[DBT AUDIO]

Greetings,

I've been using a Mac mini connected to my DAC since 2008 which is when I switched over to the computer audiophile world.  I've heard a lot of talk about music streamers and I just didn't have any interest until recent months.  So, I purchased a Sonore ultraRendu and loved the sonic improvement!  After about a week with the ultraRendu, I decided to upgrade to the Sonore opticalRendu.  I can't say it was a sonic improvement over the ultraRendu, but I bought into the hype on the optical/fiber optic cable used with the opticalRendu, eliminating EMI, etc., rendering a lower noise floor.  Well, I kept having music dropouts with the opticalRendu playing Roon.  Long story, I couldn't get the issue resolved in a timely manner, so I returned it within my 30 day window.

Fast forward, I purchased a Lumin U1 Mini music streamer a few days ago and it should be delivered tomorrow.  I'm looking forward to a session this weekend with the new Lumin!

What music streamer are you using with your Spatial Audio speakers?

[doggie]

I am using a Streacom fanless chassis to house a Windows 2016 Server running Roon Core. I use Audiophile Optimizer to pare down the extra fluff services. This feeds an Intel NUC running Audiolinux for my Roon Endpoint. I use HDPlex LPS's for both boxes and also an EtherRegen switch. The EtherRegen isolates the NUC from the upstream equipment.

I guess that this comprises a "deconstructed streamer". Very reliable and sounds great.

[DBT AUDIO]

I am using a Streacom fanless chassis to house a Windows 2016 Server running Roon Core. I use Audiophile Optimizer to pare down the extra fluff services. This feeds an Intel NUC running Audiolinux for my Roon Endpoint. I use an Uptone Audio EtherRegen switch to isolate the NUC from the upstream equipment. I guess that this comprises a "deconstructed streamer".

Very reliable and sounds great.

Nice setup!  I’m sure it sounds good.  Your mention of the EtherRegen switch reminded me that I forgot to mention I have the English Electric 8Switch in the chain.

[JackD]

The U1 Mini is a solid unit.  I've owned one along with a D1 with upgraded power supply but in the end preferred the software from Auralic so changed to the Aries G1. Depending on your DAC and your interest in DSD the AES/EBU output on the U1 Mini I found to be the best sounding to my ears.

[glenmschneider@gmail.com]

With my X5s, I upgraded a few months ago from the Bluesound Node 2i to the Auralic Aries G1. To my ears this was quite a substantial improvement in sound straight out of the box. But then once I invoked the upsampling modes, the difference grew even further. The spaciousness, instrument separation, detail, and bass weight all improved. The software has pluses and minuses from the BluOS software.

After reading some reviews, it seems like the G2.1 is a large increase over the G1, but a good price increase also.

DAC is a Rockna Wavelight
Amp is Tride Lab parallel 45s SET 4.5wpc

[DBT AUDIO]

The U1 Mini is a solid unit.  I've owned one along with a D1 with upgraded power supply but in the end preferred the software from Auralic so changed to the Aries G1. Depending on your DAC and your interest in DSD the AES/EBU output on the U1 Mini I found to be the best sounding to my ears.

Nice to hear your positive experience with the Lumin.  I’ve been hearing some preferring the AES output over the USB.  I will experiment with the two.  I have the Holo Audio Spring 3 KTE DAC and their USB module is supposed to be its big plus.  My ears will determine that.  I hadn’t read any reviews on the Aurilac, but my Rep. from Upscale Audio advised the Aurilac was more detailed over the Lumin but he preferred the Lumin. Thanks for sharing!

[DBT AUDIO]

With my X5s, I upgraded a few months ago from the Bluesound Node 2i to the Auralic Aries G1. To my ears this was quite a substantial improvement in sound straight out of the box. But then once I invoked the upsampling modes, the difference grew even further. The spaciousness, instrument separation, detail, and bass weight all improved. The software has pluses and minuses from the BluOS software.

After reading some reviews, it seems like the G2.1 is a large increase over the G1, but a good price increase also.

DAC is a Rockna Wavelight
Amp is Tride Lab parallel 45s SET 4.5wpc

Auralic again!  When I really started researching streamers, Aurilac just didn’t seem to get any push from dealers and I didn’t find many reviews on them.  Evidently, you guys really like them.  That’s good to hear!

[newzooreview]

Auralic again!  When I really started researching streamers, Aurilac just didn’t seem to get any push from dealers and I didn’t find many reviews on them.  Evidently, you guys really like them.  That’s good to hear!

I had an Auralic G2.1 and returned it. It only sounded reasonably good with its proprietary software (Lightning OS), but the proprietary software was a pale, clumsy imitation of Roon. With Roon, the Auralic G2.1 did not sound as good (although it is advertised as Roon Ready). The differences were clear with my Harbeth 30.1 speakers. Now that I've been using my M3 Sapphires for 5 months, I can only imagine how much easier it would be to hear the difference.

I had a Denafrips Gaia after returning the Aries and kept it long enough that I couldn't return it. It was better than the Auralic, even with Roon being run on a Raspberry Pi running Ropieee (with an Allo DigiPlus HAT, $1000 BNC coax cable, and Uptone UltraCap LPS 1.2 power supply). The cable did make an obvious difference (since most cables are just +/- %5 of nominal 75 Ohm impedance because it's expensive to build a cable to tighter tolerance).

My current streaming setup is unlikely to be helpful. I use a Holo May KTE DAC, and it has a unique and exceptional in-house USB receiver. I was surprised that connecting it directly to my Intel NUC Roon Rock server sounded better than anything else. Without the USB input on the May, I would probably still have the Denafrips Gaia setup, but as skeptical as I was about connecting directly to the Intel NUC box, Tim at Kitsune convinced me to try it. I did, and I happily sold the Gaia.

[DBT AUDIO]

My current streaming setup is unlikely to be helpful. I use a Holo May KTE DAC, and it has a unique and exceptional in-house USB receiver. I was surprised that connecting it directly to my Intel NUC Roon Rock server sounded better than anything else. Without the USB input on the May, I would probably still have the Denafrips Gaia setup, but as skeptical as I was about connecting directly to the Intel NUC box, Tim at Kitsune convinced me to try it. I did, and I happily sold the Gaia.

Good to hear from an owner of the Holo Audio KTE DAC offerings.  Tim from KitsuneHiFi seems to prefer using the USB for Holo Audio DACS, especially the KTE models.  For clarity, I’m not looking for advise/help with choosing a music streamer.  I already made my decision on the Lumin.  I’m just wanted to hear what streamers Spatial Audio owners were using and their impressions.  Thanks!

[Tyson]

I ran wireless for a while until I discovered that direct wired sounds so much better.  So I built out dedicated Roon ROCK server for the basement, using an Intel NUC 8 along with an R-core based linear power supply.  I'm not sure why, but it's been my consistent experience that R-core transformers sound very good in power supplies for digital gear.  So the ROCK server also serves as an endpoint for my downstairs system.

For my upstairs system, I used to run an Auralic Aries but decided to build out a Roon ROCK endpoint using another Intel NUC 8 with the same linear power supply as the downstairs server.  Nice jump in sound quality when I did this.  Very happy now.

[DBT AUDIO]

I ran wireless for a while until I discovered that direct wired sounds so much better.  So I built out dedicated Roon ROCK server for the basement, using an Intel NUC 8 along with an R-core based linear power supply.  I'm not sure why, but it's been my consistent experience that R-core transformers sound very good in power supplies for digital gear.  So the ROCK server also serves as an endpoint for my downstairs system.

For my upstairs system, I used to run an Auralic Aries but decided to build out a Roon ROCK endpoint using another Intel NUC 8 with the same linear power supply as the downstairs server.  Nice jump in sound quality when I did this.  Very happy now.

Good info.  My brother will be building his Roon ROCK setup this weekend.  I appreciate reading about all the different setups you guys have!

[mrotino332]

For the last year been using a Metrum Acoustics Ambre streamer to my Metrum Acoustics Onyx via I2S digital connection which is an ethernet connection.  The I2S connection was noticeably better sounding than the other connections with AES/EBU my second favorite.  I'm currently using Volumio music software with the ambre and did use roon briefly but preferred the sound of Volumio. 

[newzooreview]

an R-core based linear power supply.

Which R-core power supply did you end up with? I got one off of e-bay for $160 that has been working well and is nicely built.

+1 for running Roon from an Intel NUC with Roon Rock. It was the one of three critical decisions in improving my system, the other two being the Holo May KTE DAC and the M3 Sapphires. Running Roon from a PC (Mac Mini) did not give me good results. There's just too much cruft running in the background, and Roon is written for Linux. Running a Roon Server on non-Linux systems is just running a port, and even running it on top of a general Linux distribution comes with the overhead of the unnecessary background processes. A Roon Rock Server on an Intel NUC is their canonical platform, and there will never be any compatibility issues as they update the server and client software (the recent mistake pushing out a beta update notwithstanding).

[DBT AUDIO]

Question for the Roon Rock users.  If the Mac mini is removed from the signal chain as a result of adding a music streamer, using an Ethernet cable, have you concluded that the Roon Rock’s USB output directly to your DAC outperforms the aforementioned?  My Mac mini has the Roon Core and an external SSD housing my music files, so my music is not playing directly from the Mac mini USB with the streamer in the chain.  I did notice a major improvement when I added the Sonore streamer in the chain and allowed the Mac mini to serve Roon Core duties. 

[Tyson]

Yes, the ROCK is a far superior option because it runs Roon on an OS that was custom built only for Roon.  So everything is optimized for Roon playback only.  Which is much better than running Roon on a general OS like a Mac or Windows based server.

[DBT AUDIO]

Yes, the ROCK is a far superior option because it runs Roon on an OS that was custom built only for Roon.  So everything is optimized for Roon playback only.  Which is much better than running Roon on a general OS like a Mac or Windows based server.

I should rephrase my question, does it matter what component the Roon Core and where the music files are stored if the computer (i.e., Roon ROCK or Mac Mini) is not actually rendering the music?  Doesn’t the streamer remove the computer from the signal path, so does the location of the Core matter in this scenario?  I have been trying to determine if I need to use a Roon ROCK for my Core if I’m using a streamer?

[glenmschneider@gmail.com]

I had a similar question because pretty much all of my music is streamed from Qobuz. Is a ROCK Roon core still the best alternative if there is no stored music to play?

Also, can you stream something like Youtube through ROCK Roon? Now I'm streaming it through the Auralic G1 using Airplay.  Clearly the quality is not the same as streaming Qobuz via the Ligntning App but it does get used this way more than occasionally.

I know there is always room for improvement and eventually I will likely upgrade to improve my setup, but as it stands, I am quite happy using Qobuz via the G1, actually amazed sometimes at how good it all sounds. Love my X5s....





 

[Tyson]

I should rephrase my question, does it matter what component the Roon Core and where the music files are stored if the computer (i.e., Roon ROCK or Mac Mini) is not actually rendering the music?  Doesn’t the streamer remove the computer from the signal path, so does the location of the Core matter in this scenario?  I have been trying to determine if I need to use a Roon ROCK for my Core if I’m using a streamer?

Yes, what you run the Core on matters, even if you are using a streamer as an endpoint.

[DBT AUDIO]

Yes, what you run the Core on matters, even if you are using a streamer as an endpoint.

Interesting.  I will find out for myself in the future.  Thanks!

[sjsfiveo]

Aurender N10 and love it.