Hello everyone,
I’m experiencing a connection issue between Roon and HQPlayer Embedded on GentooPlayer.
Setup: JCAT USB XE → Laiv Harmony µDDC → Holo Spring 3, GentooPlayer, HQPlayer Embedded 5
Configuration 1 — (JCAT EVO USB → Holo Spring 3, GentooPlayer, Roon, HQPlayer Embedded 5)
Everything works perfectly:
- HQPlayer is detected correctly in Roon’s audio zone
- Native DSD512 playback works flawlessly
- The Holo display shows DSD512
- (No blue LED here since the Laiv Harmony DDC is not connected)
Configuration 2 — (JCAT USB XE → Laiv Harmony µDDC I²S → Holo Spring 3, GentooPlayer, Roon, HQPlayer Embedded 5)
Problem encountered:
- HQPlayer disappears from Roon’s audio zone
- Only the Laiv Harmony (ALSA) device shows up
- The Laiv’s USB LED turns blue, confirming the USB signal is received and converted to I²S properly
- The Holo display shows 768 kHz, which is normal for a native DSD signal via I²S
- However, Roon can no longer control HQPlayer
Technical details
- GentooPlayer (RoonServer + HQPlayer Embedded running on the same machine)
- HQPlayer configured on Local Host
aplay -llists bothhw:JCAT_USBandhw:LAIVwhen the DDC is connected- HQPlayer Web → Output tab: Backend = ALSA, Device = hw:LAIV, Direct SDM ✓, Output rate = DSD512
Hypothesis
When inserting the Laiv Harmony µDDC (USB → I²S), the ALSA device recognized by HQPlayer changes (hw:LAIV instead of hw:JCAT_USB), causing Roon to lose the HQPlayer zone.
Does anyone know how to force Roon to re-detect HQPlayer when the ALSA output device changes?
Is manual reconfiguration in HQPlayer necessary every time the output device is switched?
Thanks in advance for any insights or experience you can share 
Jean-Luc