Im looking for a new Roon Endpoint, budget is £5000. Its going to be paired with a full Audio Note system, very important is that it must have SPDif output as my DAC doesnt have USB and Im not a fan of the USB to SPDIF converters as they affect the signal. Im only looking for the endpoint as I already have Roon running on an i7 nuc, but saying that I only stream Qobuz, so my usage of Roon is very limited.
So far I am thinking of the Aqua LinQ, it looks very interesting with it have HQPlayer module.
I have already discounted Lumin U1 Mini, EVO432, Aeries G1, DCS Bridge, they are all ok products but I think there is more to be had.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
I already have an allo digione signature with shanti power supply which is amazing for the money but there are a lot of improvements that can be achieved.
If it is not the looks but the functionality and sound quality that matter, I think it is difficult to beat a Pi2AES Pro Audio Shield. You can have the complete setup for about USD 250, and there are users who prefer this to streamers costing many thousands of dollars. And if looks matter, you can always have someone make you a beautiful little case for it.
In the Roon world what you really need is a little bridge endpoint device running Roon Bridge software which receives the signal by Ethernet and outputs on any of several different digital interfaces. You don’t really need a complete streamer, as for that you have your Roon Core device.
You don’t need to spend anywhere near that for an endpoint. There are plenty of sub £500 (and that’s on the high end) streamers that will do the job perfectly.
EDIT: If you have a DigiOne Signature with a Shanti, there’s basically no reason to buy something else. Any “improvements” will be almost unnoticeable (I have a feeling you’re getting mostly a placebo with your “pale in comparison” thought), but I guess if you’ve got money to just throw in the fire, go for it? I can think of about a million other places, people, or things where that cash would be better served.
The LinQ is not, and will never be, Roon Ready. So you can forget about it.
I would personally listen to @Andreas_Philipp1 and @John_Claude, but unfortunately for your wallet, you seem intent on believing there’s “more to be had” than their wise suggestions, and there are of course plenty of people who will, for various reasons, feed that belief. So good luck on your quest, my friend.
Roon will output to HQplayer (same or different machine). At that point, HQPlayer can output to DACs connected to that machine/device or to an NAA endpoint (aka HQPlayer enabled network end-point). Roon, however, does not output to NAA endpoints directly.
The LinQ has an NAA endpoint module, however, it is not running HQPlayer itself. You will still need another computer running HQPlayer in the mix.
To be frank, given the animosity between Roon and Aqua you would be best off dumping the Aqua if you want Roon, or dumping Roon if you want to keep the Aqua - which is undoubtedly a great piece of hardware. It’s doubtful they can coexist, as you can see from discussions in this forum, though others may disagree.
You don’t need a relationship between Roon and Aqua if you are using HQPlayer. The route to using Roon and HQP is mature and well established. Beyond that any networking or functional issues are for HQPlayer and Aqua to resolve.
However, a product that is able to decode MQA when using its native app must be able to do the same when using Roon without causing undesirable side effects, otherwise it cannot be Roon Ready.
Roon has the additional feature of DSP on MQA, so that needs to work as well.
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Bill_Janssen
(Wigwam wool socks now on asymmetrical isolation feet!)
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The DigiOne you already have will work as well as anything for this, I’d think. If you think there “are a lot of improvements that can be achieved”, we’re all missing something about your setup. Maybe you could explain how you know this? Maybe that could help us help you.
Thanks Peter for answering my question. May I ask you another regarding the Lumin U1 mini?
With the U1 mini being able to decode fully MQA, does this mean that the dac doesn’t need to be MQA certified?
