Hi,
I am planning to sign up for Roon and am planning to modify my home system so I can take full advantage of it. I am looking for guidance on hardware. If someone could look over my existing system and possible changes and additions…please…sorry if this is lengthy…oh and I also would like really good sound but I don’t claim to hear discreet nuances but like to listen loud and to all kinds of music including classical.
My current system is:
-Living Room/Main listening room: a Mini Mac (2010?) that holds my iTunes library (mostly apple lossless) with BitPerfect Software connected via USB to a REGA DAC and REGA Amp with Dynaudio tower speakers – House Ethernet access is available here (currently not used)
-pre-wiring for a pair of outdoor speakers for the upper deck ends in the same location
-Office Desk: WD NAS (holds a backup of my MacMini and all other Macs in the house) hooked up to Airport Extreme plugged into house Ethernet , my MacBook sits here most of the time and I have pre-wiring for a pair of bookshelf speakers that plus into a mini Amp/DAC (so,so quality) that plugs into the USB of the MacBook when working there
-Downstairs den has a Panasonic TV, Apple TV, Marantz Amp with a pair of good speakers for TV watching as well as pre-wiring leading to a pair of future outdoor speakers lower deck (we listen to music more on the lower deck)
-an Airplay Libratone speaker in the master bathroom that is used heavily (but is very unreliable, probably a problem related to the Libratone itsel) mostly by streaming from phone when in the bathroom
-Ethernet plugs all over the house in other places (kids rooms, guest room…)
My plans:
-I probably need to replace my MacMini. Thinking about replacing it with a NUC that is going to have ROCK installed --should this go in the living room so I can direct wire it into the Rega DAC or better in the office close to NAS?
-I will probably get a new external USB hard drive to hold my Roon library and keep the NAS as back up for all the different systems
-currently I easily rip CDs using MiniMac into iTunes library (very convenient), will I need another device to rip new CD’s (my MacBook doesn’t have an optical drive) on what is a good option to make this convenient and easy…
-add a Raspberry with a hifiberry amp to the office setup and the den for the lower deck outdoor speakers and the bookshelf speakers
could I use these:
https://www.amazon.com/Raspberry-Model-A1-2GHz-64-bit-quad-core/dp/B01CD5VC92/ref=sr_1_4/138-3536286-4991309?ie=UTF8&qid=1496251855&sr=8-4&keywords=raspberry-pi)
https://www.hifiberry.com/products/ampplus
-if I place the NUC in the office I would add another endpoint (Raspberry+Digi) in the living room to feed into the Rega DAC (or should I just switch to a rasberry/hifiberry DAC and amp (do they make them in combo or can both amp and DAC be added to a raspberry??)
-do I need to re-rip all of my CD’s
-for better streaming quality should I use Deezer or Tidal
-in order to improve wireless streaming in the house for the bathroom speaker and mobile speakers that can be moved to different locations should I use a Bluesound system or rely on Airplay? Can Roon on a NUC stream to a Bluesound Mini speaker and how does it do that, or do I need a BlueSound streaming device…? I am confused about what device can do what and in what quality…
Sorry this is so long—so many questions…I welcome and appreciate all feedback and input!