Multichannel endpoint with HDMI

Any update please?

John, I sent you a PM a couple of days ago on this subject. Did you not receive it?

I was thinking to set up a Roon solution, using a fanless pc (8600t i5 cpu, 16 gb ram, couple of ssd), connected via hdmi to an Anthem Avm60, in order to have a multichannel solution using even the Anthem multichannel room correction.
Any thought or suggestion?

I am currently using a fanless Windows 10 PC (nuc7 with 8650u i7, 16 gb ram, and an internal SSD) with an Anthem AVM60 and can confirm it works fine for both stereo and multi-channel via HDMI. A couple things I’ve learned in the process:

  • You probably already know this, but the AVM60 doesn’t have native support for DSD. So if you have any DSD, make sure your “DSD Playback Strategy” setting is “Convert to PCM” or else Roon won’t play those tracks. See the Knowledge Base for details about this setting.
  • My NUC has a driver issue related to HDMI and high-res formats. Hopefully, your PC won’t have this issue, but I had to use ASIO4ALL instead of WASAPI due to the “initialization” errors. I detailed this workaround here if you need it: ASIO4ALL Config
  • My NUC is on 24/7 (since it’s also a media server), but I discovered it doesn’t re-establish the HDMI connection after the AVM60 is turned off/on. This seems to be a pretty common problem with HTPCs. The solution seems to be an EDID emulator (Dr. HDMI, etc.) that tricks the PC into thinking the receiver is always on.

Hope this helps.

I am impressed with the amount and quality of the information in this thread. I ran a mini thru hdmi to my prepro for a while, and I understand the obstacle course. Nice job, guys!

Thanks so much Nate for the informations you kindky gave me.
Much appreciated.
I thought using the fanless pc I’d like to buy as a media server too, so I guess that Win 10 is mandatory.
Are you using Kodi?
Some people recommend to use Rock, but in this case I should setup a dual boot for using Kodi or another mediaplayer, so I guess that Win 10 is the correct choice.
Rebooting in a different OS without video and keyboard could be difficult…

I am using Plex just because I had already tried it at a friend’s house and was familiar with it. After getting a taste of Roon, the family was giving me grief about needing a similar video solution so it was a rushed decision and unfortunately I don’t have any insights about Kodi and other servers.

I know Windows has a bad reputation but I’ve had no issues with Win 10 Pro. It’s basically an appliance for me that I can run 24/7. Yes, there are daily updates (for security mostly), but you can schedule them to run late at night so it doesn’t interfere with any critical listening sessions.

I don’t have any experience with ROCK, so I can’t comment about that. But I did try AudioLinux, and I didn’t notice any difference between it and Win10 for HDMI audio. So I’m not sure if the extra complexity of a dual boot will gain you much. But at least ROCK is free so you try it and decide for yourself if you are curious.

I guess I will stick to Win 10, life has to be easy…
:smiley:

Everybody is saying that the Roon endpoint needs to be separated from the core, but I see many people using a direct hdmi connection.
It eludes me why it separation should be better, but maybe it’s just me.

The endpoint can certainly be done is the same box as the core. The only reason to separate is if you are running the core on a noisy PC with a fan, you don’t want that in the room where you are listening. However, there are many dead silent fanless, SSD based boxes that make no noise, so there is no other reason I know of to separate the endpoint from the core.

Thanks Karl, the path is clear now…