Hi everyone, this is probably very basic and stupid. The issue is how to get audio devices hooked up to PCs to be visible to roon.
Benchmark DAC3 and HPA4 on laptop with roon installed - recognized and plays fine.
Another laptop with Chord mojo and/or DACMagic 200M - not recognized with just core install. Needs full install with “server” to be recognized; this requires logging out of one roon to log into the other as a server.
I thought core would fix this and make those devices visible, negating a full install, but it doesn’t seem to recognize anything on the section. Do I need to install a full copy of Roon with its own playlist on every PC that is connected to equipment I want to use? And logging in and out of different PC/roon servers? It would seem there has to be an easier way to do this. But alas I’m a noob and can’t get it to work.
And also synchronize the accounts and playlists on each PC.
LAST QUESTION: Bluetooth connections to devices - do they use lossy compression with roon? I assume wifi is OK but I have not come across wifi on any devices yet.
Thanks and sorry for the dumb questions and hope I’m explaining it correctly. Thanks in advance everyone.
Main thing is that you need the Roon server (PC/Mac/NUC/Nucleus), and then you will have endpoints. Not computers, but streamers. Could be your phone, could be a streamer attached to a different DAC/stereo/speakers, could be a Sonos, could be a chromecast audio dongle, etc…
Suffice it to say you don’t need a PC everywhere you want your music.
Not sure I’m answering this correctly, but if I understand the question you only need one Roon server (PC, MAC, Laptop, Nuc/Rock, Nucleus) then endpoints are recognized over your internal network (wi-fi or Ethernet) or attached to the server via HDMI, USB etc.
First of all, Roon server and Roon core are the same thing. They used to call it core and now call it server.
You need one computer device to be your active Roon server. Other devices can act as a Roon end-point with their DAC’s attached. They need to be set up in Roon - Settings - Audio - Enable on your active Roon server.
Did oyu install Roon (without the server) on the other laptop, where Mojo is connected?
You need external DACs plugged into something that “speaks” Roon. It could be a Roon Ready streamer, it could be a PC with Roon Bridge or full Roon Remote, etc. Note that the DAC needs to be turned on (assuming USB connection) for Roon to see it.
I’ll try and give you some answers to your questions:
For Roon to work, you need one and only one computer to setup as Roon Server. With the latest releases on Windows and Mac OS, this downloadable server component comes integrated with the Roon package, which also includes the user interface, but can be started and stopped independently from the user interface. So, on the computer you wish to act as Roon Server you’ll install the appropriate Roon package, and check that the server is running. You can then close the user interface, if you wish to do so, and the server will keep running in the background.
It is highly advisable to connect this Roon server computer to your network via cabled Ethernet, not WiFi. While it may work using WiFi, you may run into trouble…
To connect endpoints, what is needed is any device which can be configured to use Roon’s RAAT protocol. I think it is useful to think about a Roon endpoint as a device running RAAT, and not a connected DAC. RAAT receives the audio stream from Roon Server over the network, and interacts with the endpoint’s OS to output to any available digital interface. The endpoint may be a Roon-Ready streamer or network transport (they come with onboard RAAT support), any other computer you own, or a little SBC device like a Raspberry Pi. These endpoint devices don’t need to support the complete Roon app, nor do they expose any specific Roon user interface. On devices which are not certified as Roon-Ready, as any PC, Mac or Raspberry Pi or similar, you will have to install a component called Roon Bridge, which will run in the background. All Roon-Ready devices and devices running Roon Bridge will be automatically recognized by the Roon Server. Roon endpoints can usually run well if connected via WiFi. Of course, if you have a second Windows or Mac computer which you would like to use as Remote (Roon’s user interface), you can install the complete Roon package for appropriate for the OS, and make sure Roon server is not running. The complete Roon package includes the Roon Bridge component.
If you connect a DAC to a Roon endpoint device via USB, it can usually communicate with the RAAT protocol and give feedback to Roon about its capabilities. Roon Server may then automatically configure the device with the correct parameters. Note that it nonetheless must be enabled in the Roon Setup menu.
If you connect your DAC via S/PDIF, you will have to enable it in the Roon Setup menu, and then configure manually the correct parameters as to its capabilities (max sample frequency, max bit depth, MQA support, DSD support, etc.)
Roon supports some protocols other than RAAT, to support e.g. Sonos and Linn devices, and some others (Airplay, Chromecast). You should strife, though, to use Roon’s RAAT protocol wherever possible.
Read the manuals and get a good grasp of Roon’s architecture and how it works. That’s why they’re being maintained…
On the second pc, make sure its on the same network and subnet as the server/core pc. Also make sure the mojo/dacmagic devices/zones are not set to “private”.
Thank you everyone, so much! I did read the manual but apparently when I set up the “bridge” (I confused it with core) the windows firewall blocked it. After some troubleshooting I was able to get bridge to attach to both the Chord and DACMagic. Looking forward to using the system - it’s incredible!
Thanks again everyone - appreciate all of the insight and help
-Chris
