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  1. #1
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    Roon And HQ Player 4

    I noticed there hasn't been any recent discussion on this forum regarding Roon and HQ Player 4. I'm curious if there have been any new developments in this software? I'd like to try HQ Player 4 with my system but I'm a newb to this kind of software (and digital stuff in general). I can navigate to it but I'm afraid if it doesn't work out I won't know how to get back to the default. I'm using Roon Nucleus and my system already sounds really good. I don't want to mess things up.

    The consensus seems to be that HQ Player 4 sounds better as a playback engine vs Roon's player. Has Roon made any mods to it's player software within the last few months that would boost its SQ (vs HQP4)? Not that Roon's software sounds inferior. I'm just wondering if there's anything new, or possibly on the horizon, that might mitigate the need for a "third party" player? If I come across as not very tech-y it's because I'm not.
    Amplifier: Pass Labs INT 250 integrated.

    DAC/Streamer: MSB Discrete Dual Power Supply.

    Server: Roon Nucleus with lifetime subscription.

    Speakers: Harbeth Super HL 5+ 40th Anniversary
    Model.

    Headphones/Amp: Focal Stellia phones, NAIM Uniti Atom Headphone Edition headphone amp/music player/server/streamer.

    Cables: AudioQuest Rocket 88 speaker cables,
    Mackenzie interconnects.

    Speaker Stands: HiFi Man.

  2. #2
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    Re: Roon And HQ Player 4

    Roon build 1.8x sounds better on my system than previous versions of Roon.
    In my case HQ Player didn’t improve the sound quality. Others swear by it.
    It’s not hard to try out and revert to what you have if you don’t hear an improvement.
    Tom

    Audio:
    Amati Futura Mains
    Amati Homage VOX Center,
    Proac Response 1sc Rears,
    Three MC2301's for L,C,R
    MC 602 for the rears
    C 1100, MX 151, MCD 1100, MR 77
    Nottingham Dais with Sumiko Palo Santos Presentation
    SurfacePro 3, JRiver, WW Starlight Platinum USB, Schiit Yggdrasil, Benchmark DAC3 HGC

    Video:
    MX 151, OppO BDP-95, JVC RS-500 DILA projector, 106" diagonal Stewart Luxus Screenwall Deluxe with Studiotek 130 G3 material.

    Lake House:
    Ohm F, MC 275V, C2300, MR 80, Rega P3

    OnDeck:
    McIntosh MAC 4300v

  3. #3

    Re: Roon And HQ Player 4

    Quote Originally Posted by bluegrassphile View Post
    I noticed there hasn't been any recent discussion on this forum regarding Roon and HQ Player 4. I'm curious if there have been any new developments in this software? I'd like to try HQ Player 4 with my system but I'm a newb to this kind of software (and digital stuff in general). I can navigate to it but I'm afraid if it doesn't work out I won't know how to get back to the default. I'm using Roon Nucleus and my system already sounds really good. I don't want to mess things up.

    The consensus seems to be that HQ Player 4 sounds better as a playback engine vs Roon's player. Has Roon made any mods to it's player software within the last few months that would boost its SQ (vs HQP4)? Not that Roon's software sounds inferior. I'm just wondering if there's anything new, or possibly on the horizon, that might mitigate the need for a "third party" player? If I come across as not very tech-y it's because I'm not.
    The advantage of using HQP player is that it offers a multitude of filters that are not available anywhere else. And while it can be a 'set it and forget it' kind of software, it requires getting involved with techie stuff to get it to that point. One question that comes to my mind is whether the Roon Nucleus computer is powerful enough to run the more complex filters available in HQP. Another question is: can your DAC accept high-resolution and bypass internal processing?

    To get a better idea of what is involved, I suggest that you visit the Roon community forums. Users of Roon/HQP contribute to threads where the creator of HQP participates. See here: HQ Player - Roon Labs Community


    If you want to improve the sound without having to buy/learn new software (or hardware), my suggestion is to use DSP (room-correction) filters with Roon. You can create the DSP filters yourself or you can have someone do it for you - check out Home Audio Fidelity English - Home Audio Fidelity . Once you have the installed the DSP filters, you can enable or disable them with the click of a button to hear the difference.

    IME, the difference in sound when using DSP room correction filters will be VERY noticeable and the best bang for your buck.

  4. #4
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    Re: Roon And HQ Player 4

    Quote Originally Posted by nicoff View Post
    One question that comes to my mind is whether the Roon Nucleus computer is powerful enough to run the more complex filters available in HQP.
    Just a point of clarification. taken directly from a Moderator's post on the Roonlabs forum:

    "HQ Player cannot currently be installed on a Roon Nucleus. The Nucleus runs Roon OS as an operating system and Roon OS only runs Roon Server. If you want to use HQ Player with a Nucleus it must be installed on a separate computer. You can only use ‘localhost’ when Roon Core and HQ Player are on the same computer, and that is not currently possible with a Nucleus."

  5. #5
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    Feb 2019
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    Southeast Iowa
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    Re: Roon And HQ Player 4

    Thank you for your responses. I do appreciate them. I'm starting to learn a few things. I'll check out Roon Community for sure. I'm also going to experiment a little with DSP. A lot of music is so well recorded I won't mess with it, but there are some recordings that "need help."
    Amplifier: Pass Labs INT 250 integrated.

    DAC/Streamer: MSB Discrete Dual Power Supply.

    Server: Roon Nucleus with lifetime subscription.

    Speakers: Harbeth Super HL 5+ 40th Anniversary
    Model.

    Headphones/Amp: Focal Stellia phones, NAIM Uniti Atom Headphone Edition headphone amp/music player/server/streamer.

    Cables: AudioQuest Rocket 88 speaker cables,
    Mackenzie interconnects.

    Speaker Stands: HiFi Man.

  6. #6
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    The Netherlands
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    Re: Roon And HQ Player 4

    Quote Originally Posted by audio.bill View Post
    Just a point of clarification. taken directly from a Moderator's post on the Roonlabs forum:

    "HQ Player cannot currently be installed on a Roon Nucleus. The Nucleus runs Roon OS as an operating system and Roon OS only runs Roon Server. If you want to use HQ Player with a Nucleus it must be installed on a separate computer. You can only use ‘localhost’ when Roon Core and HQ Player are on the same computer, and that is not currently possible with a Nucleus."
    Can the Roon OS on a nucleus be overwritten by another OS?

  7. #7
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    Re: Roon And HQ Player 4

    Quote Originally Posted by Alkyogre View Post
    Can the Roon OS on a nucleus be overwritten by another OS?
    Technically it might be possible, the Nucleus is a customized version of a fanless Intel NUC which is optimized to run their dedicated OS and Roon Core. It wouldn't have the necessary processing power to run HQ Player anyway.

  8. #8

    Re: Roon And HQ Player 4

    Quote Originally Posted by Alkyogre View Post
    Can the Roon OS on a nucleus be overwritten by another OS?
    After reading more about it, Nucleus is a purpose-built computer made to run Roon. It is not a very powerful computer as Roon does not need that.
    Trying to make a Nucleus do what it was not supposed to do would be iffy in my book specially considering that the OP already mentioned that he is not a techie guy.

  9. #9

    Re: Roon And HQ Player 4

    Quote Originally Posted by bluegrassphile View Post
    Thank you for your responses. I do appreciate them. I'm starting to learn a few things. I'll check out Roon Community for sure. I'm also going to experiment a little with DSP. A lot of music is so well recorded I won't mess with it, but there are some recordings that "need help."
    As noted above, your Nucleus cannot run HQ Player. Therefore HQP is not an option for you with your current hardware.

    However, using Roon with DSP room-correction filters is still an option. Room-correction filters can make ALL of your music sound better (the ones that are well-recorded and the ones that are not).

    Some folks spend thousands of dollars on cables, power cords, conditioners, digital voodoo, etc., and not get the benefits that properly-implemented DSP can deliver. I hope that it works out for you!

  10. #10
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    Re: Roon And HQ Player 4

    Thank you so much, nicoff. I appreciate your response.
    Amplifier: Pass Labs INT 250 integrated.

    DAC/Streamer: MSB Discrete Dual Power Supply.

    Server: Roon Nucleus with lifetime subscription.

    Speakers: Harbeth Super HL 5+ 40th Anniversary
    Model.

    Headphones/Amp: Focal Stellia phones, NAIM Uniti Atom Headphone Edition headphone amp/music player/server/streamer.

    Cables: AudioQuest Rocket 88 speaker cables,
    Mackenzie interconnects.

    Speaker Stands: HiFi Man.

  11. #11
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    Re: Roon And HQ Player 4

    A saying in Holland: “measuring is knowing”

    I did make tests with the same motherboard as the nucleus one test with an 8i5 nuc, one with the 8i7 nuc, which is the same board as the nucleus. As ram memory 2x 16GB was used, like the Nucleus. As OS I used Linux with PSensor on the background measuring the CPU usage and Core Junction Temperature. I converted a 16 bit 44 kHz file to DSD 512

    The results: the processor usage of the i5 goes up to 90%, which is still ok, the I7 is about 30%.

    The critical issue is The Core Junction Temperature. It slightly goes up to 80-85 degrees centigrade where it is on its max. Intel suggests that the processor does not become higher then 90-95 degrees centigrade. The thing is: is the passive cooling which uses the nucleus, better or worse then my test setup?

    That about the Nucleus, the computer is powerful enough to run HQPlayer in a high conversion

  12. #12
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    Re: Roon And HQ Player 4

    Quote Originally Posted by Alkyogre View Post
    A saying in Holland: “measuring is knowing”

    I did make tests with the same motherboard as the nucleus one test with an 8i5 nuc, one with the 8i7 nuc, which is the same board as the nucleus. As ram memory 2x 16GB was used, like the Nucleus. As OS I used Linux with PSensor on the background measuring the CPU usage and Core Junction Temperature. I converted a 16 bit 44 kHz file to DSD 512

    The results: the processor usage of the i5 goes up to 90%, which is still ok, the I7 is about 30%.

    The critical issue is The Core Junction Temperature. It slightly goes up to 80-85 degrees centigrade where it is on its max. Intel suggests that the processor does not become higher then 90-95 degrees centigrade. The thing is: is the passive cooling which uses the nucleus, better or worse then my test setup?

    That about the Nucleus, the computer is powerful enough to run HQPlayer in a high conversion
    Thanks for sharing your valuable test results!
    Some additional details from Roon about the Nucleus hardware: "The base model Nucleus has an i3 CPU with 4GB of RAM. The Nucleus+ has an i7 CPU with 8GB of RAM."

  13. #13
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    Re: Roon And HQ Player 4

    An i3 isn’t indeed powerful enough to run hqplayer. Strange that the nucleus+ is just 8 GB, in my memory they used 2x16 for that. I also did run hqplayer on 8 GB of ram and had some issues with stability.

    By the way: working on a new mini pc with a streacom case, a gen 10 i5 processor fanless with liquid cooling to reduce heat. Stuff is in house, looking forward to build it.

  14. #14
    Junior Member
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    Apr 2022
    Location
    Northern California
    Posts
    12

    Re: Roon And HQ Player 4

    Quote Originally Posted by bluegrassphile View Post
    I noticed there hasn't been any recent discussion on this forum regarding Roon and HQ Player 4. I'm curious if there have been any new developments in this software? I'd like to try HQ Player 4 with my system but I'm a newb to this kind of software (and digital stuff in general). I can navigate to it but I'm afraid if it doesn't work out I won't know how to get back to the default. I'm using Roon Nucleus and my system already sounds really good. I don't want to mess things up.

    The consensus seems to be that HQ Player 4 sounds better as a playback engine vs Roon's player. Has Roon made any mods to it's player software within the last few months that would boost its SQ (vs HQP4)? Not that Roon's software sounds inferior. I'm just wondering if there's anything new, or possibly on the horizon, that might mitigate the need for a "third party" player? If I come across as not very tech-y it's because I'm not.
    I'm using my desktop computer as my Roon Core and streaming to HQ Player 4. I'm upsampling to DSD 512X on my Audio Holo May KTE DAC with HQ 4 and also using convolution filters designed for my headphones. All is working great now but there is a definite learning curve in getting this to work. I'm streaming both Tidal and Qobuz and the sound improvements using HQ player are extremely obvious.

  15. #15
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    Re: Roon And HQ Player 4

    Trying to make HQPlayer work again, but this year it was replaced by version 5, and version 4 is made that way it does not work anymore.

    A new license would cost over then 300 euro, and with the old license I will get a coupon which will give me 15% reduction. Damned ☹️

  16. #16

    Re: Roon And HQ Player 4

    Quote Originally Posted by Alkyogre View Post
    Trying to make HQPlayer work again, but this year it was replaced by version 5, and version 4 is made that way it does not work anymore.

    A new license would cost over then 300 euro, and with the old license I will get a coupon which will give me 15% reduction. Damned ☹️
    I have HQP4 and it works just fine. You might want to check your settings in HQP4.
    I was not aware of the update but after you brought it up I looked up the changes and I am not sure if the upgrade is worth it to me. Thanks!

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