DietPi is another possibility. It’s easy to set up, and pretty low maintenance. Haven’t tried Ropieee, so if people say that’s a better choice they’re probably right 
I’ve long been a big fan of DietPi. But on the Raspberry Pi 4, with a wired Ethernet connection, my experience is that VitOS sounds better and is even easier to set up, thanks to the mobile app.
For a Raspberry 3 or with Wi-Fi, DietPi is still my favorite.
1 Like
I appreciate your effort to explain what you’re hearing, thanks.
The issue for me is that if I pursued every claim that one piece of tech sounds better than another without science to back it up, I would literally never have time to actually listen to music.
Thanks again…
1 Like
Another vote for Roipeee, it just works
The only issue I had in 3 years was a corrupt SD card, just reimagined a new one and go
My particular circumstances mean I power down and the up daily, seems to have no ill effects
1 Like
Wait. Huh? I thought we were all audiophiles? I thought the music was used to listen to the electronics. 
9 Likes
This looks awesome. Thanks for the link. I’m definitely going to give this a try.
1 Like
Do you prefer VitOS for the features, or are you also hearing a difference in sound quality?
I’m sure @Paul_Jeno will reply in time, but I’ll just comment that VitOS does not have any features to speak of. In fact, it’s quite limited. It only works on a Raspberry Pi 4 and requires a wired Ethernet connection. It has no support for a display, no Spotify Connect or UPnP/DLNA. It’s strictly an Ethernet to USB Bridge for Roon.
It’s only real feature is that installation is even easier than RoPieee and DietPi. Simply flash the boot image to a microSD card, pop the card in, and add Ethernet and power. Then, use the VitOS Manager app on your Andriod or iOS device to tell VitOS to install Roon Bridge. There’s no futzing about with a web interface, URLs, or chasing down IP addresses. There are no settings to change. No reboots. It all just works.
If you need the extra features, RoPieee is the right choice. But if you desire the best sound quality and can live without a few bells and whistles, VitOS is the best option for a Bridge OS that I’ve found so far.
1 Like
I will give that a shot. Thanks!
1 Like
I see now that VitOS doesn’t support WiFi which is a non-starter for me.
1 Like
Yes, I did. I used to run RopieeeXL on my Raspi 4 till the thread about VitOS caught my attention. Of course, I had to try. Just as @David_Snyder mentioned, installation was a breeze! It’s a very simple and lightweight OS that, once installed, immediately asks if one wants to install Roon Bridge, which takes a few seconds and off you go with Roon.
In my system (SonicTransporter i5 with LPS, Devialet, ATC SCM 19 speakers) I clearly prefer VitOS over RopieeeXL. The highs are more pronounced and cleaner, but never tending towards brightness or harshness. The sound is just more detailed, but in a very pleasant way.
I am aware, this might be system dependent. But in my setup, VitOS will stay!
3 Likes
Thanks to you heartless bastards I no longer have a weekend [jk, obviously]. Even though I already have a solution that works, I ordered up a pi 4 with case and display. I’ll try both OSes as well and let you know. One of my endpoints is wireless and the other can be easily wired. So we’ll see…
Merry Christmas all and thanks for the help.
1 Like
Hahahaha…glad to have helped. Looking forward to your impressions.
Why do people compare RoPieeeXL to VirtOS?
The better comparison is RoPieee to VirtOS. It’s expected that RoPieeeXL does more than Roon Bridge… that’s the point of XL.
RoPieee = Roon Bridge + Wifi + HATs + Display (via 7" RaspPi Display and only enabled if you attach a display) + Web for config.
VirtOS = Roon Bridge USB only + Phone App required for config (no Wifi, no HATs, no display no web config)
RoPieeeXL = Ropieee + DLNA + Airplay + Spotify + ?
The extra “stuff” in XL, if you don’t need it, you shouldn’t be running it (follow the “less is more” principal). I would expect a lighter Pi install would sound better but lighter than XL is RoPieee. So my question… why are there so many comparisons to XL in this thread when I’d expect VirtOS to win that battle simply because its lighter. Has someone compared standard RoPieee to VirtOS? (I cannot because VirtOS is so bare it won’t support my environment but I do run standard RoPieee to keep it “light” and it sounds good to me).
1 Like
Have fun and Merry Christmas!
Thanks very much for your feedback!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TD42S27/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073K14CVB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WXK38YM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I have. VitOS sounds better. Better placement in the soundstage and more engaging, effortless listening sessions. If you have a RPi4 with a wired connection, it’s easy to try. Takes ~5 minutes to flash a new microSD card and set up.
I don’t really… or at least not easily.
It would require to take a bare bones Pi4 up to my listening room for comparison. I don’t use barebones Pi’s on my systems. They are either compute modules on custom boards or the digital output is provided by a HAT. I do have a Pi4 here that is primarily used for Roon Extensions… Some day I’ll get bored and pop that into my system and give it a go I guess. Although these types of comparisons require extended listening… Work keeps getting in the way of my hobbies.