Fascinating thread !
I fancy having a try with BACCH4MAC on my desktop system
Can anyone explain where B4M sits in the audio replay chain 'within' the Mac?
Specifically I'm trying to understand how I can integrate B4M and HQP/Roon ?
HQP Server and Roon Core sit on seperate networked machines from my Mac, so the Mac itself would only run NAAD and B4M and maybe RoonBridge ??
I've asked the question of Theoretica but I'd be interested in the views of anyone who has hands-on experience (I'm planning on trying the 'lite' version, so no additional hardware outside of my Mac and a USB DAC)
Many thanks
Thank you for questions and interest in BACCH4Mac (B4M). We have just replied to your inquiry directly via email but since the questions you raise may be of interest to other people on this forum we thought it would be helpful to answer your questions here. Of course, we would be happy to read comments from B4M users who might have something to add to our replies.
Before we address your particular system that relies on HQPlayer, it may be helpful, for the sake of illustration, to start with a description of a Roon-sourced signal chain that includes BACCH4Mac (B4M) but does not include the HQPlayer
Most of the B4M users use Roon as the source, and many of them have it running as a Roon Core or Roon Server on a dedicated PC, a NUC or a Roon Nucleus, (or on the same Mac running B4M). We recommend simply making the Mac running BACCH-dSP (the application at the heart of our B4M products) a Roon endpoint by connecting it to the same LAN on which the PC/NUC is connected and running the free Roon Bridge app in the background on the Mac, which will make that Mac a Roon endpoint. It will then appear as a Roon audio zone on the Roon Remote running on any computer or mobile device that is connected to your LAN or its WiFi network. It is very simple to set up and we would show you how to do it during the walkthrough session that we offer each of our customers (although judging from your message, we think it would be an almost trivial thing for you).
The signal chain would then be as follows:
Option 1: PC (or NUC/Nucleus) Running Roon Core/Server app — [ethernet over LAN] —> Mac (running Roon Remote and BACCH-dSP) — [USB] —> DAC — [analog] —> amplification — [analog] —> speakers.
Next we will integrate your NAAD deamon in that chain. Although we are not familiar with the NAAD daemon you refer to, we gather from your message that it can run on the Mac. Therefore another version of the above that include the NAAD deamon is as follows
Option 2: PC (or NUC/Nucleus) Running Roon Core/Server app— [ethernet on LAN] —> Mac (running Roon Remote, BACCH-dSP and NAAD deamon) — [USB] —> DAC (or multiple DACs) — [analog] —> amplification — [analog] —> speakers.
Another equally valid alternative is to run Roon Core on the same Mac running BACCH-dSP. The chain will then be simpler:
Option 2.b: Mac (running Roon Core/Server, BACCH-dSP and NAAD daemon) — [USB] —> DAC (or multiple DACs) — [analog] —> amplification — [analog] —> speakers.
This can be done as long as your "NAAD daemon" appears as a “device" in the list of devices in the Audio Midi Setup app on the Mac. (the Mac’s Core Audio recognizes practically all modern USB DACs and audio interfaces as acceptable devices and we presume it would recognize the NAAD daemon as a virtual device to output to, if indeed it is designed to run on the Mac. BACCH-dSP will then list the NAAD daemon in its list of available devices to output to and you would simply select it from that output dropdown menu in BACCH-dSP.)
Before we consider how to integrate the HQPlayer in the chain we should note that BACCH-dSP (like any true DSP system) can only handle PCM (it does not do any sigma-delta processing or PCM conversion).
The easiest way to integrate HQPlayer in your chain is to run on it the same Mac that is running BACCH-dSP. We have tested this configuration and it woks flawlessly as far as we can tell. Here are the simple 3 steps that will set B4M to work with HQPlayer (we will be happy to walk you through them during the personal remote walkthrough session we offer each B4M customer):
1. You install a free piece of “loopback software” called BlackHole 2ch on your Mac. This will appear as a 2-in/2-out virtual device in the list of devices in Audio Midi Setup.
2. You then create an aggregate device in Audio Midi Setup that consists of a) "BlackHole 2ch “ and b) your DAC (or NAAD daemon, assuming the latter appears as a device, see above). You then give that device a specific name “SF4BACCH”.
3. In BACCH-dSP’s Advanced Settings panel there is a dropdown menu called “Auto Configure” from which you select the option “SF4BACCH”. This will run a script that, in a few seconds, automatically configures the I/O and loopback channels of BACCH-dSP to work with that virtual device. (You can also do the assignment manually if you wish).
To link Roon to HQPlayer you follow the simple steps on this
webpage, which you are most likely familiar with. There you have the option of a) running Roon Core/Srever on the same Mac (using "localhost") for the HQPlayer address or b) running Roon Core/Server on another computer and using the IP address of the Mac running HQPlayer.
That’s it. Now anything you play in Roon will be sent to HQPlayer, where it gets processed then sent to BACCH-dSP where it gets BACCH’ed (and if you wish processed further) than sent to your DAC (or NAAD daemon).
Your signal chain will then look like either of the following options
Option 3: PC (or NUC/Nucleus) Running Roon Core/Server app — [ethernet over LAN] —> Mac (running HQPlayer, BACCH-dSP and NAAD daemon) — [USB] —> DAC — [analog] —> amplification — [analog] —> speakers.
or
Option 4: Mac (running Roon Core, HQPlayer, BACCH-dSP and NAAD daemon) — [USB] —> DAC — [analog] —> amplification — [analog] —> speakers.
The last option is obviously the simplest and most elegant one.
Now, if for whatever reason you do not wish to run HQPlayer on the same Mac but on another computer, there is a way, albeit a bit more complicated one, to do that.
You send the audio from Roon directly to BACCH-dSP (using the Roon Bridge app running in the background on the Mac) where it gets processed by BACCH-dSP then the Mac will send the processed audio to the computer running HQPlayer using an audio over IP (AoIP) solution. . We have tested such a solution using the
Dante Virtal Soundcard between two Macs (as we do not deal with PCs) and it works perfectly fine. It is an all software-based solution (no extra hardware required), bit perfect and costs relatively little.
In that case your chain will look like this:
Option 4: Mac (running Roon Core, BACCH-dSP and
Dante Virtal Soundcard) —[ethernet over LAN]—> Computer running HQPlayer and NADD daemon — [USB] —> DAC — [analog] —> amplification — [analog] —> speakers.
Finally, a side note:
Although you may well like what HQPlayer does you may want to re-consider the need of having two DSP/Player applications in series in the chain. Not there this any issue with that but solely from an advantage-to-complexity ratio point of view it may not be ideal. You will find that
BACCH-dSP (even the Intro edition) offers many powerful DSP tools aside from applying BACCH filters. Namely, it can apply equalization, 3-band crossover filters, band/transducer-alignment time delays, and offers an almost infinite set of DSP options through its ability to instantiate VST or AU plugins at its output stage, which can be used, for instance, to apply room correction filters via convolution (all of these tools are available with B4M Into).
Regarding the manual: While our BACCH-SP hardware processor, has an extensive
written manual, our software-based product, BACCH4Mac, which is far more configurable (as it is designed to integrate in any computer audio system) does not have a written manual. Instead we are developing a series of videos that show the features, functions and functionality of the BACCH-dSP application in detail. These videos will be released by December of 2020. Until then we are offering each BACCH-dSP user a time-unlimited walkthrough session with unlimited technical support. Although BACCH-dSP is intuitive to use, it is a very powerful and sophisticated application with many customizable features and settings, and all of our customers find the walkthrough session very helpful to quickly master the use of the application.
We hope the above is helpful and answers your questions.
Please do not hesitate to ask more questions.
Regards,
Buddy
Theoretica Tech Support
[email protected]
www.theoretica.us