Hey Roonies!

[PHC1]

Can't remember if I posted this before or not but it applies to this topic. Of course headphones/desktop DAC would be best to listen.

In this video we compared a Direct CAT6A-link to the ROON Rock server with a 'normal' network link. And to make it a little bit more interesting we threw some fiber converters in the mix. Is there a difference in sound quality? Well... you can find out in this video!

Recording gear:

- Rode TF5 matched pair
- Grace M108 mic pre-amp
- Grimm TPR micrphone cable

Hifi-system
- Pass Labs XP-12
- Bryston 4B SST3
- Focal Sopra No1
- Metrum Acoustics Pavane
- Sonnet Audio Hermes
- Audioquest power cables
- Driade Flow speaker cable
- Isotek Titan EVO3 filter for the Bryston

https://youtu.be/9BX25EOG06I

[W9TR]

Originally Posted by PHC1

Nice Tom! Good to hear it made a sonic improvement. It is something I am getting ready to do as well.

I can walk you through some of the choices I made. I may have gone overboard on the memory but it was cheap. I like the NUC10i7FNH because it is relatively low power unit - barely warm to the touch.

Today I verified bit perfect from the NAS to my endpoint.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by W9TR

I can walk you through some of the choices I made. I may have gone overboard on the memory but it was cheap. I like the NUC10i7FNH because it is relatively low power unit - barely warm to the touch.

Today I verified bit perfect from the NAS to my endpoint.

Extra memory never hurt! Thanks Tom, I'll reach out as I start the assembling the components for this project.

[John Jordan]

Tom-

Congratulations on your NUC/ROON Server. Always cool to read of folks' successes with DIY endeavors.

Listen in Good Health!

[W9TR]

Thanks John. It was a fun project and everything is working really well. It indexed my large library overnight with just a handful of failures.

I’m glad I had some experience with PC platforms, optimizing bios, networking, etc. because it sure came in handy.

[bart]

Originally Posted by PHC1

Can't remember if I posted this before or not but it applies to this topic. Of course headphones/desktop DAC would be best to listen.

In this video we compared a Direct CAT6A-link to the ROON Rock server with a 'normal' network link. And to make it a little bit more interesting we threw some fiber converters in the mix. Is there a difference in sound quality? Well... you can find out in this video!

Recording gear:

- Rode TF5 matched pair
- Grace M108 mic pre-amp
- Grimm TPR micrphone cable

Hifi-system
- Pass Labs XP-12
- Bryston 4B SST3
- Focal Sopra No1
- Metrum Acoustics Pavane
- Sonnet Audio Hermes
- Audioquest power cables
- Driade Flow speaker cable
- Isotek Titan EVO3 filter for the Bryston

https://youtu.be/9BX25EOG06I

Alpha Audio do good reviews.

[W9TR]

Really interesting video. I listened to it sighted and preferred the direct fiber connection. But then I listened blind using my iPhone as a stopwatch to see if I could reliably detect the transitions. I used a new sheet of paper for each trial. YouTube on Win10 i5 Realtek optical WASAPI exclusive to Benchmark DAC1 and Focal Elex cans.

Here is how I fared:
Actual transition*....#1......#2......#3
0:00 - 1:15 D.......1:14...1:15...1:13
1:15 - 1:40 FD
1:40- 2:12 NF
2:12 -2:40 N6.......2:15...2:05...2:07
2:40 - 3:26 D........3:05...2:40...3:10
3:26 - end NF........3:43...3:40...3:44

Blip @ 1:53

D= Direct
FD= Fiber Direct
NF=Fiber Network
N6=Cat6A Network
* this is when the video label was solid after the transition. The actual transition timing could be different and may explain why, when blind, I tagged transitions ‘before’ the video text changed.


I could tell going from direct to fiber. No difference between network fiber and fiber direct. I could tell going back to Network Cat6A. Going from network Cat6A to direct was more problematic, with timing all over the map. I was able to pretty reliably detect the change back to network fiber but with a lot of timing variation.

Since I had some prior knowledge from the sighted test this wasn't a true blind test, but fun to do anyway.

I have lots of questions about the setup. I've asked then in the comments section of the video.

How were the components wired? For example was it I2S between streamer and DAC, or something else? What device is running Roon Core, and how is it configured? How is it connected to the network and then the Sonnet streamer? Where is the music stored? On the Core or on a NAS?

Its funny that the $1000 Sonnet streamer has, as it's core, a $30 Raspberry Pi 3 card.

Tom

P.S. Sorry for the formatting. Forum SW doesn't recognize spaces so i used periods.

[PHC1]

Tom, nice experiment.

Theoretically, fiber should be the way to go as it solves some of the common issues and this is a good video on the topic. https://youtu.be/iwtzN5spDUg

[W9TR]

UPDATE - Roon Core has been stable since installation - 7 days now.

I am really enjoying the Roon UI. I think it is really well thought out.

I love the client/server architecture - I can use my phone, tablet, laptops, etc to control Roon, and it recognizes all of my Sonos pieces.

I built a Raspberry Pi Roon endpoint running Ropieee software. It runs USB into my Yggy and Benchmark DAC's. I'm listening to it now and it sounds excellent as is.

I am working on a project to de-crappify it. Linear power supplies, input filtering, USB power stabilization, etc. I'll keep everybody posted on how it goes.

I am also building another endpoint to run balanced AES/EBU into the Yggy. It will be interesting to compare it to USB.

Tom

[clpetersen]

Originally Posted by W9TR

UPDATE - Roon Core has been stable since installation - 7 days now.

I am really enjoying the Roon UI. I think it is really well thought out.

I love the client/server architecture - I can use my phone, tablet, laptops, etc to control Roon, and it recognizes all of my Sonos pieces.

I built a Raspberry Pi Roon endpoint running Ropieee software. It runs USB into my Yggy and Benchmark DAC's. I'm listening to it now and it sounds excellent as is.

I am working on a project to de-crappify it. Linear power supplies, input filtering, USB power stabilization, etc. I'll keep everybody posted on how it goes.

I am also building another endpoint to run balanced AES/EBU into the Yggy. It will be interesting to compare it to USB.

Tom

Tom - looks like you are having fun with this. You beat me to the Raspberry Pi. Still on the fence with the SoTM equivalent - I do like the tear down images and comments I saw on ASR (Amir) re: the SoTM. I am still relying on the Sonos Port which is working flawlessly with Roon - I have virtually no hi-res, so my motivation is factor is a bit low.