Vitus RI-101 Can't be enabled - Not Roon Ready

Hi - I see the Vitus RI-101 amplifier is widely reviewed and advertised as being Roon Ready, but it doesn’t appear in the partner logos for Roon.

Is it certified by Roon, or are they using something else inside which is Roon certified?

Thanks

[Moderated]
The second DAC module available for the RI-101 is a brand new release coming hot off the heels of the brilliant Reference RD-101 DAC/Streamer . This new module offers network streaming in lieu of the USB and Optical socket, you still have coaxial and AES inputs.

With the Ethernet socket you simply connect to your network and you have ability to stream Qobuz, Tidal and Deezer directly to the RI-101 using MConnect on your iPad to control it. It also can be configured as a Roon Endpoint as well which is proving very popular due to their wonderful interface. It can also play music stored on a NAS drive as well.

I wanted to know if Vitus have gone through a Roon certification process as they aren’t mentioned in the Roon partner pages. If not, I was asking if they were using technology from someone/something else in the partner list.

[Moderated]

Hi Unclemonty,

I wasn’t able to find the words “Roon Ready” on any spec sheet, review or advertising materials. The most I could see were pre-release review references to “should be fully … Roon capable” and “will be capable of configuration as a Roon endpoint”.

Roon doesn’t publically announce which manufacturers have applied for certification so it’s not possible to know if that process is underway with the Vitus RI-101.

I understand the new DAC module is a Vitus product and not a rebadging of a previously approved Roon Ready module, but that understanding is based solely on the descriptions of the module in online reviews.

Until the RI-101 or the new Vitus DAC module appears as a Roon Ready Network Player on the Partners page or the KB Partner Device Matrix I would assume they are not yet Roon Ready.

i have a Vitus r1 101 mark 2 that will only play Roon over airplay which sort of defeats the object of having a highend hifi, Is there a way of making my Vitus a Roon endpoint. i have subscribed for a year to Roon which seems a bad decision if i dont have my vitus as an endpoint

In short, there isn’t. I have a 101 mk I which DOES work with Roon, but that’s because I registered it as an uncertified endpoint before Roon stopped this from being possible. Unless you can persuade Roon to allow yours to be registered, you’ll need to buy an external endpoint.

This is from a Vitus dealer, message originates from Vitus:

Streaming & Roon:

A short update on our streaming solutions. The streaming module we are currently using, was obsoleted back in 3Q20, around the same time Roon stopped any “noncertified” products from functioning with Roon. Obviously, we will not take the current solution through Roon Certification, and so the current products will never be Roon Certified. When all this was announced by Roon, we received a list of VA product users of Roon – and at the time it was less than 10 end users worldwide. (not including our partners)

Since then, we have been working on developing a new streaming solution, which will be a serious upgrade of our current solution. As we needed to go through a new apple authentication for airplay 2, we have been delayed about 5 months on this basis alone. Current market situation now adds even more delay, as just the apple auth chip, has a Leadtime of 21 weeks (yup!) These have been ordered and are expected to be delivered to us in august/sept. which again means expected shipping start on our new streaming boards will happen 4Q21 – without any further delays in delivering parts to us from subcontractors.

Current streaming solutions are still in production, but with NO ROON SUPPORT!

I will send further updates as we progress with the development. We do have engineering samples of the apple chip, and everything else, so Roon Certification should be started before we are able to actually start shipping these boards.

So the Vitus ri 101 mk2 that i bought 6 weeks ago is already obsolete, will the new streaming board be offered to existing users of Mk2? No mention at purchase that device wasnt a Roon endpoint and was actually an endpoint in the demo room guess the dealer was on a developer version.
on the subject of buying a new end point yes obviously i can but bought into the Vitus partly to reduce my box count

I believe the new streaming board will be offered to mk1 / mk2 users, but really only Vitus can say for sure. Maybe one to take up with your dealer if he implied it was currently Roon compatible?

Otherwise I would also ask Roon if it’s possible to add yours as an uncertified (but Roon compatible) endpoint, like mine is.

i love my Vitus and in real terms i didn’t buy it just for streaming but i haven’t been able to replicate the quality of streaming i heard because its not endpoint. i have asked Roon about the uncertified user just waiting for a reply. i probably would have waited and bought my Vitus when it had the new board

Yes it’s a bit messy, this whole situation!

Hi @Karl_Greensall This is indeed a frustrating situation and I’m sorry you’ve been caught up in it. The device never passed certification so it is definitely not Roon Ready and that’s why it can’t be enabled. It sounds like your dealer may have misled you as to its status or capabilities, so you may want to go back to them and discuss your options.

It could probably be helped by not granting dealers unaccredited licenses so they can’t demo Vitus products with full Roon capability

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