iTunes - HQPlayer front-end re-visited

[Lio_B]

What a real pleasure to manage HQP via iTunes, sounds so good ! 

 

thanks again, good job

[DancingSea]

Does this app only work with the iTunes library on the Mac's internal hard drive?  And only with AIFF files?

 

My iTunes library is 4 TB, so it doesn't fit internally.  Not even close!  I have 80% ALAC files, the rest AIFF.

 

Thanks.

[DancingSea]

10 minutes ago, Lio_B said:

What a real pleasure to manage HQP via iTunes, sounds so good ! 

 

thanks again, good job

 

So what did you change, just the volume adjust in HQP?  Where is that located in HQP?

[DancingSea]

1 hour ago, Lio_B said:

I had tested the last version.

 

HQP loaded tracks but no "default.xml" file in ~/.hqplayer 

 

But no problem with loading tracks in HQP, my 2 issues are:

 

- after 10 seconds the volume of HQP came to zero and impossible to fix it at the maximum.

 

- iTunes volume is at zero but a can ear a little the sound via iTunes which is with 3 or 4 seconds delay with HQP

 

In HQP log file, is it OK to find:

 

2017/12/28 22:01:13 CoreAudio device bits: 24
2017/12/28 22:01:13 Volume limit: 0

 

thanks again
 

 

By latest one, which post date from Geoffrey are you referring to?  The one he posted earlier today with the small bug fixes?

[Lio_B]

38 minutes ago, DancingSea said:

 

So what did you change, just the volume adjust in HQP?  Where is that located in HQP?

 

In HQP menu see my settings in attached file

 

In iTunes - HQP server I choose FLAC, in iTunes I read ALAC & AIFF files, it works with all

 

[Lio_B]

11 minutes ago, DancingSea said:

 

By latest one, which post date from Geoffrey are you referring to?  The one he posted earlier today with the small bug fixes?

 

Yes his last post

[DancingSea]

15 minutes ago, Lio_B said:

 

Yes his last post

 

Thanks for the tips.  I did all of it, and the music doesn't play through to HQP at all.  It just plays in iTunes as if HQP didn't exist.... ugh!

[Lio_B]

4 minutes ago, DancingSea said:

 

Thanks for the tips.  I did all of it, and the music doesn't play through to HQP at all.  It just plays in iTunes as if HQP didn't exist.... ugh!

 

did you delete at each new version the plist file in "Scripts" folder ?

[DancingSea]

11 minutes ago, Lio_B said:

 

did you delete at each new version the plist file in "Scripts" folder ?

 

No.  Good idea.  In the User folder, under Library, I found the plist files under "Preferences", but not "Scripts".  The Scripts folder was in the main library, but had no plist files.

 

Anyway, all the application plists appear to be in User --> Library --> Preferences.  

 

What is the name of the HQ Server plist?  I read through them all and didn't recognize anything.

 

Thx.

[Lio_B]

20 minutes ago, DancingSea said:

 

No.  Good idea.  In the User folder, under Library, I found the plist files under "Preferences", but not "Scripts".  The Scripts folder was in the main library, but had no plist files.

 

Anyway, all the application plists appear to be in User --> Library --> Preferences.  

 

What is the name of the HQ Server plist?  I read through them all and didn't recognize anything.

 

Thx.

 

itunesHpqserver.plist

 

in Scripts folder in ~/Library/

[DancingSea]

21 minutes ago, Lio_B said:

 

itunesHpqserver.plist

 

in Scripts folder in ~/Library/

 

Are you on a Mac?

 

In my Mac HD/Library/Scripts - there are no plist files whatsoever for anything.

 

In Mac HD/User/Library - there is no Scripts folder.

 

In Mac HD/Library/Preferences - there are plist files, but nothing pertaining to iTunesHqpserver.plist.  I read through each one multiple times and did a search.

 

In Mac HD/User/Library/Preferences - there are many plist files.  Once again, nothing pertaining to iTunesHqpserver.plist.  Read and did a search.

 

Making me nuts reading them all.

 

Thanks!

[Lio_B]

7 minutes ago, DancingSea said:

 

Are you on a Mac?

 

In my Mac HD/Library/Scripts - there are no plist files whatsoever for anything.

 

In Mac HD/User/Library - there is no Scripts folder.

 

In Mac HD/Library/Preferences - there are plist files, but nothing pertaining to iTunesHqpserver.plist.  I read through each one multiple times and did a search.

 

In Mac HD/User/Library/Preferences - there are many plist files.  Once again, nothing pertaining to iTunesHqpserver.plist.  Read and did a search.

 

Making me nuts reading them all.

 

Thanks!

 

…but the iTunes/Scripts folder I'm referring to is the one in your Library folder. This is the folder which supports all Application support files and preferences.

 

In the Finder Click on the "Go" menu and choose the item "Go to folder"

 

In the box that appears enter "~/Library"

 

This will open the Library folder which contains an "iTunes" folder.  If there isn't already a "Scripts" folder within the "~/Library/iTunes/" folder then create one in there.

 

If there is already a scripts folder in the "~/Library/iTunes/" folder then check if there's already a "itunesHqpserver.plist" in there. If there is, send it to the Trash and delete the Trash.

[DancingSea]

10 minutes ago, Lio_B said:

 

…but the iTunes/Scripts folder I'm referring to is the one in your Library folder. This is the folder which supports all Application support files and preferences.

 

In the Finder Click on the "Go" menu and choose the item "Go to folder"

 

In the box that appears enter "~/Library"

 

This will open the Library folder which contains an "iTunes" folder.  If there isn't already a "Scripts" folder within the "~/Library/iTunes/" folder then create one in there.

 

If there is already a scripts folder in the "~/Library/iTunes/" folder then check if there's already a "itunesHqpserver.plist" in there. If there is, send it to the Trash and delete the Trash.

 

Thanks, I was able to find the plist, which I deleted along with the app, and emptied the trash.  

 

Unfortunately, even with deleting the plist file, the app does not connect to HQP at all.  The song just plays in iTunes.  My DAC doesn't show the DSD upsampling.  And there's no sign of activity in HQP.

[Geoffrey Armstrong]

9 hours ago, Lio_B said:

to fix my volume issue with HPQ, I put Vol min & Vol max at 0.00db in HQP settings

 

the album tracks switch works with 10 seconds delay for loading new album tracks, but it works.

 

 

Thanks. Yes you can expect a 10 second delay if temporary files need to be created.

[Geoffrey Armstrong]

13 hours ago, DancingSea said:

 

Aloha,

 

Does any of this pertain to the issue Lio and I have been having?

 

I have a normal iTunes setup. Very standard. Your app simply won’t function to the effect both Lio and I have described. 

 

I really really don’t want to purchase Roon!

 

Thanks!

Anybody attempting to use this with HQPlayer 3.19 onwards MUST have a default.xml settings file in their hidden HQPlayer folder AND that default.xml file MUST have the correct settings for your DAC/System.

 

This is because iTunes - HQPlayer Server loads that default.xml file each time a new track/album is loaded.

 

Use HQPlayer's import/export commands to verify you have this file set-up correctly and in the expected location.

 

I hope that is clear now!

 

It's part of what is necessary to allow you to over-ride the default settings with different settings for any particular album using "hqp-<other settings file" in the comments field as previously described.

[Geoffrey Armstrong]

9 hours ago, DancingSea said:

Does this app only work with the iTunes library on the Mac's internal hard drive?  And only with AIFF files?

 

My iTunes library is 4 TB, so it doesn't fit internally.  Not even close!  I have 80% ALAC files, the rest AIFF.

 

Thanks.

No; it works with any file type and should work fine with an iTunes library on an external drive. For non-HQPlayer supported file types, temporary files need to be created and loaded to HQPlayer. This does involve some delay as lio_b noted. WAV temp files are created faster than flac.

[Geoffrey Armstrong]

Regarding volume control; HQPlayer, very sensibly, allows you to set the minimum and maximum volume range. If this range is set wide enough, such as the default -60db min and -0 max, iTunes-HQPlayer Server will result in volume changes in iTunes to also take place in HQPlayer. In other words the two should be in sync, although you may expect some delay between changing volume in iTunes and the same volume change occurring in HQPlayer.

 

This allows for volume to be changed via the IOS apple remote app.

 

If the volume range is set to something narrow or no range, as with -3db -3db, then HQPlayer volume will always remain within this range, regardless of what you do in iTunes.

[Geoffrey Armstrong]

10 hours ago, Lio_B said:

 

In HQP menu see my settings in attached file

 

In iTunes - HQP server I choose FLAC, in iTunes I read ALAC & AIFF files, it works with all

 

Lio_B I see from your screen shot that you have HQPlayer's network (globe) button activated. If iTunes and HQPlayer are running on the same Mac, this shouldn't be necessary. Just thought I'd point that out.

 

You might want to try de-activating that button and listen for any impact on the sound.

[Geoffrey Armstrong]

9 hours ago, DancingSea said:

 

Thanks, I was able to find the plist, which I deleted along with the app, and emptied the trash.  

 

Unfortunately, even with deleting the plist file, the app does not connect to HQP at all.  The song just plays in iTunes.  My DAC doesn't show the DSD upsampling.  And there's no sign of activity in HQP.

Just a couple of very obvious things I want to check with you:

 

1/ iTunes must not be trying to play to the same audio device as HQPlayer. Or else they would be fighting each other for that device and only one would win. So iTunes should be playing to your default system output (internal Mac speakers) which should be muted and HQPlayer set to play to your DAC/System.

 

Alternatively iTunes could play to something equally benign such as Soundflower virtual output, if you have that installed.

 

You could run into the above problem if the DAC/System you expect HQPlayer to be playing to is also your Mac's default audio output device.

 

2/ Do make sure you quit and re-launch iTunes-HQPlayer Server before trying again and correctly completing it's settings in the preference window that appears. These settings are written to the .plist file for use next time around.

 

Apologies if these points seem too obvious; but quite often there turns out to be a very obvious answer!

[DancingSea]

3 hours ago, Geoffrey Armstrong said:

Anybody attempting to use this with HQPlayer 3.19 onwards MUST have a default.xml settings file in their hidden HQPlayer folder AND that default.xml file MUST have the correct settings for your DAC/System.

 

This is because iTunes - HQPlayer Server loads that default.xml file each time a new track/album is loaded.

 

Use HQPlayer's import/export commands to verify you have this file set-up correctly and in the expected location.

 

I hope that is clear now!

 

It's part of what is necessary to allow you to over-ride the default settings with different settings for any particular album using "hqp-<other settings file" in the comments field as previously described.

 

Unfortunately, I have almost no idea what any of this means

 

 

[DancingSea]

1 hour ago, Geoffrey Armstrong said:

Just a couple of very obvious things I want to check with you:

 

1/ iTunes must not be trying to play to the same audio device as HQPlayer. Or else they would be fighting each other for that device and only one would win. So iTunes should be playing to your default system output (internal Mac speakers) which should be muted and HQPlayer set to play to your DAC/System.

 

Alternatively iTunes could play to something equally benign such as Soundflower virtual output, if you have that installed.

 

You could run into the above problem if the DAC/System you expect HQPlayer to be playing to is also your Mac's default audio output device.

 

2/ Do make sure you quit and re-launch iTunes-HQPlayer Server before trying again and correctly completing it's settings in the preference window that appears. These settings are written to the .plist file for use next time around.

 

Apologies if these points seem too obvious; but quite often there turns out to be a very obvious answer!

 

Nothing is too obvious.  I'll give this a try.  Thx

[DancingSea]

11 hours ago, Geoffrey Armstrong said:

 

 

1/ iTunes must not be trying to play to the same audio device as HQPlayer. Or else they would be fighting each other for that device and only one would win. So iTunes should be playing to your default system output (internal Mac speakers) which should be muted and HQPlayer set to play to your DAC/System.

 

 

 

How does I set iTunes to output to the internal Mac speakers?  I have HQP set to output to my DAC.  In iTunes, I see no output choice in preferences.

 

The only place I know to set the iTunes output is in the Mac wide System Preferences.  I set that to internal speakers and HQP to my DAC.  When I played a track in iTunes, it only played out of the internal speakers.  The HQP output was automatically switched to internal speakers. Tried this several times, same result.

 

Seems iTunes and HQP are bound when it comes to output, unless you can explain another way.

 

Thanks

[Lio_B]

1 hour ago, DancingSea said:

 

How does I set iTunes to output to the internal Mac speakers?  I have HQP set to output to my DAC.  In iTunes, I see no output choice in preferences.

 

The only place I know to set the iTunes output is in the Mac wide System Preferences.  I set that to internal speakers and HQP to my DAC.  When I played a track in iTunes, it only played out of the internal speakers.  The HQP output was automatically switched to internal speakers. Tried this several times, same result.

 

Seems iTunes and HQP are bound when it comes to output, unless you can explain another way.

 

Thanks

 

Nothing to do in iTunes, go to your apple (at the left top) and system preference / sound, change the output here.

HQP will stay with your DAC

I had try it, and I also put my HQP volume to -60 min and 0 max, and after that, iTunes volume manage HQP volume

 

 

[DancingSea]

2 minutes ago, Lio_B said:

 

Nothing to do in iTunes, go to your apple (at the left top) and system preference / sound, change the output here.

HQP will stay with your DAC

I had try it, and I also put my HQP volume to -60 min and 0 max, and after that, iTunes volume manage HQP volume

 

 

 

I did this. But HQP’s output automatically shifted to follow the system preferences output to internal speakers. 

 

HQPlayer didn’t stay with DAC. 

 

Thx

[Lio_B]

In HQP setting / Device, you should have your DAC

 

iTunes follow the system alone

 

strange