Merits of Cubox-i, Sonicorbiter vs Mac Mini

Audio Gear Talk
1

Hi All

I am new to the Roon world and currently run my setup on a single computer (mac mini) - which I have read is not optimal for sound quality / convenience.

At the mo’ my mini is connected to the DAC via the W4S Recovery and Curious USB Link.

After spending time on this forum and checking out the Roon recommended documents I am investigating options to possibly use either a Cubox-I or SOSE, for optimal sound quality ( I know a micro rendu would be the best approach but my budget does not reach this)

My questions are:

  1. How far away from my DAC should I try and locate the computer, to gain sonic benefits ( I still need it fairly close as my setup is all in one room and it will need to be attached to my monitor…)
  2. Other than ease of setup is there any audible benefits to the SOSE over the Cubox-I?
  3. Currently when listening I use the remote to select music and the mini resource use is minimal - will one of the above devices help audio quality further?
  4. Am I way off the mark? If I am - what should I do?

Cheers in advance!

2

Are you using HQPlayer?

SJB

3

Hi John. No just straight Roon output.

4

It’s not that I can offer any great insight it’s just NAA is generally used to refer to a HQP enabled remote device, A Roon bridge is technically what you’re looking for.

My instinct is that you are not probably going to get a whole lot of uplift with either SOSE or Cu-box. If your space is limited and the mac mini is basically just being used for sound output anyway, you may be better staying put.

I certainly don’t think there is any benefit to the SOSE for just running a roon bridge as the hardware is identical and roon bridge is roon bridge.

However I’m sure others here have direct experience and can give us the benefit of their experience.

SJB

1 Like
5

Thanks! Title updated

6

It doesn’t need to be far away for a sympathetically built Bridge device to reap benefits. Mine is a NUC based device in a sealed passively cooled enclosure so there is no rf radiated. As such the Beaglebone based Roon Bridge is audibly better even sat on top of the NUC. I use a W4S RUR as well.

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7

Thanks Henry. Can I ask what made you choose a beaglebone bridge? Also what parts did you use and are they easily sourced in the UK?

8

Hi, my Beaglebone was sourced from Farnell Element 14. They had thousands of Blacks in stock plus hundreds of the industrialised version. I chose it because I didn’t want wifi and it was a better technical solution that the Pi 2. However the Pi’s are cheaper and any open source product is only as good as the people who involve themselves with it. Obviously if you go the Pi route you will get many more responses to request for help or information. All you need is the board, a case, a flash card and a psu. Connectivity is Ethernet in, USB to your DAC or USB bridge.