Connecting Nucleus One to DAC without USB or HDMI (ref#AJF5SH)

Support
1

Hi! What’s not quite right with Roon?

· None of the above quite fits

None of the above quite fits

· None of these quite match

Tell us what's going on

· I received my new Nucleus One today and need help setting it up in my audio system.

I needed to replace my ELAC Discovery DS-S101-G streamer so I ordered a Nucleus One.

Upon receipt I discovered I’m unable to plug it into my old beloved DAC, an Enlightened Audio Designs DSP 7000, Series III, since it doesn’t have USB or an HDMI port. I had used my ELAC streamer plugged into my DAC via RCA outputs, which the Nucleus One doesn’t have.

What are my options now? I won’t replace my DAC which I still love. Is it possible to connect the Nucleus One to my ELAC streamer via the USB port or some other way. I much prefer to remove the ELAC streamer from the system. Are there other alternatives?

Thanks for your help.

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2

There are USB-to-S/PDIF (coax and optical) converters:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=toslink+usb+adapter

3

Hi @Ron_Franks,

Thank you for your post.

If you’re determined to use USB, then a USB-to-optical converted as mentioned above will allow for a connection.

Alternatively, this ELAC Discovery series is a Roon Ready device. Is there a reason you’d prefer not to use ethernet?

4

Thank you so much! I see there are both USB and HDMI to toslink and rca type digital cables. I wonder if sound wise one type connection is recommended over the other. I realize digital is digital but we’re dealing with a conversion here. Likewise, if I spend more should I expect higher quality sound? I don’t want to end up degrading the sound at all.

5

It converts digital to digital (only on the hardware transport and protocol level) and the numbers for the sample data on each side will be the same.

But as the Elac is Roon Ready, this is probably the better approach.

6

I’m using Ethernet for Roon and my Synology NAS. I just don’t have a way to connect either to my roughly 35 year old DAC which was previously connected via coax or Toslink. I am currently researching which USB to coax/Toslink converter to purchase.

7

But you can use Roon Ready on the Elac and then output the signal from the Elac to the DAC with Coax/Optical as you did before.

8

Worth checking one thing before you spend anything: a DAC of that vintage usually only locks to 44.1 and 48 kHz on its coax/Toslink input. If you keep the Elac as the Roon Ready endpoint (simplest, no extra box), open that zone’s Device Setup in Roon and set Max Sample Rate to what the DSP 7000 actually accepts, with Sample Rate Conversion on, so hi-res tracks get downsampled by Roon instead of dropping out mid-album. Play something 96 kHz and click the coloured dot to read Signal Path and confirm what is really reaching the DAC. If you do buy a converter, USB to coax is less fuss than pulling audio out of HDMI, and coax generally behaves better than Toslink above 48 kHz. One buying note:

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I’m probably missing something here… why do you need to replace the ELAC?

10

It’s so old that it’s no longer supported. I lost access to Tidal. It still works for my locally stored music but that’s all. It was a good long run. I used it for years and didn’t have to pay a Roon subscription since it came with lifetime access. Well, lifetime arrived. . .

11

Thanks to everyone for the help. I ordered a USB to coax/Toslink converter. It’ll be here tomorrow and I should be good to go. Currently copying files from my NAS onto the SSD I installed in the Nucleus One.

12

For another (more expensive) USB to S/PDIF converter, Schiit makes one called Eitr 2 for $99, but you likely won’t need anything better than what you got already.

13

Hello @Ron_Franks

Glad you got it sorted, and thanks to everyone who pitched in here.

Please let us know once the converter arrives and you have it connected. If anything does not behave as expected, post here and we will pick it up.

14

My converter arrived and was installed. My system is up and running. I transferred all the music from my NAS to the SSD I installed in the Nucleus One. Transferring my entire collection at one time failed a couple times. I then transferred it all to the SSD in batches of 20 files. I thought I was done but I discovered some files were missing. For example, I played some Clash songs and by all indications they were playing. I wasn’t getting sound from my speakers. The spectrum indicators next to the songs were displaying. Additionally, the album art was displaying on my TV. I’ve found several albums like this. I’m not certain but it may just be Tidal songs that are missing. Even if this is the case, why would the Roon database have all the data but not have the actual files? I’m thoroughly confused. I thought I was done with setup and now I don’t know what I have and consequently what I don’t have. Any help is greatly appreciated.

15

I was able to resolve the problem. Since my DAC is ancient and Red Book only, I had to change Up to 96kHz to up 48kHz and Max bits from 24 to 16. Everything works now. Thanks all.

16

The cool thing about Roon is that you can set Muse settings to different conversion settings like that. My main Roon endpoint is a Fosi S3, but that streamer has an optical out. I connected the optical out to my modified vintage Parasound D/AC-1500 which accepts up to 24/96kHz. Now I have two Muse settings: S3 - Default, and S3 - Optical Out (with appropriate settings). When I feel like switching to my vintage DAC, I just select the second Muse setting and I am set.

Enjoy the music!

17

Thank you. I’m glad the converter box I bought to convert from USB to Toslink/Coax had both outputs. I prefer to use the Coax connection but it must have created a ground loop as it made all kinds of funny noises. I plugged the Toslink in instead and it’s dead quiet. I had wanted to plug both in so I could choose one or the other. That’s the way my ELAC Discovery streamer worked. Any thought on if it’s possible to remove the ground loop or whether it’s even worth pursuing?