Congratulations! KEF LS50W & Roon 269 - Direct to ETH!

jon_michaels · October 19, 2017, 4:36am

I can’t stop listening. I should be sleeping.

JnanM · October 19, 2017, 5:51am

Node2 can help play Spotify ?
Also you could experiment introducing itube2 in the path - just saying

Pim · October 19, 2017, 9:03am

I’m in the same 'boat as you but for three more days and in the desert…bugger!

Pim · October 19, 2017, 9:11am

Yep. That works. Devialet did this when Roon over AIR became available and now I’m a lifetime Rooner. Happy as!

Alexandru_Capsa · October 19, 2017, 5:46pm

LS50W can play Spotify as well since the last update. Tubes are not for me…

f_cba · October 19, 2017, 8:18pm

Quick note to salute you all. A simple question from this no computer audio guy: in your experience, what exactly is the very best way to run Roon on the LS50 Wireless now I don’t need ultraRendu anymore? I had just an Oppo player connected through optical input for cd listening while Roon was coming to them. You can assume I don’t have PC, NAS or even a hard drive available to it yet. I mean since I must buy whatever I need I want to do it right. Thank you so much.

Rik_Carter · October 19, 2017, 8:52pm

My advice would be to buy an intel i5 NUC and install ROCK on it. Very straightforward. Check out the ROCK thread here on the community forums for more info.

nquery · October 19, 2017, 9:00pm

+1. It’s all very simple now if you so choose …

R_Lacroix · October 19, 2017, 9:14pm

My Roon core runs on a fanless and headless linux based mini computer that is always on (in my case a SonicTransporter). It is stuck away next to my router/switch and connected to my network via ethernet.
My music is on a Synology NAS, but you could also put it on a HDD or SSD and attach that via USB to the SonicTransporter. In my case my music was already on the NAS before I started using Roon, so I left it that way.
Finally, I control Roon (and my ls50 wireless) via their IOS apps on my Ipad or Iphone.
Very pleased with SQ and the ease of use of this setup.

f_cba · October 19, 2017, 10:42pm

Thank you so much, guys. I’ll check all this and let you know. So much things to learn about computer audio.

JnanM · October 20, 2017, 4:39am

I picked NUC i7. Super nimble fluidic Roon operation. Do all (full dsp, up sample, equilizer et al) but super Nimble.

greg_easley · October 20, 2017, 1:00pm

I’m not seeing this new firmware on the Kef website. Can someone provide a link or instructions for finding it? Have an Ethernet cable plugged into the speaker, so it’s ready to go.

John_Aiello · October 20, 2017, 2:06pm

I don’t have the link handy but it’s the US KEF website and it’s under support. Also you need a USB cable and not ethernet. Hopefully you have a Windows laptop or machine. The Mac Updater has caused several people to brick their speakers.

greg_easley · October 20, 2017, 2:21pm

Thanks. Only see the 9-Oct-17 firmware, and the release notes don’t mention Roon (only Spotify Connect).

Is that the right version?

Also only have Macs here so might not risk the upgrade until issue is resolved.

JnanM · October 20, 2017, 2:37pm

That’s the correct one.
MacBook worked smoothly for me.

Rik_Carter · October 20, 2017, 3:56pm

I too had to update the Kef firmware to use the direct ethernet connection. This was using High Sierra Mac OS and I had no problems at all. Is it possible that people are losing WiFi connection during the update? My Kefs are using ethernet for internet connection and directly connected a USB from my MacBook into the Kefs.

ben · October 20, 2017, 5:33pm

Just to hopefully make everything clear here: Roon support for the LS50W requires wifi firmware version 1.1.4 or higher. This is the currently most recent version, and is also the version that added Spotify support.

DarwinOS · October 20, 2017, 9:08pm

I did the same with both firmware updates without issue from a Mac using a usb-c to usb b cable.
I have seen Windows users also complain on this forum about updates bricking their speakers so its not specific to one OS.
I had seriously considered selling my Kefs because they failed one and had to be replaced but I can’t believe how good this sounds I’m playing tons of Tidal. I get it for $11 something a month as a veteran which is a great bargain. Now all we need is MQA

Rik_Carter · October 20, 2017, 9:31pm

Now I’m pretty sure that I’ve never been able to use the standard transport keys on my MacBook to start/stop/volume control with Roon but since the latest update and streaming direct to Ethernet it appears to now work!

Lars_Erik_Ringen1 · October 23, 2017, 10:58am

I’m currently away from my hifi. But in a couple of days I’m back at my home, and can`t wait to see if my Auralic Aries Mini with Linear PSU and Wired4Sound Recovery Reclocker is being put up for sale in the near future.

I`m really stoked to check out both the functionality and sound quality of the LS50W room capability.

This tread is making me really hopeful.