I am currently using a Roon Nucleus+ connected directly via USB to a Holo Audio May KTE DAC.
I am planning to buy an ethernet streamer for communication. Which one is best for Roon? Only care about sound quality. The price does not really matter, but I think it should be no more than a DAC.
The best would in my opinion be the U1 or U2 Mini by Lumin. Obviously Iād keep the May. The Lumin has a number of different outputs but the āfull HDā resolution is USB. Probably the best no cost option is the U1. The advantage of the Lumin devices is they work really well with Roon but they also have a pretty good interface in case Roon decides it doesnāt want to play. The only real caveat is that Lumin is presently updating some of its hardware. The U2 Mini has had this done already, superseding the U1 Mini. The full sized U1 is yet to go through this transition. I wouldnāt want to recommend a device that might be about to be replaced.
If you care about functionality and sound quality + amazing customer service, Matrix Audio X-SABRE 3 or Matrix Audio Element X2. Those are my two recommendations.
Iām going to throw the iFi ZenStream into the mix. Itās economical, It handles up to DSD 256. Iāve been able to throw music at it using NAA, UPnP, airplay oh yeah it is Roon Ready too. It has Bluetooth, wifi and hard wired interfaces. It has a simple web interface to manage it from and offers SPDIF and USB out. I like to tinker and ask hey can I? I spent the extra 99 for the āquiet 15vā power supply.
Did it make a difference? Who knows. Still the cheapest offering listed here.
One reason is Roonās recent move to no off line working. A streamer that can work with its own app will ensure people are not just tied to Roon for music. A Nucleus direct to DAC via USB does not do that. No internet, no Roon, no music.
I guess thatās one, although not the first to come to my mind. In my case, the core is not in any of my zonesā rooms, so I never used any local core devices. (I only used Pis with RoPieee for streamers.) It would be good to know the OPās reasons.
May KTE (I own one) has an excellent USB input, more flexible and trouble-free than any of the other inputs, and unlikely to benefit much from fancy streamers. The only thing I know that can take the May to a higher sonic level is to upsample lower resolution material with a good external DSP setup. You can start exploring with Roon DSP, but for the ultimate flexibility and quality gains I recommend setting up HQPlayer on a sufficiently powerful machine (Mac Mini M1 is a great choice) and trying different upsampling and DSD modulation options.
I have to say that (as a Spring 3 user with the 2.1 USB module fitted) that my instinct is still to sit something nice on top or beside it. And something that will, as a stand alone product, be able to be used in the absence of Roon without re-flashing or reconfiguration. In the circumstances where one might be without Roon you want a simple go to solution. Change app, select an album, hit play.
But of course if you only use Roon to access Qobuz or Tidal, you will still be without streaming.
I agree , I previously used a Cambridge Audio CXN V1 and just bought a Naim Uniti Atom HE , both have a USB port for an external USB HDD and both support DNLA so no internet, no Roon I have back up with my JRiver server or just leave a drive of selected tracks in the streamer. Do I really need my full library ALL the time.
I havenāt tried it yet but Naim seems to offer a UPnP server from an attached drive.