Let me begin by saying all of this is very confusing to me… In a nutshell, I wish to use a roon ready device, but also wish to use dirac live. I don’t want the music being played by the computer, but rather, a dedicated piece, but I want to use Dirac. Are there any partner products that support Dirac Live?
As far of what I’m aware of, no! I myself, I’m currently using a Intel Nuc with Windows 10 on it that is running Roon and Dirac. This works very well.
There are some devices from NAD and Emotiva that have Dirac inside!
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There is the new miniDSP SHD series. These are not Roon ready, but have Volumio (basically a DLNA streamer running MPD/upmpdcli) as its streamer software on the ethernet input. I have seen the recipe for installing RoonBridge on Volumio (a Debian based distro), but I do not know if this will work on the Volumio image miniDSP uses. These units from miniDSP are quite advanced and probably sounds good. The best would be if Volumio was officially made RoonReady with a selectable plugin to install. As it is now it’s a bit risky…
miniDSP DevTeam advise against trying to add anything to their Volumio installation so I just want to bring that message here. Too risky…
The whole topic gets more and more confusing as I research more. To take advantage of MQA, I need a DAC that supports MQA… RAAT can do the first unfold, but the last must be done by MQA supported DAC… Putting dirac Live in the mix, as I am led to understand, stops that. it seems, I can have Roon, I can have roon core do a first unfold, and send to a Mini Dsp product, and after that, send digital out to another DAC, but no more unfolding can happen and I am limited to the 96Khz internal rate of mini dsp… I can have Complete MQA, I can Have dirac live, but not both…
Maybe you just have to wait. Dirac is launching an new version of Dirac Live (very) soon. Maybe it will support MQA and DSD. We just have to wait…
Have you actually seen a date for this release? I seem to have been reading about this new version for quite some time.
No release date so far. Right now the new version is in public beta testing.
And some more information here: http://diracdocs.com/Dirac_Live_2.0_beta_testing.pdf
Thanks. Pleased to hear that my Arcam will be included.
I assume that if dirac processed the first unfold the signal as is, then any MQA data for the second unfold will be lost. It seems that you would need some mechanic that separates out the second unfold data, processes the 88.2k/96k audio, then re-adds the second unfold data so that the DAC can still render it.
I don’t know how that plays with MQA authentication - probably not at all, or maybe this is what Roon does with DSP enabled, in which case Dirac needs to be made available as a core addon (alternative EQ+convolver in DSP enabled mode).
The problem I have with minidsp is that currently I have a decent DAC. Decent DAC -> cheap low sample rate ADC -> dirac DSP -> cheap low sample rate DAC isn’t making a lot of sense.
This may be what you’re after:
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This is an amazing unit actually with one exception: It will suffer from Bluesound’s sync issue. This may not matter if multiroom sync (via Roon) is not desired. I really really hope Bluesound will fix this (maybe) at some point. That device would be perfect in that case.
I wonder, if Dirac Live is enabled, one could have full MQA decoding with this preamp?
I believe it would. My T 758 v3 seems to respect the MQA instructions from both Roon and BluOS.
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I got the MiniDSP SHD Studio a few weeks ago and have it set up with Meridian DSP5200s. The Volumio system has a “Roon Ready” tab that allows you to change a few parameters. Roon sees it right away in network endpoints but clearly states it is “not certified”. They say it will be missing features of a true certified endpoint. They are right. The SHD receives RAAT, but won’t handle anything over 16bit depth. Strangely, 96khz is no issue for it, but even 20bit files turn into a distorted mess.
Despite hours of trying, I cannot SSH into the SHD to load roonbridge. I think MiniDSP have changed the login password so you cannot login. That is where I always hit a brick wall.
Dirac live is exactly what I was after. The bass is perfect to my ears now. A couple of imaging oddities are now gone and the whole thing took 15 minutes to setup. Sometimes I play around with filters and apply them on the fly just see what it sounds like for fun. It is so easy.
As to MQA, 100% of the improvement occurs at the first fold for me. Not sure what I am missing, but a full decode and render through my Meridian Explorer2 sounds identical to a first unfold through Roon. So I get all I need through the MiniDSP.
That is very helpful, thanks! So Volumio is on its way to become Roon ready and it is present in MiniDSP already, even if it is ‘not certified’. Nice development.
I should add that if you want to sync Bluesound units multiroom - in my experience the BluOS player works fine. Using Roon as the control is problematic - although a number of forum threads would suggest this is Bluesound’s issue to resolve - not Roon’s.
I am strongly considering the purchasing the C658 as soon as it comes in stock. It just does so many things in addition to the rare ability to run and switch Dirac Live via remote.
I have the Minidsp SHD coming as well and look forward to getting it set up. @Papi_Chulo am I understanding correctly that your are using the SHD as a roon endpoint? That would be ideal.
Darin
Yes, but not an optimal one. It cannot play music over 16 bit over ethernet. Playing music via usb, it is flawless. I really like it so far.