HDMI Roon Endpoint?

Audio Gear Talk
1

@danny

When I asked if there exists an HDMI Roon endpoint, I think you misunderstood the question.

Of cause most AVR has HDMI, but most of or none of them has HDMI with RAAT I suppose.
And where would that HDMI signal come from ?

A Roon endpoint to me is like the Sonore Rendu.
So what I’m asking, does there exist something similar, but with an HDMI output instead of USB ?

You may call it a Ethernet to HDMI converter supporting RAAT.
As I suppose HDMI is the only way to play multichannel from Roon ?

To be even more specific:
How can I play multichannel via HDMI starting at my SonicTransporter i5, ending up in my Theta Casablanca 4a surround processor?

2

Search HDMI Multichannel using the magnifying glass search icon to the top right. You will find reference to devices such as Raspberry Pi or NUC which have Ethernet inputs, HDMI Outputs and run Roon Bridge.

3

It seems to me a dedicated HMDI Roon endpoint does not exist. Yet ?
You will have to use a computer. Not sure if the Roon brigde is enough as SW, or if the computer must have Roon installed.

From the posts, it seems people in general has some problems having multichannel working.

My intention was to play ripped SACD and DVD-audio.
I’m not sure if this is possible.

Hopefully Sonore will develop a working HMDI endpoint.

4

There are several ways to play multichannel with Roon, for example:

  1. Multichannel AVR/prepro connected with HDMI to a PC with Roon Bridge installed that will speak with your Roon Core (like your SonicTransporter) over the network

  2. Multichannel DAC connected with USB to a PC with Roon Bridge installed that will speak with your Roon Core over the network

  3. All-in-one PC with Roon Core connected directly to a Multichannel AVR/prepro over HDMI

  4. All-in-one PC with Roon Core connected directly to a Multichannel DAC over USB

  5. Multichannel network attached RoonReady endpoint that has a built in multichannel DAC or can be connected to one - aren’t many there but an example would be Merging NADAC and I think also exaSound Playpoint + e38

In my opinion from your description of your setup I would recommend option #1 which will translate to -

SonicTransporter --> network --> NUC/Pi/Laptop/etc installed with Windows and RoonBridge --> HDMI to Casablanca

Hope it helps.

3 Likes
5

What do you mean by “dedicated HDMI endpoint” ? Most devices with HDMI output also have other outputs.

Roon Bridge has all that is necessary for a device to function as a Roon Output. Roon has no additional Output functionality that is not present in Roon Bridge.

There are a range of devices with HDMI outputs across many price points, starting with Raspberry Pi or Allo Sparky SBCs running DietPi or RoPieee through NUC devices running Windows or Linux (including ROCK, if you wanted a Core as well) to more conventional computers like laptops. If it’s got an HDMI port and runs an OS that supports Roon Bridge then in theory it ought to work. But there have been glitches, hence the desirability of searching other users experiences.

6

If you want multichannel audio using HDMI, the only real option is a PC. You can connect a PC using Roon Bridge or have your Roon Core Pc connected to your AVR. I do both, using a silent NUC running ROCK and another silent PC in another location running Windows.

1 Like
7

Thanks all of you. (Didn’t see Ron_Kuper post before after I posted).

Got it. A “noisy” computer, and most likely with W10. And Roon Brigde SW. Maybe a used Mac mini will do. Ropieee + NUC + Linux sounds interesting.

So no dedicated endpoint available yet, similar the Sonore Rendus.

Well I will start with my W10 HTPC and I should easily be able to compare that HMDI out in 2 channels and simultaneously play through the UltraRendu.

I may find the SQ more than good enough :grinning:

8

Just for the record in case somebody searches for HDMI: Lumin does not support multichannel, but our Roon Ready Lumin T1 / A1 / S1 has an HDMI output that supports 2-channel PCM 24/192 and native DSD64 (not DoP) via a dedicated HDMI hardware chip. (We also support DoP64 output to SPDIF.)

9

Just discovered http://www.fidelizer-audio.com/

I will probably start experimenting with this SW and maybe HW, until someone makes a dedicated HMDI MC endpoint.

10

Another Roon Endpoint with 2 channel audio over HDMI Out - Oppo UDP-205

Ethernet (RAAT) --> UDP-205 --> HDMI-Out --> AVR

11

If Roon Brigde could be added to Apple TV :grinning:

Wondering if that is technically possible ?

12

Would a Sonictransporter i5 to microRendu to usb-hdmi converter to AVR work?

13

Have you found such a device ?

14

I was thinking of this from Sonore.

15

That HMDI interface is not HMDI, but i2s.

Apart from that, the UltraDigital is a very nice product. And a very good alternative to Singxer SU-1.

16

Thanks for that, I didn’t realize it was not HDMI compatible but just the same connector. Guess I’d have to use spdif then.

17


One of the contributors to the discussion above uses the HDMI output from his Chromecast to play music. I confess I don’t know if that would address your multichannel needs or not.

18

I have set up a Chromecast HDMI output using Roon which downsamples to 48/44k (and from multi-channel to 2 channel) as that is all the HDMI interface for Google will apparently allow