I setup a NUC with Roon Core and I started out using it with a Topping E30 DAC.
Then I thought, humm… what about using the HDMI out to feed multi-channel to my Onkyo AVR.
It was a little funky to get it working. I had to go into the device advanced settings, etc.
…but WOW!
Now I have that little NUC playing ripped DVD-Audio 5.1 and SACD 5.1 (transcoded on the fly to PCM).
…and from a player app that is easy to use. Very nice Roon, very nice. I’m definitely going to be seeking out more 5.1 content now that I can easily play it.
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So that’s a NUC running Win10?
Or running ROCK?
ROCK… It’s an older nuc, DC53427HYE.
Picked it up off ebay just to run ROCK.
Works like a charm.
I’ve used that setup, NUC/ROOK to receiver over HDMI, you have the benefit of the receivers onboard DSP, Room Correction, Multi-channel playback and can simulate multi-channel surround from Stereo. It is fun to have that capability.
Yes! Exactly!
I had a few 5.1 dvd-a and sacd disks from years ago… that I’m able to conveniently listen to again. I had both Denon and NAD universal disk players years ago, and both broke within a few years. I’ve been listening to flac files off a NAS and could not do multi channel off anything but a DVD/Bluray until now.
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Good to be excited about it, I do recall that from almost 2 years ago. I’ve moved on to a MC DAC for playing the DSD files without conversion to PCM but I still use the original setup for Stereo Flac to get the surround sound effect when I want it. Enjoy the music.
I have a dsd direct capable stereo DAC… Actually, even the Onkyo is capable of taking stereo dsd directly (though who knows what it’s really doing internally). It seems unlikely that I will ever have a dvr or dac that will handle 5.1 dsd directly. There are only a few on the market.
I had one last old format disc lying around… DTS 5.1 Don Henley, The End of the Innocence.
It was like the last test for Roon, and Roon passed with flying colors.
I copied the .wav files to my NAS and tried to play them (again through HDMI to the Onkyo).
At first I got the dreaded static noise. I found a setting in the device setup that was set to turn stereo into 5.1, turned that off and that was it. Glorious DTS 5.1 decoded by my AVR. Bravo again Roon.
Now, not only am I impressed with Roon but I have a new appreciation for my AVR.
If possible, could you post a shot of the Roon signal path with the 5.1 DTS album file playing to your AVR? I’d like to know what to expect if I try and track down that disc. Thanks.
I have the Hell Freezes Over DVD in 5.1 DTS and it does sound good playing on my OPPO 205, but I haven’t tried to rip the music file for playback.
You see, thar the dts will shown in Roon (I’ve packed all dts and dd content into flac) as Stereo, but playing is dts:
