I am in the process of getting a new PC to act as a host computer to run just Roon Server and HQP. Do not plan to use the PC for anything else at this time. CPU will be an i9 12900HK with 32 GB DDR4 RAM. Windows 11 is pre-installed. I plan to try to upsample most everything to DSD512. DSP will be handled by HQP. Network Player natively handles DSD512. Everything will be ethernet connected. A couple of questions:
What OS should I run given the above to get the best possible performance of both?
What version of Roon should I install (Desktop, etc.)? I know the answer to #1 influences #2.
Thank you Miguel. I don’t plan to rely on CUDA offloading with DSP. I’m hoping the main CPU will handle it so I’m not spending a bunch on a GPU since I won’t have a heavy graphics load.
My personal choice has been (and still is) Audiolinux.
I believe that Linux is by far the best platform for audio servers.
My reasons for Audiolinux:
Due to scripted menu, useable for novice users as myself (I don’t know anything about Linux)
Excellent support from Piero (and yes, one has to pay up front for it, but worthwhile every € in my book)
Excellent quality.
This is my setup: Description My Setup
Details on your Core machine (OS, Hardware specs, Roon build)
Audiolinux Server, running on Audiolinux V3, Intel i9 13900 processor, 32GB RAM, 1 HD Samsung SSD 512GB for OS+apps Roon/HQPlayerEmbedded + 2 HD Samsung 4TB SSD for local music
Roon version 2.0 build 1490-1
HQPlayer: HQPlayer Embedded 5.10.0-1
Details on your Remote(s) (OS, Hardware specs, Roon build)
iPad Air Pro – 128GB - running iPadOS 17.4 - Roon version 2.0.1490
Samsung S23 – running Android version 14 – Roon version 2.0.1490 ‑ Wifi 6
Laptop running Windows 11 Pro - 11th Gen Intel(R) Core™ i7-1165G7 @ 2.80GHz 2.80 GHz Ram 16GB, Roon version 2.0.1490
Networking details (especially what hardware you’re using, how everything is connected, and anything notable about how it’s all configured)
Ethernet & Wifi Mesh network built on 4 * Asus Zenwifi XT8
I suggest considering separating the two functions. Roon really doesn’t need much resource in comparison but will be hindered by HQP if on one machine. HQP will take everything you can throw at it. They require very different horses, if you will.
You can always add a GPU later. Only some functions offload the work to the GPU.
For my HQPe machine I used i5-10600K. It upsamples everything is wish to DSD512 using most modulators and filters available. Not all no. That last 10% will cost you dearly in hardware and the power to run it.
Roon runs very happily on a Linux machine built from spare parts circa 2012!
Since 2017, I’ve run Roon on Windows, Mac and several variants of Linux. Linux has the best performance and stability for my setup. ROCK is good too.
Signalyst, Jussi, has two families of HQPlayer. Desktop and Embedded. Desktop is probably the best choice for most people as it has the most flexibility but Embedded has one huge advantage. Jussi builds a custom Linux OS that is simply burned to a USB flash drive and booted. Done. No muss no fuss. All of the time and tweaking can be spent dialing in HQPlayer itself vs. fussing with the OS install, config and finally HQP install. And then an OS update that could send things going sideways or worse.
Also, when it comes time to update HQPlayer, one simply burns the new image to a new USB stick and boots. Don’t like it or something doesn’t work right, boot from the previous one and keep on listening. It turns it into much more of an appliance as it was intended to be…mostly for OEMs to include HQP for those that don’t want to tweak.
They are separate licenses though. I wish one could flip back and forth.
Where does one access the download for the custom Linux OS? I looked on Signalyst’s web page under Products and Downloads but didn’t see anything specific to Linux OS. Perhaps I overlooked it.
You can of course keep using the Windows 11 you have installed already. And there on HQPlayer Desktop set E-cores = filter.
Other than that, if you are somewhat familiar with Linux command line, I would probably recommend minimal Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS. Then install Roon Server and HQPlayer Embedded there. This way it is a headless setup managed over SSH with minimal overhead from the OS. No graphical desktop consuming resources. You’ll then have also two different builds of HQPlayer to choose from.
Yes, if separating Roon and HQPlayer to different machines is an option, then in this case without GPU it is optimal to just boot up HQPlayer OS from a USB memory stick. No prior knowledge about Linux is needed and no installation needed either, so the Windows 11 can be left installed untouched. One can use it periodically to reflash the USB memory stick with a new HQPlayer OS release.
And in such case it would be natural to use Roon ROCK (if possible) for the Roon side.
HQPlayer OS and Roon ROCK are similar counterparts, custom made for single purpose of running the corresponding software.