Roon Endpoint for office - headphone connection

HI community,
I´m also now working in the home office a lot. And that´s why I´m now looking for a small device to sit on my office table were I can plug in my T5p2 headphones (3.5 Klinke) to listen to Roon media. Can you recommend something? Of course I would love to have a good sound quality but I´m not looking for a high priced device. Cost max 500-600 Euro.

Thank you.

You best bet at that price range is to assemble a Raspberry Pi SBC with Ropieee as its Operating system and a DAC with a headphone stage.

You can buy one assembled with an inbuilt DAC board such as the Orchard Audio PecanPi streamer or just buy a pi and a seperate USB DAC such as Audioquest Dragonfly range, Ifi iDSD range , Topping DX3 or up, SMSL M500.

There is a massive range of DACs to choose from what you choose depends on what features you want , headphones it’s driving, future proofing etc.

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Thank you…I found a similar thread with some interesting devices like the limetree network. It´s a little bit above my budget but maybe also doable. I just don´t know if I should then go for the chord poly

I was going to suggest The Limetree but it was out of yout budget. Personally would not touch the Chord option overpriced and overrated, tried the Mojo and found it so boring to listen to. You can get better for much less if you ask me and the streaming model is a little flakey given its cost.

Thanks. That helps. I was using a AK SR15 and still own it but want to sell it. I don´t like to use it when I´m in the company. And now I got an Iphone 11 and can also use it for private purpose. I use it now in the company office with an dragonfly red and USB3 adapter. That works quite well, even so it is more clumsy compared to the AK. Can you recommend the Limetree then? Would maybe be a good fit for my home office. What is missing is maybe an option to add later some active speaker?

I’d check out allo.com
I have their Boss DAC on a Raspberrypi and it’s terrific. They have an offering, Piano DAC that has a headphone amp built in.
https://www.allo.com/sparky/piano-dac.html

If you need more chutzpah, perhaps
1 Raspberrypi
2 Allo Boss DAC
3 schiit Magni headphone amp

Or use a Schiit DAC, schiit Magni, with Allo streamer/usb

And they are comparable to the Limetree? All usable as Roon endpoints?
A charm of the limetree seems to be the software included.

I could also go with an Pre Box S2 Digital + Stream Box? Hmmm…ahhh…too many choices :slight_smile:
Whereas a Limetree would be more compact but maybe less versatile

Hy Stefan,

I have sent you a PN an Friday… :wink:

Tom

@Stephan_Woll the Schiit products I mentioned are all dumb, don’t have software of any kind. In fact, neither do the Allo products! It’s the Raspberrypi that’s the brains of the operation. Allo and Schiit are the audio components. I don’t have any familiarity with Peachtree, they do look cute. And if the software and price point are good, go for it. Raspberrypi is definitely a platform for tinkering.

Looks like the stuff is out of stock right now. I’d reach out to them and see what other options they have for your goals of headphone Roon endpoint.

Allo Piano DAC + Kali reclocker $100
Raspberrypi $35
Enclosure $15


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Stefan, I have recently gotten myself a Limetree Network and use it with a Focal Elegia and a Audeze LCD-2 Classic. I have little to compare it to and am not a real hi-fi nut, but I really like the Limetree, whether as a Roon endpoint (at home) or via the really good Lindemann app as a standalone headphone amp for Tidal/Qobuz or old-fashioned CDs (via a Apple Superdrive connected through USB - worked great at a holiday home this summer). It’s small, high-quality and great, transparent sound to these ears.

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Dear Martin thanks for the feedback on the Lindemann. Did you have some other devices on your short list. I´m currently also comparing with the Pro-Ject streamer. It won´t be a single device setup tough, but maybe more flexible or expandable.

Hi Stefan, I believe I went through the entire list of Roon-certified products, but the Lindemann ended up being the only one that fit my bill. I also looked into the Pro-Ject lineup but I didn’t find one that had all the required features in one device.

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Hi @Stefan_Woll, just out of curiosity, what setup did you end up getting?

Hi sorry for the late reply. I’m still searching.

Even though someone said that they found chord mojo/poly boring I find it far from it. Each to their own I guess. It has performed really well for me. Maybe a bit above your budget though.

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Hi guys, i‘m still looking for a Roon ready small solution to connect my t5p2 on my desk. A single device with good sound quality and Roon support would be great. Price point around 1000€. I was thinking about something like the lindeman Limetree network. Do you have any experience with it. I saw that there is now a headphone amp from lindemann too.

Matrix Audio Mini-i3 seems to be also an alternative.

I would preferr the Matrix Audio, which is much more stable and has a better support than the toy from Lindeman.
But the mini i-3 (pro) has a bit high impedance on the headphone out.
On the other side, you’ll get more for your money, if you use a RPi and a headphone amp with usb-dac like a Topping x7pro…

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How would you rate the project boxes in that comparison. You really think that the quality of the Lindemann is worse? I would have had the gut feeling that it would be superior to the matrix but I have to admit that I just don’t have a clue of these technical things. I really would love to have a compact non complicated setup with a good sound quality :grimacing:

I meant the software support and in there Lindeman isn’t the number one.
Also I don’t know anything about the quality of the headphone out.
Matrix Audio products are also not perfect, but they are take IMHO more care about the software (firmware upgrades).
For me a stable software (and a long support) is the essential point and so I’m willing to give more money for this and bought products from Lumin.
On the other side also Ropieee has a great support and with such a RPi + headphone amp + dac you’ll get the most for your money

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