HQ Player

[ambre]

On 4/13/2020 at 6:51 PM, Miska said:

   On 4/13/2020 at 3:08 PM,  ambre said: 

Hi Miska, On my Mac Pro 2019 the Volume Down = F11 doesn't work at all.  It changes the screen/enviroment.

All other Functions work properly but volume down not. The same occurs when I use my iPad wit Remote for iPad.

Ps. F10 is now mute

Strange isn't?

 

As I said, I need to update the client to include these. Now only supported on the server side.

 

Next release includes these for the Client too.

As I said, I need to update the client to include these. Now only supported on the server side.

Next release includes these for the Client too.

 

On 4/13/2020 at 6:51 PM, Miska said:

Hi Miska,  in version 4.4.0 the function keys are still not working (Apple iMac connected with headless Mac mini) especially VOLUME DOWN = F11

 

[ambre]

2 minutes ago, ambre said:

 

 

Miska, working in Client only F8,9 and 10= next song etc . The F10 <=>12 neither working.  

[Miska]

2 hours ago, ambre said:

Miska, working in Client only F8,9 and 10= next song etc . The F10 <=>12 neither working.  

 

macOS is stealing key presses to those keys too, just like the normal media keys. Seems to be kind of futile attempt to make this work on macOS or then I need to move to use letter or number keys or something.

 

[Miska]

23 hours ago, freesteve said:

Any plans forthcoming to be able to play dsf-wv?  Your software is so darn good with lossless.  Thanks....

 

WavPack support is on the TODO-list and kind of half-done. But there has been higher priorities, since use of the format is rare...

 

[Zauurx]

I prefer plugin support... like DSP  as Room Sharper 😉

[Miska]

7 minutes ago, Zauurx said:

I prefer plugin support... like DSP  as Room Sharper 😉

 

HAF can create HQPlayer compliant filters.

 

Problem with all plugin things is that the plugin APIs rarely support all three platforms - Windows, macOS and Linux, including Embedded environments that don't have any graphical output. Plus they don't have support for unlimited sample rates for both PCM and DSD.

 

I would need to develop my own plugin API that supports such requirements, but how likely it is that anybody would make plugins for it?

 

[ambre]

3 minutes ago, Miska said:

 

macOS is stealing key presses to those keys too, just like the normal media keys. Seems to be kind of futile attempt to make this work on macOS or then I need to move to use letter or number keys or something.

 

Miska, 

 

Thanks for quick reply. "  kind of futile attempt to make this work on macOS" , Next release?

 

I noticed a lower CPU usage in HQP 4.4.0 with the same filters as used before on my Mac Mini I7 2018 .

ASDM7 with Poly Sinc Ext2 upsampled to DSD 256.  My Mac mini runs now the standard fan speed of 1700 rpm instead approx. 2600-2900 rpm.     😃Is that correct?  

 

Will try the A and  DSD -EC (NS/Dither)  at short notice what this brings compared to previous version?

 

• Is it possible to make an overview of preferred filters in your manual as you did before (pls see attachments). Due to fact that there are 2,5 pages of different filters. Too often I do not see the forest through the trees!

 

• And is it possible to add  some kind of scaling (10 scale resp. matrix ) in terms of the needed CPU power. For example ASDM7EC  at DSD 256 needs a least Intel I9 with at least xx. Etc...

 

Very best regards, Andreas

[Khordo]

On my side (Ryzen 3900x Windows) CPU usage is less efficient. Since 4.3.2, i can’t run poly-sync-longlp with ASDM7EC / DSD256 (music drops every half second)...

with 4.3.1, Works well. 
Any chance to Know Why ?

[ripples]

1 hour ago, Khordo said:

Any chance to Know Why ?

Dont know , not the expert, but if you read between the lines on this site there is a preference for intel. my laptop i7-8750H  runs ASDM7EC / DSD256 with no stutter. But In practice i prefer Dsd64 with No fan noise... 

[Khordo]

1 minute ago, ripples said:

Dont know , not the expert, but if you read between the lines on this site there is a preference for intel. my laptop i7-8750H  runs ASDM7EC / DSD256 with no stutter. But In practice i prefer Dsd64 with No fan noise... 

 

You are right about Intel...Frequency appears to be more efficient than multiple cores...Maybe something change about how HQPlayer handles multi threads or is it  matter of Cuda, complier etc...I'm not the expert here !!!!

If i look Task Manager, i have only 4 Cores running @ 90-95% of 'Capacities' and 7 others running between 20 to 40%...
Sol global CPU usage is 20-22% and GPU is @ 20%

 

so I'll keep 4.3.1 and will give a try on the next version... 😄

 

 

[Zauurx]

18 hours ago, Miska said:

 

HAF can create HQPlayer compliant filters.

...//...

I would need to develop my own plugin API that supports such requirements, but how likely it is that anybody would make plugins for it?

VST support wouldn't be enough ?

[Miska]

1 hour ago, Zauurx said:

VST support wouldn't be enough ?

 

Yeah, VST doesn't fulfill those requirements...

 

For example usually VST plugins have graphical user interface, which is not possible on headless embedded device. Which could be even using ARM CPU architecture instead of x86-64.

 

[Luca72c]

1 hour ago, Miska said:

 

Yeah, VST doesn't fulfill those requirements...

 

For example usually VST plugins have graphical user interface, which is not possible on headless embedded device. Which could be even using ARM CPU architecture instead of x86-64.

 

 

What about VST plugins support for desktop version only?

Embedded always had its special features that desktop had not, no problem then, so why worry about this one now? It would be a pity to lose a requested feature in desktop just because embedded can't have it too.

VST Plugins don't make much sense in an embedded device, so just leave it without them (so far) and make them available for desktop users...

[Zauurx]

With VST plugin in desktop version is an opportunity to test interest... after, for embedded version, there are, perhaps, other solutions, for example :
https://www.synthanatomy.com/2018/10/web-audio-modules-play-plugins-google-chrome.html

 

But Miska, you're The Master

[Miska]

2 hours ago, Luca72c said:

What about VST plugins support for desktop version only?

 

VST is PCM-only, and practically Windows- only. So VST for only for HQPlayer 4 Desktop on Windows and only for PCM doesn't sound sensible at all.

 

2 hours ago, Luca72c said:

Embedded always had its special features that desktop had not, no problem then, so why worry about this one now?

 

All the DSP functionality is the same.

 

2 hours ago, Luca72c said:

VST Plugins don't make much sense in an embedded device, so just leave it without them (so far) and make them available for desktop users...

 

Of course same DSP things make sense on an embedded device as makes sense on desktop.

 

In addition, VST plugins don't play well with special DSP pipelines like HQPlayer's that run things on a GPU too.

 

Also many VST plugins are limited in sampling rates they support and many other restrictions. It would just impose horrible number of restrictions without much benefits.

 

[Luca72c]

37 minutes ago, Miska said:

VST is PCM-only, and practically Windows- only. So VST for only for HQPlayer 4 Desktop on Windows and only for PCM doesn't sound sensible at all.

 

38 minutes ago, Miska said:

Also many VST plugins are limited in sampling rates they support and many other restrictions. It would just impose horrible number of restrictions without much benefits.

 

Wouldn't it be possible to apply plugins to the (pcm) files before oversampling and/or conversion to DSD are performed? If possible, this would override all format and sampling frequency restrictions, or at least make them much less problematic.

Just guessing, as i know nearly nothing about how Hqplayer works internally...

 

About compatibility, i see dozens of VST plugins for Mac and many for Linux too, so why you say they're practically Windows-only?

 

44 minutes ago, Miska said:

Of course same DSP things make sense on an embedded device as makes sense on desktop.

 

I see embedded devices as headless, light, small and not always powerful devices performing a specific function - maybe i'm wrong about that. But in my point of view, being able to perform an Hqplayer DSD conversion is an hard task for an embedded device yet (expecially for ARM devices), adding VST plugins seems like asking a bit too much; being it an headless device, in addition: the limitation would be inherent to that configuration, not your fault... But maybe i'm wrong, as i said.

Anyway, who should absolutely want VST plugins option could simply use desktop version... Embedded users can't have them now either, even using desktop version: so it would be an additional chance even for them, not anything less.

 

But as Zauurx said, you're the Master, so of course it's ok if you don't feel like doing that 👍

[Miska]

13 minutes ago, Luca72c said:

Wouldn't it be possible to apply plugins to the (pcm) files before oversampling and/or conversion to DSD are performed? If possible, this would override all format and sampling frequency restrictions, or at least make them much less problematic.

 

How about DSD content? I cannot accept that DSD would be "second class citizen" that doesn't enjoy all the same capabilities as PCM sources.

 

13 minutes ago, Luca72c said:

About compatibility, i see dozens of VST plugins for Mac and many for Linux too, so why you say they're practically Windows-only?

 

At least last time I checked, Steinberg's documentation and SDK had nothing about macOS and Linux.

 

13 minutes ago, Luca72c said:

I see embedded devices as headless, light, small and not always powerful devices performing a specific function - maybe i'm wrong about that.

 

There many people running HQPlayer Embedded on Core i9 just like there are many people running HQPlayer Desktop on Core i9. Having embedded device doesn't mean it wouldn't be powerful. I have as many and as powerful servers running HQPlayer Embedded as I have running HQPlayer Desktop.

 

13 minutes ago, Luca72c said:

Anyway, who should absolutely want VST plugins option could simply use desktop version...

 

In the end, question is what is the functionality that you are seeking to get with VST plugins that you cannot do with HQPlayer already?

 

[jamesg11]

Posted this elsewhere, but prob belongs here -

 

Re buffer time - a couple of days back, I flipped mine from default to the max 250m/sec after a bout of dropouts: improved matters ... but what have I done there & how do you figure out the best setting?

(still on HQP3, til I bite the bullet & spend up to replace the aged 2012 macmini).

[Miska]

8 minutes ago, jamesg11 said:

Re buffer time - a couple of days back, I flipped mine from default to the max 250m/sec after a bout of dropouts: improved matters ... but what have I done there & how do you figure out the best setting?

(still on HQP3, til I bite the bullet & spend up to replace the aged 2012 macmini).

 

macOS or Windows? On macOS that buffer time selection shouldn't be available unless you are playing to a NAA.

 

Likely dropouts are more related to CPU load than buffers.

[jamesg11]

Yes, macOS, ultraRendu, NAA, everything upsampled to dsf256 into rme set to dsd direct ... definitely need to go i9 9900k etc, given I want to implement drc, plus room shaper. Ideally need drc files for hqp that optimise this dsd orientation.

 

[AnotherSpin]

7 hours ago, jamesg11 said:

Posted this elsewhere, but prob belongs here -

 

Re buffer time - a couple of days back, I flipped mine from default to the max 250m/sec after a bout of dropouts: improved matters ... but what have I done there & how do you figure out the best setting?

(still on HQP3, til I bite the bullet & spend up to replace the aged 2012 macmini).

 

Tried the buffering (macOS+NAA) and found that any value other than default gives a slightly blurred, less focused sound.

[Miska]

7 hours ago, jamesg11 said:

Yes, macOS, ultraRendu, NAA, everything upsampled to dsf256 into rme set to dsd direct ... definitely need to go i9 9900k etc, given I want to implement drc, plus room shaper. Ideally need drc files for hqp that optimise this dsd orientation.

 

OK, in that case the setting affects buffers on the NAA link.

 

My i9-9900K 27" iMac is certainly powerful, which also makes it loud under higher CPU loads. WIth ASDM7EC to DSD256 it sounds like hair dryer. With some other applications that create 100% load like building HQPlayer it sounds almost like a vacuum cleaner...  Not an issue if the Mac is in a different room than audio system with NAA, but in the listening space it is not very practical. Just something to take into account if you are thinking about a Mac. While my 9900KS PC that has been built to be silent is pretty quiet even under extreme loads although it has 37W higher TDP.

 

[jamesg11]

Do have macmini in separate room, but any noisier than now is not an option! So will have to go with a pc build, ... will borrow details from contributions posted in hqp threads.

[Mahler and Bach on Computer]

Hi, I just purchased HQPlayer yesterday after trying it for several days - great sound quality and impressive technical achievement.  Thank you @Miska very much for the wonderful effort. Also few other people @AnotherSpin @Solstice380@Geoffrey Armstronghelping me out to overcome initial hurdles.  I have a couple of questions on library.  When I loaded the library, I saw the database are listed along the columns of Path, Artists, and Titles of Album, etc.  I realized that I can sort the database based on Artist as well as Title of Album, which come from the metadata tagged on each album and each song.  But when I looked at the HQPlayer Client, under the Album view, all the albums are always organized by the Path, no matter how I am sorting the database, either by Artist or by Title of Album, in HQPlayer Desktop.  Is there anyway I can arrange the Album view in HQPlayer Client based on the titles of the Album?

 

Thank you very much for all your helps!

[Hammer]

On 2/21/2020 at 3:43 PM, JTS said:

 

I am assuming you have the D90 based on your notes about it.

 

If so, is there an explicit switch for DSDD or does the D90 automatically implement DSDD when it is in DAC mode? Is there any indicator that lets you know you're in DSDD?

 

I am also curious if you also have the RME? If so, do you have a sense of how they compare to each other? Does the D90 operate as well as the RME does with HQPlayer? I have a ADI-2 DAC fs at work which I love and serves as my reference point now.

Hi, I just received my D90 MQA and for the life of me, I can’t seem to figure out how to change to DAC mode or adjust the I2S settings.  Can someone shed some light?  Thank you!