What Roon devices have you all bought?

Innuos seems very popular

I have bought three of them so far, being quite happy with all of them:

Primare np5 prisma

Naim mu-so qb 2

Bluesound node 2i 

Sound quality from the first is amazing.

 

seethroughyou wrote:

What Roon devices have you all bought?

Innuos seems very popular

Someone on the forum had / has an Innuos server, and thought it wasn’t nearly worth the money

Not sure who that was, but maybe they’ll chime in

I use a Linn Selekt as my Roon endpoint, and it’s been excellent. Expensive, but I bought it for its DAC too, so didn’t mind

I thought about whether to report this but would like to share here:

Due to the lack of connections other than analog, I couldn't help but connect my BS2 analog to my Bluesound node i7.

Which soundwise was not convincing, but rather poor. The node's DAC can't be the best, apparently.

I tried something after that and connected a rather old DAC I had lying around (a Denon DA-300USB) via optical between the node and the BS2, so that the digital to analog conversion was done by the Denon and not by the Bluesound node:

I'm sorry to say that I was shocked at how much better the sound was through the old Denon than through the BS2 with its own DAC. So much better than the sound of the BS2 alone, via its built in DAC and without all the manipulations.

That should not be at the price.

So, unfortunately, you should be aware that with the BS2 you are just buying a good-looking sculpture that also plays music.

 

Ulrike wrote:

Due to the lack of connections other than analog, I couldn't help but connect my BS2 analog to my Bluesound node i7.

So you are using the Bluesounds DAC to play music to the analog connected BS2.

Ulrike wrote:

I'm sorry to say that I was shocked at how much better the sound was through the old Denon than through the BS2 with its own DAC. So much better than the sound of the BS2 alone, via its built in DAC and without all the manipulations.

Then you played music using your Denon DAC (also analog connected to the BS2).

So practical what you are doing is comparing the DAC of the Denon and the Bluesound.

That said, it says nothing about the quality of the BS2 DAC in comparison to the other two.

Ulrike wrote:

So, unfortunately, you should be aware that with the BS2 you are just buying a good-looking sculpture that also plays music.

Thus this conclusion in this comparison is at least doubtful.

The only conclusion about this reported test: to you the Denon DA-300USB DAC sounds beter than the Bluesound node i7 DAC when both are analog connected to a BS2.

Hi Carolpa,

no, I don't think that's the case. If you have a little time to spare, maybe you could watch this short video that explains it very well?

 

https://youtu.be/p1em2renxds

I am not a Darko fan, but the analogy with the different lenses on top of each other like at the optician is a good one:

So - I know my BS2's own sound well enough, because I listen to it almost daily, and I use that as a starting point.

1.

I need the BS Node as Roon endpoint to listen to music via Roon and the BS2, otherwise it does not work.

I don't need the DAC of the Node though because it doesn't sound good, hence:

2.

I connected the Node digitally via its optical output to the optical input of the Denon DAC and also configured the Node in the Bluesound app to use an external DA converter. Thus, the DAC of the Node is switched off and the conversion is done via the Denon DAC.

3.

I connected the analog output of the Denon to the analog line-in of the BS2.

And now discover, to my amazement, that the BS2 sounds worlds better connected this way than it did before, when it was playing using only its own DA converter and DSP engine.

See Darko's explanation above, which actually seems quite plausible, doesn't it?

Point 1: as I descibed. The DAC of the Bluesound will convert the signal from digital to analog to be input to the BS2.

Point 2: as described. The Bluesound will output a digital signal to the Denon. The Denon convert the digital signal to analog to be feeded to the BS2.

Point 3. is the same as Point 2. You descibe the output of the Denon is analog, so de conversion digital to analog is done by the Denon or before the Denon. Thus the BS2 is feeded a analog signal.

 

In all examples the input of the BS2 is analog, so in all the examples the DAC of the BS2 is not used to get in these examples a final audible signal.

 

So my previous point still stands. Your conclusion of the BS2 is based on incorrect arguments.

 

Hello. I am looking into Roon, and I wonder if it would be possible to connect a Raspberry Pi with Roon Bridge on it to a BLGW or BLI so it can play on my NL devices?

If not, what kind of an Roon endpoint would you recommend using to connect to B&O speakers?

Is it better to just use the CC over the airplay for better quality..

The B&O isn't cheap, so why being satisfied with low res audio quality??

If you make all your speakers Roon visible endpoints, it may just be a lot simpler using the Roon app...

Someone else started a BLGW Roon integration thread recently- probably worth a read.

I use a Linn streamer DAC into my BL50s , controlled via Roon. And in other rooms, the Roon app controls my A9 and BS2, via CC.

But I appreciate of course you may have specific BLGW needs/ desires!

Thanks, I did see the other thread just after I posted my question..

I suppose it's some other dac solutions that can be used, that not burns of all my cash? 😁

I suppose that a Raspberry Pi has a lower audio streaming technology then a Linn..

What will you recommend ?