I have tried to find out myself the answer but honestly, I have been not able to
For a reasonable price I have bought a ProJect S2 Ultra, Roon tested item
This “digital previous” needs a DAC to convert to analog the music files, As per my setup I am using a stereo amplifier so I need to do this conversion.
The main question is if i can plug any DAC (I was considering a Topping D10s) or the DAC itself has to be Roon tested or approved.
For being honest I have spent more money than I was considering to spend, so I have to find out a working DAC as a starting one in the meantime I can afford a better / expensive one. Topping D10s has a fair relation price/quality to me.
Maybe get a DAC from Pro-Ject which will match the streamer and look good stacked. I believe the DAC Box S2 or the Pre Box S2 Digital (Roon tested and also has a headphone out) are in the same category.
Your answer is so logical and I must admit I am asking this as I have no budget for the Project DAC I would purchase (now) and S2 Ultra is an expensive toy-for-nothing if you do not plug an USB DAC
There will be the day I plug a Project DAC or any other interesting. Let’s say D10s is the less bad option for my economy, nowadays
One of them is about £250 and the other £350. You may be able to get one off eBay.
You may also want to look at the iFi Zen DAC, about £130 on Amazon. This one has always had very good reviews and comes with headphone out which is a nice feature to have.
No need to get a Pro-Ject DAC. In fact, I owned the Pro-Ject Stream S2 Ultra + Pre Box S2 Digital and returned both because the Pre Box S2 Digital (DAC) had issues playing MQA files. Just get any Topping DAC and it would work just fine as Roon end point. If you can, get the Topping E50 which is a really good DAC. I have a Topping E50 fed by a Bluesound NODE via Coaxial and it works great with Roon.
I have purchased for a reasonable price a Topping D10s. Hope combination with ProJect S2 Ultra is worth enough as pleasure listening, which is my main goal.
Sorry for asking something maybe too explained, but I guess this only works if you are using a computer / Raspberry / Rock devide directly connected to the DAC itself. Else, there must be a “bridge” to let signal arrive to DAC as this ProJect Stream S2 Ultra is, am I right?
Yes, you are correct. The Pro-Ject Stream S2 Ultra is a Roon Bridge so any DAC attached to it would work the same way as if you plug the DAC into a Windows PC or Mac computer and run Roon app on it. Or with a Raspberry Pi running RoPieee.
I have Stack audio link which has the same sw/hw better case than project ultra. Just rember you need sometimes (2 out of 5 my best guess) when you switch DACs. It is not plug and play per-se.
I have the Stream Box S2 ultra and the Pre Box S2 Digital.
You can add any DAC with USB input, I had it feeding my Bifrost 2 for a while. Topping DS10 should do fine although I think this streamer deserves better. Its a quality streamer with clean sound, I would not match it with a Topping DS10 myself as it might be to much on the lean side. I would match it with a decent warmer/fuller DAC like the Topping D90SE or Bifrost 2. If on a budget maybe look at SMSL SU-9 or ifi zen dac v2 or a schiit modi for a good sonic match.
The Pre Box S2 Digital I bought because I was curious for MQA and it was one of the cheaper MQA devices at the time. It plays MQA just fine but you need to set your settings right. The headphone amp is nothing special, a bit to weak for a 250 ohm headphone.
should not be that complicated way