I assume you have a USB DAC. If your looking for sound quality improvements use a Roon Ready network player attached to your DAC. This will isolate it from the Roon Server and improve the sound.
Andrew, Yours is the dedicated unit I am most considering, but obviously still debating over which way to go overall. I have a combined streamer/DAC, an Auralic VEGA G2, which is Roon ready. Music files will stream over ethernet to it.
If I go with your i7, I’m thinking ethernet from NAS (where the music files are) to STi7 and ethernet from STi7 to the VEGA. Good approach?
Thanks
Anders,
You are right that I approach it mostly from the hardware perspective in my reply.
And with regard to the specific question in this topic it is probably not very constructive to further discuss the pro’s and cons of NAS v.s. Windows/OSX v.s. ROCK.
Although I have to say that I think that your reference to my note in the other discussion is not a relevant one. I’m not discussing a problem there, I’m exploring possibilities of a certain piece of hardware.
From a non-technical user experience perspective there is nothing that can beat a ready to go box like Roon Nucleus or Sonic Transporter. A NUC with ROCK is probably the next in line.
The original question is whether a dedicated Roon box would offer improved sound quality over a sufficiently powered NAS. I don’t have concerns with the relative usability or ease of installation about either option.
Based on the fact that you have a DAC with an integrated network player I would say that there is no noticeable difference between a dedicated Roon box and a NAS. The data will still come in through the ethernet connection where the Switch is probably the most determining piece of hardware when it comes to potential noise (if relevant at all for the sound quality).
In my experience the difference becomes more relevant when you need a piece of hardware to work as network bridge for a USB DAC. Then the lowest noise source (=best power supply, lowest processor load) is giving better audio quality.
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Thanks. If I do go with @agillis Andrew’s SonicTransporter, the connection between it and the Streamer/DAC would be by direct ethernet. The connection to the files would be by ethernet/fiber (ethernet to fiber converters at both ends) to the ST. The NAS would also be connected by ethernet to the router.
If I go with a NAS, it would mean upgrading mine. My current NAS connects to the router and the streamer is connected to the router with the ethernet/fiber connection. I hadn’t thought of it, but I wonder if I can connect the NAS both to the router and directly to the streamer so that the streaming doesn’t go through the router at all.
It remains unknown, I guess, if digital signals over ethernet are affected by router noise at all. Not a big deal to mitigate it “in case”. So that question is really moot.
The sonicTransporter i7 has two Ethernet ports. You want to attach one to the streamer (Auralic) and the other to your router.
We have found that using a really good Ethernet switch as the “center” of your network usually work better then the switch built into most routers.
I really like the TRENDnet Ethernet switch line like the TEG-S82G.
For this setup the sonicTransporter, NAS and your router would be connected to the TRENDnet Ethernet switch and Auralic would be connected to the sonicTransporter.This would give you the best quality.
If you want to bring fiber into the mix for noise isolation you could use that in between the sonicTransporter and the Auralic. Try that and see if it improves the sound.
Another options to cut down on network “hops” would be to get the sonicTransporter with internal storage. I can build one with up to 12TB installed. This can be used as a generic NAS on your network as well. With this setup during Roon playback the music will be going directly to the player with only one “hop”
I do have a switch for most things to plug into, though it’s a basic D-Link.
It’s a good thought about keeping the music in the ST. The NAS still has back-ups, movies, surveillance, etc. And apps for UPnP access (that I hardly use anymore!) like MinimServer. The music is really a smaller part of the disk space. It’s at just over 2TB of music files, so plenty of room to grow. I’d backup the music files to the NAS. Hmmm…
Hi @pstrisik
I’ve had all 3 as Roon Core: Synology DS918+, sonicT i7 and NUC/ROCK i7.
I still have and use all 3 - well I gave my old man (dad) my sonicT i7 because I’ve setup serious DSP (upsampling to DSD512) for him.
Is your NAS currently inside your listening room or outside?
And if you picked up a dedicated Core (like a sonicT or ROCK) would it be inside the listening room or outside?
Obviously Roon recommend having all of the above outside the listening room but sometimes we do have constraints that can get in the way with the ideal - and that’s ok too.
Also what DAC are you using and which input? USB, SPDIF or ethernet input?
Cheers!
The sonicTransporter has a lot of apps you can install on it from the web managment interface like HQPlayer and MinimServer.
The introduction of fibre between the source, (NAS, SonicTransporter, switch or router) will isolate it from the electrical noise induced on the ethernet cable by these sources. And basically make your source choice irrelevant from a sound quality perspective.