Newcomer in need of tips

Hi @Carlos_Pinto . Welcome to Roon!

You’ve already received some helpful answers here, so I’ll just add my 2¢ to your questions.

+1 on dBpoweramp. I highly recommend this guide for optimizing the settings:

https://www.dbpoweramp.com/cd-ripper-setup-guide.htm

FLAC is almost universally accepted as the best format for creating a digital archive of your CDs. I encourage you to not use any upsampling or other DSP in the ripping process. The default FLAC compression settings (level 5) are fine. One possible exception is to add HDCD decoding. This will produce 24-bit files for discs with HDCD content, although the dynamic range will be less than that. My understanding is that the decoding is not 100%, but it may be worthwhile since DACs that support HDCD decoding are super uncommon these days. For example:

That should have plenty of power. A ROCK build could save you a bit of money if you’re feeling adventurous and don’t require Crestron integration.

Wow. Those loudspeakers must sound amazing. You’ll definitely need a DAC. What other sources do you have connected to your old Denon? Performance for DACs (especially) and amplifiers has increased rather dramatically over the last decade, so you should be able to purchase something for under $1k that will improve substantially over what you have today.

If Roon is your only source, I have a couple of suggestions based on personal experience. The ultimate solution would be the Orchard Audio PecanPi Streamer ($550) a pair of Orchard Audio Starkrimson® Monoblock amplifiers ($1,600). This system will deliver astonishing realism. No streamer required…just connect an Ethernet cable to the PecanPi Streamer. You’ll use Roon’s DSP volume to manage playback levels since there’s no remote control. Limited functionality, but incredible sound.

Another option is the Topping E50 DAC ($269) plus Topping PA5 amplifier ($349). You will need to add a streamer. I’d suggest the ZEN Stream from iFi Audio ($399) or SOtM sMS-200 Neo Network Player ($450). You could also just connect the DAC directly to Core if you don’t want to use a streamer. Not my favorite configuration, but it may work. The PA5 is technically a desktop amplifier, but it should have enough power for your application. You’ll use the remote control on the E50 DAC for volume control.

Budget is fine. If you go with my “all out assault” solution, you’re looking at:

  • Roon Nucleus: $1,459
  • Orchard Audio PecanPi Streamer: $550
  • Orchard Audio Starkrimson® Mono (pair): $1,600

Total: $3,699 - pretty close. :slight_smile:

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And the Topping stack – probably what I’d go with – would be

  • Roon Nucleus: $1,459
  • Zen Stream: $400
  • Topping E50: $269
  • Topping PA5: $349

Comes out to $2477, which leaves another K to play around with.

Of course, I’d use a Pi4 with RoPieee instead of the Zen Stream, so knock off another $300.

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Yup. Great minds think alike. :slight_smile:



:nerd_face:

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If you own them, rip them. If your CDs are older they are probably a different mastering than what is on the streaming service and might sound better. Recent re releases are mastered with less dynamic range. Could sound different and potentially worse.

Also, streaming services are not guaranteed. Anything can disappear from them.

So, imho, rip what you have.

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Of course, there’s no real reason to change the amp, is there? The Denon is a nice class A amp, kind of warm, but I’m sure still working well.

#DSnyder and #BJanssen tks much for your inputs, with alternatives and photos ! I won’t even delve into questions yet, lemme do my homework and study this whole universe “oh so new” to me.
THE BREADTH & DEPTH OF CONTRIBUTIONS from this community plus the immediacy as cherry-on-top are outstanding, I just can’t overemphasize my appreciation :pray:
p.s. BJ, the Denon is truly a great amp but after 30 years of good services I’m not discarding the alternative of a fresh new amp.

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Rugby, I do own them and your consideration makes a lot of sense to me - DIYing will be my initial option, if it gets too heavy I may look for help - on one side I want to get it done asap since it is a slow+boring procedure, on the other there’s no desperate deadline and the streaming svc alleviates the sense of urgency.

another option might be the Matrix Audio Mini-Pro i3 at around $1000 USD IIRC

I have a few albums where some tracks have completely changed or are missing compared to the original when using a streaming service (Qobuz and Apple Music).

For example. I own the original CD from Revolutions by Jean-Michel Jarre. Most is the same, but the remaster/Qobuz release has a complete different version of the Revolutions track on it.

Another example is the U2 - U218 Singles album I’ve bought years ago from the iTunes music store. The Qobuz version has several tracks greyed out as being unavailable.

I’ve ripped my own CD’s over the years. Sadly back then storage was an issue, so they have all been ripped into 320 kbit AAC. Never came around to re rip them into FLAC. Most music I listen to is available on Qobuz anyways, so not that much of an issue for me.

I’m using my old trusty 2017 MacBook Air as a Roon core. My own music on external hard disk. And it streams music in my living room, through a USB sound card to a pair of monitor speakers.

My other laptop is a 2020 M1 MacBook Pro which connects to a receiver and 1960 era speakers through another USB sound card. And it, together with my Android smartphone, connect to the Roon core and can play music locally through my apartment’s WiFi network.

So I basically have 2 sound systems at home. One in the living room, which doubles as Roon core. And the other in the Office. I’m using my smartphone as a remote in the living room.

Works perfectly for me.

The NAD M10 V2 also looks pretty good to me as an all-in-one, at $2750. Still need the Nucleus, though.

@Rugby and all who sent tips on Ripping:
I started my homework by downloading dbpoweramp - it called my attention that even in the section “Apple specific instructions on setting up (dBpoweramp CD Ripper - Setup Guide)” their Setup Guide recommends FLAC where I’d expect AppleLL - I wonder if that’s a slip they overlooked.
I tested downloading a same track both ways and didn’t notice any major difference but for the fact that FLAC uses an old VLC (which I already had) for conversion and AppleLL m4a doesn’t. Does the extra step of going through VLC compromise quality of reproduction or performance in any manner?
Before I make my nosedive into the massive download task… should I really stick to AppleLL since at this point in time I don’t consider approaching Microsoft products again ?
Tks !

What does VLC have to do with ripping to FLAC with dbpoweramp? Nothing. VLC is a player. So something is confusing you in the process I suspect. Many people using a Mac, still use FLAC. But both FLAC and ALAC are lossless, so use whichever suits you. If you’ll be playing on an apple device, you’ll need ALAC. But Roon handles FLAC no matter what the core is running on.

FLAC is not a Microsoft thing, nor is VLC. So I wouldn’t worry about that. More generally, FLAC is the preferred modern company-agnostic audio codec, unless you are committed to the Apple world.

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I am assuming you mean ALAC. FLAC is not tied to any company. It is free for anyone to use, the F stands for Free.

ALAC is Apples version, so, if you stick with Apple products, go with that.

Here is a site that briefly explains the different formats.

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I always suggest a tiny/small form factor Windows PC from Dell or Lenovo. An i5 with sufficent RAM and SSD for the OS and roon core or server is about $700 US or less, plus an external USB for your music files, about $150.

Get a second USB drive for backup, and consider a cloud backup, too.

You can then install the Windows version of roon core or server on the PC along with dbPoweramp for ripping. Simple point-and-click setup, lots of flexibility.

You will then need a streamer endpoint that is “roon ready” or something that can run roon bridge (which runs on Windows, Mac, or Linux/Pi computers) to feed your amp. You have lots of good suggestions in a wide range of prices. No need to go crazy. Theoretically, any streamer+dac that is roon ready or inexpensive computer + usb dac that runs roon bridge will deliver a bit-perfect stream to the dac using roon’s RAAT protocol.

I see- for whatever reason VLC popped-up when I played the Flac file, and didn’t when it was the Alac - I assumed that since it was not the Alac/Apple the VLC was converting the file. In any case good to know either can be used.

Reading the good whatwifi article you suggested I ran across the comment below which seems related to vlc popping-up on my machine -

  • chichaz
    FLAC is great… except that it will not play on Macs or iPhones without specific software (like VLC aka Videolan).

Apple wanted their own format so ALAC. Which is why they don’t support the free and open version FLAC. Otherwise, they are pretty identical. Outside of Apple, many things support ALAC, but everyone else is basically FLAC.

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It was the same in the past with mp3. Apple wanted to push their own AAC format. And didn’t allow mp3 files to be played on Macs. They got so much backlash from that they didn’t know how quickly they had to add mp3 support to iTunes and their iPods.

They seem to go down the same road with FLAC. All non Apple players can play FLAC no problem on a Mac. Except for Apple’s own…

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Consider subscribing to Qobuz. Roon treats Qobuz as part of your music library. Using Soundiiz, you can add the disks to your Qobuz library. Doing so will also add them to your Roon library.

As you have time, you can identify the CDs not available from Qobuz and make a priority of adding them. Qobuz does not have many older classical titles, especially the 50’s and 60’s golden age classical recordings from Columbia, Decca, DG, London, and RCA. For example, it does not have the London(Decca) Benjamin Britten world premier recordings made with the LSO back in the day. War Requiem, Curlew River, etc.

You can make digital transfers of your LPs and add them to your Roon library. Parasound (Audio-Advisor) and Pro-Ject offer phono-preamp plus ADC combos designed for preserving out of print LPs in digital format.

Given the size of your collection, you should seriously consider a TrueNAS Mini+ as your Roon Core machine. You’ll have a huge time investment in the CD transfers to Roon. Attention to filesystem robustness, backup, and recovery is warranted.

Soundiiz is the key to keeping everything straight.

  • Import your albums into soundiiz
  • Transfer to Qobuz
  • Roon knows what you have in Qobuz
  • Adding to Roon adds to Qobuz (or Tidal)
  • The list of items not having a Qobuz match is your CD transfer work list.
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