I’m using Roon ROCK on a NUC 10i7 to stream to my recently acquired Arcam AVR21 through the “NET” input via a CAT6 ethernet connection to my router. I’d like to integrate HQPlayer to my setup, so I’ve connected an M1 Mac Mini to my network and installed HQPlayer 4 desktop. The Arcam AVR21 is Roon Ready and has dual ESS 9026Pro DACs. I’ve successfully configured Roon to stream to the HQPlayer, but how do I configure HQPlayer to stream to my AVR? Thanks for your advice!
Scott
You cannot. You can use Roon to stream to a Roon Ready device, but you cannot use HQPlayer. You will have to make a direct connection, such as HDMI or S/PDIF.
AJ
Your Arcam doesn’t have and usb-b connector, just coax or optical, therefore you need a usb/coax converter or a dac to be connected to your Mac.
Coax or optical connections are quite limited in terms of bit-depth/sample rate : coax max is 24/192 and optical max is normally 24/96.
Due to HQPlayer main characteristic it should be better to use an external dac, better if DSD capable, that you can connect to the analog input of your Arcam
Does the Arcam have USB input for Audio?
Not sure it does.
You can use a Zen Stream as it is supported as an NAA endpoint and can output via SPDIF at 24/192. That’s the best I can think of for the moment.
There are a lot of HQPlayer thread’s her that you can get good recommendations from reading.
Running high sample rate audio to an AVR is pointless, generally speaking. How do you use the Arcam AVR? Dirac Live, bass management, surround processing? If any of the aforementioned, then internal DSP operates at 48-96 kHz and downsamples accordingly.
AJ