Airplay vs. wired Ethernet

Squeezbox and Meridian to name but two…but there are several others as well

And where did I mention that they could be used with Roon??

I’m merely asking the simple question…does anyone here KNOW if the Marantz Ethernet connection is limited to Airplay protocols only??..[KNOW, not guesses…as the evidence from the user above points to Airplay only being possible, even when the Ethernet connection is being used]

First, my problem with the Roon remote seems to have been the Energy Saver setting. When I changed that, the Roon remote picked up my wireless network with no problem. This problem had nothing to do with Airplay.

On the other hand, Marantz tech services says the AV PrePro AV8802A only supports Airplay over the Internet connection, and that as has been often correctly said in this thread, is limited to 44.1/16 bit quality. That is a shame given services like Tidal AND/OR in my case connecting into the Marantz through hard-wired Ethernet from another room

However, he says the USB port using a USB stick will support up to 192/24 bit quality, something I have not yet tested. Ditto for Bluetooth from an iPad for example, which sounds a little more dubious, and which I have not tested yet either.

Of course it’s possible to connect a computer directly to the Marantz through a device that conditions the USB signal–since USB is REALLY not designed for high-quality music. Such a device would be, for example, the Alpha USB from Berkeley Audio Design. The Marantz could handle the DAC chores for up to a 192/24 bit stream Marantz tech support says, but an even better choice would be to pass the Alpha USB digital stream to a high quality DAC such as the Alpha DAC Series 2 (or for those with DEEP pockets) through the Alpha DAC Reference Series or some other high-quality DAC.

Thanks for all the thoughtful replies, guys. I think I even learned something!

Cheers, Joe

Look at the Sonore products…these may offer something that you can then input into the Marantz…which I assume will accept up to 24/192 via its SPDIF Coax Inputs??

Well, strange that the Marantz tech services explain that only Airplay is supported.
I am using a Marantz receiver (NR1504) and yes, I’m having the airplay limitation problem streaming only with 44.1/16 bit quality when using Roon software.

But I also have a Plex mediaserver running in the network (on the same physical device as the Roon core is running) and with Plex I am able to stream my high resolution files with 192/24 bit over the network and in this case the airplay protocol is not used.

So, how are the tech guys from Marantz or the guys from Roon going to explain this? I am able to stream my highres files with a free piece of media software and the well paid roon software is not capable of doing so? Why?

And while I’m sending this post and reading more about what is supported I read a roon post on thread Roon Initial Setup explaining the following:

What??? Not supporting DLNA/uPnP ?! Why !?

Because Roon is in the business of delivering a high-quality audiophile experience, and DLNA/uPnP ain’t that. See
https://community.roonlabs.com/t/whats-wrong-with-upnp/2101/3

You can read more about RAAT here. Sometimes in order to do something right you have to give up compatibility with legacy devices or protocols.

Get a use Mac min or Mac air and connect it to a DAC vis USB and use your iPad as the remote. You will get bit-perfect sound through your Marantz

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