Haven’t seen this one addressed elsewhere. Does anyone know will a iPad set up as a roon remote control a Windows computer that is set up as the core machine? Reason I ask, I currently use my Mid 2013 MacBook Air as my core machine. Looking to switch to a different dedicated core machine and the mac mini or an intel NUC appeal to me. Support has stated Roon runs faster on windows. Also moving to windows gets me further from iTunes which Apple keeps making worse and reports of some peoples downloaded and uploaded digital libraries being replaced in iTunes with 256Kbs files tells me get away from iTunes fast.
Hi John,
Yes that’s fine RoonRemote will control RoonCore / RoonServer, regardless of what OS they are running on.
Regards,
Carl
Carl,
Thanks for the quick reply, that opens up a lot more possibilities.
I would look at other NUCs besides Intel. I and @andybob use a gigabyte brix which has a spdif out as an added bonus. I’m sure he will check in as I just pinged him.
Thanks @Rugby, But is the spdif a toslink output? a lot of dac’s only go to 24/96 on toslink, not sure about mine tho
Hi John,
Yes it’s a micro-toslink on the Brix (same connection socket as micro audio) and I haven’t used it so can’t speak from experience. I too understand that toslink often has that resolution limitation, but can’t confirm whether it exists here.
I’ve had no issues using my Brix after setting it up, but would counsel caution about making decisions about a new Core before deciding exactly what it is you want it to do. In particular the forthcoming integration with HQPlayer opens up a number of processer intensive possibilities that might affect hardware decisions.
Running RoonServer does not require huge processor resources and any modern i5 Brix or NUC will give snappy performance. If, however, you want that machine to also do real time upsampling (particularly to DSD) with HQPlayer and/or do real time room EQ using a convolution engine, then you would be better getting a powerful quad core i7. Some of the filters in HQP can tax any available consumer level hardware. (Beowulf cluster anyone ?)
Brian has indicated that HQP need not be running on the same machine as Roon Core. I understand that HQP will be a kind of network zone and users can send Roon output to HQP input using a network address. That enables some flexibility of hardware architecture whereby RoonServer could still operate on a dedicated lower spec machine and HQP could reside on a higher spec machine elsewhere on the network.
It may be that you have no interest in upsampling, real time room EQ, HQP or other possible future integrations, in which case all of the above is irrelevant, but I thought I’d mention it just in case because hardware decisions can be constraining.
Manufacturer’s usually say 24/96 on toslink because it is not guaranteed that you will get it. That does not mean that the port cannot do it. A lot is dependent on cable, the originating and ending toslink ports, etc. I run a micro-toslink out of the Brix to a NAD and get perfect 24/192 just fine.
What type and length cable are you using Daniel ? I have heard with toslink it can sometimes be better to have a longer cable rather than a short 1 or 2 metre length and lay the excess in a wide radius coil. Of course someone like a cable manufacturer could make more money that way so I’m not too sure if that’s legit …
I use iPad to control Roon on remote PC. The PC in question is a MacMini 2012 model) with solid state drive and music files on Synology NAS drive. All very simple.
Don’t fret about iTunes as it is not in the equation anywhere.
I have MacBook which connects easily to the headless MacMini via Sharing its desktop. This is useful in setup and occasional troubleshooting.
The MacMini is connected via Toslink to a Naim streamer. I tried a variety of very expensive USB converters (eg Bryston BUC1) but detected nil, zero, nada benefit over the glass fibre!!
The sound I extract from my AIFF and FLAC files is sublime.
Cheers
Andybob,
I’m using an AudioQuest Forest OptiLink 0.75m (2.46 feet) Full to 3.5mm Optical Audio Cable which is rather inexpensive in the world of audiophile cables. It’s going from the Brix to the optical in of a NAD 3020D. Working perfectly.
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Hi Rugby which gigabyte brix do you use,I would like to know why does Roon recomend ivy bridge? And does the gigabyte have a remote control or if doesn’t have,how can I shut it down because I won’t have a visual contact with the PC?
Thanks much @andybob. The more research I do I tend to agree with your point of view, that so much more will be coming to Roon in the future that perhaps it is best to wait a bit and see what happens before making hardware or other decisions. As it is now my mid 2013 MBA with iPad as remote does an excellent job and the SQ is outstanding. In fact last night I compared Tidal streaming thru my Oppo BDP-103 feeding my NAD dac via spdif (RCA) and my Roon set up steaming the same Tidal music MBA-jitterbug,Generic USB cable, NAD dac and the Roon handily won (uptone regen coming soon). Next I will have to load a few songs back into iTunes and compare iTunes/Audirvana 1.5x with up sampling to the same album played thru Roon. Roon right now is just for my big rig stereo.
I have been Eq’ing my bass for years so I have a really good in room response at the listening position and my speakers can play down to 20 Hz. I am embarrassed to say but I haver not looked into HQPlayer at all and will research that. I did contact the Audirvana folks to see if they had any plans of Roon integration but heard nothing back. Audirvana made huge sound improvements to my iTunes library and I up sampled everything by max power of 2 so was usually streaming 24/176 and of course played with the filters.
@Rugby my dac does do 24/192 thru toslink and @David_Williamson I am worried about iTunes and spent this past weekend divorcing myself from it. I now use roon exclusively to stream music. With a tidal subscription and T-mobile (no data usage charge for streaming music) I have no need for iTunes.
Bottom line lots to look forward to in 16 and seeing where this takes us. Enjoy the music. Wow this got off topic.
No worries John, there’s a lot to think about.
I use a Regen and possibly because I’m running a 5 meter Belkin USB cable I found it made a moderately significant improvement. Be interested how you find it.
Another thing for 2016 will be Tidal starting to stream MQA and Roon implementing software MQA decoding (I’m hoping this will occur shortly after Tidal starts streaming, but no timeline has been announced). I don’t know how processor intensive MQA decoding will be.
@andybob that is great news, when I first read of MQA I was very excited. The perfect solution for record labels, one format for all digital files from mp3 to full hi-res. I hope they adopt this encoding and lots of software will be available. Nice to know that Roon will decode it within their software. I was thinking about a new dac that would support MQA, now I won’t need that.
My mid 2013 MBA with 1.3 Ghz i5 and only 4 Mb ram worked fine with audirvana and it’s up sampling.
Will report on the regen after testing it a bit. I only run a 3 meter usb cable to my dac. The jitterbug made a positive audible difference and reviews report the regen is another significant step up. Can’t wait.
IMO the OP’s original question would not have been asked if Roon’s architecture were clearly articulated somewhere, easily found. But in the absence of that, it’s a fair question IMO.