I’m new to Roon. I tried the demo and enjoyed it, so I subscribed. Now I’m considering upgrading to a Nucleus but I have a few rookie questions.
My Core is on a MacBook Pro and my go-to endpoint for hi-res audio is an OPPO UDP-203. They are connected via Ethernet. The OPPO is connected to a Yamaha Aventage RX-A3070 receiver via HDMI. I use the pre-amp outs on the Yamaha to connect to a Marantz amp and then onwards to B&W 803s speakers. I have tried both the Yamaha DAC (SABRE PRO ES9026PRO) using the HDMI connection and the OPPO DAC (AKM AK4458) using analog out to the receiver. I can’t say I could tell much difference in limited listening. I have no experience with higher-end DACs but I’m interested in learning more and finding the right one in the future.
The Yamaha is not Roon-ready. It is not listed among the available audio devices, but it works just fine attached to the OPPO, which is Roon-ready. If I purchased a Nucleus, are there any problems associated with attaching a non-Roon-ready AV receiver via HDMI to the Nucleus? Could I control volume, etc. on the receiver (it’s in a rack in a closet)? Would the Roon interface show on my TV?
Also, I see that the Nucleus can be integrated with home automation from Crestron and Control4. Does anyone have experience with Savant?
The nucleus will work with HDMI out to your receiver. There is no video with the HDMI, only the boot screen.
I have a NUC (DIY nucleus) with HDMI to a Denon receiver for multi-channel hi-res PCM playback, and multiple connections to an OPPO 205, USB for DSD/MQA Stereo only (no sub channel) and Ethernet (Stereo with sub channel).
I prefer the sound with the receiver doing the D/A conversion and using the built in Room Correction. The OPPO sounds good with Roon but the mids and highs seem muddied compared to the receiver with Roon Correction.
I want a DAC for Roon that will do Stereo, Multi-channel and all the hi-res formats, PCM, DSD, etc. without having to switch zones. Currently the only one I’ve found is the exaSound S88 Roon Ready Streaming DAC.
I think the Nucleus will work fine with your Yamaha on HDMI. You have so many options with the Yammy so if that doesn’t work, you can get a USB to coax or SPDIF adapter. It’s unclear from Yamaha’s description if the RX-A3070 takes a USB input directly. Worst case scenario, you don’t like any of the options you can always get an inexpensive external DAC that can feed any of the inputs on the Yammy.
I don’t know much about the automation but I think Roon only works with Crestron and Control 4.
One caution: if you have an extensive library of music ripped by iTunes on your Mac, and you’re hoping to import that to Nucleus internal storage, there is a known bug that will prevent playback of any files contained in folders named with special characters (like Björk, José González, etc.). That’s been a major bummer for me, coming from Mac to Nucleus.