I’d like to know if some of you experience the synhronisation of multiroom streams to different end points supporting different technoligies.
Typically my set up would be
Roon core on my QNAP
Remote control on Android or iOS device
Different types of end points :
A certfied Roon end point (like a Naim receiver for instance)
A upnp/dlna active speaker
A Chromecast Audio
Additional questions, I heard there was a limitation in grouping (or using?) multiple Chromecast Audio end point but didn’t really understood what was the limiation exactly…
Roon can’t send to upnp without using a device such as Sonores upnp bridge or some have successfully used a upnp plugin for Logitech Media Centre which like the bridge from Sonore allows the upnp device to advertise itself as a Squeezebox so it can work with Roon. You can o my group RAAT with other RAAT devices same goes for all of the supported endpoints. So Squeezebox can only group with other squeezeboxes, Chromecasts with other Chromecasts etc.
Chromecasts Audio pucks or other Chromecast audio devices can be grouped using Google home. You cannot group the Chromecast TV dongles I believe as they don’t support the feature in Google Home and they are also.limited to 48k/24 where the audio puck can go up to 96khz. Some have had issues with 3rd party Chromecasts devices not being able to handle 96khz so its device dependant. Also some have had issues playing out 96k when the pucks on wireless.
Well, that’s what I’m doing right now (LMS on the NAS + upnp & chromcast pluggins) but I find this quite cumbersome, unstable and unelegant. I also have issues to play in synch when upnp and chromecast audi are grouped (works find with multiple upnp devices and multiple chromecast audio but not when I mix both).
My hope was that roon would take care of all that complexity for me and be able to synchronize all my end points whatever streaming protocol they use…
Purchasing such a pricy SW and still have to tweak it using bridges, 3rd party apps, pluggins and other linux guru tricks is not really an option for me. Would loose all the beauty and stability of the roon solution.
Looks like I have to find another solution…
Thanks again and if someone has an idea I would be happy to hear it.
Use roon certified devices that use the raat protocol, that is what roon is designed to use. All of the other devices are just nice to haves.
Most people seem to use raspberry pi devices with DAC hats for cheap multiroom. They use raat so can be grouped via roon.
I understand I can choose my devices to match Roon, But my question was rather to understand if roon would be a solution for my devcies
Furthermore I’m not good enough at Linuk to set up, configure and maintain Raspberry based streamers and DACand other picoplayers etc.
Actually it is not about having cheap devices, what I’m looking at is to be able to synchronize reveivers from different prices and brands using the following solotions/protocols : roon, upnp, dlna, chromecast audio (and possibly) Airplay. I’m not interested in Sonos, Heos and DTS Paly-Fi for instance.
Then the answer is no
I too have a mix of u pnp, sonos, naim, Pi, Amazon, Sony, Android players.
There is no universal app that will synch all of the various protocols nor will there ever be, far too niche and a support nightmare. The roon approach of giving an approach to multiple types will be the best you can get.
We all have to decide if we will live with what we have in a piecemeal fashion or gradually replace some or all of it.
Ged is right there is no one solution and Roon is about as close as you can get. I am slowly getting all my listening zones to be RAAT. I have two upnp speakers that I cant use at all, I tried with upnp plugin for LMS but Roon sends the PCM raw which they can’t handle. I currently use a Chromecast into it via its line in and its powered by the same speakers usb port. But this is going to be replaced by homemade streaming speaker I am putting together with a centre speaker from an AV set and a pi and amp hat.
The DIY options are fairly simple if you go with Ropieee to run them . It’s Almost plug and play and pure Roon.
What shame Audio industry players can’t get around the table and define a standard as MPEG does for multimedia or TV manufacturers with HD or 4K.
The battle should be only at receiver/player level, not transport protocol level. With this type of attitude we end up by having mp3 as a music de facto standard just because everybody can stream and read it…
Coming back to the Roon/Chromcast compatibility, I’d like to be sure I understand the limitation.
Chromcast devcies can only be grouped via the Google Home App and not directly via Roon is this correct?
But does that mean that if I configure a Chromcast group (via Home) I can send synch music to that group via Roon? And therefore this group can also be synched with another Roon end point (via Roon)?
OK then it’s good news because would allow to add almost any wireless speaker with toslink or jack input in the system at only a 39€ additional cost for each room.
I’m not a huge fan of Chromcast Audio but I only need high end stuff in my in my living room.
I’m happy with Chromecast limitations for other rooms like kitchen, bathroom or even bedroom and I can also bypass its DAC using the minitoslink output.
Of course it becomes now 500€ for Roon plus 39€ extra for each room…But at least sounds like a proper solution to include virtualy all end points.
Is there anybody around that would have tried and can confirm to reach proper multiroom synch with a Chromecast (ideally group of chromcast) and another type of roon ready device (like NAIM or Auralic streamer or anything else which is not Chromecast)?
You don’t have to be a guru by pi3 b+ a digital output/dac carrd (called a HAT) from HifiBerry, Allo or IQaudio then install ropieee on an sd card all done.
Why would I need a DAC? I’m fine with just a coax/toslink output to plugg directly in the active speaker.
Thanks for the info and link, I will investigate that option
Thanks Ged, will definitivly look at this, as indeed seems quite straight forward to setup (although start to be pricy. Raspberry+spdif hat+power supply reaches ~70€ to add to the active speaker…)
If you get Chromecast devices for all the rooms, you can sync that.
And with the optical output, it sounds quite good, in my experience and many reviewers.
If you have other devices, they can’t sync with Chromecast.
But if you want higher sound quality in your main room, I would suggest a dual connection: get CC for all rooms including th3 main room, for those times when you want to cover the house, like parties. Including the main room. It will sound quite reasonable. (Don’t take my word for it, buy one and try.)
Then get a higher quality connection for the main system, when you listen seriously, presumably not around the whole house.
