HQPlayer Desktop thread

Audio Gear Talk HQ Player
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The issue I face is using the same hardware booting 3 OSes. Windows and Ubuntu play nice, but macOS does not. (Well, Windows plays, it is very rarely a nice OS.)

Since Apple and nVidia got into there little thing, there are no new graphics drivers for macOS.

There is limited support with AMD, so AMD is kind of a prerequisite with anything above 10th intel chips as there are only iGPU drivers for 10th gen and below. Which ideally puts you at the z490 motherboard era.

So you can imagine the fuss using a z790 with 13th gen chip, no iGPU support, no nVidia support, and limited AMD (which is also os version specific depending on the card).

Itā€™s hard to find a case/board thatā€™ll accept 2 graphics cards, a 6600xt and a 3080ti, and a flashed thunderbolt card. So I have to swap the gpu.

I considered/still considering an eGPU enclosure but not really cost effective.

:face_with_raised_eyebrow:

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651

Hello, @jussi_laako . Iā€™m wondering if you can help me offload just a bit more of the convolution to my graphics card, if such a thing is possible.

Setup:

HQP Desktop 4.21.1
i9-10900K processor
32GB RAM
EVGA RTX 2080Ti video card
Windows Server 2019
Audiolense XO convolution filters at 192K in pipeline matrix for 5.1.2 MCH/Atmos speaker array
Roon feeds HQP

HQP Settings:
8 channels
SDM (DSD) default output mode
PCM and SDM defaults all poly-sinc-ext2
ASDM7ECv2 modulator
384K limit for PCM
44.1x64 limit for SDM

My issue is dropouts every 10 seconds or so with 5.1 DSD64 material. 2 channel DSD64, FLAC 5.1 and lossless Atmos 5.1.2 (24/48) material plays fine.

Of course, with no offload to CUDA, the processor alone just canā€™t handle the convolution:

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image1314Ɨ959 188 KB

With CUDA box checked, I go over 50% which, as I understand, really represents 100% as to HQP:

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image1169Ɨ855 182 KB

With CUDA box greyed, it is essentially the same as checking the CUDA box:

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image1269Ɨ848 189 KB

The dropouts occur, of course, when I get over 50%. Any suggestions of what I can do here? The video card seems underutilized. Thanks. JCR

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CPU load looks fine, but likely the GPU is having a bit too hard time.

Windows Resource Monitor displays GPU load incorrectly when CUDA is used. Please open terminal and run ā€œnvidia-smi -l 5ā€ to see overall situation. On Windows, nvidia-smi is not as useful though, but gives an idea anyway.

653

Hi @jussi_laako . Thanks for your note. Here is what the CUDA load looks like in the terminal monitor:

Nvidia 1
Nvidia 12319Ɨ1111 422 KB

Seems that the CUDA doesnā€™t go past the lower 20% mark. So, what would you next suggest? JCR

654

OK, given that PCM sources and stereo DSD sources play fine, the next suspect is SDM Integrator and SDM Conversion settings in DSD Source Settings dialog. What do you have for these two?

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Ok, @jussi_laako , Iā€™ve actually never looked in these settings and donā€™t know what they do! I guess you will now suggest what to change hereā€¦.

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image1155Ɨ700 83.7 KB

I note that the 6dB boost button is in here. I assume by ticking it, DSD files will play at a level similar to FLAC files, yes? JCR

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Try setting integrator to IIR2 and conversion to ā€œwideā€.

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Ok, @jussi_laako , I have tried that. Dropouts are now about 20-30 seconds apart, instead of 10-15 seconds apart. So, getting closer. These are short dropouts. Other suggestions? JCR

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No difference having Multicore DSP checked or greyed? It is probably quite close to working, but something is still periodically overloaded.

You could try HQPlayer OS image booted from USB stick. The AVX2 build one. If that one works, then it is mostly OS overhead.

Or it could be that you would just need a little more CPU power.

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I will check again with greyed vs checked. Since this server is also my Roon core, I canā€™t dedicate it to just running HQP alone. What about increasing buffer size?

If I do seek more CPU, which will entail a motherboard change as well because of the different sockets for the newer processors, what would you suggest if I want to upscale to DSD128 with convolved DSD64 MCH files and have no dropouts? JCR

660

There are some people on this forum doing very similar to what you are doing, so they may be able to help on the hardware.

But before rushing to buy new hardware, wait for some time. I have some new things coming that may help on this case.

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Ok, so forum folks, if you are successfully using Roon to feed HQP for DSD5.1 MCH files upscaled to DSD64 after convolution, Iā€™m interested in your hardware and settings.

In any case in light of your comment, @jussi_laako , I will not make any hardware changes. But with 856 DSD5.0 and 5.1 MCH albums, I am hoping for your upcoming things to up and come soon! Thanks. JCR

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Definitely wait as Jussi said, but @Chunhao_Lee 's system will do what you need - and then some :laughing:

The last update I saw was he is outputting 12 channels of DSD256 (Merging Hapi Mk2 and Merging Anubis from memory) for Dolby Atmos contentā€¦ But canā€™t recall his PC details.

If you wanted a system with headroom for 5.1 channels, copying his PC would do it :smiley:

More headroom is always good.

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Hi @dabassgoesboomboom . I can do eight channels of convolved, lossless Dolby Atmos (5.1.2 at 24/48) upscaled to DSD64 and lossy Atmos to DSD128, the limit of my Okto DAC. As I understand, it is actually more processor intensive to downconvert 5.1 DSD64 to convolve at ā€” in my case ā€” PCM 192 ā€” and then reconvert back up to DSD, than to play Atmos files, which donā€™t require the DSD-to-PCM conversion for convolution before upscaling to DSD. @Chunhao_Lee definitely has a bigger, badder, newer processor than mine. :slight_smile: JCR

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I suspect a GPU to handle any upsampling and downsampling and convolution

CPU for modulator

665

HQPlayer can DSP DSD contents natively without transfer to PCM. A decent GPU with sufficient VRAM is required. In my experience 5.1DSD64 ā†’ DRC pipelines ā†’ 5.1DSD256 the 12GB RTX3080ti is on par. Just FYI.

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@Chunhao_Lee what are your system specs again?

CPU, GPU, RAM model, cooling, PSU, motherboard

667

My current HQPe server:
AMD Ryzen 9 7950x / Asus TUF Gaming X670E mobo
64GB DDR5-5200 (16GB x4)
EVGA RTX3080Ti FTW
EVGA 850watts PSU
Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360

Iā€™m focusing on immersive contents. So far I have 7.2.4 layout. Upsampling to 13ch DSD256 is so much fun. :laughing:

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@jussi_laako does the adaptive loudness control have a negative impact on sound quality because itā€™s post-processing? vs say a fixed house curve peq in each channel earlier in the pipeline?
I am surprised that this feature does not get used more often or discussed given the seemingly obvious benefit with a standard 2 channel speaker system and digital volume control. Correct me if I am wrong but I recall that you donā€™t really like it and only added due to a request? If so, how come?

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That would be fun, @Chunhao_Lee ! I canā€™t complain about 5.1.2 Atmos even at DSD64.

Ok, @jussi_laako , I can report that greyed vs checked CUDA does not make a difference. However, I changed the modulator to ASDM7EC (v1) from v2. The track I just listened to had but two dropouts over 4 minutes, so getting closer.

What is the practical sonic difference between v1 and v2 of the ASDM7EC modulator? JCR

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