Using any audio source with HQPlayer - Spotify, Amazon, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Deezer, Soundcloud [2023]

[rhqp]

@jussi_laako will the iFi Zen Stream support auto rate switching for Tidal if I connect it to the machine running HQP on windows?

[jussi_laako (Jussi Laako (Signalyst))]

How would you use it with Tidal? I have only ever used mine in NAA Exclusive mode (hardware switch turned to the NAA position).

How would it be connected to the Windows machine?

[rhqp]

@jussi_laako

How would you use it with Tidal?

I’ll stream to the zen using Tidal connect from an iOS device, and connect the zen to the windows machine running HQP over usb. Won’t HQP pick up the usb connected Zen as an input device?
Or am I missing something?

[Marcin_Maruszczak]

@jussi_laako

Yes, there is sort of such feature. But it is disabled at the moment because it is not implemented on HQPlayer Embedded. It is on my TODO-list, but it becomes rather more complicated for Embedded to implement. So not done yet.

Great to know this is going to happen some day. Does it mean that it already works with Desktop version? (that’s what I’m using). This is actually the only thing I’m now missing to call my setup complete

[Marcin_Maruszczak]

@rhqp

I’ll stream to the zen using Tidal connect from an iOS device, and connect the zen to the windows machine running HQP over usb. Won’t HQP pick up the usb connected Zen as an input device?
Or am I missing something?

I don’t think this will work. But if you put NAA between Zen Stream and Windows machine it will work perfectly fine (that’s how I have it setup).

[jussi_laako (Jussi Laako (Signalyst))]

@rhqp

I’ll stream to the zen using Tidal connect from an iOS device, and connect the zen to the windows machine running HQP over usb. Won’t HQP pick up the usb connected Zen as an input device?
Or am I missing something?

Most likely your Windows machine doesn’t have any device type USB ports, only host ports. In addition, Windows doesn’t know how to become a USB device. So it won’t work that way.

You cannot connect two USB type-A ports together, that will possibly just result in broken hardware.

[jussi_laako (Jussi Laako (Signalyst))]

@Marcin_Maruszczak

Does it mean that it already works with Desktop version?

No, I removed in transition from HQPlayer v3 to v4. Because at that point the entire control API was reimplemented in a different way.

[rhqp]

@jussi_laako

Most likely your Windows machine doesn’t have any device type USB ports, only host ports. In addition, Windows doesn’t know how to become a USB device. So it won’t work that way.

Of course! My bad. I was under the impression that the Zen stream has a usb device type port. Apologies and appreciate your patience

I could just use the zen stream as NAA input directly in HQP, as @Marcin_Maruszczak mentioned above I guess? No need of any DDC stage.

[jussi_laako (Jussi Laako (Signalyst))]

@rhqp

I was under the impression that the Zen stream has a usb device type port.

It has two host type ports for connecting a DAC and a service port for updating the firmware. The service port could possibly function as a device port, but I don’t know.

@rhqp

I could just use the zen stream as NAA input directly in HQP

The NAA version in Zen Stream doesn’t have input support, so it wouldn’t work from that perspective either.

@rhqp

No need of any DDC stage.

RPi4 and UP Gateway are currently supported as USB input NAA’s.

I’m not aware of any commercial ready-made purpose-built NAA device that would support inputs.

[Chipvn]

Further testing using Tidal app on Windows 10, it seem like Tidal exclusive mode does not work properly with Windows Generic USB audio class 2 driver (was automatically installed in Widows with the NAA Pi4 in USB OTG device mode).
Therefore, I could not bypass Windows Mixer to automatically switch between 44.1kHz or 48kHz to send to the input NAA Pi4 when switching between 44.1kHz and 48kHz based tracks.
Spotify is fine cause it rate is only 44.1kHz.

[rhqp]

@jussi_laako

I’m not aware of any commercial ready-made purpose-built NAA device that would support inputs.

What would you recommend then for sending Tidal audio to HQP with automatic rate switching? For both located on the same or different machines.

[rhqp]

@jussi_laako

The NAA version in Zen Stream doesn’t have input support, so it wouldn’t work from that perspective either.

Check. It’s a no go for me then. Thanks for highlighting this, was just about to buy a used one from eBay.

[dabassgoesboomboom]

I’ll test and give it a try this week

[jussi_laako (Jussi Laako (Signalyst))]

@Chipvn

it seem like Tidal exclusive mode does not work properly with Windows Generic USB audio class 2 driver

I believe I did quite a bit of testing on my Windows 10 machine with the Tidal application. Did you make sure the HQPlayer device is not the Windows default audio output device? And then selected it as output WASAPI Exclusive output in Tidal application?

[jussi_laako (Jussi Laako (Signalyst))]

@rhqp

What would you recommend then for sending Tidal audio to HQP with automatic rate switching? For both located on the same or different machines.

Do you have iPad or similar? I did testing mostly on Apple Music. But I can also check Tidal again from this perspective.

[rhqp]

@jussi_laako

Do you have iPad or similar? I did testing mostly on Apple Music. But I can also check Tidal again from this perspective.

iPhone/iPad.
Idea is to stream to a Tidal connect endpoint and grab the audio from there to upsample with HQP, with auto rate switching.

[Chipvn]

Yes, I did without success. Will try to reinstall device and Tidal app to see if it can be resolved.

[dabassgoesboomboom]

@rhqp

iPhone/iPad.
Idea is to stream to a Tidal connect endpoint and grab the audio from there to upsample with HQP, with auto rate switching.

if you don’t want any cable connected your iPhone/iPad , this UAC2 RPi4/Up Gateway input feature is not for you, for Tidal Connect

I’d recommend a WiiM Mini + used market RME ADI-2 FS DAC (don’t buy new just for this feature)

[jussi_laako (Jussi Laako (Signalyst))]

@rhqp

iPhone/iPad.
Idea is to stream to a Tidal connect endpoint and grab the audio from there to upsample with HQP, with auto rate switching.

At the moment I’m playing from Tidal app on my iPad to UP Gateway as input NAA. HQPlayer running on this MacBook Pro, output through another NAA to Holo Spring 2 at DSD512.

And automatic rate switching is working just fine for me.

I couldn’t use RPi4 as input NAA in this case, because the Apple Lightning-USB3 dongle adapter is not supplying enough power to RPi4 and it gets into reboot loop because of that. And I don’t (yet) have a suitable Type-C USB hub that would provide “charging” current to RPi4. UP Gateway doesn’t have such challenges because it is powered separately.

That little thing on the floor is UP-Board aka UP Gateway acting as input NAA.

[dabassgoesboomboom]

@jussi_laako

I couldn’t use RPi4 as input NAA in this case, because the Apple Lightning-USB3 dongle adapter is not supplying enough power to RPi4 and it gets into reboot loop because of that. And I don’t (yet) have a suitable Type-C USB hub that would provide “charging” current to RPi4.

RPi4 works fine for me with my lightning devices

I’m Just using a normal USB hub with USB3 input and type A outputs

Type A to C cable from hub powers RPi4 + data