In for a dime, in for a dollar. I might as well admit I’m still not completely certain I understand. (And the problem is the student not the teacher!)
So I need a WiFi “endpoint” and you have suggested:
“…the Sonore Sonicorbiter SE and, if your Bel Canto DAC has a decent coax S/PDIF input, this Allo DigiOne bundle.”
Then I also need a WiFi “access point,” which you are suggesting could be an Airport Express? Or something else? Then a short ethernet cable would run between those two?
Under that setup, I could choose Hi-Rez files on my iMac to play wirelessly on the living room system? And I could play Tidal through the desktop application on my iMac (thus allowing TIdal’s Master MQA files) wirelessly in the living room system also?
Yes. Those are just a couple of examples I thought would be easy for you to set up and would be fairly inexpensive.
Yes, you could get a used or refurbed Airport Express. There are a bunch of other, more current alternatives (from Netgear, Linksys, etc.), but the AE would have the advantage of being cheap and easy to configure to talk to your AirPort base station.
Yes. I looked at the specs for your DAC, and it looks like its S/PDIF input might be better than its USB input, so if that’s true, that actually makes the less expensive DigiOne Player a better choice (IMO).
There has to be some bad news, right? Under this setup, you won’t be able to send decoded MQA to the Bel Canto unless and until Roon does MQA decoding. (I think that’s coming before too long, but there’s been no official word.)
you’re welcome. I think your iPad might be OK as Roon seems to support the iPad Air onwards, which is the model after mine. Easy way to find out is to download the Roon Remote from the app store and try to install it. Mine gave an error message I recall which is how I found out. Yours should just install but of course will have no Roon Core to find if you fire it up.
Mine also is on the latest IOS version but not compatible hardware wise (no 64 bit or no Open GL3 graphics). Rather annoying as it is otherwise not showing its age (battery life still great and runs all the apps but one that I need).
If you’re feeling adventurous (probably not for you, Geoff), you could try installing @Mike_Plugge’s cool extension:
I was able to get it running this weekend on my old 3rd-gen iPad (now in occasional use by my better half). Not only does it work, but having surmounted the installation challenges, I’m feeling more technically astute than I usually do.
Thanks again to everyone for all the help! I’ll have to think about whether I want to use the Room trial period now, when it would require that I buy some extra equipment, or wait until I have the Geek Source that should completely change my living room setup.
Thanks for all the time David and others took to help me understand these issues better.
Anders I understand your response. But it is not as if I cannot listen to music now, while I am still waiting for the Source. My system sounds pretty good as it is. It would be better and more enjoyable with a better music server.
The thing is I’ve paid for it. So my choice is to spend additional money to buy another music server. At this point I’m not ready to do that.
many thanks. I had considered this option but got lost somewhere along the way trying to find out about Extensions. Generally, anything that mentions GitHub gets very complicated very quickly IMHO! Is there an beginners/idiots guide anywhere to Extensions?
Speaking as an idiot, it would be great if there were, but I haven’t seen one. Mike’s instructions are good (because I was able to follow them):
(Just scroll down to where it says “Install:”)
I think I found I had to install Xcode, homebrew, and git before moving along to installing the extension. (This is all under MacOS.) Xcode is a regular install from the Mac App Store; everything else requires a trip to terminal land, but you can pretty easily find instructions for the prerequisite installs via Google.
With all my new-found expertise , it’s occurred to me that it might be smarter to install @Jan_Koudijs’s Roon Extension manager as one’s first extension. I intend to give that a go this weekend, time permitting.
I hope you enjoyed the piece, Geoff. And, coincidentally, we sold the Destination Audio Horn Loudspeakers, which will be leaving my man cave sometime in September to their new “Forever Home.”
, it’s occurred to me that it might be smarter to install