Lossy to HQP

[Foggie]

I have worked hard at getting my library into proper form over the past year or two which contains mostly aif and dsf with a few flacs sprinkled in.

 

However, I have for various reasons, a portion of my library in MP3 and no longer have the source cd's (ex). I pick up the missing cd's at used places when I can but have no intention of re-purchasing all of them. Many aren't high priority, but there are still a fair amount that would be nice to have available to listen to.

 

What would be the "best" method to make these available in HQP? I assume convert the lossy files to flac for example, which I understand isn't optimal, but just looking for ideas.

 

Sent from CA app

[scintilla]

It would be pretty damn easy to buy a Roon subscription and just let it do the work for you. I listen to MP3 radio streams through Roon/HQPlayer and think it sounds superb too.

[Foggie]

Although I'm not sold on spending $500 for Roon, would it make MP3's in a local library available to HQP (not streams from the Roon network) even though HQP won't accept MP3 format?

[Miska]

Although I'm not sold on spending $500 for Roon, would it make MP3's in a local library available to HQP (not streams from the Roon network) even though HQP won't accept MP3 format?

 

Yes, formats supported by Roon will play through HQPlayer, even if HQPlayer itself doesn't support those. Roon handles the decoding part.

[bibo01]

Although I'm not sold on spending $500 for Roon, would it make MP3's in a local library available to HQP (not streams from the Roon network) even though HQP won't accept MP3 format?

 

I am not sure I understand you - HQPlayer does not see MP3s in your library, only through Roon.

Apart from using Roon or converting offline to FLAC, you can quickly convert MP3 to WAV with XRecode II and save those files to a ramdisk. You can drag the converted files from ramdisk to HQPlayer.

In this way you will only have temporary files.

[Foggie]

Yes, formats supported by Roon will play through HQPlayer, even if HQPlayer itself doesn't support those. Roon handles the decoding part.

 

Ok thanks for the clarification.

[Foggie]

I am not sure I understand you - HQPlayer does not see MP3s in your library, only through Roon.

Apart from using Roon or converting offline to FLAC, you can quickly convert MP3 to WAV with XRecode II and save those files to a ramdisk. You can drag the converted files from ramdisk to HQPlayer.

In this way you will only have temporary files.

 

I was trying to differentiate my local library vs the streams from the Roon network (Internet) which may or may not be MP3, flac etc..

 

Thanks for the idea, I'll have to think about that a bit.

 

I suppose then the I'll have to narrow down the important artists and slowly replace them and in the short term convert them to flac (making sure to either tag them or make good notes as to which ones were mp3 -> flac)

[zhengbte]

You can drag the converted files from ramdisk to HQPlayer.

[scintilla]

Roon is essentially $10/month for an annual subscription and can manage a library with a wide array of formats, including mp3 and aac through OS-provided codecs. Try it for a year, it is not a requirement to spend $500 up front to use it. I suspect that you will determine as I suggested that it is far too easy to use vs. any other method that you will stay with it. The integration with HQPlayer is what make the whole system so incredible, as each brings features the other lacks. And it all sounds amazing.

[Foggie]

Roon is essentially $10/month for an annual subscription and can manage a library with a wide array of formats, including mp3 and aac through OS-provided codecs. Try it for a year, it is not a requirement to spend $500 up front to use it. I suspect that you will determine as I suggested that it is far too easy to use vs. any other method that you will stay with it. The integration with HQPlayer is what make the whole system so incredible, as each brings features the other lacks. And it all sounds amazing.

 

 

That is a viable option for sure. For some reason I always thought Roon was more of a streamer service (spotify, tidal) and not to be used as player / lib manager (A+, iTunes) with local files, since I never read too much on the reviews as it seems overblown / more then what I want. That isn't meant to be a negative comment, I just think I have perceived Roon as significant footprint/resource/time investment (e.g. SQL server in a data center vs an access DB on a wkst).

 

The cost of Roon is debatable, and it really isn't about the actual cost per se, its the whole package (e.g. a lot of bells and whistles) and may or may not meet ones criteria/add value. I'll have to read up a bit more and maybe try the eval. HQP is my go to player hands down and have been using Muso with pretty good success thus far.

[scintilla]

 

The cost of Roon is debatable, and it really isn't about the actual cost per se, its the whole package (e.g. a lot of bells and whistles) and may or may not meet ones criteria/add value.

 

What you are trying to say is the the value of Roon debatable, for your needs.

 

Obviously, the cost is binary: you either buy a year or a lifetime subscription. If you decide to upgrade to lifetime, during your first year they'll prorate unused months.

 

Value is a personal issue. But based on what you have posted that your desires for playback are, the easiest way to get MP3 into HQPlayer in a really great interface is Roon. Good luck with your experimenting.

[iamoneagain]

That is a viable option for sure. For some reason I always thought Roon was more of a streamer service (spotify, tidal) and not to be used as player / lib manager (A+, iTunes) with local files, since I never read too much on the reviews as it seems overblown / more then what I want. That isn't meant to be a negative comment, I just think I have perceived Roon as significant footprint/resource/time investment (e.g. SQL server in a data center vs an access DB on a wkst).

 

The cost of Roon is debatable, and it really isn't about the actual cost per se, its the whole package (e.g. a lot of bells and whistles) and may or may not meet ones criteria/add value. I'll have to read up a bit more and maybe try the eval. HQP is my go to player hands down and have been using Muso with pretty good success thus far.

 

For the most part, there's not a lot of time put into Roon. You just direct it to your Library and it's does all of the legwork for you. Finds all the metadata, photos, lyrics, and so forth. Adding HQPlayer to the mix is pretty easy and can find instructions on Roon forums. Much easier to figure out than initially figuring out all of HQPlayers settings.

 

I would say it's more like using Tableau than SQL or Access. Choose your data source and then can play with filters and all that stuff on the fly.

 

If you add Tidal to the mix, you get lossless music that can also be fed to HQPlayer and upsampled. Tidal within Roon is almost like Wikipedia for music but you get to listen to it. You'll wonder how you ever ended up where you did.

 

And as mentioned, HQPlayer will play anything Roon can play. I had all my library in ALAC, so HQPlayer was useless unless I converted my files but with Roon, it's seamless.