Roon recognising Melco Endpoint

[George_Sallit]

Roon Core Machine

Asus Win 10 laptop

Networking Gear & Setup Details

Ethernet connection with Netgear switches. All connections are wired.

Connected Audio Devices

Melco N100 and Mola Mola DAC

Number of Tracks in Library

20,000 tracks on a NAS drive.

Description of Issue

I have Roon operating and it has read my NAS library and connects up to Qobuz. But I can’t get any audio out. I click on Audio and it recognises the USB Mola Mola DAC endpoint but when I click enable it reports it is unable to initialise. The Melco firmware is V43. (the latest) and is Roon ready. How do I get Roon to talk to the Melco?

[Rugby (aka Daniel or Big Dan)]

@George_Sallit

Mola Mola DAC

Which one? The Tambaqui?

@George_Sallit

Roon ready. How do I get Roon to talk to the Melco?

Roon Ready refers to the ethernet connection only, not usb. Connect an ethernet cable to the Melco, remove any usb. The Melco should appear in the Roon Ready section of Settings/Audio.

[George_Sallit]

Thanks for the response.

Yes the Tambaqui

I just connected the Melco to the Tambaqui through the ethernet cable but it was not recognised by the Roon software. I had removed the USB cable. The Roon recognises all the USB drivers I have as end points such as Chord but the Melco has not been seen. I switched the Melco input to Roon.

[Martin_Webster]

Connect the Melco to your switch or router using Ethernet, and use a USB cable from the USB DAC connector to the Tambaqui.

[George_Sallit]

Thanks.

I have tried connecting the Melco to the switch via an ethernet cable. And then the USB output from the Melco to the DAC (I assume that is what you mean as the USB DAC is the Tambaqui). When I try to enable the USB DAC Mola Mola recognised it says Unable to Initialise.

A bit of a puzzler.

[Rugby (aka Daniel or Big Dan)]

I think you should drop the Melco. Plug the Tambaqui straight into the switch and have your Roon Core plugged into the switch. The Tambaqui is Roon Ready and should show up there. Get that working and then think about the Melco.

[Nepherte (Bart Verhoeven)]

Did you select the proper input on the Tambaqui (ethernet vs usb)?

[George_Sallit]

Rugby, Thanks, that works so I now have the flexibility of Roon but there must be a bit more audio to squeeze out the system with the Melco.

Nepherte, I tried both inputs but no joy.

I have also contacted Melco and see what they say.

[Rugby (aka Daniel or Big Dan)]

@George_Sallit

that works

Great to hear. I would suggest you listen to the current setup for awhile before making any changes. Gives you a baseline to compare.

@George_Sallit

a bit more audio to squeeze out the system with the Melco

You can certainly tinker around, but right now Roon is sending the audio straight to the DAC with nothing in between and since Ethernet provides galvanic isolation, you have no worry about having a USB in the chain.

I am a “keep the chain as simple/short as possible” kind of guy, YMMV.

[Jim_F]

@George_Sallit

Melco N100

I doubt that putting a $2000 streamer ahead of a $13,000 DAC is going to improve anything.

[Marin_Weigel (Bram Stoker's Cappuccino)]

… even a higher pricetag probably doesn’t change anything at all either…

[miklats]

Congratulations that you got the Tambaqui. It is an outstanding device. A milestone in the digital music reproduction.

[Martin_Webster]

@George_Sallit

And then the USB output from the Melco to the DAC (I assume that is what you mean as the USB DAC is the Tambaqui).

I meant the USB socket labelled “USB DAC” on the Melco, but good to hear you have the DAC working now.

[George_Sallit]

Problem solved. As I suspected the Melco has a Roon Ready Mode buried under the USB DAC Setting. Once set then the Melco becomes an end point that connects to the Mola Mola via the USB connection.

Whether it is better is another question.