I am wondering what the least expensive way to stream both my digital files and to listen to Qobuz in the room that houses my PC which runs my Roon Core and holds my digital file collection.
I am hoping that having the Roon Core, my router, all my digital files connected to the PC with Roon’s Core will make this possible, but I am not sure if it can be done with just a DAC or a Streamer or will I need both? My thought is a Streamer since it would be connected to the Router via Ethernet similar to the way the PC is connected to the Router via Ethernet and I already listen via Roon and little self powered desktop speakers connected to this PC. I am hoping to be able to listen through much better speakers which will be across the room from my work area.
The goal besides enjoying music is to spend as little money as possible on the DAC or Streamer since the music listening will not be critical but background.
A Raspberry Pi 4 running RoPieee connected to your network via ethernet or WIFI. A DAC connected to the RPi4 using USB. Sound system connected to the DAC. Use your PC as Roon core with Roon RAAT to the RPi4 via your network.
You can get the RPi4, FLIRC case, SD card, RPi power supply, ethernet and USB cables from Amazon.
Edit: I’m with @Martin_Webster on this. A pair of Symfonisk (Sonos) would be a very good, budget friendly all in one way to go. The work with Roon seamlessly (Sonos do for me even with the current issue). Sonos are Roon Tested and ready to work with Roon.
Given the current Sonos upgrade has broken Roon with Sonos streaming I would not look at these. You can buy any Chromecast or AirPlay tcapable speaker and add those easily enough. JBL range are not expensive and are fine, I use one in my kitchen and garden.
I started the earlier thread and did indeed go for a single Symfonisk bookshelf speaker for my bedroom system, at the time IKEA had a 20% discount.
Two observations:
Sound wise the Symfonisk is pretty good, it’s a bit bass heavy for my taste even after being tuned by the iPhone app but has tone controls so that can be dialled down Give it’s £80 price when on offer at IKEA there is almost certainly nothing better from the sound point of view.
Now that I have experienced Sonos I really don’t like it as a system. The speaker can only be tuned using an iPhone/iPad so no help to us Android users. Even then my son-in-law’s latest iPhone was too new for the app so we had to find an older one. As others have commented the latest Sonos update breaks Roon connectivity. I assume the team here will have a fix shortly but I’d rather them be spending their time on new features rather than having to waste it patching systems when manufacturers break compatibility.
If you are into Apple then fine, just Airplay stuff to the Sonos. Restricted to CD quality but I personally would think that more than adequate for such a basic system. However it is not so simple for Windows/Linux/Android users.
All is not lost for Android users though - the AirMusic app from the Play Store is fairly inexpensive (and allows try before you buy) and extends Airplay to Android. It’s a bit of a fiddle you have to use Roon to play to the Android phone then connect AirMusic to the Sonos. The phone’s volume no longer works so you need the AirMusic or Sonos app to control volume but at least I can play music on the otherwise useless Symfonisk now Roon is broken
AirMusic (or something like it) also seems to be the only way to get music from an Android phone or tablet to Sonos which is not ideal for local music on the phone, or music simply streamed from a website not natively supported by Sonos (I have an audiobook and podcast player on a website hosted by a Raspberry Pi, for example)
Would I still have bought the Symfonisk with this new hindsight? Well musically it is pretty decent and it does wall mount with a very small footprint so does for exactly what I need. But, to be honest, Sonos’s Apple only culture doesn’t make life easy for us non-Apple folks, so I’d have certainly thought longer and harder before making the decision.
I agree. I used Sonos for many years beginning with the introduction of the CR100 and early zone players. I know not everyone will agree with this but I don’t think Sonos is a great choice for Roon whether or not it’s temporarily broken by an update. There are issues with volume and transport control that I personally find problematic.
I moved from Sonos to BlueSound and BluOS (KEF) devices. Unfortunately, BluSound devices are also in a questionable state due to recent firmware issues. I don’t think I could recommend them, either, at this time. As the saying goes, “Trust is earned in drops and lost in buckets.” It’s tough to recommend Bluesound when a firmware update that causes devices to disappear and requires rollback goes unrepaired for weeks.
@Michael_Shapiro - I think you’re on a reasonable path but I’ll add a couple notes.
You may find it very hard to buy a Raspberry Pi at the $50 price you mentioned. Raspberry Pi availability collapsed during the pandemic and hasn’t recovered. Most of the Pis on the market today are being sold by scalpers at very high prices. If you do find a Pi 4B at $50, buy it quickly - you’ll find a use for it sooner or later
Some people here are using an alternative that you may want to explore. It’s nowhere near as turnkey as a Pi but if you’ve got the technical chops, it’s an option:
I also suggest you figure out how you plan to control volume before you jump on anything. Whether it’s the Roon app, a remote control, physical controls, or something else. What you want to do may influence your choices.
You may want to explore a set of small powered speakers that can take USB input directly from whatever streamer you end up with. That would eliminate the need for a DAC of one form or another. I don’t know if these will fit the bill for you but the AudioEngine A2+ might be an option. They’re small but punch above their weight class. Very popular. Available on Amazon in the US or direct from AudioEngine at $269.
If you do down a path that uses a Pi and a standalone DAC, search the forum for “Pi DAC HAT” and you’ll find many hits on the HAT option. This would integrate directly with the Pi (eliminating the need for a second device, power cord, etc.) and might give you a better volume control option.
I use a small pair of JBL self powered monitors and an ifi headphone amplifier DAC at my desktop right now. The problem is when I listen to Roon through them they hold the desktop sound system hostage. I cannot listen to any YouTube dialog while Roon music is playing and if I try to game on my PC the gaming sound does not come through if Roon is playing. I had this set up working great at one time using an Ethernet cable from my router to a streaming DAC at the other end of the room which was then attached to a nice stereo system. With that set up I would stream Roon to it while I gamed or listened to pod casts at my desk via the JBLs. This set up with the streaming DAC is now in another room in the house making wonderful music there. I am now trying to get to that old set up without spending a fortune. I am done building expensive systems. As a retiree I want to spend as little as possible on this home office system but enjoy sound at my desktop while I stream Roon and Qobuz files to another system in the same room via the router. I have a nice pair of three way speakers I want to use and a nice tubed integrated amp to use with it just not the Roon connection from the router.
Got it. Hopefully this thread helped you identify some options. A Pi with either a DAC HAT or an external DAC would be great since it sounds like you just a streamer with line out. If you can’t get a Pi and are willing to play with that thin client and an outboard DAC, that can work, too.
My desktop is a Mac. If I set the Mac up as a Roon zone using “System Output”, Roon doesn’t take exclusive ownership of the audio stack. In other words, I can play music and watch YouTube, play games, whatever, and the audio will be blended. I believe this is possible on Windows, too. I know this isn’t what you’re asking for help with but if you do want to figure this out, people here can probably help.
For what it’s worth if you can take a Google Chromecast and put it into a Sonos thats wired directly to your core and the system will work fine as a line-in option. I never have a problem and I have seven of them.
I bought a 2012 Mac Mini which works only as the Roon core. The operating system can’t be updated though it handles Room perfectly well. They can be found quite cheaply.
Am I misunderstanding but if I have Roon and I have a ton of digital files that Roon manages then really I only need a streamer and should connect via Ethernet, then RCA to the Integrated and then speaker wire to my speakers. The real question is why would I need a DAC?
The onboard audio chipset on your PC’s motherboard is a DAC. If you want the least expensive way to play your streamed and local music, just use a pair of decent active speakers connected to the PC. Job done. You could buy a low cost USB audio interface and use that as the PC’s default audio (replacing the PC’s internal audio), and use that to connect your speakers to, which would be a simple upgrade. That would also give you a good headphone amplifier as well. I’ve got a USB C Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 on one of my PCs for that purpose.
