Roon / HQPlayer Integration

[bibo01]

Don't forget that until further developments occur, Roon only runs on Android tablets running ARM chips. I don't know your tablet, but if it is an Intel chip, Roon won't run on it.

Thanks for reminding us.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1" runs on Dual-core 1 GHz Cortex-A9

[kaka]

I've had the combo playing PCM and native DSD OK, but when I stop a queue playing in Roon and play something else there is often no sound (it isn't 100% universal)

 

The little icon next to the track is active, but there is nothing in the queue and no sound. A quick restart of Roon fixes it. Anyone else seeing that?

[firedog]

Not sure exactly what you are describing. But there are various reports of playback stopping at the end of tracks, playlists.

The easy solution is to click on the volume icon in the lower right corner of Roon, and then on the volume control icon (picture of chain link) that appears. This stops the link to HQP that is "stalled". Then just click on play in Roon and play will resume. No need to close and restart Roon.

[Samuel T Cogley]

Hi

 

I'm hoping someone has seen this and can offer some advice.

 

I'm listening to Roon/HQPlayer as I type this on a Mac Pro 6,1/Yosemite. It just works. I've also gotten it to work on another Mac (Mac Mini6,2/Yosemite, iFi iDSD Nano).

 

But on my Windows system (Windows 7, iFi iDSD Micro) Roon makes the "Roon" track appear in HQPlayer, but the audio never starts playing. Is there something else I need to do for Windows? Note that HQPlayer works great on this Windows system by itself (without Roon).

 

Thanks in advance!

[miguelito]

Sorry if this has been asked, having trouble finding the info:

1- Is there a clear guide on how to set up HQP 3.12 (now in prod version) with Roon?

2- I assume that HQP's CUDA support would not work on the 2012 i7 mini, correct?

[Priaptor]

Hi

 

I'm hoping someone has seen this and can offer some advice.

 

I'm listening to Roon/HQPlayer as I type this on a Mac Pro 6,1/Yosemite. It just works. I've also gotten it to work on another Mac (Mac Mini6,2/Yosemite, iFi iDSD Nano).

 

But on my Windows system (Windows 7, iFi iDSD Micro) Roon makes the "Roon" track appear in HQPlayer, but the audio never starts playing. Is there something else I need to do for Windows? Note that HQPlayer works great on this Windows system by itself (without Roon).

 

Thanks in advance!

 

I can tell you I was listening and it was wonderful UNTIL I changed albums or tracks. No doubt this is a work a in progress but like other Roon introductions they quickly attack the problem

[Miska]

Sorry if this has been asked, having trouble finding the info:

1- Is there a clear guide on how to set up HQP 3.12 (now in prod version) with Roon?

 

The procedure is fairly simple.

 

1) Install both software

2) Make sure playback in general (without Roon) works from HQPlayer with intended settings

3) Start both

4) In Roon Settings / Audio, click Add Network Device. Give the new output device a name and if HQPlayer is on same machine use "localhost" as address, otherwise specify host name or IP address of the remote machine where HQPlayer is located.

5) If HQPlayer is on a remote machine, click the right-most toolbar "Allow control from network" button down in HQPlayer

6) In Roon main window select the newly created network device as output

7) When you click play in Roon, it will contact HQPlayer and start playing

 

HQPlayer needs to be running before starting playback in Roon.

 

2- I assume that HQP's CUDA support would not work on the 2012 i7 mini, correct?

 

I believe there are no recent Mac Minis with nVidia GPU, but you can confirm from "About this Mac". It will likely say "Intel HD Graphics". So no CUDA. My little bit older 27" iMac has nVidia GPU, but the newest models are also Intel HD Graphics and Mac Pro is AMD GPU.

 

GPU offload is most practical in desktop PCs where one can plug in any suitable graphics adapter.

 

There are also some powerful gaming and engineering PC laptops with nVidia graphics. Starting price for such is around 800€ here.

[miguelito]

The procedure is fairly simple.

 

1) Install both software

2) Make sure playback in general (without Roon) works from HQPlayer with intended settings

3) Start both

4) In Roon Settings / Audio, click Add Network Device. Give the new output device a name and if HQPlayer is on same machine use "localhost" as address, otherwise specify host name or IP address of the remote machine where HQPlayer is located.

5) If HQPlayer is on a remote machine, click the right-most toolbar "Allow control from network" button down in HQPlayer

6) In Roon main window select the newly created network device as output

7) When you click play in Roon, it will contact HQPlayer and start playing

 

HQPlayer needs to be running before starting playback in Roon.

 

 

 

I believe there are no recent Mac Minis with nVidia GPU, but you can confirm from "About this Mac". It will likely say "Intel HD Graphics". So no CUDA. My little bit older 27" iMac has nVidia GPU, but the newest models are also Intel HD Graphics and Mac Pro is AMD GPU.

 

GPU offload is most practical in desktop PCs where one can plug in any suitable graphics adapter.

 

There are also some powerful gaming and engineering PC laptops with nVidia graphics. Starting price for such is around 800€ here.

 

Thx Miska!

[Samuel T Cogley]

I can tell you I was listening and it was wonderful UNTIL I changed albums or tracks. No doubt this is a work a in progress but like other Roon introductions they quickly attack the problem

 

 

Thanks for the response.

 

I came across something in the Roon forums I haven't tried yet:

 

If you're using a device in HQPlayer, make sure that the device is disabled in Roon's audio settings. Both Roon and HQPlayer expect to have exclusive access to the device, and they might conflict if you have both set to use it at the same time.

[Mercman]

Hi

 

I'm hoping someone has seen this and can offer some advice.

 

I'm listening to Roon/HQPlayer as I type this on a Mac Pro 6,1/Yosemite. It just works. I've also gotten it to work on another Mac (Mac Mini6,2/Yosemite, iFi iDSD Nano).

 

But on my Windows system (Windows 7, iFi iDSD Micro) Roon makes the "Roon" track appear in HQPlayer, but the audio never starts playing. Is there something else I need to do for Windows? Note that HQPlayer works great on this Windows system by itself (without Roon).

 

Thanks in advance!

 

For whatever reason, on my PC, Roon had to be started first,; then HQPlayer. The order was important.

[Samuel T Cogley]

For whatever reason, on my PC, Roon had to be started first,; then HQPlayer. The order was important.

 

Thanks for this. I will try this as well.

[frederick184]

I've had the combo playing PCM and native DSD OK, but when I stop a queue playing in Roon and play something else there is often no sound (it isn't 100% universal)

 

The little icon next to the track is active, but there is nothing in the queue and no sound. A quick restart of Roon fixes it. Anyone else seeing that?

 

I have this problem too, and have to restart either Roon or HQ Player, or both. I tried clicking on the volume control, as advised here, but it doesn't do anything. Says volume is fixed. I have Roon and HQ Player running on my main PC, and I'm controlling it from the Roon app on my iPad Air 2. Everything works fine if I play an album from start to finish, but if I want to play individual tracks, and either decide to change halfway through, or change after the track has ended, I cannot play anything else. It shows as playing in Roon, but isn't handed off to HQ Player.

 

Colin

[Samuel T Cogley]

For whatever reason, on my PC, Roon had to be started first,; then HQPlayer. The order was important.

 

This seems to have solved my issue! Thanks!

[Mercman]

This seems to have solved my issue! Thanks!

 

Good to hear Samuel!

 

Enjoy,

 

Steve

[firedog]

I have this problem too, and have to restart either Roon or HQ Player, or both. I tried clicking on the volume control, as advised here, but it doesn't do anything. Says volume is fixed. I have Roon and HQ Player running on my main PC, and I'm controlling it from the Roon app on my iPad Air 2. Everything works fine if I play an album from start to finish, but if I want to play individual tracks, and either decide to change halfway through, or change after the track has ended, I cannot play anything else. It shows as playing in Roon, but isn't handed off to HQ Player.

 

Colin

 

It isn't clicking on the volume control in Roon, it's clicking on the volume icon and then on the icon of the "chain link" that appears, then clicking on play in Roon again. Clicking on the "link" icon, breaks the connection that's not working and lets it start again when you click play. My Roon display also says volume is fixed, but this procedure works.

 

Sometimes Roon will start playing again if you simply click on the main "play" icon in Roon, even without trying the "link" icon.

[Miska]

One item related to these problems seems to be the configured outputs. It is good idea to make sure that the same audio device is not enabled as output in both Roon and HQPlayer. Otherwise they may conflict with each other...

[sergiocurvelo]

Hello,

 

 

HQ Player + Roon work with Jplay ?

[dtb300]

Hello, HQ Player + Roon work with Jplay ?

Yes

[dtb300]

In my setup:

 

HQP = 2012R2 Essen (Core Mode), AO, PL, JPlay

Roon Core = Win10, AO-Beta, PL

 

HQP Setting SDM/DSD: I can play PCM up-sampled to DSD, and DSD played natively.

HQO Setting PCM: I can play PCM up-sampled to 352.8 or 384k, but DSD does not play.

 

 

If someone is having issues playing either DSD or PCM remember what Jussi (Miska) said: He suggests (which I plan to test this AM) is try HQP by itself without Roon to see if I have issues doing DSD -> PCM.

[Miska]

HQO Setting PCM: I can play PCM up-sampled to 352.8 or 384k, but DSD does not play.

 

 

If someone is having issues playing either DSD or PCM remember what Jussi (Miska) said: He suggests (which I plan to test this AM) is try HQP by itself without Roon to see if I have issues doing DSD -> PCM.

 

This is one of the things that doesn't work yet with Roon on 3.12 and is scheduled to be fixed in 3.13.

 

The cross-application stream used with Roon is a new type of transport that can change between PCM and DSD. HQPlayer cannot fully cope with such changes yet. Other transports are based on file formats and thus were not changing between PCM and DSD.

[planner]

Great to hear that this will be fixed! It's important to me. Many thanks in advance.

[miguelito]

I believe there are no recent Mac Minis with nVidia GPU, but you can confirm from "About this Mac". It will likely say "Intel HD Graphics". So no CUDA. My little bit older 27" iMac has nVidia GPU, but the newest models are also Intel HD Graphics and Mac Pro is AMD GPU.

Right, I think Apple has gone all Intel/AMD on graphics hw.

 

Is it possible to have an OpenCL implementation of this? If so something you would consider?

[Iain]

Given that a lot of us are going to be interested in implementing this combination, does anyone have it working to their satisfaction yet, i.e. without stutters, playing back both PCM and DSD without restarting the program, etc?

 

If so, could you share what computer hardware you are using and what your HQP settings are?

 

Much appreciated!

 

No problems here, after a couple of tweaks:

 

1) DSD > DSD resampling takes a *lot* more resources than PCM > DSD transcoding. Don't do it (File | DSDIFF/DSF settings . . . | DirectSDM "On")

2) Limit the DSF sample rate to the highest your computer can do *without* stuttering (e.g., my DAC will do DSD512, but the highest my computer can do reliably is DSD128)

3) Allow enough time between stops in Roon for the interface to reset; i.e., if you click Stop, then immediately try to play something else, you can count on it loosing the connection or hanging

4) For that matter, use the "CTRL-T" keyboard shortcut to stop, instead of clicking the Stop button

5) If you do get stuck (i.e., Roon acts as if it's playing, but no sound is coming out), click the Volume button in the lower right hand corner, then click the (somewhat) hidden "Reset" button - you should regain control without having to restart either Roon or HQPlayer

6) Finally, be sure you have the IP address configured correctly - the stream comes from the *server*, not your remote . . . so the local "loopback" address will only work if HQPlayer is installed on the same box as your Roon server. If your HQPlayer is on a different computer from your Roon server, you must specify the actual IP address of the HQPlayer computer for the stream to work.

 

Thanks for the integration operational tips as these will come in quite handy.

 

My basic question though is why would someone want to integrate Roon/HQPlayer. given that the latter player is such a resource hog? Depending on length of run-time, HQPlayer memory requirements can easily exceed 1 GB and use all 4 CPU cores in my system. Fortunately, I have 8 GB of memory installed. That said, it might be a good idea to start with 8 Gb memory as a minimum requirement if running both players on same machine and install more memory, if required.

 

BTW, I'm not complaining about HQP resource use here. It's simply a factual and objective observation.

 

Also WRT clarification of item 6, is 127.0.0.1 an acceptable IP address or would system need the actual IP address to function properly?

[Evo1668]

Thanks for the integration operational tips as these will come in quite handy.

 

My basic question though is why would someone want to integrate Roon/HQPlayer. given that the latter player is such a resource hog? Depending on length of run-time, HQPlayer memory requirements can easily exceed 1 GB and use all 4 CPU cores in my system. Fortunately, I have 8 GB of memory installed. That said, it might be a good idea to start with 8 Gb memory as a minimum requirement if running both players on same machine and install more memory, if required.

 

BTW, I'm not complaining about HQP resource use here. It's simply a factual and objective observation.

 

Also WRT clarification of item 6, is 127.0.0.1 an acceptable IP address or would system need the actual IP address to function properly?

 

That 127.0.0.1 address is a standard local loop back address, and would work fine, as long as Roon and HQ Player are running from the same machine.

[ted_b]

My basic question though is why would someone want to integrate Roon/HQPlayer. given that the latter player is such a resource hog?

 

HQPlayer is famously very high end sonically; i.e the best sounding playback engine many of us have found, especially for DSD-capable DACs. It has a notoriously cryptic front end, which is where Roon comes in.

 

If you are into GUI more than best sound, go Roon. If you are willing to drag and drop, but need best sound, go with HQplayer. The Roon/HQplayer integration is attempting to marry the best of both worlds. It is still being worked out, of course.