At the moment I’ve an Roon Bridge/Endpoint running on Win10. But maybe with Linux there is some advantages in SQ or whatever.
So, I will give it a try on a separate HD, but what is the best (headless)Linux distro to use? For example; AudioLinux, Arch, AudioPhile-Linux or maybe ROCK?
(Hardware: i7, 16GB, ssd, SoTM usb card etc)
If you search the forum, using “Linux distro” for example, you will see various discussions and recommendations.
Take a listen to the Euphony OS. They offer a 30 day trial so worth a go even if you have no intention of spending that kind of money. And the trial runs on USB so no need to swap HDD,s. I am comparing it to ROCK which works very well.
Is it worth $250 more than ROCK?
Good question, although it sounds good.
But ROCK as an endpoint doesn’t support that much hardware configurations. For example SoTM, PPA or Jcat pci cards.
A Roon endpoint should ideally be a SOC rather than a full blown pc. Install dietpi and you’re sorted.
But with a SoC/Dietpi/Rpi the output (usb) is not always the best one. Maybe I will try the USBrige from Allo sometime but at the moment I don’t think it’s better than the current PC configuration.
Are you buying just the software?
Support?
Development driven purely by SQ?
Hardware outside the NUC ecosystem such as PCI connected devices?
I am playing Devils Advocate here because as I explained elsewhere I am a ROCK devotee and will not rush into swapping it for something else. However the OP asked for the suggestions and the Euphony trial was an easy to try option seeing as it runs off a USB stick.
Can’t those things be said of ROCK also and it’s free and designed for Roon. So a comparison to software that costs $250 to that can also run Roon would be nice.
No worse than a typical pc. If you’re concerned with noise you can decouple the usb power from the pc by using a usb cable that provides a data feed only.
Yeah, but it may not be terrible. See these measurements (for a $50 Roon endpoint):
I see referencing this post caused some forum upset in the past, so please avoid it if you feel it may tickle your triggers.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised by a Pi/Ropieee/DigiOne endpoint. I understand the DigiOne Signature has separate power supply options to further reduce noise, but the standard DigiOne is a solid solution.
Hopefully there will be an USBridge signature soon.
The pc is not a standard one. All the components are powered from a linear psu, there are extra filters and the SOtM usb pci-exp. and of course a nice fanless chassis.
At the moment running a highly tweaked windows 10.
I have had Euphony on my endpoint since the weekend. I’ll switch back to ROCK in a few days and post my findings.
Good results mentioned with AudioLinux for a Roon endpoint in a thread over at Computeraudiophile, although in other configurations. Read from this post on https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/30376-a-novel-way-to-massively-improve-the-sq-of-computer-audio-streaming/?do=findComment&comment=886576
Here’s another, measuring another SOC:
I definitely will try/build a SoC one day to compare it with the pc, but for now I have this hardware setup and I’m trying to get the best SQ out of it.
These are all very interesting suppositions and recommendations, but I doubt whether anyone not possessing a golden ear could tell the difference in SQ between any of them.
I know people like to accessorize, whether any more benefit than momentary amusement is accrued, has been a subject of much discussion on this forum.
Yes, the digione (which I went with because I wanted the SPDIF BNC connection) is fantastic value for money and a very very stable endpoint.