The HQPlayer thread

I am just about to pay but one thing came to my mind: if I buy HQP for Windows and decide to switch to Linux as HPQ desktop, can I move the desktop license?

 

Yes absolutely no issue with that. as long as you only have one active instance of hqplayer desktop running at one time, you can install hqplayer desktop on any number of machines.

I have HQPlayer in my main PC 13600K with 3080TI running windows 11; I have my Asus Rog Ally running hqplayer desktop on Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS that's my portable HQplayer rig; I have a Raspberry Pi 5 running hqplayer desktop on Bookworm in my bedroom. I have a old i7 6700K with 980Ti in my son's bedroom running hqplayer desktop on linux mint.

 

VBCable has its own automatic resampling capability to try and match rates with the destination. So it would not be a Roon thing but VBCable itself. If you do want to use something like a virtual cable, I much preferred Virtual Audio Cable - it is less friendly but doesn't to automagic things to the stream to make it 'easier'. The concern with any of this sort of routing is preventing things from resampling and/or mixing the digital stream.

Roon to HQPlayer will correctly negotiate any rate change and HQPlayer will switch. I haven't played much with NAA input, @dericchan1 can guide more there.

 

Yes Roon will not resample output to HQPlayer if Sample rate conversion in muse is disabled.
The only hiccup setting up Roon to HQPlayer pipeline was that I had to disable ASIO RME audio device in Roon if the HQPlayer output was pointed to the same device.
But that's logical, as they both are trying to control the same device, and it does not work.
By the way on the list of Signalyst downloads I could not find NAA, but there is NAA on the list of products.
On downloads I only found something called Network Audio Daemon. Can it be the the same thing?

 

Yes it’s the same thing

 

Hello everyone, my current equipment and connection setup are as follows: N150 (ROON Core) - Macmini M4Pro 48G (HQPlayer Desktop) - fiber - RPi (NAA) - HOLO May L3 (Dac).
The configurations that can currently play smoothly are as follows:
1. DSD512: sinc-Lh + ASDM7EC-super

2. DSD1024: sinc-Lh+AHM7EC5L

Of course, I don't need sinc-L because I can't tolerate a delay of 20-30 seconds.
Then, selecting any configuration of the ASDM7EC series for DSD1024 will result in playback stuttering. Of course, Configuration 1 sounds great, but if Configuration 2 could enable super, it would be even more perfect. Other settings are as follows. I wonder if there are any areas that can be optimized?


Currently, it has been observed that the CPU usage rate is consistently around 30% regardless of the configuration (including configurations with playback stuttering) (Mac mini has been set to high-performance mode), as follows:

I feel that HQP's support for the M4 chip is not very good. For instance, the energy-efficient core is not effectively utilized, not to mention the complete lack of GPU utilization. I wonder if they have optimized it? If the M4 could be used effectively, there would be no need to endure the noise of a PC or consider a fanless case. The cost-performance ratio would be very high.
Additionally, there's another issue. I want to use Diretta to output to Dac, but I can't install the host driver on a Mac. The only option is to install it on NAA and then connect a RPi as the Diretta Target. I'm not sure how much the Diretta output effect will be improved. Are there any experts with experience in this area? Please advise, thank you!

 

Initial impressions of a newbie, using USB from fanless MS Surface i5-8250U with 8 GB to RME ADI-2 Pro,

1. The HQPlayer client is very a annoying piece of software. One time you start it and it will make immediate connection to a local library and Qobuz, you are ready to go. 2 minutes later is seating there, brain dead for five minutes. I cannot imagine worse search and library presentation than that.
   
2. The HQPlayer settings and the pipeline configuration were pretty intimidating first I tried , but the learning curve is very rewarding in the sense that I sort off knew what I was doing in relatively short time.
   
3. Whatever oversampling filter I used, I tried a few, the disabling oversampling in a DAC was immediate improvement. With NOS filter on RME ADI-2 Pro, the cleanup of the mid bass texture was immediate.
   The difference is very audible.
   
4. Moving any EQ, except Audeze presets, from Roon or AutoEQ to HQP desktop needs some time but it is very easy using text files or convolution filters. What is rather annoying is that every time you open any configuration panel, both HQP client and Roon stop playing. I prefer it in Roon where you can delay the DSP changes with Apply.
   As with the HPQ client, there is an impression that HPQ UI is just barely usable.
5. I think that my initial impression that the sound using the HPQ client was better than through Roon, was related to NOT disabling Roon oversampling. I do not believe my current system is very resolving so I will try it with my target config, with Holo Red NAA.
6. Question: is there any other front end to HPQ, other than Roon and HPQ client that can be used to play Qobuz through HPQ?
7. I also could not find a simple way to phase reverse on one channel only

 

Some people say good things about Jplay on iOS, but I haven't tried it (mostly Android household).

 

The few control applications are also listed here: https://signalyst.com/consumer/ (though he apparently forgot to list Jplay there when it received native HQPlayer support).

But those I saw aren’t really much better than HQPlayer itself, except Jplay which is more or less a copy of the Roon UI.

With HQPlayer Embedded, you can also use any DLNA/UPnP AV controller application like BubbleUPnP, but that means Linux only.

 

I checked jPlay for Windows but the installation package for Win 10 includes on jPlay mini and jplay femto. I cannot really make any sense of it, neither looks to me like a typical digital player with UI etc.

 

I was talking about jPlay iOS. I think jPlay Femto is server software that can be controlled with the app but doesn’t have its own UI? Not sure, I never looked into it because I don’t have a Windows computer.

jPlay iOS doesn’t require a jPlay server. It can control a UPnP renderer or HQPlayer.

 

What filter is that? I can’t get 7EC-super without dropouts at all with poly-sinc-gauss-long. Did you do anything special to boost performance?

I’m afraid I massively overestimated the power of the device. I misunderstood your answer above and thought it was able to do sinc-MGa at DSD512, but it doesn’t even work at DSD256 with 7EC-super, let alone with DAC correction.

I’ll carry on testing for a bit, but I’ll probably send it back. I thought I could achieve more with it than I can right now. That’s true for some modulators my CPU can’t handle, but otherwise I’m better off with my 10 years old i3 and the old graphics card (GTX2060) I bought used.

 

Please note I don’t use many of those super intensive filters. The Asus rog ally does not have a dedicated gpu so it’s doing all with the cpu so you can’t realistically rely on it to run intensive filters.

With my Asus rog ally, in Ubuntu, I can run default filters, 2s filters, xtr-short Lo/mp (really just anything other than the super long and intensive ones) in dsd512 with any modulators other than 7EC super along with convolution/peq with “power saver mode” that keeps cpu temp at around 45-50c
With 7EC super I need to turn on “balanced “ power settings which would bring cpu temp to about 65-70c. But it runs stable overnight without any issues.

I can even do dac correction at dsd256.

The new Sinc LH can be run at dsd256 as well, for whatever reasons i can’t do it in dsd512 without using the “performance” power settings and that brings the cpu temp to like 85c… still way below throttling temp at 100c but the fan started kicking in

 

Hm, mine doesn’t get this far by quite a bit.

A bit more background: I first tried with Ubuntu Server, but the performance was poor, and the fans didn’t even power up audibly. I guess that some power management settings were missing.

I then installed the desktop version, which is much better in terms of performance. But even in the maximum power mode (I only tested with this one), the default filter stutters at DSD512/7EC-super, with 44.1/16 material and Auto rate family with no convolution/EQ and no correction.

Note that I tested with HQPlayer Embedded and with WiFi (though network bandwidth doesn’t seem to be a problem as it doesn’t stutter with simpler modulators. To be precise, those that stutter in this configuration are 5ECv2 and v3, 7ECv2 and v3 and all variants of EC-super.

I’ll try with Ethernet dock and HQPlayer desktop, probably tomorrow.

 

What device are you running HQP on? Sorry, lost track of the thread a bit and can't quite seem to find it above.

 

A ROG Ally with the Z1 Extreme CPU.

EDIT: Want one?

 

I am surprised with your performance issues. Even in win 11 home, I can do all I mentioned dsd512 7EC super, just at higher cpu temp.

I am running the desktop version of hqp. I don’t suspect embedded to be less efficient, so perhaps it’s to do with wifi?

https://a.co/d/5KXEAJl I do use one of these dock station and a 100w power supply
https://a.co/d/063QJWn
When I am home. But I have no issues running dsd512 on the road on the Asus battery too

Make sure you do all of the bios and firmware updates perhaps?

I would not have kept the unit if I can't use it as a portable Hqplayer DAP doing dsd512. My 7 year old son would disagree tho as he likes to use it to play Party Animals too on the road. hahahaha

another fellow on audiophilestyle forum is running the same Asus rog in windows 11 doing dsd512 with his ifi gryphon totally fine as well

 

I found my error:

I wasn’t 100% sure which version to install: intel_amd64 or just amd64. I had used the logical amd64 on Ubuntu Server and then used intel_amd64 on Ubuntu Desktop (but forgot that). When I now wanted to install the desktop version, I found the intel package and tried the amd only version of HQPlayer embedded first. And now it works as expected.

Well, not really as I had expected as I’m too dumb to read, but as @dericchan1 actually said it would.

With poly-sinc-gauss-long all modulators can be used. sinc-MGa doesn’t work at all in DSD512, not even with the simplest modulators. Also, DAC correction cannot be used at DSD512. That’s possible in DSD256, but not with sinc-MGa. Without DAC correction, sinc-MGa works in DSD256, too.

Now that’s at least much closer to what I had expected. I’m still not sure if I’ll keep the device as it isn’t able to give me “the full glory of nearly everything at DSD512” as I had hoped. But it might still be worth it.

 

Glad to know that you now have it figured out at least. Performance wise I would say that's probably "as good as it gets" for a mini-pc without a GPU, you just can't expect intense filters like the MGA or Sinc L variants to work without a GPU.
Its personal preference and dac dependent at the end of day when it comes to filter choices. I guess my only suggestion is before you return the unit, try other combinations and see if you can find a settings that work well for you.

I do not have a dac that requires dac correction anymore so that makes my decision a bit simpler.
With my IFI PRO idsd in my desktop setup, I am quite happy with DSD512 7EC Fast with polysinc HB-2s for classical/jazz stuff. Gauss XLA, EXT3, Sinc Short or Sinc Medium would work too but for me I am in love with the polysinc HB or the gauss HB filters. I would use gauss/gauss long/short lp/mp or xtr short lp/mp for pop rock and other stuff...

With my DSC2 my favorite settings are the AMSDM7EC 512 with again polysinc HB-2s or sometimes just leaving it at default filters with Gauss Long and Gauss Hi-res LP

With my DSC3 in my main system I switch between 7EC Super and 7EC Fast a lot depending on the music. filter choices are similar as above.

I do have a 13600K with a 3080TI that can run pretty much any filters of choice at DSD512 even with dac correction (when I still had my Holo Cyan 2) but honestly my filter choices don't differ from the above that much so I am finding the Asus Rog quite satisfactory as it does pretty much 90% of what my main desktop PC can do. I now only use the 13600K PC if in odd occasion feeling like using some exotic demanding filters...

 

Yes, I did that today and tried many combinations.

My favourite modulators in my system at DSD512 were 5ECv2, 5EC-super, 7ECv2, 7EC-super, and AMSDM7EC. In general, I liked the 7 series a little better, and 7EC-super won by a small margin.

I then kept 7EC-super and tried different filters. Of those that worked, my favourites were polynomial-2 and poly-sinc-short-lp with poly-sinc-hb as runner-up.

However, to my ears, sinc-MGa with 7EC-super at DSD256 still tops everything I can do with the Ally at DSD512. I’m really in love with that combination, I hear a darker blackground there and a phenomenal 3D stage with pinpoint instrument placement, plus the same amount of detail as with the DSD512 stuff, possibly even a bit more. To me, it’s a match made in heaven for my system. And when I then enable DAC correction, it becomes another large step better.

Conclusion: I’m not lusting for DSD512 anymore as much as I did before. Theoretically, sinc-MGa + ASDM7EC-super + DAC correction could be even better at DSD512, but for that I’d need a really beefy system. My current setup is better to my ears than anything I can achieve with current mini PCs without a graphics card.

EDIT: Interesting how I especially like very short filters, or even extremely short with polynomial-2, and OTOH sinc-MGa, which is extremely long. But different from other long filters, it manages to still produce great transients. Maybe it’s that combination.