Looking for a new media streamer

I would go with the microRendu or ultaRendu. Both are great devives, and Small Green computer is currently having a sale. I run my ultraRendu with a Channel Islands 7V power supply into my Modwright Oppo 205.

 

To pick up on this point, if I were to purchase the Node 2 and connect it via RCA cables I'll be using the Node's DAC, whereas if I connected it via coax or optical cable I'd be using the amp's DAC, correct?

At the moment I'm using a vintage Carver 2000 receiver so the question doesn't apply for now, but this would change if I purchased an integrated amp with RCA, coax, and digital inputs.

 

Yes.

Yes.

 

I suggest replacing your Pi 2B with a Pi 3 before buying any of the significantly more expensive options suggested in this thread. I use Pi 3s throughout my house with Roon, over wifi, and I don't experience dropouts at all (even when playing different 24/96 files to multiple rooms simultaneously).

 

You know, since I went to Roon I have not had a SINGLE dropout using my existing raspberry pi 2b! I attribute this to Roon's magic sauce (RATT), but that is speculation. Whatever they are doing, they are doing it far better than the freeware solutions I have tried (Volumio, RuneAudio, Mood). I am spending a god awful amount of time re-organizing my library the way I want in Roon, but that is more for my own satisfaction. I've gotten to the point where I care about and want to document things like specific release information for every title I own (original or remaster, year, label, matrix codes, etc). Yes, I've reached the point of no return lol

 

When I had Roon dropouts it was because of an underpowered core vs. anything related to network. Which is probably defendable but feels sort of silly to me. The "underpowered core" was capable (on paper at least) of streaming 4K video, but not CD quality audio?

 

No problems with my Pi using Rune Audio. It's the network, not the app.

 

That's great to hear! I've also fallen into the same organizational hole since I switched to Roon.

 

When I got a pi3 for Kodi, I initially had issues with it, replaced the mains adaptor with a better one and it’s been fine ever since, did the same when I bought a second one specifically to stream hd audio to my dac from NAS (Sonos doesn’t do hd) and it’s never had an issue either, I run RuneAudio as it worked and I’ve not felt an urge to try anything else.

 

I disagree. Why? Literally nothing else changed. Same pi, same cables, same DAC, same network jack, same switch, same storage. Nothing changed other than putting dietpi and Roon bridge on the pi and using Roon Core on the head end.

These things are complex though. Could be a number of things. My storage is a bottleneck for sure. It runs on an ancient Windows Home Medua server that is a decade old and only supports SMBv1. I plan to move the storage to a new Synology NAS soon too.

I may also end up with s microrendu and LPS1 anyways. I am invested now and I like what Roon is doing quite a bit

 

If you don't have any issues with using USB with the Pi and Roon bridge, benefits of the Rendu might be modest. I had some weirdness, stuff like oddly low volume with DSD. I use Pis with SPDIF hats in other systems, and it would be hard to say they don't sound as good as the Rendu. That said, I admit the system I use the Rendu in (C47/MC152/B&W805) is more on the musical side of things vs. detailed, which might obscure some of the benefits. There's also the fact the rendu is a lot more durable. It seems when my RPs get an unclean shut down there's about a 50% chance the sd card is corrupted and a 10% chance the hardware is fried.

 

I run Roon on my i7 Qnap NAS to my urendu and it is flawless. I had the first generation BS Node and it was good but the Gen2 is waaaay better. DSD is handled by the core, so I don’t think the endpoint needs much power. The Node2 has a lot of other advantages like inputs and a headphone jack.

FWIW, Roon serves the Sonos Connect perfectly, though they use a workaround to do it and not via the Sonos API so Sonos could break it with an update.

For my Roon in the best thing I have added to my audio experience in years and usually has me wondering why I even for with media, including vinyl.

 

I noticed much better performance from my server when I switched my OS from Windows Home Server to Ubuntu. It took a few hours of fiddling (and lots of Google searches) to get permissions sorted out, but it's been rock-solid since.

 

This one works perfect for me as well.

 

Yesterday I ordered the Allo DigiOne, a Rasperry Pi SPDIF hat that I'd heard a forum member suggest was better then the HiFiBerry Digi+ hat I currently use. John Darko says its better then a Auralic Aries (which costs slightly more then 10x the cost of the Digione, an Rpi3, and the matching case). Will be interesting to see how it compares to the HiFIBerry boxes and the Rendu. They also make a USB out product as well, meaning one could potentially build a rendu-killer for 1/3 of the price. As I love playing with Raspberry Pi audio toys, I'm sure I'll pick up one of those sooner or later and compare it to the Sonore.

I'll also be trying out ropieee, which seems to be a quick and easy universal Roon endpoint distro.

 

My Raspberry Pi2b with dietpi and roon bridge and a wallwart PS has been FLAWLESS so far. Everything from 16/44 to 24/192 PCM and 1x DSD.

I will be interested to hear if somethingn like a microrendu with LS1 would really be better. My friend is going to let me try his

 

+1 for Bluesound Node 2. Also recommend latest Denon Heos preamp at a slightly lower price. Both have internal DACs, or can be connected to external DACs. Both can stream from TIDAL etc, connected USB drives and NAS (plays well with Synology). Both can be run from easy to use app platforms. I think the Node sounds slightly better, but you can not go wrong with either, and both are true plug and play with very little set up needed.

 

Update: I pulled the plug on a QNAP NAS TS-453Bmini, CPU 4 cores with 4GB RAM, found during black Friday sale from Woot ($501 with tax). Though the max RAM is specified as 8 GB, many owners are using 16 GB in Europe --I'll update RAM when price comes down. I installed Roon and migrated 2500 albums in library without issue--it took about a day (there are Roon settings to limit CPU cores). During migration I tested unit with Wi-Fi connected Squeezebox3--no issues, no drops. Roon files immediately sounded (IMHO) better than LMS. Roon was an all positive experience, it took me less than 24 hours to purchase lifetime subscription. The QNAP 4GB RAM works fine on daily Roon use with some memory occasionally going toward swap--it may likely be a QNAP application weirdness. The NAS could use additional RAM for a Roon library rebuild. I do not (previously mentioned) see the need to purchase a Small Green Computer specific music server at this time for my use.

Regarding Roon endpoints which I believe you are looking at now:

I like the Wi-Fi based endpoints for Roon/LMS since they isolate interference and I can eventually use a linear power supply on them. For now the SB3 sounds good, though max output is 24bit-48kHz. How the sound seems better is more interesting when comparing Roon to LMS--I like the sound though Roon better. My old NAS still runs and accesses SB3 via LMS--I tested both Roon and LMS--either a setting is off or the Roon is somehow "magically" better. The difference in sound quality was immediate and noticeably different even at CD redbook output. My Digital Downloads and 24-96 files are limited, as I mentioned, to SB3 max 24-48 output.

I am looking at Wi-Fi specific endpoints to upgrade/replace SB3. So far I'm considering Raspberry Pi (various forms), Auralic Aries mini, Bluesound Node 2, and Oppo units. Lots of advantages and disadvantages, Roon officially supports some version of all of the units. Unfortunately I was hoping to incorporate SACD ripping with an Oppo 103/105, but using it as an endpoint need additional equipment for support.

Regarding USB/ethernet/wi-fi, I still want an ethernet port on whatever DAC/streamer I choose. I'll likely choose a DAC with built-in ethernet connectivity, BUT use wi-fi unless I experience issues. The QNAP NAS TS-453Bmini 4GB is dead quiet, yet you can hear the WD NAS drives at work--so maybe not living room friendly for most people. My stereo equipment is in the living room so, less noise is better.

Do you or does anyone else have any experience with the above mentioned Raspberry Pi (various forms), Auralic Aries mini, Bluesound Node 2, and Oppo units? Which DAC sounds best when connected using analogue RCA to a tube amp? Is anyone using wi-fi with the above units?

This was certainly a more lengthy post than I originally intended. Thanks in advance for any thoughts and opinions...

 

After a week with the Allo DigiOne and Ropiee, I'm very pleased. I can't claim there are gigantic sonic differences, and I didn't do any A/B testing, but I do feel I hear some deeper bass and generally an improvement in the sound. Again it is very hard to qualify differences in this space.

Some more quantitative improvements in this setup vs. HiFiBerry - HiFiBerry's roon software is completely plug and play, but offers no options or configuration, you just boot it with their software on the sd card and its there. Ropiee allows you to select a hat from a sizable list of options, or use USB for audio, or configure WiFi, all through a convenient web interface. I suppose all of this can be said of DietPi, which I didn't have good results with. Also, Ropiee uses ALSA, the path to the elusive/unnecessary Native DSD.

 

So is it possible to use Ropiee with the hifiberry? I currently have a hifiberry and hard drive ready to set up so still gathering info on the best way to run things once I have a little time after Christmas.

 

For my initial roon deployment, literally all I did was load a stock DietPi on to my Raspberry Pi 2b, downloaded the roon bridge installer, and ran the script. No other magic. Right now I'm just very pleased. I am really liking the roon software to start with, and I have yet to have a single dropout or blip of any kind using this setup. DSD, and up to 24/192 FLAC and a lot of 16/44 ALAC files. Right now, I'm just using a wall wart power supply as well. My thought is that if I can pull this all off with a $30 Raspberry pi, it should in theory only get better from there with better hardware, better power supply, even if the difference is small. The roon bridge software on the pi also appears to use ALSA, although native DSD still doesn't work to my Bryston BDA-3. I attribute this to the linux build probably not having the correct implementations of kernel drivers, ALSA, MPD, or a combination. But, like you said, it really doesn't matter. DoP is working just fine.

 

This is a surprising finding to me. In theory, they should be sending the same data to the SB3. If you're curious about following this "rabbit hole", you might try setting LMS to decode the FLAC files on the server and send them to the SB3 as PCM. That might be what Roon is doing and SB3 may sound different when it isn't handling FLAC decoding. I've heard this suggestion before but AFAIK it has never been conclusively demonstrated.

 

Yes, all of the HiFiberry products are supported.