OS of the endpoint has any impact on SQ?

Audio Gear Talk
1

Hi all,

I have yet subscribed to Roon but soon. Now I am planning my signal path and hopefully can get the best SQ out of it.

My current setup (non-Roon) consists of a Linux fanless PC which is currently connected to a USB DAC. It is running an OS (or MPD) called Voyage.

This OS, however, does not supports Roon bridge. Therefore, I need another OS.

Below are some of the options:

  1. Volumio (relatively nosiy blackground when used as a standalone MPD)
  2. Daphile (also not the quietest)
  3. Snakeoil OS (nice sounding but no WiFi. Need wired connection to the Roon Core located very far from this fanless PC)

My question is: when these OS serve as roon bridge, is there any difference in SQ, just as when they perform differently standalone?

Any advice would be appreciated!

2

I’d thought that you want Roon Server installed on your Linux PC. I couldn’t find any references to Voyage Linux, so don’t know enough to understand why you can’t install Roon on this.

However, my advice would be this: use the PC to run Roon Server and buy a Raspberry Pi to run Roon Bridge. The server can run on Ubuntu-based distros, Debian, and Arch, if not others. As for the RPi, I’d recommend Ropieee.

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3

I don’t have any experience with any of these 3, but I am using Euphony running on an Intel NUC to run Roon Bridge into my Vivaldi Upsampler. Compared to running an optical LAN connection and using the Vivaldi as a Roon endpoint, the Euphony bridge path definitely sounds better. Euphony can also run Roon Server, but I have not tried that. Another popular OS for audio is AudioLinux. I haven’t used it but it is popular with audiophiles.

4

Here is the link to the graphic-less voyage MPD: http://linux.voyage.hk/voyage-mpd
The developer no longer gives any update since years ago. So I just presumed no way that it supported Roon bridge. However on a second thought, the installing script maybe applicable. But this is for another day.

I am afraid the fanless PC won’t be turned into Roon server. Instead, I will get a NUC running ROCK.
Advice taken about using a Pi4 as bridge, although I am not a big fan of ARM based audio gear due to kernel issue. Anyway I will at least give it a shot.

5

Both Euphony and AudioLinux seem interesting.
Euphony is a paid platform by the way.
Wondering if the it is worth the money, considering how many free options these days.

6

Alright, I am going to get a NUC and install ROCK on it.
Besides, I will also get my hands on a Pi4 to try Ropieee (or XL), & VitOS

7

ROCK can also run on many base line Intel machines and if not used as a server can perform as a bridge too. I have a small Fanless Intel D510MO thats while well under spec’ for a core performs well for roon-bridge duty…but my endpoint of choice is RPi3/4B

8

I believe they have a free trial. That way, you can decide for yourself if it is worth the money.

9

AudioLinux headless would be a good option.

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10

I’m pretty sure Roon Bridge can be installed on Voyage OS using the scripts and ensuring dependencies are there. I would certainly go that route first as the alternatives will not be any less work.

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11

XL has a lot of added options and has more stuff running so for a minimalist use just ropieee or can try the newer Ropieee NG beta which has no XL option yet.

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