I consider purchasing NAS. It is meant to replace my current Mac Pro 2013 as photo storage/work.
However I also have 4TB of music that I like to play on my Marantz (SR 6006).
My current setup is Roon on Mac Pro, both Mac and Marantz connected to network switch (1Gb). Files are flac, aiff, some mp3. It’s usually pretty smooth.
I control music from my computer (via Roon app) and from my phone (Room ios app).
When I first installed Roon on my Mac, it was able to “see” Marantz immediately and playback worked right away.
So the questions are:
If I install Roon and all the music files on Qnap would the Roon ‘see’ networked Marantz and allow simple playback? I think the answer is yes but would like to make sure before I spend $$$ on NAS just to find out I would be better of with a simple external storage solution.
As a side note: I love the quality of sound from my Marantz and although it’s not without its faults I do not wish to replace it with a new receiver.
Side note #2: I do not wish to control playback from Marantz. The app is outdated and horrible for browsing etc. So controlling it from Roon is a must.
I take it you connecting by Airplay as Marantz is not Roon Ready. Nothing will change by moving it to the NAS just make sure the NAS is capable of running the Roon core. Not all are equal and you need a heavy duty one to run it effectively.
You would get better sound quality by not using airplay and investing in a proper Roon endpoint using a low cost raspberry pi. The Allo Digi one is very respected price of kit.
I’ve been reading a bit about it but honestly nowadays I just don’t have time to familiarize myself with this type of setup. Is there a more plug-and-play type of Roon endpoint (I realize it would be more expensive)?
Hi Simon,
If you don’t mind me asking another basic question- trying to learn here.
Does connecting NAS and Marantz via HDMI makes a difference in audio quality i.e. I won’t need external Allo Digi? I feel like I’m missing something.
You don’t want a noisy Nas in your living room that would ruin everything sounds wise. Other option is to not use a Nas, but buy a fanless pc capable of running roon, install Roons operating system called ROCK on it s it’s free, use a usb drive for your music and use that via HDMI to your amp.
I have fiber HDMI cable running from my office to the living room so NAS would stay in the office. I was told it will deliver excellent quality signal up to 100 feet (my is about 35 feet long) – please correct if that’s not accurate.
Call me traditional but I would love to limit number of devices connected together. This is why I’m trying to avoid adding additional external DAC like Allo and come up with a system where NAS and AVR are sufficient. Shall I consider new receiver? Does built-in DAC like in high-end Yamaha systems are sufficient or does it still go through AirPlay deteriorating quality?
Thanks again for all your help.
I’ll look into it but I don’t think it’s an option for me. I guess I didn’t mean +$1000 when I asked about a bit more expensive option.
Thanks again for all your help and for enduring my ignorance. Much appreciated!
Personally I would say that audio signal output from a NAS would not necessarily by as good as using an endpoint that was built for it. I get your limiting box count but you not increasingly quality this way. NAS devices whilst can do a lot of things are not designed with audio transport in mind and likely using rf noisy PSUs and other components they are meant for serving up files really. As a server for Roon it will be fine as long as it’s an Intel i3 or above anything below is not really recommended but people do use them but Roon don’t recommend it. Using a fibre hdmi adaptor is also adding in unknown entity that could cause more issues than it solves.
No point switching you AV it wont necessarily improve things as you’ll still be stuck with Airplay as a transport which is still limited in quality compared to Roons native audio transport called RAAT.
If you happy with airplay stick with it but your not getting the best out of Roon. Thr Allo digione is not a DAC its a digital transport that you could connect to your AV amps coaxial digital in . This would mean you get a much better audio transport and can handle hires audio if desired.
There are lots of different endpoints out there and using this in conjunction with a seperate server running Roon core on a Nas or a pc is the best and recommended option for getting optimal out of your system.
Thanks again. Everything you say makes perfect sense and it’s most helpful.
Seems like you right that I should go with something like DigiOne to get most out of Roon.
Now if you don’t mind me asking one more question. If I choose this unit: DigiOne Player
– which OS do you recommend? If they don’t change the quality significantly then I would like to know the easiest one to manage/set up.
I would choose diet pi but replace it with Ropieee when you get it. Ropieee is much simpler and made to run Roon only and has a simple web interface. Check it out in the tinkering section. It’s easier to maintain than dietpi and the developer is active roon user and contactable on the forum.
Some of the upgrade advice in this thread is questionable.
AirPlay can provide lossless transport. Unless Imie needs to transport greater than 16 bit 44.1 kHz audio, a RAAT endpoint is not going to offer an appreciable upgrade from AirPlay.
Airplay is not considered lossless in the Roon ecology though. RAAT is and I already said if he’s happy stick with Airplay then it’s fine but he won’t get hires.
I discovered after purchase that the integrated DAC on my late-model Pioneer Elite AVR is fatiguing to listen to. It’s much inferior to my older Sony BDP’s DAC, as an example. I went RPi plus HiFiBerry a couple of years ago and never looked back. I don’t mess with it, I don’t fuss with it. It just gets the job done connected to my Pioneer receiver. Ditto on Airplay not being lossless, BTW.
I have a Synology NAS and a Marantz receiver. I use a Windows NUC to be my Roon Core (serving the files form the NAS).
I use an Allo DigiOne runnind DietPi as a RoonBridge. It’s connected via Ethernet to the network, and connected to my Aux inputs on my Marantz. Works like a charm! Roonbridge software comes preinstalled too.
