630 replies to this topic

[motberg]

Hi All,

 

I just setup my first dual-PC system using JPlay Classic 7.0A.

I have a FEMTO license but Classic seemed the better fit for a HQPlayer/JPlay dual PC idea.

 

I need to upsample everything to PCM 384 K due to some current incompatibility between my DDC and DAC, and had this system running fine on the (now) control PC as a single PC using an older version of HQPlayer with JPlay Classic 7.0A and Server 2012/AO/core. (Was sounding fantastic, but hibernate was not possible)

 

But now with the dual PC, HQPlayer just freezes. I uninstalled and reinstalled HQPlayer and same result (I checked to make sure output is set to JPlay) .

JPlay Mini plays fine, but I definitely need some good upsampling filters to force to PCM 384 and HQPlayer has a filter/dither setting (sync/NS4) that worked fantastic.

 

Currently (for setup test) the Control PC is 2012 Server GUI (Asus B150M-PLUS / i7) and Audio PC is 2019 Server GUI (Supermicro X10SBA-L). Fanless, linear power supplies, JCAT USB card, etc.

 

I like the way that HQPlayer can be worked with TotalCommander via drag and drop from a preset split screen, so the preference would be to get HQPlayer working with this new dual PC if at all possible. (I do not need to see cover art.. I actually unplug the monitor at playback anyways..)

 

I would like to keep the (upsampling) Control PC with Server 2012 if possible....

 

But if this would prove to be unstable, then I guess I may need change the control PC to WIN10...

 

Any suggestions or relevant experience, especially with HQPlayer in dual-PC setup  would be greatly appreciated.. (I was just thinking, maybe AO is required for HQPlayer to work in Server GUI mode, but I never remember anything mentioned similar to that idea....)

 

TIA!

[thuanb]

Great sound out of a Windows PC!

 

"JPLAY improved every sound attribute one cares to measure; clarity, detail, soundstage, PRaT, dynamics; everything was better. The combined impact of such an across the board incremental improvement is cumulative and significant. JPLAY consistently delivered a deeper soundstage and increased impression of space around the musicians. JRiver always seemed to be much flatter or 2-dimensional in comparison. The music was more crisp and articulate with improved detail and separation/definition of instruments in the background."

 

The headline isn't mine, it's from TNT-Audio Canada.  The link is  https://www.tnt-audi...ay_femto_e.html

 

Notes:  The reviewer tested JPLAY FEMTO on his "existing music PC which does have a few aplications such as Internet Explorer, Gmail, Adobe Reader, and anti virus installed on it and no attempt was made to ensure that these programs were not running in the background during the listening time."

 

Imagine what impressions Roger [the reviewer] would have if he ran JPLAY 7 on a 2019 Server optimized by AO3 

[motberg]

Hi All,

 

I just setup my first dual-PC system using JPlay Classic 7.0A.

I have a FEMTO license but Classic seemed the better fit for a HQPlayer/JPlay dual PC idea.

 

I need to upsample everything to PCM 384 K due to some current incompatibility between my DDC and DAC, and had this system running fine on the (now) control PC as a single PC using an older version of HQPlayer with JPlay Classic 7.0A and Server 2012/AO/core. (Was sounding fantastic, but hibernate was not possible)

 

But now with the dual PC, HQPlayer just freezes. I uninstalled and reinstalled HQPlayer and same result (I checked to make sure output is set to JPlay) .

JPlay Mini plays fine, but I definitely need some good upsampling filters to force to PCM 384 and HQPlayer has a filter/dither setting (sync/NS4) that worked fantastic.

 

Currently (for setup test) the Control PC is 2012 Server GUI (Asus B150M-PLUS / i7) and Audio PC is 2019 Server GUI (Supermicro X10SBA-L). Fanless, linear power supplies, JCAT USB card, etc.

 

I like the way that HQPlayer can be worked with TotalCommander via drag and drop from a preset split screen, so the preference would be to get HQPlayer working with this new dual PC if at all possible. (I do not need to see cover art.. I actually unplug the monitor at playback anyways..)

 

I would like to keep the (upsampling) Control PC with Server 2012 if possible....

 

But if this would prove to be unstable, then I guess I may need change the control PC to WIN10...

 

Any suggestions or relevant experience, especially with HQPlayer in dual-PC setup  would be greatly appreciated.. (I was just thinking, maybe AO is required for HQPlayer to work in Server GUI mode, but I never remember anything mentioned similar to that idea....)

 

TIA!

 

Hi Guys,

 

Do not bother answering this - I tried Win10 on the control PC, just playing with Jplay Mini, native files, and the 2 PC's lose connection intermittently after a few songs.

 

This is not worth taking any more time.

 

Thanks

[JazzDoc]

After BubbleUPnP starts, look at Virtual folders near the screen bottom.Click on More, select any one of the last two icons toward the right side on the screen bottom that will lead to BATTERY SAVING MODE.

 

This doesn't seem to work. I have tried every way I can to access battery saving mode and can't get to it anywhere. Any ideas?

[thuanb]

You're right, starting from version 3.2.1, BubbleUPnP developer moved Battery Saving Mode feature into Settings. Please click on More on bottom left, and Settings (the wheel symbol located next to x symbol). Once getting inside Settings, BSM should appear at the middle of the screen.

[JazzDoc]

You're right, starting from version 3.2.1, BubbleUPnP developer moved Battery Saving Mode feature into Settings. Please click on More on bottom left, and Settings (the wheel symbol located next to x symbol). Once getting inside Settings, BSM should appear at the middle of the screen.

 

Thank you for the reply thuanb. In the end I noticed that battery saving mode had been moved in 3.2.1

[Marcin_gps]

Hi Guys,

 

Do not bother answering this - I tried Win10 on the control PC, just playing with Jplay Mini, native files, and the 2 PC's lose connection intermittently after a few songs.

 

This is not worth taking any more time.

 

Thanks

 

It seems like DAC Link was too high

[motberg]

It seems like DAC Link was too high

DAC Link was at the install default for Classic, I think was 10?... the system sounds fantastic with Femto at 5 though !

 

I am getting things more stable but still have stoppages..... Now I have both PC's connected to a PPA switch (I think my attempt at direct connection was some of the previous problem) and the switch to the router. Control PC is finding Audio PC fairly easily. Only using Mini currently for debugging (HQPlayer latest version was working for a while but started crashing, so I changed my DDC so no need upsample). If you have tested any upsampling software known to work well with JPlay Femto, I think that should be noted somewhere.

 

I uninstalled Classic and am using JPlay Femto on both PC's.

Both are still in GUI, audio PC is in Server 2019 (wow-- fantastic sound right out of the box..) and the control PC is WIN10 Pro.

 

I think a very big help for new 2 PC users would be a revision of this 2017 blog post to be relevant for JPlay Femto 2019

http://jplay.eu/2017...=ml_post_slider

 

What I would like to do is setup a direct connection between the 2 PC's. This is recommended in the blog but not really explained how to....

(requires setting a static IP at least on Audio PC)

 

And seems setting a dedicated subnet at the same time is suggested..

Network connection between Control PC and Audio PC should be on a dedicated subnet. E.g. if connection from Control PC to home network is on 192.168.1.x subnet, make sure to set IP addresses for network adapters that connect Control PC & Audio PC to 192.168.2.x. This way traffic for JPLAY dual PC mode is completely isolated from home network.

 

but I searched the forums and a noticed a lot problems and further discussion on this... if this is still a valid and known stable procedure for JPlay Femto, please let me know and I will give it a try....

 

I have disabled power saving features for the network adapters.

 

I still need check if the JCat USB card and my other USB ports may have power saving enabled... will do that immediately.

[Marcin_gps]

DAC Link was at the install default for Classic, I think was 10?... the system sounds fantastic with Femto at 5 though !

 

I am getting things more stable but still have stoppages..... Now I have both PC's connected to a PPA switch (I think my attempt at direct connection was some of the previous problem) and the switch to the router. Control PC is finding Audio PC fairly easily. Only using Mini currently for debugging (HQPlayer latest version was working for a while but started crashing, so I changed my DDC so no need upsample). If you have tested any upsampling software known to work well with JPlay Femto, I think that should be noted somewhere.

 

I uninstalled Classic and am using JPlay Femto on both PC's.

Both are still in GUI, audio PC is in Server 2019 (wow-- fantastic sound right out of the box..) and the control PC is WIN10 Pro.

 

I think a very big help for new 2 PC users would be a revision of this 2017 blog post to be relevant for JPlay Femto 2019

http://jplay.eu/2017...=ml_post_slider

 

What I would like to do is setup a direct connection between the 2 PC's. This is recommended in the blog but not really explained how to....

(requires setting a static IP at least on Audio PC)

 

And seems setting a dedicated subnet at the same time is suggested..

Network connection between Control PC and Audio PC should be on a dedicated subnet. E.g. if connection from Control PC to home network is on 192.168.1.x subnet, make sure to set IP addresses for network adapters that connect Control PC & Audio PC to 192.168.2.x. This way traffic for JPLAY dual PC mode is completely isolated from home network.

 

but I searched the forums and a noticed a lot problems and further discussion on this... if this is still a valid and known stable procedure for JPlay Femto, please let me know and I will give it a try....

 

I have disabled power saving features for the network adapters.

 

I still need check if the JCat USB card and my other USB ports may have power saving enabled... will do that immediately.

 

Is the network connection between PCs 1Gbps? 

 

dual PC setup is the same in FEMTO as with 6.2. You can set static IP for both PCs. 

 

Regards, 

Marcin

[motberg]

Is the network connection between PCs 1Gbps? 

 

dual PC setup is the same in FEMTO as with 6.2. You can set static IP for both PCs. 

 

Regards, 

Marcin

 

Control PC uses INTEL E1G42ETBLK GIGABIT ET DUAL PORT SERVER ADAPTER (PCIE card).. there is also one gigabit LAN available on the motherboard which is disabled due to driver incompatibility with WIN Server, but I can load the driver now into WIN 10 if that would be desirable.

The audio PC motherboard has two (2) Intel i210AT Gigabit Ethernet Controllers

The switch is D-Link 8 ports 10/100/1000Mbps TCXO Switch, modified with TCXO module & audio grade capacitor, w/5V LPS. All indicators are showing Gigabit transmission.

Router is domywifi dw33d w/ 5 Gigabit ports... I never really intended to have my computers connected to the internet, but if it is necessary to upgrade this, any suggestions for a good model that is easy to configure would be appreciated. I have another system* which will be probably remain single PC and Femto/BubbleUPNp so maybe this needs some attention.

 

I will give a try for the static IP setup.... 

 

Thanks!

 

Edit - for the second system, would you suggest 7M cable to the switch or approx 20M directly to router... TIA...

[Marcin_gps]

Control PC uses INTEL E1G42ETBLK GIGABIT ET DUAL PORT SERVER ADAPTER (PCIE card).. there is also one gigabit LAN available on the motherboard which is disabled due to driver incompatibility with WIN Server, but I can load the driver now into WIN 10 if that would be desirable.

The audio PC motherboard has two (2) Intel i210AT Gigabit Ethernet Controllers

The switch is D-Link 8 ports 10/100/1000Mbps TCXO Switch, modified with TCXO module & audio grade capacitor, w/5V LPS. All indicators are showing Gigabit transmission.

Router is domywifi dw33d w/ 5 Gigabit ports... I never really intended to have my computers connected to the internet, but if it is necessary to upgrade this, any suggestions for a good model that is easy to configure would be appreciated. I have another system* which will be probably remain single PC and Femto/BubbleUPNp so maybe this needs some attention.

 

I will give a try for the static IP setup.... 

 

Thanks!

 

Edit - for the second system, would you suggest 7M cable to the switch or approx 20M directly to router... TIA...

This looks good. You  can verifiy if it's a network related issue by playing directly on audio  PC in single PC configuration - if playback doesn't stop then  the issue is either very  low  performance on control PC or, more likely network packets being dropped.  

If you can't sort it out,  we can try a debug build.

 

I'd go with a shorter cable to the  switch.

 

Regards,

Marcin