Most inexpensive ALL-IN-ONE roon amplfier

oradba69 · October 17, 2019, 3:17am

Are they Roon end-points? Dont see it on their website.

Fazal_Majid · October 18, 2019, 1:37pm

Not the OP, but Google spyware devices are not allowed in my home.

Bill_Janssen · October 18, 2019, 4:29pm

The Nest Home Mini has a hardware switch to disable the microphones, if you’re feeling nervous about Google spying on you. They still play music just fine without the microphones, though you can’t use the voice commands to say “Pause”, “Resume”, “Next”, and/or “Previous”, or adjust the volume with your voice, as you can if the microphones are enabled.

Phil_Wright · October 18, 2019, 8:37pm

Have a look at the Arcam Solo Uno - a tiny all in one that does Roon and outputs 25w a channel. I talked to the Arcam guys at the Cornwall Show last weekend but couldn’t persuade them to let me pinch theirs .

It was a static display so I don’t know what it sounds like. I guessed £1500-2000 given its build quality, design and features. Its £599. If it sounds half decent it will fly off the shelves. Hoping to get one soon-ish for review (not sure if it’s actually available just yet). It will be on display this coming weekend at the Ascot Show I believe (for those in the UK)

Edit - not sure if it’s RAAT or uses Airplay for Roon. If the latter I don’t think it changes anything

Phil

David_Snyder · October 18, 2019, 9:08pm

Another +1 for the HiFiBerry AMP2. Works best with the 18V power supply. Here’s an idea list that I put together for this project: http://a.co/ayGYwKl. It’s about $175, but that includes speaker cables. I don’t know why the RPi3 B+ is $50 now…was selling for ~$37 for a long time. Perhaps they are trying to push the RPi4? Not sure, but the RPi3 B+ is better for this application. The RPi4 will be too hot!

Update: I see that @itzlbritzl wants to avoid DIY stuff, so what I proposed, while inexpensive, may not meet his requirements for simple and stylish. It’s a good question, but I can’t think of anything commercially available that I would consider “inexpensive” (under, say, $300).

MenloBob · October 18, 2019, 9:16pm

Some Chi-Fi Class D amp with a Chromecast Audio. Get the CCA’s while you still can…

jmvdv · October 18, 2019, 11:05pm

That looks really nice!

Andrew_Graham · October 19, 2019, 12:45am

Naim Uniti Atom. Ticks all the boxes.
If you wanna spend more get the Star or Nova. But they’re a bigger footprint.

ged_hickman1 · October 19, 2019, 5:36am

The title says “most INexpensive” £600 to £2000 units really can’t be classed as such…

Geoff_Coupe · October 19, 2019, 6:37am

There’s no mention of the Arcam Solo Uno being Roon Ready (and a search for “Roon” on the Arcam site returns zero results), so I think we can be fairly certain that it doesn’t support RAAT. Pity, it looks good, but a missed opportunity by Arcam. I’ll stick to my RPi + IQaudIO rig. Their cases are also appealing to me in a Blake’s 7 sort of way.

Edit: I thought I might contact Arcam to point out the missed opportunity, but they don’t seem to have an email address for general enquiries (only press & PR), so snail mail it shall be…

David_Snyder · October 19, 2019, 2:52pm

I’m glad you said this. I was thinking the same thing while reading responses in this thread.

Ross_Frank · October 19, 2019, 2:53pm

I use a blue sound powernode2 as a one box complete Roon endpoint solution with separate speakers in 1 room of a system. It sounds very good, even compared to my main system endpoint, and it is definitely Roon ready.

Stephen_Meyers · October 20, 2019, 12:26am

The Arcam Solo Uno is a Chromecast device, thus supports Roon, but limited to 24/96. If you check the Roon Knowledge Base it includes info on compatibility of Chromecast devices.

Geoff_Coupe · October 20, 2019, 11:42am

I’d rephrase this slightly: Roon supports Chromecast devices, thus it will support the Arcam Solo Uno. It’s not Roon Ready though, because the device doesn’t understand RAAT, which is a prerequisite for this. And some of us consider RAAT to be a superior technology, but that’s just our opinion, of course.

wklie · October 20, 2019, 3:08pm

Right. Roon Ready is generally preferred.

AlexderK · October 20, 2019, 6:03pm

I use an Apple airport express 2, it is a Roon endpoint and easy to configure. Shure, you need a f.e. Small class d amp, but there are good little amps out there. It is discontinued, but you find the Apple airport express 2nd version easily online and used for 50 euro. And it does AirPlay 2.

Phil_Wright · October 20, 2019, 9:46pm

Geoff

I’ll contact the chap I spoke to at Cornwall

Phil

CrystalGipsy · October 20, 2019, 9:58pm

Yes but not all ChromeCast devices report their capabilities properly. My Naim Atom can support 96/24 via ChromeCast but Roon only sees.it capable of 48/24.

Phil_Wright · October 23, 2019, 12:33pm

Geoff

I’ve had a response…“currently, it’s via Airplay but expect ARCAM to implement RAAT at a future date”

Personally I don’t see it using Airplay as an issue in practise at this price level - sure it restricts hi-res formats so no mega-upsampling etc. If it gets the basic 16/44 sound right then I’d be happy. Hopefully I’ll be able to see for myself soon.

Oh and I sent a link to this thread to their PR chap, so your comment will get through

Phil

Geoff_Coupe · October 23, 2019, 3:41pm

Thanks very much Phil. Appreciated.