HQplayer embedded on raspberry pi 4

Audio Gear Talk HQ Player
1

@jussi_laako

I like to know if this solution works and pi4 is powerful enough to drive it. I don’t use DSD. If yes I’ll buy the raspberry pi 4 and give it a try.

  1. Install this image “https://www.signalyst.eu/bins/hqplayerd/images/hqplayer-embedded-4.18.0-raspberrypi4.7z” to raspberry pi 4

2a. Roon core < Wifi > HQplayer embedded on raspberry pi 4 < USB > Teac UD-505
OR
2b. Roon core < Wifi > HQplayer embedded on raspberry pi 4 < Wifi > NAA on raspberry pi 3b < USB > Teac UD-505

  1. HQplayer runs the following setting filter and upsampling setting
    poly-sinc-xtr/NS5/PCM 768K
2

It can run as a NAA (Network Audio Adaptor) as long as you have the server side on a decent pc. A pi can’t run the server requires does not have the juice. Diet pi comes with it as an easy add on in its os.

3

In fact I can run HQplayer 4 with filter poly-sinc-xtr/NS5/PCM 768k smoothly in a ubuntu VM of synology ds918+.

Synology ds918+ 's CPU is Intel Celeron J3455 (4-core 1.5 (base) / 2.3 (burst) GHz) and I only assigned 2 cores to the ubuntu VM.

Raspberry pi 4’s CPU is1.5 GHz 64-bit quad -core ARM Cortex-A72, without VM overhead.

That’s why I ask. There maybe hope. See what’s Jussi’s comment.

4

RasPi3 is bad idea as a USB connected NAA. Due to hardware design issues it works properly only through I2S to DAC boards like HifiBerry. It has both ethernet and the USB connector on the same USB bus which causes this problem in NAA use.

What I’ve tested it works up to 8x speeds (352.8/384k) with auto rate family enabled and TPDF dither. 16x output rates is too much for any heavier filter.

Clock for clock, ARM CPUs are much slower than Intel/AMD ones. Compared to Atom cores by factor of about 2x.

5

Thanks. Regarding NAA on raspberry pi 3b, should be no problem not to use ethernet but wifi?

6

Depends on how the WiFi is connected. If it is on the same USB bus it likely suffers from similar problems.

7
  • edit - wrong post
8

found this
https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=207940

"There is one USB2 port on the SoC which handles the USB ports and the ethernet.

The wireless chip is connected via SDIO, the Bluetooth part is connected to a UART."

means OK?

9

Yes, sounds like it is potentially OK. At least worth trying.

If it has similar problem as Ethernet, you’ll hear popping/clicking during the playback, a bit like dust particles or scratches on vinyl.

1 Like
10

@jussi_laako
Glad if you could help me with questions:

  • is there any reason why not to use a rasp4 as a simple naa? Should I prefer an old i3 nuc, for any reason?
  • in any case, should I use the simple naa image, or should I go with the hq embeded image?
11

If you don’t need 1.5M PCM / DSD1024, you can as well use RasPi4.

For both cases the NAA image should be fine.

12

Thanks. I will keep to the rasp4.

13

When using a Raspberry Pi for HQPlayer, are there any memory requirents? That is, will 8GB work better then 4GB RPi espicaly if I want to do PCM → DSD conversion?

14

Does anyone know if the new Raspberry Pi 5 will have any advantages as an NAA compared to the 4?

15

I don’t think RPi4 is particularly useful for doing PCM → DSD conversion in first place. It can do some basic PCM → PCM upsampling though. But additional RAM can help on convolution or similar operations. What I’ve tested, 4 GB has been enough for doing most things the CPU is capable of. Additional RAM usually doesn’t hurt either!

1 Like
16

I’m currently using Pi4 (4gb) and doing DSD512, although there are still occastional dropouts with the heavier settings. I’ll probably switch to the Upboard and get a Holo May soon. Is that still your prefered NAA?

17

With which settings? (Filters and modulators)

18

That is what I use, it works great for me.

1 Like
19

Poly-sinc-xtr-short-lp with AMSD7EC-super 512+. Really love the sound with my LCD-4 and Feliks Envy. Great with the Sus as well, but haven’t had a chance to try other settings yet.

20

…but that is not running on RPi4?