Sorry if my description of the product stated it was only a DAC and excluded it’s other attributes. It is a streaming DAC and headphone amplifier. Other similar products capture “Roon Ready” I believe?
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Yep maybe my bad I assumed it was just a DAC . Looks to be pretty pimped.
Pimped, yes.
Great? TBD. Local shop has it but until I see Roon Ready not sure. Already have a roon tested product which is problematic.
iFi folks are good. I want to like it.
I agree with others here. If you are not using Roon’s SDK and RAAT protocol, your solution is not acceptable for a $2.5k product; there are so many competing products out there that are doing things properly.
I don’t know if Roon Labs charges OEMs for using their SDK, but I seriously doubt it since it’s in their best interest to grow their support base. Please work with Roon Labs to create a proper Roon Ready solution.
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100% David. Been begging for this too. The iFi Bridge is a worthless hack for anyone who wants the Pro iDSD to function as a stand alone Roon Ready streamer DAC. Please, Jake and iFi, no more hacks. Genuine Roon Ready ASAP. And if there is no plan for Roon Ready, please communicate this clearly.
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The Pro iDSD is now Roon Tested but it is not Roon Ready.
We have developed a workaround that allows for UPnP / DNLA devices (such as the Pro iDSD) to be used on on Roon as a playback devices on a network which can even stream MQA.
Thanks all!
-Jake
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I received one of these yesterday. Initial impression: sounds fantastic! There are so many different settings (all the more so in combination with HQ Player) that it may take a while to settle in to what sounds best.
In combination with an ultraRendu, it seems to integrate well enough with Roon. I’m not quite sure yet what it does with an MQA signal. I also haven’t figured out how to get DSD remastering, with upsampling to DSD 512 or higher, without also getting any filters. The knobs are a little confusing in that respect (and the user manual very terse). The OLED display is terrific.
The biggest shortcoming I see so far is the remote, which only controls volume. Without even a mute button, or power on/off, it’d be all but useless for me. The iCan volume buttons are a waste of space if you don’t also own that device.
My work-arounds for iFi Roon connectivity and full(er)-featured remote control:
- Feed the iFi Pro with an ultraRendu (or other Roon-ready Network Audio Adapter)
- “Group” the ultraRendu with a Bluesound Node 2i (with or without a connection from Node audio output to an amp )
- Connect the iFi Pro RCA/analog output to my integrated amp’s “loop” input (with no loop output line from the amp)
- train the Bluesound to recognize the amp’s IR remote signals
The amp is a Peachtree Nova 150, which has a decent IR remote. I also have an AppleTV remote with a Sideclick device trained to replicate some of the Peachtree signals.
So, from the Peachtree IR remote, a Roon controller (laptop, iphone), or the AppleTV mounted into the Sideclick, this now provides remote control over TV, Bluesound, and Roon (volume, mute, pause, skip, preamp inputs). A 24" flat screen TV provides Roon display (or AppleTV content), with switching programmed into the Sideclick remote.
The Peachtree remote has a “loop” button; this allows for rapid A/B toggling between TV and HiFi sound, or between the iFi output and the Bluesound/other device output.
BTW, the Sideclick is a fantastic, inexpensive way to expand your ATV remote functionality (and also make it harder to lose in the couch cushions).
Jake can you share the workaround please?
Hey all,
Just an update for an old thread, here is the workaround I previously mentioned:
Kind regards,
Jake
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Hey Jake, any news regarding Roon Ready, will it come sooner or later?
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Any news on this?
It was never advertised as ROON Ready. I directly connect via USB to Roon Core. I don’t think it will be ever ROON Ready anytime in near future…
All I know it is it works perfectly with my Roon Nucleus +. Officially it’s not Roon ready because I asked the manufacturer, who confirmed that is the case. However, do not let this dismay you. I set up my IFi Pro iDSD and, when asked to identify this DAC by Roon, clicked on the Lumin icon. Roon accepted this without batting an eyelid, and ever since has played beautifully, flawlessly. Couldn’t be happier. So it is ready for Roon even if not Roon ready.
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Roon Ready only applies to network devices. iFi Pro iDSD, in the case of Roon, is not a network device…
What does that mean, “not a network device”?
In the case of Roon, that would be a device that is meant to communicate with Roon via WiFi or Ethernet.
OK, thanks. This device, the iFi Pro iDSD, communicates with Roon via ethernet. It’s on a LAN, which includes the Roon Nucleus and my laptop.
The Nucleus is the Core and it stores music I download via the laptop and can playback via the iFi iPro through the hifi audio system.
So it works, just fine, whether Roon Ready or not.
The only difference is that Roon doesn’t recognize the iDSD, as it would if it were Roon Ready, but it does see there is some iFi device present, which I tell Roon is a Lumin, and then everybody is happy.
My only point is that not being Roon Ready doesn’t prevent it working 100 percent with the Roon Core on a network.
No, no it doesn’t. If it communicated with Roon via Ethernet, then it would, by definition, be Roon Ready.
I have an iFi Pro iDSD. It’s my main DAC. So, unlike many other things, in this case I know what I’m saying.
If you are usng a Lumin to stream, that is what is Roon Ready.
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OK, Slim, thank you for explaining that, but let me ask you how you use your iFi Pro iDSD with Roon, since we both use the iFi Pro iDSD as our main DAC.
In my case, it is my only DAC, and it works fine with Roon via ethernet, even if it is not Roon Ready.
It shows up in the Roon Zone Settings as:
iFi (by AMR) HD USB Audio
but because there is no icon for this or any iFi device in the Roon database, I select the Zone Icon for Lumin, even though there is no Lumin connected to my system. And it works perfectly. So, even if it’s not Roon Ready it still communicates with Roon via ethernet.
Here’s a pic; Nucleus is three shelves below iFi Pro iDSD, connected by ethernet
I hope that explanation is helpful.
And I’d really like to hear how you have set set this up to work with Roon.
thanks
David
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