Differences between JPlay or Roon into HQP

I don’t use HQplayer so can’t comment on that side but they claim it sounds better than Roon via UPnP I tried it and sounded the same across all my different zones. So my subjective opinion is different to others. I don’t really buy into how a controller that doesn’t go near the audio signal at all can affect the sound. The network stuff they try and use as the reason has nothing to back it up at all.

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Doesn’t matter if it uses the api or not it’s still purely a controller app it never touches the audio at all it has no server component itself. It looks api allows you to set some things remotely which you could not do via UPnP and allows to work with desktop.

yes, I even used Jplay/HQP at a lower volume and it still sounded better…
After that, it all depends on your audio system, your listening room and your personal tastes.
I’m not judging either Roon (I have a lifetime license), which I love for its richness, or JPlay (in demo for testing), I’m just trying to see, pardon me, to hear if there’s a real difference in listening between these 2 solutions. It’s clear that JPlay comes out better in this respect, at least for me and others.
It’s up to you to draw your own conclusions.

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Better? Or more to your preference :+1:

Surely for the most optimal audiophile listening experience you would use the HQPlayer client app with local files. I tried it a couple of times and it wasn’t to my music browsing tastes as opposed to my ears which loved it.

Are people claiming feeding HQPlayer from Minim server via JPlay improves on the local experience, or has no one actually compared and only comparing with Roon.
I read a couple of threads posted on these forums, and without trying it I am unconvinced by the usual audiophile statements. Maybe I will try it one day, but it’s back to LMS for me for now. If Jussi could do a nice integration between LMS and HQPlayer I would probably stay there most of the time.

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Better for me if these are my preferences :blush:
After I made my wife who doesn’t care about the technique and the hardware and software, I’m reassured because she has the same preferences as me :joy::joy:

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I believe there’s two statements here

  1. I think its being said that JPlay gives HQP a better controller via iOS devices over what may be available for HQP.

  2. I think its being said JPlay via HQP sounds better than Roon via HQP.

My preference is Roon straight to endpoints still, due to my weirdness needing a certain UI experience. Others options work.

As for SQ, I’ve been down that rabbit hole and unless my tinnitus disappears and my bank balance increases massively I’m happy with Roon.

Each to their own, and I’m not here to judge :innocent: (I do like how JPlay sounds though :face_with_peeking_eye:)

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Actually what I noticed is that jplay iOS even at a few dbs lower in volume than roon still sounded cleaner… not suggesting better or worse by having a cleaner sound, as I have a friend who simply thinks he could not live with jplay iOS because it sounded too clean in his system he much preferred the noisier sound of roon for its perceived “warmth”

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I do enjoy the Roon interface playing to HQPlayer as Roon has the best ability for browsing and fine tuning music selection in what I have used (though there are great features in PlexAmp and LMS as well).

I also think that the latest version of HQPlayer with the beginnings of device profile’s makes changing HQPlayer settings a game changer, at least for me, when using desktop and iPad apps. The capability has not yet come to third party HQPDControl app, hopefully it will. It makes it more likely that I will use HQPlayer to select alternative outputs over Roon for different Room.

So maybe sometime I will also try JPlay and see for myself, though I rarely boot my iPhone or pick up my iPad.

It would also be very interesting if the Android Symfonium developer was to do something similar with that app. Choice is great, just not so much we get paralysis in decision making :grin:

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Deric thanks for clarifying that point, it’s useful for those of us who have not tried it yet

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If JPlay is only a controller and do not touch the audio signal, so bit perfect signal transport seems to work correctly and if Roon is perceived as noisy/warm than Roon seems not to send bit perfect Flac files to HQP despite the signal path is stating this. This would mean Roon is a defective digital transport software and Roon labs should be investigating this.

Bit perfectness can be tested using RME dac as it has a bit perfect tester. Just turn off any processing so it’s doing no DSP which I assume it can do and then play one their bit perfect test files via both apps controlling hqplayer. It will pass or fail and then you know they both are or aren’t or one is. One for Jussi as he has an RME.

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I’ve done this. Roon → HQP no processing -NAA-> RaspPi with NAA image -USB-> ADI-2 FS

It’s perfect at all supported bitrates for the test.

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Thanks!
Do we need this for JPlay to? Or can we assume, as JPlay is a controller only, that it is bit perfect by definition?

It is by definition as it doesn’t play anything … it just control HQPlayer

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Thanks.
So how on earth can the “same” two bit perfect date streams sound different if delivers to HQP by JPlay or by Roon?
If there is a difference in sound than bit perfect would have no meaning in term of audio quality…

I believe everyone when he is saying JPlay sounds different to Roon, but it contradicts all my understanding of digital audio.

Maybe my understanding is not complete enough?

Roon is on the audio path, the other ones are not…

I’m not motivated enough to spend time on this. Since I would need to test Roon on three platforms it supports, and all the supported lossless audio file formats it supports, in both 16- and 24-bit flavors. That’s a bit too much of an effort while outside of my scope.

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So our/my understanding of bit perfect is not the complete picture? Roon can deliver bit perfect to HQP and still can degrade (noisy) the audio quality? How so?

P.S. I wouldn’t not be so sure with “out of your scope”. I believe without out Roon there would be quite less HQP users.

If jussi feels it’s out of his scope with respect to roon’s processing then it’s out of his scope. It’s easy enough for you to give jplay a trial and hear it for yourself and make a decision.

You don’t believe there is difference anyway, why do you need jussi to do verifications for you?

For folks not believe there should be a difference and not willing to try for themselves, perhaps just let it be. By no means roon is bad sounding anyway

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If one wants to test every audiophile nonsense that’s published here in the forum, you could do nothing else in your life. Kind of creative idea that a control app has a sound signature.

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