Roon Volume Control with any Schiit?

Hoi zäme

I wanted to add some Schiit amp to my setup. It would be important for me to be able to controll the volume via Roon. The enpoint is a Raspberry Pi with Roon Bridge.

I guess there will be no chance to control volume if I use a HiFiBerry as DAC und Schiit only as Amp (-> correct?).

…is it still the same, if I use Schiit DAC + Amp as two separate devices? (Or is there any way to remote control a Schiit Amp via the DAC?)

What if I go for a Schiit Asgard Amp with DAC module? Will that one be able to control Volume from Roon? Has anyone already tested that?

Thanks & Regards,
Losty

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You can use DSP-based volume control within Roon by setting up your zone that way, just as you do for any DAC; Roon is lowering the volume within the digital realm prior to it reaching your DAC. Opinions differ on whether this can audible impact sound quality. But yes, what you want can be achieved. Some 2-channel setups even use no pre-amp, only having a streamer with DSP-based volume fed into a DAC fed into a power amp.

I have multiple Schiit-based Roon endpoints; some use RooDial or Roo6d as ways of controlling volume this way with an external device & extension.

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On the one hand there are opinions and beliefs :pray: :prayer_beads:, and on the other you’ll find hard facts :scientist: :microscope: as to the inaudibility of Roon’s DSP volume control, as proven by our dear :1st_place_medal: member @DrCWO, see here.

Thanks for your replys.

Yes - sorry I missed that, but since I’m on a greenfield with DAC + amp I wanted to do the proper device volume way…

An option would be to get one of the schiit devices that have a remote control.

Schiit is definitely not the way to go then. Schiit amps all have proper potentiometers or discrete resistor ladders to control volume (AFAIK). There are a few devices out there where Roon can control an analog on-board volume control and the knob will even turn - but this is definitely not Schiit’s approach. They use standard drivers and have great audio quality (especially price/quality ratios) but they are not playing around with Roon Tested, Roon Ready, or any form of integration. They are very much a KISS manufacturer - which is why I have so much of their gear.

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Before buying take a look at audiosciencereview.com. As far as I remember Amirm tested some of them. Some quite good, some not so nice.

If you have a Linux system you can see if a USB DAC has device volume or not. With „amixer -c x contents“. The „x“ stands for the device number. Looking at the output there should be something with „volume“. If you see this there is a good chance you can control device volume with Roon.

Best DrCWO

Any of Schiit’s amps paired with a Saga or Freya preamp will give you remote control.

@Johnny_Ooooops
Hmm… you happen to know a particular device or brand which does this?

Motor-driven knob would rather be nice to have - not really required…

I though this is less emloying a Roon specific feature more the possibility to allow volume control via USB (as @DrCWO pointed out)

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Here’s a good quality passive preamp that I think does what you want.

https://www.khozmo.com/

Thanks @David_Gibson . But since there is no USB, it’s not controlable from Roon, right?

Anyhow: I’ve found on this forum, that Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital - Volume Control - #4 by dabassgoesboomboom can obviously do it, but according to Review and Measurements of Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital | Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum it has a good DAC, but a not so good Amp.

Also my current Audiolab M-DAC can do it, but that’s the one I wanted to replace.

Are there really no other devices?

I’m sorry, I misread your post. I thought you wanted to control volume without Roon. I think most setups can be controlled by Roon if that’s what you want. Just select DSP Volume in your settings. I don’t think the HiFiBerry or any Schiit amp would affect whether you can use DSP Volume. I may be wrong.

The device that’s used for streaming determines
If DSP Volume can be used as it’s run on that device , it’s generally pcs and sbc that Roon Bridge is installed on that allow it, don’t know of a Roon Ready device that does but maybe there is the odd one.