How can I practically switch from Meridian Sooloos to Roon?

Hello,
I have a Control 10 which is in the living room and Ensemble which is in the basement connected by a LAN cable. There is a Hitachi 2TB hard disk in the Ensemble and abot 850GB are used. Last week when started the Ensemble it did not work and only started after about 5 trials to switch it on and then only after 10 minutes. Although the hard drive is fairly new and hasn’t run much, I want to avoid the situation that the system breaks down and I will depend on a very expensive Meridian dealer who just suggested to me replacing the Ensemble by the Meridian MC600 for 8000 € or perhaps 5000€ as a trade in.

But then I would still depend on my Control 10 which is also quite old. The HP recline 23 would be much more modern and future oriented and less expensive. My Control 10 is connected to my Hifi system via the Coax digital output and a PS Audio Dac III.

How could i practically switch over to Roon? When I would buy the HP recline PC, where would be my music? Could it be on the same PC on a SSD? Could I connect this PC to the Internet via WLAN? How would I get the music out to my Stereo system? I guess that the HP PC does not have a Coax digital output. What would give the optimal sound quality to get the music from the Core PC to the Analog stereo amplifier?
Then I could sell both Control 10 and Ensemble… Or what would be a better way to switch over?

This may be a good place to start. You probably want to go USB out from the computer to the DAC rather than optical out.

Hi Paul, that is quite ridiculous advice from your dealer. I suspect he has an MC600 he would like to sell. Steer clear I say.

I am an ex-Sooloos user and have run Roon on several PC’s and laptops. I now run it on a small NUC. Plenty of options. All my existing Sooloos/Meridian end points are driven by Roon and I mostly control with an iPad. Performance is terrific.

If you want to stay with Meridian hardware I would recommend either MS200 or MS600 units. The latter performs especially well and I suspect you could find one at a good price currently.

If you can wait then there will be many more options with Roon enabled hardware.

Hi Paul,

Have a read of the Importing content from Meridian/Sooloos Systems topic.
Performing a Sooloos native export to a storage location of your choice is the best way to get your Sooloos library in a format that Roon can use.

The storage location of the exported files could be as simple as a USB connected hard drive, though a lot of us on here use a NAS (I use a intel powered QNAP NAS as that also compatible with Sooloos).

You can run Roon on either a Windows or iOS PC or server that support the OPEN GL3 graphic standard (most modern graphic cards do, but it worth checking).

There is also a headless version of Roon call RoonServer as this does not a user-interface OPEN GL3 is not required. Though would still need Roon (running as a remote) on another OPEN GL3 platform to be able to control it. This again could be a Windows, iOS or OSX or android.

Have a scan in the Frequently Asked Questions category there lots of info in there about Roon.

Hi,
Thank you. Would you recommend a Mac or a PC as the core for the Roon software?
If a Windows 10 PC, is a touch screen better for the Roon software or is a mouse equally good?
Is it correct that Roon can run only in one room at a time (in contrast to Sooloos)?
I will export my library now in the native format to a hard drive and then I should be able to switch any time. May be it is better to wait for “Roon hardware” although it will be more expensive.
Is Roon still connected to Meridian or are they competitors?

Happy New Year!

Paul

The Roon code base is native to Windows, so there is slight performance benefit in running the Roon core under windows. If you want a tablet then the iOS version tends to be a little slicker.
That said the performance of your hardware is the key factor rather than the OS.

Roon works fine with either mouse or touch screen. For desktop use I tend to use a mouse but for the living room I just have a touch screen (no mouse or keyboard).

Roon supports multiple zones (rooms), just like Sooloos. However it can only link zones (same music plays in sync) that are networked connected and by the same manufacture. So for Meridian endpoints this is no problem at all.
[With the advent of RoonSpeakers RAAT, launching soon, many more endpoint devices will be network connected.]

Roon is now a separate company from Meridian, so it is a competitor to Sooloos. However, RoonLabs are licenced to use the Meridian Sooloos endpoint protocol. Hence the support of M audio endpoints.

“Roon hardware” should you wait … are you thinking of the server side or the audio endpoint side?
Roon will not be producing hardware, like Sooloos did, but 3rd party integrators might …
If you’re reasonably competent in using a PC or a Mac you should be fine setting up your own system.

Hope that helps.

Hi Paul,

Run as many rooms as you want…same as Sooloos. (Where did you think it was not so ?)

PC or Mac…stick with what you know. It makes no functional difference.

Personally I prefer a normal PC with mouse and keyboard for setup and general library grooming etc. However, Roon is designed to work fully with touchscreens. For sofa control I use iPad, but, you can use Windows tablets and android devices. Search the forum for many posts about specs required. You may already use iPad with your Sooloos. If not then make sure you get a 64bit model. Again check this forum for specs.

Hope that helps

My Sooloos Ensemble does not work anymore and if repair fails, I would like to change to Roon.
I also have a Control 10, but would this be compatible with Roon?
Could I have the music on an external or accessible 2 TB SSD?
I have an PS Audio DL3 that I would like to use with a Coax input.
Can you please recommend to me the best hardware to run Roon? A HD monitor would be fine but I could also use an Ipad. What device could I use to get music out in my basement? There is a network cable to the basement.
Thank you.

Paul

@Paul_Fisch Hi, I will try to answer your questions

C10 will not work with Roon, sell it.

You could have the music on a 2tb SSD but it is not necessary, I would put it on NAS of your choice in the basement connected to a lan cable.

I would run Roon on a NUC i5 or i7 with an M.2 SSD of 128gb or 256gb and 16gb of memory, you need the performance in the server not the NAS.

This is just my view, others will be along with their suggestions which will be different but no less valid.

Russ

Can you have a S/PDIF (Coax) or optical output on a NUC I7?
I need this to go into my DAC.
And is Wndows or Linux better?

@Paul_Fisch Yes I believe you can depending on the NUC you have?, as for Linux or Windows, that is a personal choice, I use Windows but others on here use Linux and can explain why.

Russ

Could someone perhaps recommend me a state of the art mini PC or Mac where Roon could be installed with an optical or Coax output and a CD drive? A 2 TB SSD should be possible to build into and if possible without a fan?

You don’t have to stick with spdif out from the server into your Hifi like you did with your ensemble. In fact if SQ is important then most would agree you should avoid using spdif from the computer that is running the core.
In meridian terms you can use an MS200 or MS600 to deliver spdif just sitting on your network. We expect these units will be superseded with MQA versions in the coming months/years.
Roon is not a closed system like Sooloos so there are other options with other brands and technologies.

It would help to know what type of setup you want to achieve, how tech savvy you are ( e.g. Using a NAS, networks, Windows or Mac , etc ) and what budget you have in mind.

There really are loads of options.

Yes, sound quality is most important. I do not want to spend unnecessary money. I could run the core in the basement and connect via a netwok cable to something like the MS200… What would you recommend here and what are MQA versions? I would not need an MS600 because I only need a digital output for a separate DAC.

Thank you.

Consensus on HH from those that have both is that MS600 is significantly better than MS200. Well worth borrowing one to test if you concur. Local dealer or maybe a user who could help ?

Failing there are much cheaper DIY options for network streaming devices. Several threads on here via search.

Others may chip in with their own experiences.

I have been using a pair of Meridian DSP5200 speakers in conjunction with an MS600/MC200 Sooloos combo happily for a few years. Switched to Roon may last year and sold off the MC200.

Earlier this year, I added a Raspberry Pi + Digi+ board just for fun & playtime, but to my surprise it actually did not sound any less in comparison to the MS600. I’ve been listening until my ears turned blue, but in the end the MS600 found a happy new home.

It probably helps that the speakers upsample/apodise by themselves, so the apodising qualities of the MS600 were not missed. But if all you need is a quality coaxial S/PDIF signal to your DAC, a Pi/Digi+ combo running Roon Bridge could serve you very well – add in a nice linear PSU and you’re all set for well under 200 bucks. :slight_smile:

And if I would choose a NAS as the storage for the music, which NAS would be most suitable? Can this be equipped with SSDs?
I would need about 2 TB of storage.

Paul

@Paul_Fisch Qnap do a NAS that can run SSD’s I would stick with disks as NAS performance is not an issue.

Russ

If I needed just 2, 3 or 4 TB storage just for Roon then I would use a single USB 3.0 HDD attached either internally or externally to the PC running the core.

A NAS is actually a bit OTT unless you actually want to use some of the other features of a NAS.

Also, for storage, the SSD is also OTT as Ratbert mentions.

Use a fast SSD inside the machine that runs core; but not for storage.

Is ist ok for the sound quality of the Roon core stands next to the Hifi setup?

And is an optical connection or a coaxial better to the DAC?