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Article: Streaming & Local Content Through HQPlayer - A Nice Alternative With The sonicTransporter


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1 minute ago, bbosler said:

 

OK, then that's an update since I tried it last February. At that time you could set Euphony as an HQP NAA endpoint and use the desktop version of HQP to get full function, but the embedded version did not support convolution which Jussi confirmed at that time when I asked about convolution"You should be using HQPlayer's web interface, not Euphony's limited subset..."

 

Good to know for the Euphony/HQP users

I believe I tried it a few months ago, but I really should double check before asserting this as fact. 

Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems AudiophileStyleStickerWhite2.0.png AudiophileStyleStickerWhite7.1.4.png

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I found myself getting lost a bit while reading all this.

 

This is my use case: I have a headless Windows 10 (now 11 beta) NUC 10i7 that has the horsepower for DSD 256 steaming but pegs 100c on CoreTemp too often for my taste when I do that, so I probably am looking at playing back with only minimal processing. (I do have lots of hires files, including DSD.) Music files are on my NAS and are streamed to a Sonore Rendu using DLNA.  There are no USB connections before the Rendu.  I presently use Audirvana Studio and JRiver as DLNA servers and their apps for control. No interest in Tidal or Qobuz.

 

Would I be likely to improve SQ over DLNA if I dedicated the NUC to HQP Desktop, used an HQP remote or web interface as a controller, and continued to stream over DLNA to the Rendu?  Seems like a lot simpler way to run things because I don't need Tidal or Qobuz. Or would I need to work in other software like MinimServer or devices like the SGC if I just want to do this? I didn't get the impression that I do, but want to double check before I start messing around with HQP. 

Living room:  Synology 218+ NAS > NUC 10 i7 > HQP Embedded > xfinity Xfi Router > Netgear GS348 Switch > Sonore Optical Module Deluxe > Sonore Signature Rendu SE Optical Tier 2 > Okto DAC 8 Stereo > Topping Pre90 Preamp > Apollon Audio 1ET400A Mini > Revel F32 Concertas

 

Computer Desk System: Synology DS-218+ NAS > Dell XPS 8930/NUC 10 i7  > HQP Desktop > xfinity Xfi Router > EtherRegen > ultraRendu > Topping D90 DAC > Audioengine A5+'s

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40 minutes ago, Mike Rubin said:

I found myself getting lost a bit while reading all this.

 

This is my use case: I have a headless Windows 10 (now 11 beta) NUC 10i7 that has the horsepower for DSD 256 steaming but pegs 100c on CoreTemp too often for my taste when I do that, so I probably am looking at playing back with only minimal processing. (I do have lots of hires files, including DSD.) Music files are on my NAS and are streamed to a Sonore Rendu using DLNA.  There are no USB connections before the Rendu.  I presently use Audirvana Studio and JRiver as DLNA servers and their apps for control. No interest in Tidal or Qobuz.

 

Would I be likely to improve SQ over DLNA if I dedicated the NUC to HQP Desktop, used an HQP remote or web interface as a controller, and continued to stream over DLNA to the Rendu?  Seems like a lot simpler way to run things because I don't need Tidal or Qobuz. Or would I need to work in other software like MinimServer or devices like the SGC if I just want to do this? I didn't get the impression that I do, but want to double check before I start messing around with HQP. 

 

 

I you use HQP desktop or Embedded and the HQP remote, you can just set the Rendu into NAA mode and send the audio directly to it, bypassing any DLNA.

Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems AudiophileStyleStickerWhite2.0.png AudiophileStyleStickerWhite7.1.4.png

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9 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

 

 

I you use HQP desktop or Embedded and the HQP remote, you can just set the Rendu into NAA mode and send the audio directly to it, bypassing any DLNA.

Thanks, Chris.  In your view, is either version of HQP a step up in SQ from JRiver and Audirvāna Studio, especially if I don’t use its DSP capabilities because the NUC runs so much hotter when upsampling?

Living room:  Synology 218+ NAS > NUC 10 i7 > HQP Embedded > xfinity Xfi Router > Netgear GS348 Switch > Sonore Optical Module Deluxe > Sonore Signature Rendu SE Optical Tier 2 > Okto DAC 8 Stereo > Topping Pre90 Preamp > Apollon Audio 1ET400A Mini > Revel F32 Concertas

 

Computer Desk System: Synology DS-218+ NAS > Dell XPS 8930/NUC 10 i7  > HQP Desktop > xfinity Xfi Router > EtherRegen > ultraRendu > Topping D90 DAC > Audioengine A5+'s

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1 hour ago, Mike Rubin said:

Thanks, Chris.  In your view, is either version of HQP a step up in SQ from JRiver and Audirvāna Studio, especially if I don’t use its DSP capabilities because the NUC runs so much hotter when upsampling?

Just realized that from reading on the Signalyst site that HQP can’t play mp3 or mp4 files.  I have a number of files that I downloaded from iTunes or Amazon that never were available on CD or as FLAC downloads (or that I don’t want to pay again to download in higher quality).  Don’t want to send this thread off-topic, but it sounds as though I would need to maintain another app on the computer for those files if I install HQP Desktop.  Is that correct?

Living room:  Synology 218+ NAS > NUC 10 i7 > HQP Embedded > xfinity Xfi Router > Netgear GS348 Switch > Sonore Optical Module Deluxe > Sonore Signature Rendu SE Optical Tier 2 > Okto DAC 8 Stereo > Topping Pre90 Preamp > Apollon Audio 1ET400A Mini > Revel F32 Concertas

 

Computer Desk System: Synology DS-218+ NAS > Dell XPS 8930/NUC 10 i7  > HQP Desktop > xfinity Xfi Router > EtherRegen > ultraRendu > Topping D90 DAC > Audioengine A5+'s

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Thanks.  I thought of that. 

 

Easy enough to do with the batch converter that comes with dbpoweramp, although that is more storage space for no better quality. Plus, I like having the .mp3 extender on the file so that I know it is lossy.  

 

Might just be easier to play those through JRiver, which I already use and that I assume can coexist on the same computer as HQP. 

Living room:  Synology 218+ NAS > NUC 10 i7 > HQP Embedded > xfinity Xfi Router > Netgear GS348 Switch > Sonore Optical Module Deluxe > Sonore Signature Rendu SE Optical Tier 2 > Okto DAC 8 Stereo > Topping Pre90 Preamp > Apollon Audio 1ET400A Mini > Revel F32 Concertas

 

Computer Desk System: Synology DS-218+ NAS > Dell XPS 8930/NUC 10 i7  > HQP Desktop > xfinity Xfi Router > EtherRegen > ultraRendu > Topping D90 DAC > Audioengine A5+'s

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Thanks Chris.  I really appreciate alternatives to Roon, since I've never spent much time reading album covers or consuming metadata, I also don't like paying the monthly Roon tax, and have subscriptions to Deezer and Amazon Music which don't work with Roon.  Roon ties you to these two services and does not really work with internet radio or streaming services other than Qobuz and Tidal.  That said, you limited this review to integration with the same services that work with Roon.  Can this approach work with other services like Deezer, Amazon or Apple that don't work with Roon? 

 

I'm a big fan of BlueOS since it works with virtually any service, internet radio source, and my NAS library.  I do offboard to a better DAC.

1) Selah Audio Fedele Speakers (Revel in ceiling surrounds) QNAP TS-251 NAS accessed w/ a Ruku Ultra through SPDIF ipurifier into a Marantz SR7008 A/V receiver.

2) Freya + preamp, Hypex NC400 Amp, Zaph L18 Speakers, Martin Logan Dynamo sub-woofer

Bluesound Node 2 and Pro-Ject Expression w/ AT440mlb.

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I am having a devil of a time figuring out how to move downloaded music files from my PC (which I use to download Qobuz and other files) onto the hard drive of my (networked) sonicTransporter after having set up minimserver in order to stream Qobuz to HQPlayer. I used to be able to just find the sonicTransporter on my network. Now it has disappeared(?) or been replaced by a reference to minimserver. Can someone please just walk me through how to move music files that I have downloaded to my PC onto my sonicTransporter, the way I used to do before? Here is a picture of how Windows currently portrays my network. It used to show my sonicTransporter. Thanks.

 

image.thumb.png.7a38149bd57247d52a51fa98d0634f59.png

 

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5 minutes ago, jiminlogansquare said:

I am having a devil of a time figuring out how to move downloaded music files from my PC (which I use to download Qobuz and other files) onto the hard drive of my (networked) sonicTransporter after having set up minimserver in order to stream Qobuz to HQPlayer. I used to be able to just find the sonicTransporter on my network. Now it has disappeared(?) or been replaced by a reference to minimserver. Can someone please just walk me through how to move music files that I have downloaded to my PC onto my sonicTransporter, the way I used to do before? Here is a picture of how Windows currently portrays my network. It used to show my sonicTransporter. Thanks.

 

image.thumb.png.7a38149bd57247d52a51fa98d0634f59.png

 

 

Ah, lovely Windows. It isn't showing you the file share on the sT.

 

Two fairly easy ways if it isn't going to show up on that network screen. 

 

Where it says Network above Media devices, type \\sonictransporter and hit enter. If this doesn't get you there, find the IP address of the sT and type that into the box rather than the name sonictransporter, for example \\192.168.1.100 (you can get this by going to http://sonicorbiter.com

Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems AudiophileStyleStickerWhite2.0.png AudiophileStyleStickerWhite7.1.4.png

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  • 2 weeks later...

@The Computer Audiophile hello Chris,

about the paragraph on the UPNP gapless issue

One issue that may be a showstopper for people is inconsistency of gapless playback. No matter what people say about gapless playback and the control point being what determines whether or not gapless audio works, my research definitively indicates gapless playback depends on the interaction between the control point, server, and renderer. All three matter. This gapless issue isn't unfixable though. Simon from MinimServer asked me to send him some logs because he has an idea about hat may be causing this issue. Hopefully this can be resolved.”

.

Do you have any news from Simon/MinimServer?

I asked him about this issue again and here is his answer:

In my test environment (RPi3 for server and RPi4 for renderer, 16/44 FLAC files, no transcoding), the great majority of the delay between tracks that causes these gaps is within HQPlayer (specifically, within the Rygel UPnP stack that HQPlayer uses to enable it to act as a UPnP renderer). Because HQPlayer doesn't use the UPnP gapless protocol, any significant delay during track changing breaks gapless playback.
If HQPlayer is running on a faster machine, renderer track-changing delay will be reduced and any server delay will come into play. Increased resolution and/or server-side transcoding will increase server delay.
The only way to make this work correctly in all cases is for HQPlayer to implement the UPnP gapless protocol. This enables the renderer to start streaming the next track before the current track has finished playing.”

 

It clearly seems the … “ball is in Jussi hands” …

Do you think this issue can be solved?

 

Stefano

 

My audio system

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5 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Playback doesn’t immediately stop when the app is closed

This is the same behavior of Bubbleupnp and MConnect … isn’t it?

 

Conversely this doesn’t happen with apps like Lumïn, Linn or Kazoo, ie if you kill/swipe off them playback does go on until the reproduction playlist is finished.

In this case I don't understand how one of these apps / control points can affect the behavior of the gapless playback as they are exactly like a remote command.

Stefano

 

My audio system

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@stefano_mbp@The Computer Audiophile @Miska I am still unclear about this UPnP business...

Miska, is it fair to say that HQPlayer is somehow at the mercy of Rygel in terms of receiving UPnP commands for rendering?

If that is the case, there must be some miscommunication between server-controller-Rygel in some particular circumstances that cause delay.

If, as Simon/MinimServer poited out, the delay is in the Rygel UPnP stack, is it possible to propose solutions to Rygel's main development group (Zeeshan Ali, Jens Georg, Thijs Vermeir, James Henstridge and Jussi Kukkonen) in the GNOME git repository?  (There is a "Jussi" there too ;))

   

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