Roon Ready DACs with XLR or TRS outputs

I have a pair of Yamaha HS8 monitors and a HS8S subwoofer that are not getting a lot of use. I am trying to figure out the best way to connect them to my home Roon environment. My thinking is that what’s needed is a streaming device to connect to my home network and has a DAC that has either XLR or TRS outputs that I can run into the monitors. But does such a device exist? The room where I would use this setup is not my primary (or even secondary) listening room. So I’m looking for decent quality but low budget solutions. Any ideas?

Thanks,

Herb

That device absolutely exists and there are tons of options. When you say budget friendly, what price range were you thinking? The only options I can think of right now start at around $1k. For much less you could use a Raspberry Pi as the streaming device and use whatever DAC you want. You can get a pretty decent DAC with XLR outputs for $200 on up.

Matrix mini i3 can be a budget solution under 1k. It has volume controlled xlr outputs and it is roon ready.

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For a budget / compact option, a Rasberry Pi 4 + HiFiberry’s XLR DAC HAT + a matching steel case. You’ll also need a 5v RPi power supply and a Micro SD card.

Install Ropieee or HiFiBerryOS onto a Micro SD card, pop it into the RPi, boot up and and you’re good to go.

No skills needed other than the ability to screw the RPi into a case and burn the operating system image to a Micro SD card. No need for a monitor or keyboard as you’ll write the OS to the SD card on your PC or laptop, after that any configuration (ie. wifi settings) are configured via a web browser.

If HiFiBerry’s engineering skills are good enough for Bryston and B&O I expect it will be good enough for you in a 2nd room setup :slight_smile:

Total cost ~€150

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Thanks! Was definitely looking under $1K and would love to keep it below $500. But with the various replies I’m seeing, I think it’s time to look into the Raspberry Pi option. I’ve been holding off on that but it just might be the way to go. Thank you!

I wasn’t familiar with the Matrix Mini i3. But it definitely seems like something to consider. Thank you!

If you want to buy everything together HiFiBerry do bundles that work out a little cheaper.

Just select the XLR DAC HAT and RPi 4 XLR case options. No need for a heatsink (the steel case is enough), the HDMI cable nor the switch, so leave those out.

But you might want to get the Micro SD card elsewhere as they can normally be picked up cheaply along with a Micro SD to full size SD card adaptor. You’ll also need a USB SD card reader if your laptop doesn’t already have a SD card slot.

Good luck with it!

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Thanks, Jamie. This does certainly make it an easier option!