Any plans for support for VST plugins in HQPlayer?

I would like to use VST plugins in my chain, which is Roon -> HQPlayer -> NAA (microRendu), @jussi_laako are there any plans to add support for VST plugins in HQPlayer (before up-sample or they will be to CPU heavy)?

Using a VST host with a chain like this:
Roon -> VST host -> HQPlayer -> NAA
is problematic since VST hosts typically require a fixed sample rate, which means you have to do an up-sample in Roon, and then another in HQPlayer which isn’t optimal.

VST support in Roon would also work, but they don’t seem very interested in fixing it.

No plans to support VST plugins for various reasons:

  • No support for all three platforms (Linux, macOS, Windows)
  • No support for DSD
  • Most plugins have limitations on sampling rates they can process
  • Not suitable for GPU enabled DSP pipelines

Roon may have dislike for VST for similar reasons. VSTs may work in constrained studio environment for which they are designed for. For what I’m after they are not useful.

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Yea, VST has its limitations. For Roon, the main obstacle is that VST is tied to its GUI so getting it to work with Roon core on for example Nucleus is hard. However, lots of plugins exists for macOS and Linux, and sample rate issues isn’t that big a deal if they are put before the up-sample (unless DSD but that can’t be supported anyway).

Still, lots of very high quality VST plugins out there. Even a partial support, without DSD and GPU, would make HQPlayer better in my opinion. And it might open up a new market for you (mastering, studio rendering, stuff like that).

And of course there is Dirac that would be a very nice plugin to have in the Roon -> HQPlayer chain.

My requirement is that all DSP processing is available equally for both PCM and DSD. If something doesn’t support DSD, it is automatically out.

HQPlayer 4 Pro is specifically for that market and specifically because it does support DSD processing.

I also know number of studios using HQPlayer precisely because of the DSD features. For PCM there’s no shortage of alternative options, no point in bothering with PCM-only world in that sector.