Roon and HQ Player

Randy Myers

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It looks as if Roon is going to be requiring updating to HQ Player 4. So far I have held off and have continued using version 3 because I could not find any viable reason to move to version 4. Also I purchased my license just before version 4 was announced and released almost immediately afterwards. I asked a few times if there was a performance improvement with version 4 over 3. The answer was always no, not really. Maybe this has changed???

"Roon
Upcoming changes to HQPlayer support
On Monday, February 28, Roon will be updated to take advantage of the advanced features offered in HQPlayer 4.x. Updating our implementation to support the HQPlayer 4 API will help to resolve a number of issues that our customers have been reporting.

What should you do?

In conjunction with Signalyst we have worked to improve the overall user experience in Roon's HQ Player integration. As such, version 4.16.2 of HQ Player will be required once the release has been deployed on Monday.

If you're not yet updated to HQPlayer 4.16.2, you can download it from the Signalyst website. If you run into any trouble upgrading, contact Signalyst at [email protected].

Many thanks,

The Roon Team"
 
yeah, I got the same mail in the morning. Looks like Roon is getting there act slowly together with the sound quality. Their latest update has been very good with the SQ.
 
I purchased HQPlayer version 4. Roon and HQPlayer have me hooked. It took a bit to get it up and running, configurations have changed a bit :).

Anyway, I'm ready for the Roon update.
 
If you are up-sampling, you will find hqp4 thrilling...lots of good filters/dither to choose from.
 
I do up-sample everything to DSD512x48. I did notice many more filters but have not tried any yet. Sometimes the sheer number of choices gets a bit overwhelming.
 
I....
"Roon
Upcoming changes to HQPlayer support
On Monday, February 28, Roon will be updated to take advantage of the advanced features offered in HQPlayer 4.x. Updating our implementation to support the HQPlayer 4 API will help to resolve a number of issues that our customers have been reporting.

....

Randy, one of the issues experienced by users of HQP4 was that when switching from one type of file to another sometimes a few seconds of the the end of track was cut. The developer of HQP (Jussi) and the tech folks at Roon had been working on a fix for that. My guess is that this will likely be one of the items that are being corrected.

BTW, one advantage of HQ4 is that it allows you to use multiple sources (inputs) which is not possible with HQP3.
 
I was just reading in Roon forums. It sounds like the decision was made to require HQPlayer 4.16.1+ because these kinds of issues are being addressed, but they had to require a certain level of software because there were too many coding differences is older versions.
 
This may a bit off-topic but I always thought the Roon HQ Player relationship is kind of weird. I pay for a Roon subscription but to make it sound good I have to buy a plug-in from this jamoke in Europe for another $260, and, apparently, it doesn’t play well with the Linux Roon Core I’ve got running in a NUC10. Really? I’m not saying it doesn’t sound better, far from it, people seem to love HQPlayer, but it adds a layer of complexity to what is an already complex SW package.

Roon has over 30 engineers and testers, why can’t they come up with a best-in-class player?
 
Roon has over 30 engineers and testers, why can’t they come up with a best-in-class player?

No, they can’t. But HQPlayer isn’t a best-in-class player either. It’s a real-time DSP engine that is best-in-class in terms of the number of filters it offers. The designer, Jussi, has said that he doesn’t want people to use his player as a pass through. To him it’s all about the processing.

I am thankful that Roon had kept HQPlayer integration in the product. There are some DSP options in Roon so clearly they were able to come up with something for those who don’t want to pay extra for HQPlayer.

I pay for a Roon subscription but to make it sound good I have to buy a plug-in from this jamoke in Europe for another $260

It’s actually more about bringing out the best from a DAC. The filters in HQPlayer can sound better than the filters included in many DACs.
 
I pretty much find filters and settings that I like and leave it there. I do not experiment and fiddle with settings much.

Roon, by itself is pretty darn good. Their up-sampling works well, and of course their meta data, organization, etc., etc. are second to none. HQPlayer is specialized software that many people and certainly all of their large user base feel is the best playback engine available. Therefore, I use Roon as my controller, meta data provider, etc., and then have Roon hand off the signal to HQPlayer as the playback engine. Do you have to do this to get a wonderful experience from Roon? No, of course not. But I feel HQPlayer does improve the SQ and to me it is worth it.

I think it is absolutely amazing that Roon realized, sometime ago, that HQPlayer is fantastic and not a threat to them at all. It is in fact a wonderful enhancement to their software. They therefore built the connection internally within Roon and appear to have worked hand in hand the HQPlayer to solve issues and improve the quality when both packages are used in unison.
 
Do you have to do this to get a wonderful experience from Roon? No, of course not. But I feel HQPlayer does improve the SQ and to me it is worth it.

I think it is absolutely amazing that Roon realized, sometime ago, that HQPlayer is fantastic and not a threat to them at all. It is in fact a wonderful enhancement to their software. They therefore built the connection internally within Roon and appear to have worked hand in hand the HQPlayer to solve issues and improve the quality when both packages are used in unison.

I would say that there was a point in Roon’s history where offloading playback to either HQPlayer or Squeeze was a must. I regularly use Squeeze and it’s purity and transparency can make it more difficult to flip over to Roon as it makes Roon’s warts more obvious. I think if one never strays from Roon they can be oblivious to that. For the first six months of owning my K30, I avoid anything other than Roon as the K30 lifted the sound quality of Roon so much over what I heard with my Innuos Zenith that I didn’t want to spoil it for myself.

I love Roon for music discovery so I do occasionally make use of it when I’m in that mode. I just really wish I could make it my only player.
 
I love Roon for music discovery so I do occasionally make use of it when I’m in that mode. I just really wish I could make it my only player.

I made Roon and HQPlayer my only playback setup years ago and have not looked back. It works so well for me that I am not at all curious whatsoever about what else might be out there.
 
I made Roon and HQPlayer my only playback setup years ago and have not looked back. It works so well for me that I am not at all curious whatsoever about what else might be out there.

I'm really glad you are happy with it. I love what Roon has to offer to musical discovery. Nothing comes close.
 
My experience with hqplayer isn't great. Suddenly hqplayer stopped playing and gave no idea why. Went back to roon and in my opinion, it sounded better.

For me it is complex material, but it makes me really pissed when everything works fine and while listening everything is messed up without a clear reason. And I record my core temperature and cpu usage and they are both fine.

I will give this with windows instead of linux a second chance once, but I hate it when this piece of software is that complicated, the manuals are unreadable, stability is poor and support is given by one person.
 
HQPlayer certainly takes some initial setup, but after that seems to always work perfect for me. I think you should try Windows again. I have never used Linux with Roon and HQPlayer, but I heard it is a lot finickier. To be expected with open-source software. Designed by and for the software DYIer.
 
I will give this with windows instead of linux a second chance once, but I hate it when this piece of software is that complicated, the manuals are unreadable, stability is poor and support is given by one person.

There’s an HQPlayer thread on Audiophile Style. I’ve received some assistance there.
 
I have never used Linux with Roon and HQPlayer, but I heard it is a lot finickier. To be expected with open-source software. Designed by and for the software DYIer.

HQPlayer Embedded runs on my server that runs Linux and it runs flawlessly. It’s not open-source but you are right that it is designed for those more inclined to go with DIY solutions.
 
HQPlayer Embedded runs on my server that runs Linux and it runs flawlessly. It’s not open-source but you are right that it is designed for those more inclined to go with DIY solutions.

Diy is not the problem. In linux installation of roon and hqplayer is easy. The problem is that there are no solutions when something stops working. You cannot reinstall hqplayer and roon. It does not solve the problem. And what happends with the license, when reinstalling the whole OS? Is it gone?

And why doesn't HQPlayer work anymore? It feels like fixing a flat bike tyre, while something sharp is still inside.
 
Diy is not the problem. In linux installation of roon and hqplayer is easy. The problem is that there are no solutions when something stops working. You cannot reinstall hqplayer and roon. It does not solve the problem. And what happends with the license, when reinstalling the whole OS? Is it gone?

And why doesn't HQPlayer work anymore? It feels like fixing a flat bike tyre, while something sharp is still inside.

I never said that DIY was the problem.

If the hardware fingerprint changes, Jussi will issue a new license at no charge.

I don't understand "stops working". HQPlayer has a log that provides insight into what's going on. Jussi and others can help troubleshoot based on the log entries. Reinstalling should be a last resort. Better to try to understand the root cause.
 
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