with rooADI I provide a Device Volume Control from Roon for all DACs of the ADI-2 Family!
The ADI-2 family of DACs from RME consists of ADI-2 DAC, ADI-2 Pro and ADI-2/4 Pro. Using one of these famous ADI-2 DACs with Roon the only disadvantage is that it did not offer Device Volume you can control from Roon. You either can use the knob of the DAC (or its infrared remote) to control the volume or set a fixed Device Volume and use DSP-Volume in Roon.
The DSP volume in Roon is quite good, as I have examined and published here. However, the âAuto Ref Levelâ function integrated into all ADI-2 DACs delivers even less loss of resolution at volume reduction. Thatâs why itâs quite interesting to use the Device Volume of the ADI-2 DACs. With it you can practically reduce the DAC output volume by 48dB and still have a signal-to-noise ratio of almost 120dB.
With rooADI you can also use this unique feature of the ADI-2 DACs with Roon.
rooADI enables bidirectional coupling between Roon and the Device Volume of the ADI-2 DACs. Changing the volume on the volume knob (or via infrared remote control) of the ADI-2 DAC directly affects the volume setting in Roon.
With rooADI you can use the âAuto Ref Levelâ function of the ADI-2 DACs to further reduce the resolution loss while decreasing volume.**
In Roon you will see the blue point signaling âlosslessâ instead of the green you see if you use DSP-Volume.
Clicking Mute in Roon activates or deactivates the Mute setting of the ADI-2 DACs.
As an additional feature rooADI offers to select the audio source while still controlling volume from within Roon.
In my YouTube playlist you will find a video on how to use rooADI and some theory behind the âAuto Ref levelâ function and why it helps to preserve DAC resolution.
In this thread I would like to encourage you to leave your questions and comments about rooADI. Feel free to ask me and tell me your thoughts. I will be here to support you.
rooADI comes with rooExtend v3.3.0. If you donât see this release in your Roon Settings/Extensions please wait for the nightly upgrade.
After some fiddling (had to move my pi running rooextend to the room my ADI2 lives in, and, oh, did you know that you have to enable USB Audio in the settings for rooextend for it to show up in roon audio settings at allâŚ) all is well now. Everything works as it should. And whatâs even better: it still works with rooWatch. Now itâs just a matter of time until Iâll forget where I put my ADI remote.
All my rooExtend Roon Extensions cooperate with the Roon Core and need a Raspberry Pi plus the free rooExtend SD-Card image.
Please visit http://diy.rooExtend.com for more details. There all my rooExtensions available are listed and also Links to their product pages. There you also find all resources how to make it run.
If this seems to be too much tinkering for you, you can get the rooExtend Box where anything is preinstalled and Plug & Play.
After the arrival of the ADI-2/4 Pro SE, I was eagerly looking forward to integrating it into Roon. Quickly, I started a Raspberry 4 with the ârooExtendâ image and connected the RME via USB. I hooked up a Peacock headphone from âSendy Audioâ to the Pentaconn output.
The RME automatically configured itself to the USB interface, and off we went. My fellow enthusiasts of high-quality HiFi, it was simply astonishing. Until now, a FIO M17 served as my reference, powered by an external BOTW Power & Precision ECO MK2 with the Ultra MK2. This combination has brought me much joy in the last six months but has now been truly surpassed by the ADI-2/4 Pro SE.
Upon ordering the RME, I simultaneously ordered the Roon extension for volume control, rooADI - Device Volume Control. After the RME firmware update, rooADI seamlessly identified the device directly via the USB port and was ready to go. A crucial criterion, a DAC with volume control via Roon, PERFECT.
After extensive testing in recent days, I canât imagine being without this combination anymore! Many thanks to DrCWO.
The additional option for vinyl digitization through the analog input via software switching (MM input) is mentioned here only in passing. Tests with an old Mico DDX1000 with a revised SME3012 and Jubilee MM would go beyond the scope here.
Conclusion: A top-class device for a long time with perfect Roon integration thanks to rooADI.
I currently listen to the âChanceâ LP from Manfred Mannâs Earth Band entering my Shure V15v-MR and then directly via ADI-2/4 Phono, rooPlay, Roon with DRC driving ADI-2/4 with rooADI. Really a very nice combination. The ADI-2/4 is such a good sounding device. But with Manfred Mann it sounds so vintage No comparison to streaming from Qobuz.
With rooADI in place you can also enable the Loudness function of the ADI getting better bass at low volume. I enabled it yesterday and like it
This is a great extension DrCWO, many thanks.
I am a happy user of rooDial and I wonder if we can combine the functionality of rooDial with RooADI. What I would like to do is to be able to change the volume of Roon using Surface Dial and the roon change the volume of ADI-2.
I hope there is a way as it will be brilliant to combine these two functions.
Regards,
Sina.
This is exactly what is was made for
They are two different Roon Extensions. rooDial controls the volume of Roon and rooADI gets the Roon volume to control one of the the AID-2 family DACs.
So using rooADI PLUS rooDial you can control the volume of any of the ADI-2 DACs with the Surface Dial.
Does the Rpi with rooExtend work as a streamer or just as a controller for the Roon extension? If possible, I would like to use Roopie with my existing HW and just add the Rpi Zero 2W as a controller?
rooExtend includes the official Roon Bridge. This means you can connect it to the ADI-2 and you will be fine. You can stream to the DAC and control volume with rooADI.
You donât need a second Zero 2W to be able to run all my Roon Extensions. Best get a Pi4 for it with wired Ethernet. Roon donât recommend WiFi an from many user experiences I know why
If you have an ADI-2 pro you can also use it as audio input with rooPlay. All with one Pi4 connected to the ADI-2.
Hello DrCWO,
first of all thank you for this feature which is a great benefit for me.
I am running rooADI since December on a RPI 4. Everything works fine except for one flaw. If I turn up the volume with rooADI and enter the next higher Auto Ref Level in my RME ADI-2 there is one relais click, as it should be. Turning down the volume causes 3 clicks entering the next lower Aute Ref Level. It seems that volume goes down two steps and one step up again on each notch. This behavior does not occur with the ADI-2 Remote app (running on my Windows 11 PC).
Thanks for your effort.
Best Axel
I wonder about that as I also use Auto Ref. and never saw that. The volume knob changes volume with 0.5dB but in Roon this can only be done in 1dB steps. Please try:
Power off rooExtend
Set the ADI-2 volume to a value that has a .0 at its end (not a .5)
Power on rooExtend and wait rooADI is up and running
Just back from a short travel and a quick test was successful! Now there is each only on click turning the volume up or down.
Thank you for your tip. Btw, is this issue somewhere mentioned in the documentation?
Best Axel
No comparison to streaming from Qobuz.