I have successively installed Roon/Tidal on my iMac which is playing through my PS audio direct stream dac. I would like to now expand it to play through my Cambridge audio stream magic 6 network player unit in another room which is connected to the same router. Can someone please walk me through the steps to achieve this using the Roon bridge or zone software?
Hi Warren,
Unfortunately, in order for Roon to connect over the network to the Cambridge unit, it requires either that Cambridge upgrade the firmware to be Roon Ready or that you have access to the operating system in the unit and it is running on hardware supported by Roon Bridge.
User access to the operating system is most unlikely, so asking Cambridge about their Roon Ready plans is the best course to make that happen.
In the meantime, you can use a Raspberry Pi or CuBox, load Roon Bridge onto it and have it act as a network endpoint to Roon connecting to the Cambridge by USB or Toslink (CuBox). You’ll find guides to installing Roon Bridge onto those devices in the Audio Products/Raspberry Pi section of this forum.
Sonore make a commercial version of the CuBox with all the software installed (SonicOrbitor SE) or their microRendu is the best Ethernet to USB connection I know of.
Thanks Andrew, I read the guide re installing roon bridge using raspberry pi and it is way over my head. Does anyone offer a fully assembled unit using raspberry pi that is ready to go and and has a digital out?
Thanks in advance, Warren
This might be what you are looking for.
http://www.sonic.build/product-page/2bffe434-767e-058d-3478-9b48407ea938
There was a review here on the version with a DAC hat but it should give you an idea how easy they are to set up.
The sonic.build in the linked article includes a DAC and has RCA analog outputs whereas Warren might prefer to get a digital signal into the Cambridge unit and either use the DAC in it or another DAC further down the line.
So the first thing I’d like to check is what digital ins the Cambridge Audio Stream Magic 6 supports. I think this WhatHiFi review makes it clear it will support 24 bit 192kHz asynchronous USB played from a computer. Cool.
In that case Warren, all you really need is a Pi 2 or 3. Ethernet in and USB to the Stream Magic 6. If the HiFiBerry Roon Bridge image works with that setup, then it will be as simple as burning it to a micro-SD and connecting everything. But I’m not sure that it does. Let’s ask Rene (@RBM) if he knows.
If that won’t work, then we can either guide you through a Diet-Pi setup for Roon Bridge, or reccomend a Digi+ HAT (sits on top of the Pi) which will enable the Roon Bridge image to work and provide RCA coax or Toslink digital out.
I have a very soft spot for Cambridge gear as my first stand alone DAC was the DACMagic 2 that I modded the life out of 
.
Sorry I guess I was not clear enough. My first link was to a Pi with a DIgi+ Link.
The second link is to an article about one with a DAC which you are right is not what Warren is looking for. I just linked that so he could get a feel for how easy these products are to set up.
Sorry for any confusion.
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My apologies Phil, I missed the first link which is exactly the unit Warren would want if he prefers to pay for a preassembled and preconfigured device. I think it is fully turnkey with the coax or Toslink out (but not USB).
Many thanks to Andy and Philr for all the info. I will order the sonic build as it is exactly what I need.
Warren
Hi Warren,
You might also consider the Sonore SonicOrbitor SE which has the better CuBox hardware and a well maintained and flexible software app.
Andrew,
Which do you think would be better for my application–the sonic orbit or the sonic build. They are about the same price
Warren
It looks like it should be the sonic orbiter since it apparently has the better cu box
Yes if you don’t need Wifi are are connecting everything via Ethernet cables to routers then the sonicorbiter is probably the way to go.
If you are looking at USB connection to the streamer then I would choose the SOSE because the CuBox has a better Ethernet implementation than the Pi (which shares Ethernet bandwidth with the USB bus). I used a CuBox in my system before getting an mR and had no issues with it up to DSD128.
I have also now used the SonicOrbitor software (the mR uses it) and it’s a good flexible regularly updated application, configurable remotely using a browser on an iPad.
If you wanted RCA coax to your streamer, however, then the SOSE doesn’t have that. It has got Toslink, but people have had issues with the narrow port and some thicker cables; solved with an inexpensive connector.