I want to setup the NAA on a Mac mini BUT I cannot find the software to install on the Mac OS.
(Because I am using a FireWire interface as DAC while Macmini can be my only choice which have the FireWire port.)
Where can I find the NAA software for MAC OS?
Thanks a lot.
Thank you bobflood.
But the files I download are not executables, is there any setup guide something please?
Succeed, finally!
Thank you so much!
Sorry, Did not see this earlier. They are zip files and you need 7 Zip to unzip but you figured that out.
is there a good step-by-step how-to for installing/configuring NAA on the mac to run HQPlayer (with Roon Bridge, or whatever)?
In my search I’ve found a lot of threads (like this) with the same question, then a post that says “I figured it out!” with no explanation how.
Download from the Signalyst site. Unzip and Run.
Roon Bridge has no connection with NAA, they are separate things. Roon Bridge is to Roon as NAA is to HQPlayer.
thanks.
Ok, then, to be clear, QUIT Roon bridge…
Run the zipped NAA file. (networkaudiod file)
Then… the NAA app acts like a Roon endpoint like Roon Bridge did?
(Select NetworkAudioAdapter from the HQPlayer Backend dropdown)
So, can I ask, because I truly want to know, and I love to learn about the best way to do these things: Does this improve the sound quality over using Roon Bridge?
If so, why?
EDIT: I did it, and it seems to work just fine. (Did it to both of my mini’s that are running roon bridge.)
It sounds great, sure, but I can’t really tell if it’s better. I’m really not going back and forth testing and whatnot. But I might do that at some point. Or not. I tend to hate the fact that I never have revelatory audio experiences like some of you, where a cable changes your life, or whatever.
Just curious tho, why this might/should sound/work better than using Roon Bridge.
No.
Roon Bridge enables you to send a signal over Ethernet using RAAT from a Roon Core to the device running Roon Bridge, which is now a Roon endpoint.
When you install HQPlayer and select the HQPlayer Zone in Roon then HQPlayer handles output, not Roon.
NAA enables you to send a signal over Ethernet from a computer running HQPlayer Desktop or Embedded to the device on which the NAA is installed. You configure output to that device in HQPlayer, not Roon.
The Roon Signal Path should show what is happening. Post a screenshot of it if you’d like the Community to assist further.
I probably asked that question in kind of a goofy way. I just meant to assert that NAA app replaces Bridge, and I was assuming I look for that as the Roon endpoint instead of Bridge.
Well, here’s the path. I mean, it’s working, right?
That Signal Path looks right.
There is no “Roon endpoint” when you select an HQPlayer Zone. Output is handled by HQPlayer.
If you’d like to post your HQPlayer Settings screen then we can confirm that you have NAA selected as Backend and the appropriate NAA device as Device.
I feel like that’s the same signal path I saw when I used Roon Bridge, but not sure.
For the Backend/Device settings, here they are.
The computer name is “Roon Bridge - Main,” but not sure why the DNS server is listed in the device name. Device is the Parasound HINT6 Integrated amp’s USB input.
I do have the “Allow Control from Network” button selected, too.
Yep, that’s all as it should be. You’re listening to an NAA on a device which has a network name of RoonBridgeMain.
OK, thanks.
So, back to the initial reason for doing this…
Not to give into peer pressure, but I do appreciate expert opinions. This was a case of someone on another forum who, when I described my use of Roon Bridge, told me “you’re doing it bass-ackward!” 
So…
I’ll do some comparisons at some point, but is there some specific logic/measurement showing why this is better than using Roon Bridge?
Is it that this method reduces the processing needs from the Mac, so it’s just a more efficient way of doing things?
Or is there actually a sound-quality argument for this approach?
Can you tell us a bit more about your system, describing specifications:
What computer are you using as your Roon Core ?
What computer are you using to run HQPlayer ?
What device is running NAA ?
How is your DAC connected to the NAA device ?
What DAC are you using ? What resolution inputs can it take ?
Whole point of using HQPlayer is to use it’s upsampling algorithms. That is where most of the sound-quality argument comes from.
NAA has it’s own logic why, the amount of effect is also system dependent. But in addition, functionally it allows one to keep HQPlayer server in a separate room so things like loud fans is not an issue if it is located somewhere else than listening space. NAA itself is very lean and can run on a very low power hardware.
It doesn’t make much difference on HQPlayer computer side load. But it makes possible to have very light device between network and the DAC (if not built straight into the DAC).
Roon Core:
I have two audio systems. One in my den/office. One in the living room. I know all DACs can handle DSD, but I basically only upsample to 176.4/192 PCM. I don’t bother with DSD, as I don’t think my systems are resolving enough to care.
Both systems use a mac mini as the server. (I decommissioned them from business use, so they were just sitting around with no other purpose.) Previously I used Roon Bridge. Now they run NAA. And both also run HQPlayer. (I think this was the bit that the forum member called “bass-ackwards”. That HQPlayer should run on the core. But I actually DM’d Jussi a while back about this, and he said either way is fine. He mentioned NAA was also an option, which is why I’m in this thread!)
Den system:
- Mac mini (same specs as Core)
- Mini > USB into X-SPDIF 2 > AES/EBU into Topping D70 (Tried its I2S interface from the X-SPDIF 2, but it’s incompatible. I also have a TEAC UD-501, and if I use that, I’ll go either optical or coax from the X-SPDIF 2.)
- Audiolab 8000A integrated amplifier
- Harbeth P3ESR 40th Anniversary speakers
D70 DAC:
- USB in: 44.1 kHz – 768 kHz / 16 Bit – 32 Bit; DSD64–DSD512(Native); DSD64–DSD256 (Dop)
TEAC UD-501 DAC:
- PCM 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 88.2 kHz, 96 kHz, 176.4 kHz, 192 kHz, 352.8 kHz, 384 kHz … 16/24/32-bit … DSD 2.8/5.6MHz
Living Room System:
- Mac mini (same specs as Core)
- Mini > USB into Parasound HINT6 integrated amplifier (internal DAC)
- Magnepan .7 speakers
Parasound DAC:
- ESS Sabre32 Reference DAC (ES9018K2M)
- Asynchronous USB 2.0 supports PCM up to 384kHz/32-bit
- USB input decodes Native DSD64, DSD128, DSD256 and DoP DSD
If the Mac Mini fans don’t get very loud (likely with 192k upsampling they won’t), you can use HQPlayer on these.
Let’s say you would get an i9-10900K server to run DSD256 upsampling in HQPlayer using ASDM7EC modulator for your DACs, then running NAA on those Mac Minis would certainly sense. Instead of building two quiet i9-10900K servers…
For comparison you could also try to boot my NAA image from USB memory stick on the endpoint Mac Mini and run HQPlayer on the Core computer. This would make a drastic change on what runs on the endpoint Mini. But doesn’t touch your current installations on those endpoints.
Thanks, Jussi.
One question I have is if I run HQPlayer on the Roon server, how do I point HQPlayer to two separate devices? Not that they’d be playing at the same time, but isn’t HQP only able to specify a single one of them?
For what it’s worth, I NEVER hear the fans or the drives on the macs. The living room mini is in a separate closet, so it’s a non factor. But I don’t hear the one in the office, either, and that one sits on the same shelving as the other equipment.
Yes, you’d need to switch the selected output device in HQPlayer Preferences.
The one I had tended to get a bit loud under constant ~90% CPU load. Not as loud as my new i9-9900K iMac though which sounds like a hair dryer under HQPlayer loads and under heavier graphics (100% CPU + GPU) loads like a vacuum cleaner… 
