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Alchemy Desktop - touch friendly control interface for HQPlayer for Windows

dean70

By dean70
in Software

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dean70

dean70

Posted
  • Author
Posted
I would like to know if it's possible to use roon and Alchemy together.

To be more specific, I would like to use roonserver with the ipad remote, but would also like to take advantage of Alchemy's scriptable source format - output modulator/frequency routing at the same time. Both roon and HQPlayer haven't yet implemented this very very helpful logic.

 

I'm already a roon lifetime subscriptor, but I would definitely buy Alchemy for this feature.

 

You can view the Alchemy window via an RDP connection on an iPad (eventually there will be a native iOS interface).

 

Alchemy takes a different approach to Roon - tracks are not streamed live to HQPlayer. The track file paths are handed-off to HQPlayer either from a Network share, local Drive Cache or Ramdisk. The focus is on the highest audio sound quality from a local media library.

Alchemy Desktop

http://www.origen.net.au/Alchemy/

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  • 4 weeks later...
dean70

dean70

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  • Author
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New version 1.0.2.0 released. The changes below have been made:

 

1.0.2.0 - 11/10/2016
   - Changed: Upgraded PugiXML to v1.7
   - Changed: Upgraded TagLib to v1.11
   - New: Tabbed setup window
   - Changed: Re-enable settings button by Ctrl+Shift click on About Window
   - Changed: Rename Ramdisk to Drive Cache
   - New: Allow remote connection to HQPlayer running on Windows, Linux or Mac. Auto-detect remote platform when HQPlayer 3.14 or newer installed.
   - New: Connect to remote HQPlayer via IPv6. 
   - Changed: Improve dropped network connection handling to HQPlayer
   - Fixed: Intermittent crash when reloading main window after settings change
   - Changed: Improve library load time
   - New: Album view allows artist search by typing part of artist name. Folder search in Folder view by typing part of a folder name
   - New: Themed windows with customizable color schemes
   - New: Artist, Album and Genre fields editable from library scan results
   - New: Folder view can display Cover art image in any folder
   - New: Right-click in Folder view folder to load all subfolders as active playlist (replace when stopped)
   - New: Right-click on Album to replace active playlist when stopped
   - Changed: Album view expanded to include drop-down Track view to select individual tracks (defaults to entire Album)
   - Changed: Filters are now a drop down selection window. Displays the currently selected filter on main window
   - Changed: Active playlist and Track list views are enhanced to display information in easier to read format
   - Changed: Improved UI rendering for buttons and views
   - New: Additional filter map selections: pcm,mixed, and *,mixed to set filters for mixed rate family playlists to one of the poly-* filters
   - New: Fully sizable main window. Auto-adjust button and font size depending on size of window. Window size and position is remembered on next startup
   - New: Tracks can be reordered in an existing playlist, then resaved in the new order
   - Changed: Filter map settings now has one + button to add both Input and Output filters together. The previous selection is kept, so that muliple Input selections can easily be mapped to the same Output setting
   - Changed: Filter map settings shows new Filters and Modulators for HQPlayer 3.14
   - New: Skip forward/back transport buttons now have auto repeat when held down with mouse button
   - New: Manual volume function available to directly control HQPlayer volume when Replay Gain is disabled. Volume up/down are auto repeat when held down with mouse button
   - New: Multimedia keyboard keys will now control transport functions

Alchemy Desktop

http://www.origen.net.au/Alchemy/

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Keith_W

Keith_W

Posted
Posted

Very nice, thank you Dean. I do have a problem though:

 

Clipboard01.jpg

 

As you can see:

 

1. Not all folder icons are recognized. Within each folder there is an image called folder.jpg

 

2. The bottom row of icons is partially hidden by the task bar.

 

3. It would be nice to be able to set the theme colours myself.

 

4. No CD playback.

 

Thank you very much for updating the software. I will continue my evaluation. I like your software the most of all the optional interfaces for HQP.

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Keith_W

Keith_W

Posted
Posted

Thank you dean. If you PM me your email address, I will send you one of the image files which are not displaying.

 

I am running 1920 x 1080 screen res, but I have zoomed in 125% because text is too small from where I am sitting. If I zoom out to 100% it displays correctly ... but it HAS to be zoomed in otherwise I can't read webpages.

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bibo01

bibo01

Posted
Posted
New version 1.0.2.0 released. The changes below have been made:

 

1.0.2.0 - 11/10/2016
   - Changed: Upgraded PugiXML to v1.7
   - Changed: Upgraded TagLib to v1.11
   - New: Tabbed setup window
   - Changed: Re-enable settings button by Ctrl+Shift click on About Window
   - Changed: Rename Ramdisk to Drive Cache
   - New: Allow remote connection to HQPlayer running on Windows, Linux or Mac. Auto-detect remote platform when HQPlayer 3.14 or newer installed.
   - New: Connect to remote HQPlayer via IPv6. 
   - Changed: Improve dropped network connection handling to HQPlayer
   - Fixed: Intermittent crash when reloading main window after settings change
   - Changed: Improve library load time
   - New: Album view allows artist search by typing part of artist name. Folder search in Folder view by typing part of a folder name
   - New: Themed windows with customizable color schemes
   - New: Artist, Album and Genre fields editable from library scan results
   - New: Folder view can display Cover art image in any folder
   - New: Right-click in Folder view folder to load all subfolders as active playlist (replace when stopped)
   - New: Right-click on Album to replace active playlist when stopped
   - Changed: Album view expanded to include drop-down Track view to select individual tracks (defaults to entire Album)
   - Changed: Filters are now a drop down selection window. Displays the currently selected filter on main window
   - Changed: Active playlist and Track list views are enhanced to display information in easier to read format
   - Changed: Improved UI rendering for buttons and views
   - New: Additional filter map selections: pcm,mixed, and *,mixed to set filters for mixed rate family playlists to one of the poly-* filters
   - New: Fully sizable main window. Auto-adjust button and font size depending on size of window. Window size and position is remembered on next startup
   - New: Tracks can be reordered in an existing playlist, then resaved in the new order
   - Changed: Filter map settings now has one + button to add both Input and Output filters together. The previous selection is kept, so that muliple Input selections can easily be mapped to the same Output setting
   - Changed: Filter map settings shows new Filters and Modulators for HQPlayer 3.14
   - New: Skip forward/back transport buttons now have auto repeat when held down with mouse button
   - New: Manual volume function available to directly control HQPlayer volume when Replay Gain is disabled. Volume up/down are auto repeat when held down with mouse button
   - New: Multimedia keyboard keys will now control transport functions

 

I just download Alchemy for the 1st time.

It connects to HQPlayer locally (it finds automatically), but I cannot connect to HQPlayer remote because I cannot enable it in Settings.

How curious are you?
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dean70

dean70

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I just download Alchemy for the 1st time.

It connects to HQPlayer locally (it finds automatically), but I cannot connect to HQPlayer remote because I cannot enable it in Settings.

 

You have to press the verify button after entering the remote ip address or hostname. HQPlayer needs to be running on the remote PC. Once a connection has been established, the platform will be filled automatically if running the latest HQPlayer. It will show an error reason if it fails to connect.

Alchemy Desktop

http://www.origen.net.au/Alchemy/

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bibo01

bibo01

Posted
Posted
You have to press the verify button after entering the remote ip address or hostname. HQPlayer needs to be running on the remote PC. Once a connection has been established, the platform will be filled automatically if running the latest HQPlayer. It will show an error reason if it fails to connect.

 

I am aware of that procedure.

However, I cannot enable the "Connect to Remote HQPlayer" button!

How curious are you?
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bibo01

bibo01

Posted
Posted
Do the library folders point to a network share (either mapped drive or UNC path)?

 

My Music files are on a NAS.

I have a copy of HQPlayer on Linux PC (with its own local library) and a copy of HQPlayer on Windows (with its own local library) where I am running Alchemy.

Library on Linux is not shared with Windows PC, so I cannot see it.

In Alchemy Settings library is on Direct.

Furthernore, isn't it better for Alchemy to read library locally even when connecting to Remote HQPlayer?!

How curious are you?
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dean70

dean70

Posted
  • Author
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My Music files are on a NAS.

I have a copy of HQPlayer on Linux PC (with its own local library) and a copy of HQPlayer on Windows (with its own local library) where I am running Alchemy.

Library on Linux is not shared with Windows PC, so I cannot see it.

In Alchemy Settings library is on Direct.

Furthernore, isn't it better for Alchemy to read library locally even when connecting to Remote HQPlayer?!

 

The direct setting could be the issue. For the remote connect function to enable, the music file paths should point to the NAS. The same files have to accessible from both Windows and Linux PC. There is a check that disables the Remote Connect option when the music files in the library point to a local drive. With the direct library setting, Alchemy will load these directly from HQPlayers internal library.

 

The direct option only provides basic read-only access to an existing HQPlayer library and does not use any of the Alchemy library functions. You can specify a UNC path in the library setup with folder mode without importing anything.

Alchemy Desktop

http://www.origen.net.au/Alchemy/

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bibo01

bibo01

Posted
Posted
The direct setting could be the issue. For the remote connect function to enable, the music file paths should point to the NAS. The same files have to accessible from both Windows and Linux PC. There is a check that disables the Remote Connect option when the music files in the library point to a local drive. With the direct library setting, Alchemy will load these directly from HQPlayers internal library.

 

The direct option only provides basic read-only access to an existing HQPlayer library and does not use any of the Alchemy library functions. You can specify a UNC path in the library setup with folder mode without importing anything.

 

After Setup Library and pointing to NAS folder, then I set Library to Shared, I was able to Connect to Remote HQPlayer on Linux and Verify.

However, each library re-loading is pretty slow (over 5000 albums) and playback does not start. When I select an album, it appears Initialising Playback message, but playback does not start.

In Settings I have not setup anything for DAC modes and Filter Maps.

How curious are you?
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dean70

dean70

Posted
  • Author
Posted
After Setup Library and pointing to NAS folder, then I set Library to Shared, I was able to Connect to Remote HQPlayer on Linux and Verify.

However, each library re-loading is pretty slow (over 5000 albums) and playback does not start. When I select an album, it appears Initialising Playback message, but playback does not start.

In Settings I have not setup anything for DAC modes and Filter Maps.

 

It is dependent on what HQPlayer is doing on Linux. You should see the tracks loaded into the Linux HQPlayer playlist. If there are issues with the output format and playback does not start, the "Initializing playback" will reset after a timeout (may even disconnect).

 

If the playlist does not appear in the remote HQPlayer, this means there is a mismatch between the UNC path and the Linux mount point. HQPlayer cannot reach the path on Linux.

Alchemy Desktop

http://www.origen.net.au/Alchemy/

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bibo01

bibo01

Posted
Posted
It is dependent on what HQPlayer is doing on Linux. You should see the tracks loaded into the Linux HQPlayer playlist. If there are issues with the output format and playback does not start, the "Initializing playback" will reset after a timeout (may even disconnect).

 

HQPlayer on Linux is doing nothing - just waiting to receive playlist. But tracks from Alchemy are never loaded.

Leaving Alchemy opened on my album selection, I started HQPlayer on a different album selection. I noticed that Alchemy shows playback started and running on my first album selection!!!

Good communication! ;)

How curious are you?
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dean70

dean70

Posted
  • Author
Posted
HQPlayer on Linux is doing nothing - just waiting to receive playlist. But tracks from Alchemy are never loaded.

Leaving Alchemy opened on my album selection, I started HQPlayer on a different album selection. I noticed that Alchemy shows playback started and running on my first album selection!!!

Good communication! ;)

 

Sounds like the mount point in Linux does not match the Windows UNC path. The second part of the UNC path the share name) should be the name of the mount point, eg: /media/<share name>

 

When HQPlayer is connected anything you do in the native UI will be reflected in Alchemy.

Alchemy Desktop

http://www.origen.net.au/Alchemy/

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bibo01

bibo01

Posted
Posted
Sounds like the mount point in Linux does not match the Windows UNC path. The second part of the UNC path the share name) should be the name of the mount point, eg: /media/<share name>

 

When HQPlayer is connected anything you do in the native UI will be reflected in Alchemy.

Linux path is: /media/samba/Music/

Windows UNC is: \\192.168.0.98/public/Music/

 

What should I write in Mount Point?

Simply leaving "/media/", which appears automatically when I select Linux, does not work (as described previously).

How curious are you?
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