

 

 

2 hours ago, Miska said:

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

 

I, too, am interested in DACs that will do both PCM and DSD well - work and pleasure.

 

I currently have a Holo Spring LV2 at home and it sounds thrusty and great in NOS PCM, but really amazing in DSD with HQ Player (w intona and su-1).

 

I had a Denafrips ARES at work, for a year or so, until a few weeks ago. I found it fluid with deep staging and a rich sound. It was good in PCM and really involving in DSD with HQP. I recently sold it, looking for a more accurate/resolving dual PCM/DSD DAC, and purchased an RME ADI-2 Dac fs.

 

I really (really) disliked the RME when I first got it - i found it had a fatiguing, lightweight sound and small staging. I have been working on various configurations with it at work for a couple weeks now and feel like I am beginning to really appreciate its talents. I also feel that it has mellowed and rounded out some - maybe my brain, maybe getting all the signals balanced between RME, pre amp, and active monitors, or perhaps some burn-in on the the bits and bobs. Whatever the change, I actually feel that it is quite smooth now.

It's certainly more analytic and thinner in its presentation than the Holo Spring and the ARES, but there is something to be said for its clarity, deeply quiet background, quickness, and sharp imaging. It feels quite nimble to me now.The RME works great in PCM for work and it is more interesting in DSD with HQ Player for listening fun.

 

 

I would be curious about other PCM/DSD DACs out there.

 

I would LOVE to hear the bigger Denafrips models - R2R with big big power supplies and all those tiny caps...

 

- J

 

[DancingSea]

5 hours ago, Superdad said:

3) No way to use Swinsian as a front end to HQ Player.  I've yet to try @Geoffrey Armstrong's iTunes>HQ Player utility (originally a script but now written in 'C' if I recall; has it been tested with HQP 4.x?), but I understand that Bob has an iTunes script that he might modify for use with Swinsian.  Such would be lovely!

 

Yes, having a functional HQP front alternative to Roon would be amazing.  I tried Geoffrey's script but could never get it to work.  If Swinsian can operate smoothly with HQP handling that sound, I'd buy Swinsian immediately, and even consider HQP 4.  For me, I see HQP as really costing $700 as it needs Roon for the front end.  Swinsian would be quite the value at $20 for a HQP front end!  Its sad that Roon is the only Mac option.

[Sigi]

Hi Jussi,

with Version 4 I have a problem with the connection to Muso. Although I selected the correct directory i think it doesn’t connect because it is expecting HQPlayer-Desktop.exe as file. 

The author is not responding to my post. How can I solve that issue? Renaming every links and file, could this be the solution?

cheers

Sigi

[Miska]

3 hours ago, DancingSea said:

Yes, having a functional HQP front alternative to Roon would be amazing.  I tried Geoffrey's script but could never get it to work.  If Swinsian can operate smoothly with HQP handling that sound, I'd buy Swinsian immediately, and even consider HQP 4.  For me, I see HQP as really costing $700 as it needs Roon for the front end.  Swinsian would be quite the value at $20 for a HQP front end!  Its sad that Roon is the only Mac option.

 

You could both talk to Swinsian developer to see what he/she thinks about the idea of adding support for HQPlayer as playback engine. The HQPlayer control API is open, with client example source code available. So anybody who wants can do front-ends to HQPlayer.

 

[Miska]

1 hour ago, Sigi said:

with Version 4 I have a problem with the connection to Muso. Although I selected the correct directory i think it doesn’t connect because it is expecting HQPlayer-Desktop.exe as file. 

The author is not responding to my post. How can I solve that issue? Renaming every links and file, could this be the solution?

 

Least intrusive way is to just make a copy of the HQPlayer .exe in the same folder with a different name, no other changes needed. If it also expects some fixed installation folder, you can uninstall HQPlayer and then reinstall and in the installer select different installation folder.

 

[AnotherSpin]

8 hours ago, Miska said:

 

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.

 

 

Hi Miska,

 

A certain thing I miss in 4x is the window which made possible to set filters without opening preferences. Even not to set or change, just for the info during playback, to be aware what filters is set at the moment without stopping playback and opening preferences would be nice. I understand, you streamlined the outlook of the player, but this info was pretty useful. Thank you.

[Miska]

5 hours ago, JTS said:

I really (really) disliked the RME when I first got it - i found it had a fatiguing, lightweight sound and small staging. I have been working on various configurations with it at work for a couple weeks now and feel like I am beginning to really appreciate its talents. I also feel that it has mellowed and rounded out some - maybe my brain, maybe getting all the signals balanced between RME, pre amp, and active monitors, or perhaps some burn-in on the the bits and bobs. Whatever the change, I actually feel that it is quite smooth now.

It's certainly more analytic and thinner in its presentation than the Holo Spring and the ARES, but there is something to be said for its clarity, deeply quiet background, quickness, and sharp imaging. It feels quite nimble to me now.The RME works great in PCM for work and it is more interesting in DSD with HQ Player for listening fun.

 

RME has just one type of DAC inside, AKM's DAC chip that is SDM converter. So it cannot be really compared in PCM/DSD sense to Holo Spring or Denafrips. Switching between PCM and DSD inputs to it you are comparing it's built in on-chip modulators to my modulators. Only DSD inputs with DSD Direct mode enabled allow plain conversion without extra DSP performed inside. Since DSD Direct bypasses the volume control, the headphone outputs that are connected to the chip operating in DSD Direct mode are muted.

 

With ADI-2 it is important to check that the DSD Direct is enabled. If you are using 7th order modulator in HQPlayer, you could try setting the DSD filter in ADI-2 to 50 kHz. Alternatively you can try 5th order modulator in HQPlayer with ADI-2 filter set to either 50 or 150 kHz. Also choice of the HQPlayer filter plays important role. With these comparisons you may find the character you are looking for. Another thing to pay attention to is selection of reference level in ADI-2 to avoid clipping in preamp on loud peaks, for my preamp +13 dBu is suitable.

 

5 hours ago, JTS said:

I would be curious about other PCM/DSD DACs out there.

 

T+A DAC8 DSD is also one, but the PCM side is based on TI DAC chips which are really SDM converters, so it doesn't have pure PCM like the RME doesn't either. But DAC8 DSD has a discrete pure DSD DAC for the DSD side. However, rates higher than DSD128 require Windows, or replacing the USB interface firmware and use of Linux.

 

[Miska]

1 minute ago, AnotherSpin said:

A certain thing I miss in 4x is the window which made possible to set filters without opening preferences. Even not to set or change, just for the info during playback, to be aware what filters is set at the moment without stopping playback and opening preferences would be nice. I understand, you streamlined the outlook of the player, but this info was pretty useful. Thank you.

 

What are you using as a front-end? Because most front-ends display this information. I can also add it as display to the main window, that is not a problem.

 

[sootshe]

Can someone enlighten me on the new filters in HQP4?

 

With HQP3 we had in PCM  - "Filter - Dither - Sample Rate".

 

Now we have - Filter 1X - Filter Nx - Dither - Sample Rate.

 

What is the difference between Filter 1X & Filter Nx? Do you set them to the same values?

 

Thanks.

[sootshe]

4 minutes ago, Miska said:

 

What are you using as a front-end? Because most front-ends display this information. I can also add it as display to the main window, that is not a problem.

 

 

I also cannot see this information anymore. 

 

I use NAIM DAC, Berkeley ALPHA USB, with MacBook Pro.

[Miska]

7 hours ago, LoryWiv said:

Windows 10 keeps CPU cycles engaged after stopping playback...definitely longer then 10 seconds although I've not timed it. 

Not Mac, Win 10...click-selecting a track in Client works but there is no visual highlight to confirm until play buttom pressed. Not a big deal but occasionally leads to wrong track playback started.

 

When you click a track in the playlist, playback is started immediately from that track and is also highlighted. Please check that client says it is version 4.0.2 in the splash screen when it is starting up...

 

Unfortunately I'm unable to reproduce the CPU load problem, not sure why it would happen for you. If the load is 100% on all cores, there's one component used in HQPlayer that could do that, but HQPlayer is already internally setting it's sleep timeout to one millisecond...

 

I'm on latest Windows feature update.

 

[AnotherSpin]

25 minutes ago, Miska said:

 

What are you using as a front-end? Because most front-ends display this information. I can also add it as display to the main window, that is not a problem.

 

 

I only use single HQ Player desktop, adding files with drag and drop. Tried Client it doesn't work properly, but I do not feel I need it anyway. To have filter, and, maybe, dither info visible would be helpful.

[AnotherSpin]

24 minutes ago, sootshe said:

Can someone enlighten me on the new filters in HQP4?

 

With HQP3 we had in PCM  - "Filter - Dither - Sample Rate".

 

Now we have - Filter 1X - Filter Nx - Dither - Sample Rate.

 

What is the difference between Filter 1X & Filter Nx? Do you set them to the same values?

 

Thanks.

 

You can check previous pages of this thread, it was explained in details. 1x for redbook, Nx for hi-res.

[sootshe]

9 minutes ago, AnotherSpin said:

 

You can check previous pages of this thread, it was explained in details. 1x for redbook, Nx for hi-res.

 

So if I upsample to 192, do I use NX filters & set 1X to none?

....or does it mean if all my files are RedBook, I use 1X & set NX to none?

[Miska]

3 minutes ago, sootshe said:

So if I upsample to 192, do I use NX filters & set 1X to none?

....or does it mean if all my files are RedBook, I use 1X & set NX to none?

 

Don't set either to none. You can use same filter for both to have same behavior v3 had.

 

HQPlayer will automatically select between the two choices  depending on your source. For RedBook and 48k sources, 1x filter is used, for any source rates above these, Nx filter is used.

 

[sootshe]

21 minutes ago, Miska said:

 

Don't set either to none. You can use same filter for both to have same behavior v3 had.

 

HQPlayer will automatically select between the two choices  depending on your source. For RedBook and 48k sources, 1x filter is used, for any source rates above these, Nx filter is used.

 

 

Thanks Miska.....too easy.

 

And thanks also for a great program & by the way, I love the client interface, nice & simple to use. 

[Bob Stern]

1 hour ago, Miska said:

What are you using as a front-end? Because most front-ends display this information [filter, modulator, etc]. I can also add it as display to the main window, that is not a problem.

 

That would be nice as a quick confirmation of the settings.

 

Also to facilitate quick confirmation, it would be nice to display the volume at all times in the Desktop app instead of displaying it only briefly when you change the volume.

[Miska]

I'll add these two...

[Bob Stern]

3 hours ago, Miska said:

You could both talk to Swinsian developer to see what he/she thinks about the idea of adding support for HQPlayer as playback engine. The HQPlayer control API is open, with client example source code available. So anybody who wants can do front-ends to HQPlayer.

 

If @Superdad and @DancingSea convince the Swinsian developer to pursue this, I can share with him my AppleScripts for loading iTunes tracks into HQP, which he could readily use as a template.

[Bob Stern]

Question re programming front-end for HQP:

 

To enable a front-end program to display the elapsed time while playing a track, will it slow down HQP if the front-end sends a status query to HQP once or twice per second, or does responding to status queries at such intervals consume negligible CPU time for HQP?  (Of course, the alternative is for the front-end to count the elapsed time itself to avoid slowing down HQP with so many queries.)

[Sigi]

Hi Jussi,

I asked :

 

What will I have to do to use the client?

 

Your answer was:

You need to have the server (HQPlayer Desktop or HQPlayer Embedded) running, then you can connect to wanted server and view the library, or select one of the inputs. You can also adjust filter selections and such (syncing of which seems to still bug a bit - needs more fixing).

I tried it, but nothing happens when I start the client. HQPlayer Desktop is running.

Am I missing something?

[AnotherSpin]

3 hours ago, Miska said:

I'll add these two...

 

By the way, Client doesn't show anything if I select localhost and hit enter, but it works with 127.0.0.1 + enter. 

 

What is the simple way to customize the generic picture in Client's middle part?

[Miska]

1 hour ago, Bob Stern said:

Question re programming front-end for HQP:

 

To enable a front-end program to display the elapsed time while playing a track, will it slow down HQP if the front-end sends a status query to HQP once or twice per second, or does responding to status queries at such intervals consume negligible CPU time for HQP?  (Of course, the alternative is for the front-end to count the elapsed time itself to avoid slowing down HQP with so many queries.)

 

It doesn't really have noticeable impact. Roon is doing that. But you can also subscribe to status queries like my Client does, then you don't need to poll, but instead HQPlayer itself sends you updates.