[applesnowleo]

So does the Window version has some sort of direct mose then?

Maybe, I visited audiirvana website, and the site has very Low info for windows and all I could find is still is referring to Mac specs, the support page also refers to the mac Version, windows Is a different operating System and could require drivers for the DAC to work correctly.

The quality of the drivers could influence the final result, they have a demo for 15 days for the windows version and that could help to make people decide if the results are different and opt in. As I am a OSX user for sometime I could not help regarding this, they are taking very serious the windows version, It could be a better option than the actual Mac version at the moment.

 

[albertmuc]

NEW in Audirvana Plus 3.2: Ultra High Quality Upsampling Algorithm available > SoX.

...any audible improvement? Should another player for macOS-Mojave be preferred?

 

[tabloid]

In my opinion Roon have the better implementation with Tidal and the iOS app it's amazing.

 

[tabloid]

Also the DSP for the audeze is amazing.

 

[CANiSLAYu]

I love Roon. I have Roon Core on an Intel NUC that’s in my entertainment center connected to my router via Ethernet.

Office setup: Roon Core > Bluesound NODE 2i streamer > Massdrop x THX AAA 789 > headphones
Mobile around the house: Roon Core > iPhone > iFi Micro iDSD Black Label > headphones

I can also connect my Bluetooth headphones to either the iPhone or NODE 2i and can also use my HomePod as a zone via AirPlay and I can control everything from whichever iOS device I have in hand. I have upsampling enabled as well as the presets for Audeze headphones. The sound is fantastic, the interface is great. It works so well across every platform (MacOS, iOS, Windows).

 

[Trueaudio]

I tested all and ended up with Roon. With my setup, it's much better suited for me than Audirvana and Amarra. I went from having Roon core on my QNAP Drive for testing and now I have it on an Intel NUC, sNH-10G Audio Switch, Audioquest cables feeding multiple settings:

My Studio: Roon core > Allo USBridge > iFi Micro iDSD Black Label > Fostex MH900 headphones or JBL Studio Monitors 306P MkII
My Main system Roon core > Mytek Brooklyn+ > Integra DRX R1.1 Receiver with an Anthem Stereo Amplifier > Monitor Audio Platinum Speakers
Around the house and pool area, I have multiple Bluesound speakers Flex, Mini and Pulse. All controlled from Roon. I have profiles for my wife and for my klds, so each one enjoy their own music style.
On the go, I use an Astell&Kern SR15.

 

[Swoti]

Is your nuc used as a server then? What's the hardware recommendation for roon and a nuc?

 

[Trueaudio]

Is your nuc used as a server then? What's the hardware recommendation for roon and a nuc?

Correct. I wanted a future proof NUC, so I went higher than needed. I have an i7 with 8 GB and RAM and SSD of 64GB for the Core. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N0RL8Q4/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078H5F4LQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I have my files stored on 2 TB SSD Drive connected to the network. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073H4GPLQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00__o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[CANiSLAYu]

With Roon the software part is broken down in 3 parts. Core, Control and Output. The Core is basically the brains that serves the music, does any processing for DSP, the graphics processing for the UI, album artwork, etc. If you're using a Mac/PC, you could have your computer be all 3 and connect it to your DAC. Something like a smartphone can only do Control and Output (it can't house the Core/library). I also have a NUC that's just attached to my Router via ethernet and I just run it 24/7 with Roon running. Check this out for some visuals. The hardware requirements depend on how large your library is and how crazy you want to get with DSP. Here's the Roon official minimum requirements. Basically a modern processor (i3 or better), 4GB RAM, and a 64GB or bigger solid state drive to house the Core (they recommend the actual music files housed on another drive). For larger libraries or heavy DSP use they recommend a beefier processor (i5/i7) and 8GB RAM. For them large is really large, like 5,000-10,000+ albums. I have a small library (<500 albums local but also use Tidal HiFi) and I have a 7th gen i5, 16GB RAM. When upsampling to DSD it can tax the processor (uses like ~30-40% of one core in my case). So if you're using speakers and doing upsampling, EQing, room correction and crossfeeds, etc. etc. it can get more and more taxing. You can build a nice NUC that should handle almost anything Roon related for like $500 USD.

 

[Chopin75]

With Roon the software part is broken down in 3 parts. Core, Control and Output. The Core is basically the brains that serves the music, does any processing for DSP, the graphics processing for the UI, album artwork, etc. If you're using a Mac/PC, you could have your computer be all 3 and connect it to your DAC. Something like a smartphone can only do Control and Output (it can't house the Core/library). I also have a NUC that's just attached to my Router via ethernet and I just run it 24/7 with Roon running. Check this out for some visuals. The hardware requirements depend on how large your library is and how crazy you want to get with DSP. Here's the Roon official minimum requirements. Basically a modern processor (i3 or better), 4GB RAM, and a 64GB or bigger solid state drive to house the Core (they recommend the actual music files housed on another drive). For larger libraries or heavy DSP use they recommend a beefier processor (i5/i7) and 8GB RAM. For them large is really large, like 5,000-10,000+ albums. I have a small library (<500 albums local but also use Tidal HiFi) and I have a 7th gen i5, 16GB RAM. When upsampling to DSD it can tax the processor (uses like ~30-40% of one core in my case). So if you're using speakers and doing upsampling, EQing, room correction and crossfeeds, etc. etc. it can get more and more taxing. You can build a nice NUC that should handle almost anything Roon related for like $500 USD.

So is it true then the Core PC for Roon should be most powerful and presumably quietest? I use a silent HDplex PC for everything (I don't do Roon), using AMD 2700x processor which runs very smoothly for upsampling or PCM-->DSD, using 8 cores!

 

[CANiSLAYu]

It runs well on modest hardware, but again depending on the size of your library, but you definitely don’t need anything super fancy or top of the line. A lot of folks use an older laptop and just throw it in a closet. Quiet or not depends on your use case. If you’re going to have it in the same room as your listening setup you might want to. For me, it’s in a different room so I didn’t care. I just have the standard Intel NUC chassis. There are some nice aftermarket fanless cases if you don’t want the fan noise.

 

[Swoti]

Thanks a lot guys. I'm really in the beginning of my music hi-fi planing. I own a t5p2 an audioquest dragonfly and a spotify subscription That's all. So plenty of room for improvement.

 

[CANiSLAYu]

This might come across snobby and I don't mean it that way at all, but Roon would be super overkill for you at this point. Heck it's overkill for me, but what got me hooked was the Audeze DSP and I love techy stuff and supporting small companies like Roon that care about the community and implement changes based on user feedback (it gets better and better with every update). So I was willing to grow into it .

For ~$500 for a nice Roon Core and $120 for a 1 year Roon subscription you'd be way better off just spending the money on different headphones, dac, amp, etc. Much better bang for your buck.

My two cents, don't worry about the software until you're way deeper in the rabbit hole

 

[Swoti]

You are right. But I need something to drive my headphones. I'm not so happy with the smartphone.. Thinking of buying a AK sr15 or a M9 fiio. But for that I would like to have a good quality source like qobuz or tidal. And in addition I want to rip. My CDs.

 

[Swoti]

So if you all have some advices for me? It's incredible when one is starting to read in the different high res sites how many options exist. I'm tending to switch to tidal and I also would like to buy some high res albums I really like . But from. Which site?