I am Considering Using HQ Player... BUT... Help Needed!

My current equipment:
iMac (running Room Core)
NAA (raspberry Pi3 with Digi+ Hat)
Oppo 205 (Roon Ready)
Bryston Sp3 (non-Roon-ready)
I have the Rpi3/Digi combo connected to the Bryston SP3 via digital coax cable.
I have the Oppo (Roon Ready) connected via Ethernet cable

Questions:

  1. If I install HQ Player in the iMac and use HQ Player to upsample all signals to DSD, what level of DSD will I be able to use given my computer’s hardware? Here are the specs: Intel Core i7 2.93 GHz; 8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3; Graphics Card ATI Radeon HD 5750 1024 MB.

  2. Based on what I have read, I understand that MACs are limited in the resolution that can be upsampled (only windows machines can do DSD512 for example). Would I be better off just using Roon’s upsampling capabilities and wait until I have the right equipment to run HQ Player to its full capacity?

  3. I was considering upgrading my DAC at some point (looking at the T+A DAC 8 DSD for example). Given that my current system will not do DSD512, would buying the T+A now bring any benefit?

Thanks!

Hi nicoff

I think you should be able to do all of the poly-sinc “2s” filters up to DSD512.

Why don’t you do the free 30 day trial and it will answer your questions #1 and #2?

The trial is fully featured with a 30 minute session limit but that can be restarted quite quickly.

Your i7 iMac may well do DSD512 to NAA - it won’t do DSD512 over USB due to MacOS CoreAudio limitations.

Note, the T+A 8 DSD DAC only does DSD512 with Windows ASIO driver. A lot of people are hoping and praying Linux Native DSD512 support comes and it does look to be slowly coming but no timeline.

Hope that helps

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Thank you! I just went ahead and downloaded the trial version of HQ Player and have installed in my machine.

A newby question: How do I connect Roon to HQPlayer? I was hoping that they would automatically find each other but that is not the case. In Roon, I do not see HQP as an audio device.

Thanks!

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It’s in another screen in Roon settings. I’m not at my Mac at the moment but check this out:

https://kb.roonlabs.com/HQPlayer_Setup

Thank you Sean! I am making progress. I was able to “connect” Roon and HQPlayer. Now Roon sees and can play to HQPlayer through my iMac computer

Remaining issue: HQPlayer is not seeing or connecting to my NetworkAudioAdapter (HiFiBerry Digi+).

In the HQPlayer device settings, if I list a “NetworkAudioAdapter” as a backend, it does not show any device available (it is blank).

Under the Tools menu, HQPlayer is supposed to give me the option of selecting and naming a NAA, but in my case, the Tools sub-menu does not show that option.

Thanks again for all your help!

Update: Under Tools, I can now open the Network Audio Adapter tab, but when I open it, no NAA are shown. It is as if the HQPlayer does not know that there is a NAA in the system.

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No problem. Getting HQP to actually play music is half of the fun :grin:

What operating system are you running on your Digi+ ?

I am using DietPi

Have you installed the NAA program using the DietPi menu ?

If so, make sure the Digi+ input on your DAC is selected, power off everything and restart in the following order, allowing everything to boot:
DAC
Digi+
HQP, Roon Core.

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Hehe that was my next question.

While the Pi/Digi+ itself can be described as a ‘networked audio adapter’, it still needs the NAA software installed (via DietPi) for HQP to ‘see’ the Digi+ over the network.

I skipped over a rather important point also.

The Digi+ will be limited to PCM192Hz and maybe DSD64 (DoP) if your Oppo 205 accepts that over SPDIF.

In order to feed DSD512 to your Oppo 205 over the network, you need a NAA that supports it. Like a micro/ultraRendu, Allo USBridge etc. Or a Windows NAA, a NUC setup as NAA. There’s a few different options available, depending on budget.

You can try but I’ve struggled to get the Pi3 to output DSD512 over it’s USB output.

I’ve heard from one other person that the Pi3+ (the new model) can support DSD512 over WiFi (AC speeds supported). Apparently the WiFi and the USB port don’t share the same bus power in the latest Pi3+.

That’s the cheapest experiment to get DSD512 playing over the network. Just grab the latest Pi3+ and install DietPi and NAA software and setup WiFi-AC on the Pi3+ and cross your fingers it plays :grin:

I went to the DietPi Menu and launcher but could not identify the software that I need to install. Would it be something like FTP or Samba?? I did not see anything with a name NAA or similar. I just posted a question on the DietPi forum but if any knows the answer here please chime in!
Thanks!

dietpi-software

Then go to optimized software and either just below or just above RoonBridge you’ll see NAA and a description mentioning HQPlayer.

Read through the list slowly and carefully and you can’t miss it.

Thank you! Found the NAA software; it was not installed. Will try those steps next.
Thanks!

Got it and found it. Thanks!

Well, I knew that it was not going to be as easy as it looked initially. I am still struggling to get HQP to see the NAA. But hopefully will get there. Thank you!!

Do you have a particular recommendation?

All of them, depending on budget. If you can stretch to the ultraRendu i can definitely recommend that.

Hehe I did mention early on that half of the “fun” of HQP is just getting music to play… Once you get there it’s easy and great.

It’s much easier for others to help if we can see what you see. So share plenty of screenshots if you get stuck. The more screenshots the better and less ‘back and forth’.

Hang in there !

I was able to find and install the NAA program within DietPi. I also followed the booting steps (thank you andybob).
However, I have not been able to find the NAA adapter as an option within HQPlayer. It might be something simple, but so far no go.
In any case, I have decided to go ahead and order a computer that can run both Roon and HQPlayer and that will allow me to upconvert my music to DSD512. I will definitely have to have the issue sorted out by then.

Picture shown below. Notice that no NAA device is available or listed.

Have you tried connecting Roon to the Pi to check that the network is working okay?

Do you have anything else “running” on the Pi which might be “holding” the DAC?

The DAC is connected to the Pi?

If you can :white_check_mark: all these boxes NAA should show up here.

It’s a long and winding road with many variables.

.sjb

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