Hi folks,
Newbie Roon user looking for a bit of guidance please.
So I have purchased a Project Pre Box S2 digital and am very happy with it.
I am 100% successful at this time with playback of my music files and MQA via Tidal in Roon… Very stable and sounds great.
For the moment whilst I trial Roon I have set the core software up on my new laptop.
Typically the Project box is plugged in via USB. However if I was to invest in the purchase of Roon software (lets face it i am planning to) I would setup a big box server in the office and a seperate client in the living room.
My question is this. The Project box says “Roon” on the box, but I dont understand the capability I am missing.
I downloaded Roon bridge on my old laptop and this worked perfectly. So new laptop as server. Old laptop as Roon bridge. Works great.
However in that respect so does my Cambridge audio dacmagic 100 when connected to the bridge.
I wondered if the “Roon” capability on the Project box was that the Roon core could find it on the network without the need for Roon bridge but I wasnt able to locate it on the newtwork in Roon core without downloading Roon bridge.
What am I missing please?
As it happens everything works great so am happy but I am missing something.
Many thanks
Highdefjeff
Hi Highdefjeff
The Pro-Ject S2 DAC is a “Roon Tested USB Device” - that’s what the Roon logo means on the box for that particular DAC.
https://kb.roonlabs.com/Partner_Devices_Matrix
There are “Roon Ready” DACs (like Bluesound Node 2i) which have an ethernet input - your Core will see these over the network:
https://roonlabs.com/partners.html
There are also DACs with an ethernet input that run Roon Bridge (like HiFiBerry DAC Pro) that the Core will also see over the network.
Sounds like you’ve got everything working well!
If later you don’t want to use the old laptop as a bridge, you could add the “Roon Ready” Sonore microRendu later (with it’s ethernet input + USB output connected to the S2 DAC USB input). So the microRendu would replace the old laptop and your Roon Core will see the microRendu over the network. It’s a tiny credit card sized thing. Just use a short USB cable to connect to the USB input of the S2 DAC.
https://www.sonore.us/microRendu.html
Hi Sean,
Thank you so much for getting a comprehensive reply to me as speedily as you have.
Just so I can make sure I have a grip of this.
If at a later date I use a network adaptor such as the one you recommended the Roon core will be able to see the Project box whereas it wouldnt see the Cambridge as in that instance the Roon core needs to see a “Roon Tested” device. The network adaptor itself is not visible so I couldn’t just connect any old DAC to the USB output of the network adaptor.
At which point the “Roon” element of the Project DAC comes into play. Is that about right?
Many thanks again
HDJ
Hi HDJ,
As mentioned above, Roon Core would see the microRendu over the network. The microRendu has an ethernet input and is ‘Roon Ready’.
The microRendu has a USB output so you can connect most USB DACs on the planet and there’s a good chance it will work (music will play), whether it is ‘Roon Tested’ or not.
Of course, there’s a significant;y greater chance of everything working well with a ‘Roon Tested’ DAC connected to the ‘Roon Ready’ microRendu, like the S2 DAC you have.
Hi Sean,
Got it, penny has dropped.
Thats great advice.
Thankyou so much for all your help.
Best
HDJ
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No worries at all. I have a Rendu connected to S2 DAC in one of my setups. Fantastic combination, ultra low power consumption (compared to a PC/laptop) and no Windows/MacOS stuff to fiddle with. Everything is setup and updated via a web browser.
You will often see microRendu’s up for sale as people may upgrade to the more expensive ‘ultraRendu’.
Also the link I shared above, has ‘B-stock’ at a good discount and you get full warranty.
Highly recommended if you want to replace the laptop later.
I get fine results with my Allo Sparky/USBridge driving my S2. At $162.50 USD it is hundreds of dollars cheaper than the Sonore products.
I do like the idea of something a bit more elegant than a crusty old laptop.
Super interesting this Roon stuff. Wish I had discovered it years ago.
Gives you so much flexibility when it comes to system building.
will keep my eyes peeled for a cheap deal.
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Very intresting in regards to the Allo products. As it happens I have plucked out an used fanless PC case, Atom powered motherboard and a copy of Windows 7 and have it up and running as a silent low power bridge. When in operation and powering the Project box it is pulling 22 watts. So at the moment I am happy with this solution until I can beef it up a bit but really pleased so far.
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Question. In regards to plugging the USB port of the Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital into a Roon bridge. Can the Roon bridge run on Ubuntu and detect the USB DAC on the Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital? Also… Which distro / package should I install on a Rasberry Pi to accomplish this?
Yep just install RoPieee and you’re good to go
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What’s the main difference between the RoPieee image and the arm download here https://help.roonlabs.com/portal/en/kb/articles/linux-install#Downloads ?
Also,
I guess there are two approaches to this. A Roon transport and a Roon Bridge. The Roon Transport which uses an optical output from a Raspberry Pi and the Roon Bridge which uses the USB port from a Rasberry Pi. What are the pro’s and con’s of each config?
Hi Chris, I don’t know all the answers to your questions but I would suggest you just give it a try to find out the differences.
Once you have the RPi and the DAC, all those distros are free to try.
I can recommend RoPieee for being easy to install and use/manage.
Awesome… Thanks for all of the good info. I’ve heard good things about the image you mentioned
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RoPieee is managed from web browser. No keyboard/mouse/monitor required. All ‘headless’.
That is awesome… I’ll deploy ASAP… Thanks
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