Hi all. I’m trying to get an understanding of the practical differences between Roon Ready vs Roon Bridge in this theoretical scenario.
I have two network streamers. Both have I2S and SPDIF outputs. Neither have USB. One runs Roon Bridge software. The other is marketed as Roon Ready.
I have a number of DACS that the streamers can feed. One does PCM only up to 96/24. One can do PCM and DSD64 over DoP. And another can do PCM and DSD256 native or DoP.
Both streamers support the same PCM rates. The steamer running Roon Bridge supports DSD up to DSD512. The Roon Ready streamer supports DSD up to DSD256.
I’ve been conditioned to believe that Roon Ready is better because it offers the best Roon experience. Maximum integration with minimal configuration if you will.
But in this case, what benefits does the Roon Ready streamer offer?
I still have to tell it about the capabilities of the DAC it is connected to don’t I? Just like I have to do with Roon Bridge.
Roon Ready doco talks about bi-directional volume control. But is that possible over SPDIF or I2S?
I must admit that I didn’t think it was possible for a generic streamer to be Roon Ready because it couldn’t have carnal knowledge of the DAC it was connected to and therefore not offer the seamless integration that Roon Ready is about.
So what benefits does my Roon Ready streamer have over my streamer running Roon Bridge?
Many thanks!
Mark
Are you sure it is actually Roon Ready? I’ve seen several manufacturers claim Roon Ready when in fact they are just installing Roon bridge on their product.
There are devices out there that are only streamers and are Roon Ready. There are also DACs that are Roon Ready but with USB out (so you can use an external DAC, essentially turning the device into a streamer only). Regardless, a computer that is connected to a DAC via USB knows about the DAC and it’s specs. That is how Roon is able to auto configure such devices regardless of RR vs Roon bridge. I don’t know how this works with non-USB ports.
As for RR vs bridge in general. I currently use a Matrix Audio i2 in my main listening location. The i2 is a Roon Ready DAC (and I’m using its built-in DAC). It has an auto standby feature that is also configurable via Roon. If this DAC wasn’t Roon Ready (i.e. if it was simply running Roon bridge to provide RAAT support) I don’t think the auto standby settings would be available in Roon. That extra level of integration is what RR provides. Both, of course, provide RAAT support which is the main thing for most people.
The Roon Ready streamer uses a Conversedigital CDM4140 board:Conversdigital
They show a Roon Ready logo on the above page (Aside: How on earth can Roon certify a circuit board as being Roon Ready? I mean they can’t plug it in and test it can they?)
I assumed they meant that their card allows the device it is embedded in to be Roon Ready.
Yes. I now see that is so.
But in the case I described (2 x streamers only - no DAC, no USB output) does the Roon Ready streamer offer a better Roon “experience” than the streamer running Roon Bridge? I suspect not.
Is it true that the only real difference between the two is in their respective software implementations?
Roon Bridge is written in a .net language. For a device to be Roon Ready, the software must be written in C and call the Roon SDK.
Basically the Roon Ready moniker says that the device is capable of taking in a RAAT-stream. So jumping to conclusions Roon Ready is the function of a device running Roon Bridge (which is a software, not a function).
Still, Roon Ready promises functionality, but like you have discovered, all Roon Ready devices are not the same.
Some offer volume control, some don’t. Some are transports only, not taking the attached DAC’s capabilities into account.
All of this politics aside, each device running Roon Bridge needs an operating system as a foundation, and in that lies the drivers and audio connectivity to the DAC.
An example:
A raspberry Pi running DietPi is built on a Linux kernel, and adding audio also adds ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture?). If you then add Roon Bridge to the device it will become able to speak RAAT, hence become Roon Ready. However, the Pi needs a DAC detected by ALSA to report back it’s existence to the Roon Core, thus enabling the possibility to set it as a Zone in Roon. However, any drivers and compatibility with the DAC’s USB receiver and audio capabilities is up to the Linux OS and ALSA versions and flavor.
There is some confusion here. Roon Ready is not just that it uses RAAT this is purely the transport mechanism between core and endpoint, bridges use RAAT to move audio data and a USB DAC to. Core uses RAAT.
Roon Ready means the device in question has Roons proprietary SDK built in to its own operating system and connects to Roon over the network and plays audio to it via the network like UPnP, Spotify connect, AirPlay or Chromecast. It has more of an oversight of the device it’s built into and its capabilities it also has been tested to work as it should. It has input context switching abilities, power control. It can control volume if it’s an all in one amplifier, it can control volume of certain dacs or streamers if the OEM gives access to an inbuilt preamp.
Roon Bridge is purely a Roon software player layer for general operating systems and has no insight into the device it’s installed on only the outward DAC its connected to via USB, spdif, aes are one way only and can’t be known to Roon. it may be also possible with i2s not sure on that interface. You are more open to issues with bridge as not all os are equal nor support all formats in the same way on the same DAC.
Any device that uses an off the shelf Roon capable board such as converse digital or BluOS does not mean it’s Roon Ready out of the box. All devices with these existing streaming cards have to be fully certified as there is more to Roon Ready integration than just playback.
Thanks all for your feedback. It is much appreciated.
Most of the discussion seems to be around USB connection between network bridge and DAC.
I guess I’ll just have to wait and see what practical difference there is between this Roon Ready network streamer Specifications - AirLens – PS Audio (not released as yet) and a Roon Bridge streamer where both connect to a DAC by I2S
