Streamer/Airport Express Replacement?

[skullguise]

The Roon Nucleus is not worth the $.  You can spend 1/2 to 1/3 of that, get more power, and load Roon Rock OS for free.  I did that with a NUC (two NUC's actually, one at home and one on a Windows NUC in Maine condo).  At home I installed a 2TB SSD for my music, and in Maine I use an external USB drive with a 500GB SSD.  Both still cheaper than either Roon Nucleus pre-made box.

 

[MoonShine]

Sorry for the necro but this seems like the most Roonish thread to post my Roon Noob questions:

I have decided to take the Roon plunge but because of several recent large purchases (Eurovan camper and an e-bike) I am taking the most budget friendly route as possible.

My plan is to order a NUC10 & the 8GB & 256 GB memory & install ROCK on it. My "endpoint" (for now) would be my Schiit MODI USB DAC.

The chain would look like this:

ROON ROCK (running on the NUC) --> Schiit MODI (via USB) --> Parasound 1100 Pre-amp -> Elac Navis arb 51

I would then use my Droid Tablet or phone as Roon remote and my Sonia Bravia TV as monitor (via Chromecast).

All of this for primarily streaming Tidal and the occasional track from my digital library.

So... Is any of this super dumb or just won't work?

Is there a better way to be going about this?

Thanks for letting me pick your big sexy brains.

 

 

[dsavitsk]

Should work fine. I'd prefer to separate the front and back end for roon with a separate streamer, but that's not strictly necessary.

Also, roon will control volume so you can eliminate the parasound. No matter how good it is, you're probably better without it.

 

[en480c4]

I know most of the talk in the thread was implementing Roon, but since the thread has already been brought back, here's a basic option for future reference...

For a simple AirPlay 2 streaming solution I use the Belkin Soundform Connect.  I run the optical digital out to my DACs and am good to go.  It's super convenient, especially in my home setup since I can stream from the iPhone, MacBook or when Lauren hides from the kids in my office, she can use her phone as well.  I run one at the office, too.  My only issue is an AirPlay issue more than Belkin's implementation... If I pause it for too long when using the phone, or multitask when paused, it reverts back to playing on the phone.  I think it needs a longer time-out window.  With the MacBook, it maintains that as my preferred audio output without issue.

[blessingx]

1 hour ago, en480c4 said:

I know most of the talk in the thread was implementing Roon, but since the thread has already been brought back, here's a basic option for future reference...

For a simple AirPlay 2 streaming solution I use the Belkin Soundform Connect.  I run the optical digital out to my DACs and am good to go.  It's super convenient, especially in my home setup since I can stream from the iPhone, MacBook or when Lauren hides from the kids in my office, she can use her phone as well.  I run one at the office, too.  My only issue is an AirPlay issue more than Belkin's implementation... If I pause it for too long when using the phone, or multitask when paused, it reverts back to playing on the phone.  I think it needs a longer time-out window.  With the MacBook, it maintains that as my preferred audio output without issue.

Thanks for the suggestion. Have you ever run video (laptop, AppleTV) to it and does it keep sync? Not sure if AirPlay2 solved this for all devices, but some AirPlay didn't and it's unfortunately rarely discussed in reviews. 

[en480c4]

26 minutes ago, blessingx said:

Thanks for the suggestion. Have you ever run video (laptop, AppleTV) to it and does it keep sync? Not sure if AirPlay2 solved this for all devices, but some AirPlay didn't and it's unfortunately rarely discussed in reviews. 

I can't say that I have, but I'll try it with video on the laptop when I get home.  I was always frustrated with latency issues when trying to control audio with original AirPlay... It always seemed to lag behind the touch input.  But I have none of those issues with audio streaming, and I was very pleased with the sync running the AppleTV audio to the HomePod Minis. So they may have figured it out.  

 

[TMoney]

39 minutes ago, blessingx said:

Thanks for the suggestion. Have you ever run video (laptop, AppleTV) to it and does it keep sync? Not sure if AirPlay2 solved this for all devices, but some AirPlay didn't and it's unfortunately rarely discussed in reviews. 

FWIW I cast audio from my iphone to my sonos system (which I believe has AP2?) and have not had any audio delay issues while watching video on the iphone.

Edited July 14, 2022 by TMoney

[en480c4]

Streaming audio from the iPhone and MacBook both seem to work quite well.  I went back and read some product literature on the Belkin and I guess it has a microphone to calibrate the audio and prevent any synch issues.  I did have an issue with an app on the phone where it would send audio and video to the AirPlay device, and the screen would just say that the video is being played via AirPlay.  But that seems to be a developer issue as everything else worked flawlessly. 

Let me know if there's anything specific you want me to check.  Hulu, Apple TV+, and Netflix all worked fine.

[swt61]

Has anyone tried the Amazon Echo Link streamer? I'm considering buying this for my bedroom system (Parasound Z-stack/DIY monitors/Gallo sub). I would of course use the Toslink digital output to bypass the internal DAC, and run into my Parasound Z-DAC. But the ease of voice control, using my existing Echo Cube is something I think I'd really appreciate. 

Any thoughts?

[Kerry]

I was looking at this for a little while. My son ended up getting the version with the built in amp, but I agree it’s best to use an external DAC with it. 
 

I think it’s pretty good (not perfect) and my son is happy with his. 

[tumpux]

As a good parent, I believe you can’t sleep well at night until you build him a linear power supply unit to power the unit. 

[Kerry]

41 minutes ago, tumpux said:

As a good parent, I believe you can’t sleep well at night until you build him a linear power supply unit to power the unit. 

I'm proud of him in so many ways, but I failed completely to get him interested in high end audio  

[blessingx]

41 minutes ago, Kerry said:

I'm proud of him in so many ways, but I failed completely to get him interested in high end audio  

That sounds like good parenting. 

[swt61]

1 hour ago, tumpux said:

As a good parent, I believe you can’t sleep well at night until you build him and Steve a linear power supply unit to power the unit. 

FTFY!

[luvdunhill]

This seems to belong here…

working on an outdoor system and looking for something that will accept hdmi and do (at least) Dolby 2.1… and fit nicely in a plastic box. The Sonos Amp seems to be the only choice out there and Altelix seems to be catering toward that with this:

https://altelix.com/altelix-enclosure-for-sonos-amp-apple-tv-amazon-echo-link-amp/

First question, are there other options (even DIY) that would work? Seems like a simple board out there would accomplish this much cheaper than Sonos.

Second question, I need another box because most outdoor subs seem to be unpowered. For that I am thinking DIY in the same enclosure as above with a Mean Well 48V supply (assuming I can get enough current and shove it the same box) and this

https://www.parts-express.com/Sure-AA-AB32191-2x300W-TAS5630-Class-D-Amplifier-Board-320-309

Other options? Maybe just another Sonos Amp? Not sure..

[luvdunhill]

Related question, anyone used stuff from fiber command? It seems pretty much perfect solution for a few things I need

https://shop.fibercommand.com

The Bluesound PowerNode Edge might be interesting

https://www.bluesound.com/products/powernode-edge/

 

Edited November 19, 2022 by luvdunhill

[luvdunhill]

No takers on Team OutdoorFi? First steps done today:

 

[swt61]

Ooh, rain gutter as bass port, interesting to be sure.

[luvdunhill]

27 minutes ago, swt61 said:

Ooh, rain gutter as bass port, interesting to be sure.

That might actually work… if you have a spare bedroom to use as a speaker enclosure 

Edited November 24, 2022 by luvdunhill

[luvdunhill]

Looking at various other items for the system, starting with ViewSonic’s new PX748-4K and EliteScreen’s tensioned electric outdoor screen in 140”. Paying about double for the screen versus the projector feels wrong, but the ViewSonic feels like a good choice despite some odd features mentioned (ARC?) which I can get around I guess as I am planning a 2.1 system.. dunno if others have opinions, but this is the last piece missing working out the throw distance and screen size..

[SieSara123]

On 7/27/2020 at 1:32 AM, morphsci said:

The Pootie Pie is a streamer, but I am not sure how that would really differ from a [URL=https://telegrambetting.club/ ] https://telegrambetting.club/ [/URL]  sound card. If you use Roopiee XL You are not restricted to Roon. You can use it any way you use an Airplay, DLNA or [URL=]soga miniatures[/URL] endpoint. So you basically hook it up to a DAC and push music to it using any DLNA or Airplay compliant app.

Thanks for the information! It's definitely helpful to know that Roopiee XL is compatible with different streaming services. I'm curious to know if it offers any additional features that make it stand out from a regular wireless sound card. I guess I'll have to give it a try and see for myself!