Any ideas how would connect Roon to a Devialet Dialog (or directly to a Phantom)?
The Dialog connects directly to my router then wirelessly sends a signal to a Phantom which then plays the music. I would have thought I would have connected to the Dialog as a Network Device and while I seem to have achieved this I have no volume control from Roon and unfortunately volume for Dialog/Phantom is controlled from their software user interface (Spark).
Any one got any ideas?
I don’t have a Phantom but from what I’ve read you can go into one of the phantoms optical via toslink (assuming your source has it)
Would be worth having a read or asking over at Devialetchat - I’m sure there are a few roon users with Phantom there.
As far as I understand Devialet haven’t allowed Rooon to integrate directly to the Phantom, as they want their users to be forced to use the beautiful Spark/Dialogue interface. 
I have a pair of Phantoms and a Dialog as well.
Some options
a Raspberry Pi 2 with a Hifiberry Digi+ and Picoreplayer installed - will do 192/24 optical into the Dialog over a network
Apple Airport Express with toslink output into the Dialog
Use a USB DAC with toslink output into the Dialog
There is really nothing you can do about the Phantom’s volume control. You have to use their Spark App or buy their BT remote
I leave Roon at max volume and control the volume using their remote/app
Thanks mvriogins, I have an Airport Express that is surplus to requirements so will give it ago.
Have Roon connected to an Apple TV vis toslink (can’t find my Airport Express for the moment) however can’t control the volume even from Spark, anu ides?
Ah just got it to work - thanks.
Ross,
Order a Sonicorbiter from Sonore. It hooks into your network allowing you to play all of your files and then the optical output connects directly into the Dialog. You will get 192/24 playback. Sound amazing.
It is a Roon Ready device as well. Andrew is great to work with as well.
Two advantages of the RPi2/Digi+/Picore solution over the Sonicorbiter -
Since both do upto 192/24 lossless, no need to spend more money.
Cheaper maybe, but does not help Phantom owners as out need Toslink out to connect to a Dialog. Also, the Sonore unit uses the same chipset as the Dialog a very high end processor. For my application and wanting to get the highest possible stream available, there was no question. My other question is why would you ever want to use two applications at the same time. Airplay to me is useless when a Roon Ready device specifically made for Roon is superior. IMHO.
The Digi+ on the RPi2 does provide a optical out for the Dialog.
Airplay is used for when you want to play something that’s not possible in Roon - Qobuz, Radio apps, Spotify…
The Rpi2/Digi+ also does 192/24 lossless - same as the Sonore - and the max that the Dialog will accept anyway.
$70 vs $300
Agreed. My only concern is processing. The Sonore uses the same Quad Core 1 Ghz iMX6 Freescale processor (the best available currently) that the Dialog uses. Zero quality loss. What processor does the Rpi2 use?
Another question for you. I am seeing 192/24 on Roon for the right files. But when I play DSD files , say DSD64, Roon converts to 352 and then to 44k? Why would it not downsample to 192? Would like to get your feed back on this. Also do you have a number? Would like to connect and trade ideas about possible DACs that we might use to with Dialog.
Fritz Curtis 817-600-4789
Fritz, in what way are you suggesting the processor is relevant to sound quality?
I like the fact that Sonore uses the same processor as the Dialog. Not saying it helps audio stream but the fact that Sonore wanted to use best processor available for streaming says a lot about the product. I will buy a Rpi2 and will compare. Is the Rpi2 Roon Ready?
the Rpi2 has a 900MHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 CPU
I doubt there is going to be any sound quality difference between the 2 really.
The Sonicorbiter is just some custom software running on a Cubox-i, a small scale computer in the same category as an RPi. It’s not some specifically designed hardware for audio. There is supposed to be a Roon endpoint software package being released for the RPi2 by Roon - so then one can use the RPi2 with RAAT.
I don’t use a DAC with the Dialog - seems pointless to convert digital to analog and then back to digital to feed it into the Dialog which then again converts it into analog for the speakers.
My DSD (I’ve only get a few I ripped from SACD - all are DSD64) files convert to 176.4 (probably something to do with the rate of the original files - out of my area of expertise) Needs to be lower than 192 in my case as that’s the max that the player running on the RPI2 can handle.
Not yet, but soon apparently……
Any issues with the Pi tend to be around the shared network/USB bus rather than processor based…
For volume concerns take the plunge and buy the Phantom volume controller. I was hesitant at first and I just did not want another controller but the more I use it, the more I like it. Occasionally there are some cheap ones on eBay. I bought mine for 100 bucks used. It has a very nice feel to the device. It is connected all the time so does not matter what app , etc you are using. This way the in app volume issues go away. Just a thought.
Yes, it would make little sense to use a DAC with Dialogue.
The Dialogue (as far as Im aware), doesn’t convert anything to analogue though, it just distributes data to the Phantoms as well as running the streaming stuff - the Phantoms themselves each have a DAC onboard, as well as an amp, and are active speakers, so all the D>A happens in the ‘blob’.
Cant help with the sample rate thing - I assume the ways its done is the ‘best path’ for the source at that rate into something with a max of 192, but these things get complex quickly and are well out of my domain, I’m sure someone cleverer like @brian will pop by to explain!
mvrlogins… are you playing DSD files thru Roon to the Phantoms? Mine play files fine but Roon is downsampling all 352k files to 44k and sending this stream to Phantoms. Oddly, the signal chain shows High Quality still and sounds amazing but a little strange. Andrew at Sonore confirmed for me he is seeing the same effect. Sounds like a Roon issue.