How to Add HQPlayer to Roon
A complete illustrated walkthrough — from enabling network control in HQPlayer to reading 24.576 MHz on your DAC, plus parametric EQ in Muse DSP.
Introduction
This guide follows the exact setup sequence captured in every screenshot — no skipped steps, no guesswork. You will route Roon through HQPlayer, confirm the signal path, push DSD512 to your converter, and optionally shape the response with Muse DSP parametric EQ.
Work through each section in order. Each figure maps directly to a file in your setup flow, so you can pause, compare your screen, and continue when everything matches.
Enable Network Control
Before Roon can see HQPlayer, remote control must be active. Launch HQPlayer Desktop and open Preferences → Network.
Enable Allow remote control and note the port (default 17567). HQPlayer must stay running in the background whenever you listen through this chain.
Figure 01
Enable Allow remote control in HQPlayer’s Network preferences — Roon discovers your instance on port 17567 by default.
Open Roon Audio Settings
Switch to Roon and open Settings → Audio. This panel lists every discovered endpoint on your network.
You are looking for an HQPlayer entry — it appears only after HQPlayer is running with remote control enabled.
Figure 02
Open Roon → Settings → Audio. This is where every playback zone is managed before audio reaches your DAC.
Select HQPlayer as Output
In the Audio settings list, find the HQPlayer section. This is the handoff point where Roon stops driving your DAC directly.
Select or focus the HQPlayer row before enabling — confirm you are not still routing to a built-in or Bluetooth device.
Figure 03
Locate the HQPlayer section and prepare to enable it — Roon will hand off the digital stream instead of playing directly to hardware.
Enable the HQPlayer Zone
Click Enable on the HQPlayer zone. Roon will treat HQPlayer as a first-class playback destination, identical to a network renderer.
Disable any direct DAC zones in Roon to avoid two applications competing for the same hardware.
Figure 04
Enable the HQPlayer zone. Once active, this becomes the only path Roon should use when HQPlayer owns your DAC.
Configure HQPlayer
Return to HQPlayer and set your processing preferences: output format, filter, and DSD options. These choices define the sonic character of the chain.
Start conservative — PCM upsampling to your DAC’s sweet spot — before enabling extreme DSD modes.
Figure 05
Configure HQPlayer’s processing options and output routing — filter profile, DSD path, and buffer size are set here.
Understanding localhost
When both apps run on one machine, traffic flows through 127.0.0.1 — no Ethernet hop, minimal latency, maximum reliability.
This is the recommended first topology. Master localhost before splitting Core and HQPlayer across two computers.
Figure 06
On a single PC, Roon and HQPlayer communicate over localhost (127.0.0.1) — the lowest-latency, most reliable topology.
Select Your DAC Device
In HQPlayer, open File → Select Audio Device and choose your DAC’s ASIO driver (Windows) or exclusive Core Audio device (macOS).
Avoid shared-mode drivers — they resample in the operating system and defeat the purpose of this setup.
Figure 07
Choose your DAC’s native ASIO or Core Audio driver in exclusive mode. HQPlayer — not Roon — must own the converter.
Start Playback
In Roon, select the HQPlayer zone from the zone picker and press play on a familiar track — 44.1 or 48 kHz PCM is ideal for the first test.
Within a second, HQPlayer should show transport activity. If Roon plays but HQPlayer stays idle, revisit zone selection and network control.
Figure 08
Press play in Roon with the HQPlayer zone selected. Both applications should show active transport within a second.
Confirm HQPlayer Is Active
Watch HQPlayer’s status area for incoming sample rate, bit depth, and active filter name. This is your ground truth for the handoff.
If numbers appear and change with track switches, Roon → HQPlayer routing is alive.
Figure 09
HQPlayer’s status bar should display incoming sample rate and filter activity — proof the handoff from Roon succeeded.
Verify the Audio Path
Open Roon’s signal path display during playback. You should see bit-perfect delivery into HQPlayer with Roon DSP disabled.
Any unexpected resampling or volume attenuation in Roon should be corrected before tuning HQPlayer filters.
Figure 10
Inspect Roon’s signal path overlay: you should see bit-perfect delivery into HQPlayer with no unintended DSP in Roon.
HQPlayer Processing
With filters engaged, HQPlayer performs the heavy mathematics — sample-rate conversion, noise shaping, and optional convolution.
Observe how the status display tracks filter changes in real time. This is where most sonic experimentation happens.
Figure 11
With filters engaged, HQPlayer performs sample-rate conversion and noise shaping before the DAC sees a single bit.
Why DAC Shows 24.576MHz
Your DAC front panel may now read 24.576 MHz. That is the DSD bit clock for the 48 kHz family at DSD512 — not a PCM rate.
For 44.1 kHz–based material, expect 22.5792 MHz instead. Both readings confirm the converter is locked to the DSD stream HQPlayer sends.
Figure 13
A reading of 24.576 MHz on your DAC indicates DSD512 in the 48 kHz family — expected behavior, not a PCM sample rate.
Parametric EQ with Muse DSP
The following figures cover Muse DSP — HQPlayer’s companion for parametric equalization and room correction. Complete the Roon → HQPlayer chain above before opening EQ tools.
Approach EQ surgically: fewer bands, measured moves, and always save a flat bypass preset before experimenting.
Open Muse DSP
From HQPlayer, launch Muse DSP. The interface opens a separate window dedicated to filter design and measurement import.
Figure 20
Open Muse DSP for advanced EQ and room correction — the companion tool for surgical frequency shaping.
Enable Parametric EQ
Enable the parametric EQ module. All bands start bypassed — toggle them on only when you know what each corrects.
Figure 21
Enable the parametric EQ engine. Start with all bands bypassed until you understand each filter’s role.
Parametric EQ Overview
The overview plots your composite curve across frequency. A flat line means transparent playback; deviations show active correction.
Figure 22
The overview displays your correction curve in real time — a flat line means no active shaping; peaks show applied gain.
Open the Band List
The band list enumerates every filter in the chain. Name each band descriptively — “desk resonance 120 Hz” beats “Band 3” six months later.
Figure 23
The band list is your map of every filter in the chain. Name bands clearly so presets remain intelligible months later.
Understanding Band Types
Lowshelf shapes broad bass regions. Peaking targets narrow anomalies. Highshelf adjusts air and treble without touching the midrange.
Figure 24
Each band type serves a purpose: lowshelf for broad bass, peaking for narrow anomalies, highshelf for air and treble.
Filter Type Selection
Select the filter topology before tuning frequency, gain, and Q. Topology determines phase behavior and ringing character.
Figure 25
Choose the filter type before adjusting frequency and Q — the wrong topology makes even correct numbers sound wrong.
Filter Type Explained
Use the built-in reference to understand minimum-phase versus linear-phase implications. Linear-phase preserves time alignment at the cost of latency.
Figure 26
Read the built-in explanation for each filter shape. Phase behavior differs between minimum-phase and linear-phase designs.
Save Your EQ Preset
Once satisfied — or before a risky experiment — save the curve as a named preset. Restoration should take one click, not twenty minutes of re-tuning.
Figure 27
Save your curve as a named preset before experimenting further — one click restores a known-good correction.
Add a New Filter
Add filters only when measurements or careful listening justify them. Each additional band increases phase complexity in the chain.
Figure 28
Add filters sparingly. Fewer, well-placed bands preserve phase coherence better than a dense stack of narrow cuts.