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35 minutes ago, Carlos269 said:

Does your DAC support 48KHz based clock rates? Are those DSD512 and DSD256 datasets for 48x512 & 48x256 or for 44.1x512 & 44.1x256? I believe that I know the answer but want to confirm. Thanks.

 

everything is at 44.1 if I try 48X512 - 100% CPU for over a minute, I had to kill HQP.

 

I am not sure if T+A Dac 8 dsd supports 48Khz base rate. I'll try and find out.

 

Update:

The Dac supports 44.1 and 48Khz base clocks. I tried 96Khz PCM and it worked fine oversampling to 48X512

 

PC (Roon +  HQ Player) | Allo US Bridge Sig + Shanti LPS | SOTM TX-USB Ultra + SPS500 PSU| T+A Dac 8 DSD | Luxman C-900u + M-900u | PMC MB2 Se

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6 minutes ago, Miska said:

 

This is because core allocation and reservation in HQPlayer 4. On a 8+ core CPU, two cores are reserved for low intensity tasks and for things like Roon. This works generally well until you hit a case where you would need those two cores for running the filters too, this happens only with the heaviest filters though. You can disable core reservation by setting environment variable HQPLAYER_RESERVED_CORES value to 0 (Control Panel -> System -> Advanced -> Environment variables). If the CPU would have HyperThreading, you could also move the reserved cores to the threads by specifying suitable mask, this would free up all primary siblings to intensive tasks.

 

Once I enable Cuda - I don't have a problem with running this filter -  I guess it's better leave the reserved core settings the way it is. I was just curious as to why it was behaving differently. Thank you for the explanation.

PC (Roon +  HQ Player) | Allo US Bridge Sig + Shanti LPS | SOTM TX-USB Ultra + SPS500 PSU| T+A Dac 8 DSD | Luxman C-900u + M-900u | PMC MB2 Se

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The Mac is now hooked up directly to my DAC.  I have been able to successfully integrate Roon and HQP and am upsampling to DSD256 with no issues.  That leaves the UltraRendu as the culprit behind the dropouts and stuttering.  My guess is that something is going on with the network and router.

 

Unfortunately , without the UltraRendu in the chain, the sound quality suffers quite a bit.  My understanding is that there is a way to use Roon/HQP/Rendu with a direct connection.  That will be next on the list of things to research and try.

 

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6 hours ago, Ellsworth said:

The Mac is now hooked up directly to my DAC.  I have been able to successfully integrate Roon and HQP and am upsampling to DSD256 with no issues.  That leaves the UltraRendu as the culprit behind the dropouts and stuttering.  My guess is that something is going on with the network and router.

 

OK, this narrows down the problem. Likely source of the problem is that 802.3x ethernet flow control doesn't get negotiated on the link, or the pause frames are getting discarded by the router.

 

One fairly inexpensive and recommended way to deal with this is to put a real switch in place instead of the router. Thus Mac and Rendu would be connected to the switch instead of the router, and then router would be also connected to the switch. You could also move all the other connections from the router to the switch, thus router would only have single ethernet cable going to the switch and switch would have all the connections.

 

Important thing selecting a switch is to make sure it supports 802.3x flow control, but almost all do. It should also have support for 802.1p QoS. And preferably 802.3az energy efficient ethernet.

 

Quote

My understanding is that there is a way to use Roon/HQP/Rendu with a direct connection.

 

Direct connections are problematic unless run in a bridged way, which means turning computer into software based switch.

 

Signalyst - Developer of HQPlayer

Pulse & Fidelity - Software Defined Amplifiers

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1 hour ago, vladhv said:

variables user or system?

 

It is up to you, I would put it under user variables. Only difference is whether it applies only to the current user, or to all users of the system. If you have only one user account on the system anyway, it doesn't make practical difference.

 

Note: non-zero value is a binary mask, for example on Windows with a i9-9900K that has HyperThreading, you could set it to 00001010 to place those low intensity tasks on cores 1 and 3 which are sibling threads of 0 and 2. But usually the automatic logic gives best overall results.

Signalyst - Developer of HQPlayer

Pulse & Fidelity - Software Defined Amplifiers

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15 hours ago, Miska said:

 

OK, this narrows down the problem. Likely source of the problem is that 802.3x ethernet flow control doesn't get negotiated on the link, or the pause frames are getting discarded by the router.

 

One fairly inexpensive and recommended way to deal with this is to put a real switch in place instead of the router. Thus Mac and Rendu would be connected to the switch instead of the router, and then router would be also connected to the switch. You could also move all the other connections from the router to the switch, thus router would only have single ethernet cable going to the switch and switch would have all the connections.

 

Important thing selecting a switch is to make sure it supports 802.3x flow control, but almost all do. It should also have support for 802.1p QoS. And preferably 802.3az energy efficient ethernet.

 

 

Direct connections are problematic unless run in a bridged way, which means turning computer into software based switch.

 

Many thanks for this reply.  This is information that I would never have known. It sounds like there are two configurations that may help resolve the problem.  I will have to do some research on my switch and try both of these configurations over the weekend.  It will be great to get this resolved.  Again, thanks so much for your help.

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What is the preferred OS for HQPlayer with a GUI?  Is there any estimate of the percentage benefit you get on Embedded vs say Ubuntu Studio?  Does Linux have good support for Nvidia cards?  My Linux desktop machine is just using the embedded graphics so I’ve never tested.

For now I’m just researching A build that would primarily be for HQ player but run a few more app that I could also use the power of a nice processor for.

Thanks

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Is there a way to force HQPlayer to use all cores.Often when I first start HQPlayer or stop and start song will get stuttering.Once playing it works fine with any filter.I noticed when starting HQPlayer or stopping and starting a song I will notice in task manager that it’s only using 2 of the six cores to intialize and once song is playing all cores are then used ?Is this how it’s suppose to work ?

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2 hours ago, Outlaw said:

Is there a way to force HQPlayer to use all cores.Often when I first start HQPlayer or stop and start song will get stuttering.Once playing it works fine with any filter.I noticed when starting HQPlayer or stopping and starting a song I will notice in task manager that it’s only using 2 of the six cores to intialize and once song is playing all cores are then used ?Is this how it’s suppose to work ?

 

Most time consuming part of initialization is supposed to use 6 HyperThreads of your CPU. Rest of it uses just two cores yes. Initialization time work split only affects how long the initialization takes, but not stuttering since the playback is not yet started at that point. Initial stutter at the beginning is usually indicating some lag in reading the source data. Are you playing files directly by HQPlayer or streaming from Roon? Somewhat recent stream buffering improvements in HQPlayer 4 should help on Roon cases.

 

You could also check if CPU clocks bump up immediately or if there's a lag when starting (when it stutters) before going up to normal values. You could also try to use the Ultimate Performance power profile and see if makes any difference.

 

Signalyst - Developer of HQPlayer

Pulse & Fidelity - Software Defined Amplifiers

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2 hours ago, mfalcon said:

What is the preferred OS for HQPlayer with a GUI?  Is there any estimate of the percentage benefit you get on Embedded vs say Ubuntu Studio?  Does Linux have good support for Nvidia cards?  My Linux desktop machine is just using the embedded graphics so I’ve never tested.

For now I’m just researching A build that would primarily be for HQ player but run a few more app that I could also use the power of a nice processor for.

 

Ubuntu Studio 18.04 is nice and lean since it uses XFCE desktop environment. Normal Ubuntu Desktop is also fine. And yes, there is good support for Nvidia cards since Nvidia fully supports Linux. In fact the base driver they have for Windows and Linux is the same, with only different OS adaptation wrapper around.

 

Ubuntu ships one set of Nvidia's drivers (it's an additional option you need to install separately), but there are two other ways to get different versions of drivers in.

 

Signalyst - Developer of HQPlayer

Pulse & Fidelity - Software Defined Amplifiers

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12 hours ago, Miska said:

 

Ubuntu Studio 18.04 is nice and lean since it uses XFCE desktop environment. Normal Ubuntu Desktop is also fine. And yes, there is good support for Nvidia cards since Nvidia fully supports Linux. In fact the base driver they have for Windows and Linux is the same, with only different OS adaptation wrapper around.

 

Ubuntu ships one set of Nvidia's drivers (it's an additional option you need to install separately), but there are two other ways to get different versions of drivers in.

 

It sounds like you recommend it as much or more as any OS then.  That’s good, I was prefer not to have windows.  (I Like MacOS but want to build something).

 

Have you done any real comparisons between Embedded vs an Ubuntu install?  

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56 minutes ago, mfalcon said:

Have you done any real comparisons between Embedded vs an Ubuntu install?  

 

For development purposes I'm regularly running HQPlayer Embedded and Desktop on the same Ubuntu machine and in such case there is no difference, as there shouldn't be.

 

Comparing something else gets complex and also easily brings in hardware aspects, so there's no conclusive result of such.

 

Signalyst - Developer of HQPlayer

Pulse & Fidelity - Software Defined Amplifiers

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Well if you go with embedded, you can use a usb stick with HQP OS on it, and boot from that when you want to run HQP.  Then have a SSD with Linux for anything else.

 

I started with Ubuntu/Embedded but I use HQP OS now and am very happy with it.  They are both viewed as embedded versions, so same license covers them.

 

Randy

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4 hours ago, randytsuch said:

Well if you go with embedded, you can use a usb stick with HQP OS on it, and boot from that when you want to run HQP.  Then have a SSD with Linux for anything else.

 

Acknowledging that everyone's needs are different, I'd add a friendly reminder that HQPlayer OS doesn't support CUDA. If you can live without that, it's a fabulous solution.

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2 hours ago, perpetualapprentice said:

 

 

Acknowledging that everyone's needs are different, I'd add a friendly reminder that HQPlayer OS doesn't support CUDA. If you can live without that, it's a fabulous solution.

Well that is a deal breaker for me tbh.  I want to have a GPU.  Thanks All

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Hello everybody!

 

 I just registered to this forum, but already read some time in here. That convinced me purchasing the HQPlayer and I am quite happy with it.

 It’s installed to an intel NUC with an i5 processor - a bit poor performance for the tasks needed, I guess.

 

However, it occurs that after installing the license, I have the problem that HQP doesn’t play music after the first startup. I have to enter the settings and after that, even with no changes, it plays.

 I put roon and HQPlayer to the Startup folder and would like keeping it like that.

 

Thanks and best regards,

Alex

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3 hours ago, der_yeti said:

However, it occurs that after installing the license, I have the problem that HQP doesn’t play music after the first startup. I have to enter the settings and after that, even with no changes, it plays.

 I put roon and HQPlayer to the Startup folder and would like keeping it like that.

 

If the DAC is not accessible at startup, you'll end up directed to the settings dialog. So make sure you have DAC up and correct input selected when HQPlayer gets started. Also make sure you don't have the DAC enabled as a zone in Roon, otherwise the two will have competition over exclusive access of the device.

 

Signalyst - Developer of HQPlayer

Pulse & Fidelity - Software Defined Amplifiers

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Hi Miska,

 

Real Time audio: During playing / upsampling  iTunes / Apple Music downloaded m4a / m4p or partly downloaded Aiif music-files  and during real time streaming I notice very slight ticks / glitches.... like in the old days playing from a LP. Sounds like a mini  High Hat drum. My suspicions especially during real time streaming?!?😚

 

But playing / upsampling from my hard disks on  Mac mini ( bridged) I don't hear and sounds very well.  

Ps. It is difficult to hear but for younger people than me like my kids easily heard.  

Strange isn't ?

 

Playing with buffers and Bit depth would that help?

 

Very best regards, Andreas

 

 

Quote

Ethernet::4x Bonn Silent Angel 8P, Afterdark Emperor Doublr  Crown Masterclock and Cybershaft 75 Ohm,Mini Circuits convertor,Uptone EtherRegen with 75Ohm. SOTM Cat CAT 7.

Audio: Auralic Vega G2.1, Cambridge Edge W, Kef Reference 3 speakers.  
Power: Farad super 3 (2x) , Keces P8 ( 2 Uptone LPS1.2 ) Afterdark 5V: 

Cables:Meicord Opal, SOTM Cat7 with filtering, Ghent Audio DC , Farad Level 2, Sharkwire speaker cable

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50 minutes ago, Miska said:

 

If the DAC is not accessible at startup, you'll end up directed to the settings dialog. So make sure you have DAC up and correct input selected when HQPlayer gets started. Also make sure you don't have the DAC enabled as a zone in Roon, otherwise the two will have competition over exclusive access of the device.

 


Thanks Jussi!

 

 I deleted the “DAC only” zone in roon and it now works at first time.

 

Another question to the settings: would it be preferable to use “the right” settings, or striving for the highest possible DSD rate? I am asking because my computer has only decent resources.

 

Currently I can run the following settings without stuttering or dropouts, but my “machine” (optimized with AO) runs at approximately 90+ % load.

 

 

06AED942-0F7B-4BEB-ACC3-E47E6A74979A.jpeg

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1 hour ago, der_yeti said:

Another question to the settings: would it be preferable to use “the right” settings, or striving for the highest possible DSD rate? I am asking because my computer has only decent resources.

 

Currently I can run the following settings without stuttering or dropouts, but my “machine” (optimized with AO) runs at approximately 90+ % load.

 

 

06AED942-0F7B-4BEB-ACC3-E47E6A74979A.jpeg

 

Looks like you are about at maximum performance you can get out of your current computer. You can compare if you prefer higher DSD rate with ASDM7 modulator instead (assuming supported by the DAC). But likely it is a close call, ASDM7EC is a good modulator...

 

Signalyst - Developer of HQPlayer

Pulse & Fidelity - Software Defined Amplifiers

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1 hour ago, ambre said:

Real Time audio: During playing / upsampling  iTunes / Apple Music downloaded m4a / m4p or partly downloaded Aiif music-files  and during real time streaming I notice very slight ticks / glitches.... like in the old days playing from a LP. Sounds like a mini  High Hat drum. My suspicions especially during real time streaming?!?😚

 

But playing / upsampling from my hard disks on  Mac mini ( bridged) I don't hear and sounds very well.  

Ps. It is difficult to hear but for younger people than me like my kids easily heard.  

Strange isn't ?

 

How are you routing Apple Music to HQPlayer? If you use some S/PDIF interface, please make sure it is slave-clocked to the source clock. With a loopback device this shouldn't happen.

 

This is likely clock drift causing one sample being lost/added somewhere in the chain. HQPlayer doesn't do such, but it could be somewhere else on the path.

 

Signalyst - Developer of HQPlayer

Pulse & Fidelity - Software Defined Amplifiers

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Hi, for some reason, when I start up HQPlayer in Windows, I'm seeing a command window come up with the following:

 

OMP: Warning #123: Ignoring invalid OS proc ID 1.
OMP: Warning #123: Ignoring invalid OS proc ID 3.
OMP: Warning #123: Ignoring invalid OS proc ID 5.
OMP: Warning #123: Ignoring invalid OS proc ID 7.
OMP: Warning #123: Ignoring invalid OS proc ID 9.
OMP: Warning #123: Ignoring invalid OS proc ID 11.
OMP: Warning #123: Ignoring invalid OS proc ID 13.
OMP: Warning #123: Ignoring invalid OS proc ID 15.
OMP: Warning #123: Ignoring invalid OS proc ID 17.
OMP: Warning #123: Ignoring invalid OS proc ID 19.
OMP: Warning #123: Ignoring invalid OS proc ID 21.
OMP: Warning #123: Ignoring invalid OS proc ID 23.
OMP: Warning #123: Ignoring invalid OS proc ID 25.
OMP: Warning #123: Ignoring invalid OS proc ID 27.
OMP: Warning #123: Ignoring invalid OS proc ID 29.
OMP: Warning #123: Ignoring invalid OS proc ID 31.
OMP: Warning #124: No valid OS proc IDs specified - not using affinity.

 

This didn't use to happen.  Is there a way to close this?  If I close this window, HQPlayer also ends.

 

Thanks!


 

 

 

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3 hours ago, Miska said:

 

How are you routing Apple Music to HQPlayer? If you use some S/PDIF interface, please make sure it is slave-clocked to the source clock. With a loopback device this shouldn't happen.

 

This is likely clock drift causing one sample being lost/added somewhere in the chain. HQPlayer doesn't do such, but it could be somewhere else on the path.

 

In was using toslink  from Apple AirPort to Mac Mini in. But  last 3 weeks I use loopback from Roque Amoebe. Due to the fact  that my new Mac Mini doesn’t have Toslink anymore.

 

Juist started playing from Qobuz instead Apple Music. First impression not clicks / pops.But tomorrow another trial.

Regards, Andreas

Quote

Ethernet::4x Bonn Silent Angel 8P, Afterdark Emperor Doublr  Crown Masterclock and Cybershaft 75 Ohm,Mini Circuits convertor,Uptone EtherRegen with 75Ohm. SOTM Cat CAT 7.

Audio: Auralic Vega G2.1, Cambridge Edge W, Kef Reference 3 speakers.  
Power: Farad super 3 (2x) , Keces P8 ( 2 Uptone LPS1.2 ) Afterdark 5V: 

Cables:Meicord Opal, SOTM Cat7 with filtering, Ghent Audio DC , Farad Level 2, Sharkwire speaker cable

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