HQPlayer Embedded Discussion [2021-2022]

[jussi_laako (Jussi Laako (Signalyst))]

There’s the help in top right corner of config pages.

[Fernando_Pereira]

Thanks, I had missed that, no thanks to my mediocre eyesight.

[Fernando_Pereira]

(This forum software is borked, I copied this here because I put it by accident elsewhere and then deleted it, but it still complains it’s “too similar.”)

Unfortunately I’m back to

! 2022/04/19 19:16:18 NAA output clNetEngine::PushSDM(): not connected to adapter
! 2022/04/19 19:16:18 clHQPlayerEngine::Execute(): push to FIFO failed

I switched to Ubuntu Server, but I was bitten by a requirement I had forgotten: the server management app Cockpit that I use to manage my servers requires NetworkManager. Once I edited the netplan configuration to use NetworkManager as renderer, the problem above returned. I considered the possibility that it had to do with my having switched on IPv6 for the NAA link (my old-ish router does not fully support IPv6), but turning that off did not help.

I’ll dig further for workarounds on the Cockpit/NetworkManager side, but I’m puzzled why this is happening when all other network functions seem to work well with NetworkManager.

[jussi_laako (Jussi Laako (Signalyst))]

That error happens when HQPlayer is not connected to NAA. Which usually means it cannot find NAA on your network.

Most typical reason for such problem is that there’s more than one network interface active on the system.

[Fernando_Pereira]

Thanks. I’ll dig into it a bit more. I only see one interface currently:

1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
2: eno1: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state UP mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000

I’ll check again next time the problem happens, to see if nm is somehow activating another interface, although I don’t know what that would be.

[jussi_laako (Jussi Laako (Signalyst))]

Likely it has something to do with multicast routing which usually takes the default route.

Does the routing table look sensible?

Sometimes problem is also if hqplayerd gets started before the network is configured. Note that the default systemd rules work for default OS setup. But with NetworkManager you will likely need to change this as it brings it’s own set of rules.

[Fernando_Pereira]

Routing looks reasonable. I considered your last point, but typically, there’s no problem when the server is rebooted, only much later after a period without problems. That is, it seems as if the route to the NAA endpoint is forgotten, and the only way to revive hqplayerd is to restart it.

[dabassgoesboomboom]

Hi @jussi_laako I see the new ‘cut the crap’ 20kHz filter (great for all the fake hires out there, that keeps coming every week) has made it to Embedded ! Thanks!

I can see it in HQP Client app - is there a way to toggle on/off via web config page?

[Nigel_Potter]

Where are the settings for the 20 kHz PCM source noise/distortion cleanup filter or as you call it “cut the crap” filter?
Or is it always on by default?

[Deano]

I just found it in the HQP Client app, I don’t see it on the web config page. I wonder is it only active if enabled and then music started from the Client app? Say I close the client app with the 20kHz filter checked and then start a stream from another app like Bubbleupnp. Is it still active? Jussi?

[jussi_laako (Jussi Laako (Signalyst))]

You can keep the Client open. But the 20k filter setting won’t get reset until next configuration change or restart.

So if you change any configuration (when you get the 10 second reload notification) through web interface, all settings are reset back to defaults.

In other cases the settings stick until next change or restart. This is same as filter, volume and other such settings.

[jussi_laako (Jussi Laako (Signalyst))]

@Nigel_Potter

Where are the settings for the 20 kHz PCM source noise/distortion cleanup filter or as you call it “cut the crap” filter?

It is live setting that can be changed on the fly from a control application, such as HQPlayer Client.

@Nigel_Potter

Or is it always on by default?

It is off by default.

[Deano]

Thanks for the explanation, all good.

[tahsu]

@jussi_laako

It is live setting that can be changed on the fly from a control application, such as HQPlayer Client.

I have found it in the client app for embedded and directly in the desktop app.

When should we consider using this? I just want to be sure I understand. Is it sensible to always leave on? I have a whole slew of content, 44/16 up to 192/24 which is upscaled to PCM and DSD for different DACs. Content can be local or from Qobuz.

[jussi_laako (Jussi Laako (Signalyst))]

For proper hires content it should be off. It is only for cleaning up fake hires or otherwise dirty content.

It is feature originally requested by @dabassgoesboomboom since lot of new / big label “hires” content seems to be fake.

[dabassgoesboomboom]

There was discussion further up in this same thread, including spectrogram examples of ‘fake’ hi-res

See:

HQPlayer Embedded thread

Hi @jussi_laako Since there is a lot of ‘fake’ hi-res out there (even Qobuz, moreso the popular albums than jazz/classical), is gauss-hires-lp a good option for Nx filter ? There’s very little music content above 30kHz in any recording, so anything in a PCM88.2kHz or higher sample rate probably needs quality filtering above 30kHz. Is that the main point of gauss-hires? It’s good for both real hi-res and ‘fake’ ? Where fake hi-res music has crap above 20kHz that should be filtered out anyway.

[tahsu]

@jussi_laako

For proper hires content it should be off. It is only for cleaning up fake hires or otherwise dirty content.

It is feature originally requested by @dabassgoesboomboom since lot of new / big label “hires” content seems to be fake.

@dabassgoesboomboom

There was discussion further up in this same thread, including spectrogram examples of ‘fake’ hi-res

See:

Hi @jussi_laako Since there is a lot of ‘fake’ hi-res out there (even Qobuz, moreso the popular albums than jazz/classical), is gauss-hires-lp a good option for Nx filter ? There’s very little music content above 30kHz in any recording, so anything in a PCM88.2kHz or higher sample rate probably needs quality filtering above 30kHz. Is that the main point of gauss-hires? It’s good for both real hi-res and ‘fake’ ? Where fake hi-res music has crap above 20kHz that should be filtered out anyway.

Thanks both - I just need a way to tell what is ‘proper’ hires then.

[dabassgoesboomboom]

That was discussed above in this thread too.

Audiravna Studio does this and another way is you can capture audio and analyse with Audacity (free).

But it’s better you don’t look - the more you look the more fake hi-res you will find Seriously

[tahsu]

Yes, I am wondering about having a look at this with Audacity - I don’t have Audivana. I think it is on my ‘to-do’ list however I have just changed Roon cores, and I have been working out how and when to use my desktop licence vs my embedded licence. Coming together now, with the desktop licence used on my old Roon core, a fanless i7 (Nuc innards in a HD Plex case) - this machine is my daily driver now with Linux Mint and does PCM with no problem at all - in fact I might even try and limit the power so I can reduce the energy usage a bit more.

Anyway, I might have a look at Audacity next! As I would like to know a bit more.

[jussi_laako (Jussi Laako (Signalyst))]

Audacity’s spectrogram is fine for checking such things.

Of the hires content I have purchased, I have found very little fake hires. But seems like big labels are pushing a lot of such now to streaming services, as it has become more mainstream through Apple and such.