Roon

Thank you gentlemen.  Much as I like the idea of a truly optimised system, even I have limits when it comes to complexity.  So the idea of a NUC with external linear power supply feeding a renderer (e.g. Ultrarendu) with external power supply smoother (Uptone LPS1.2) which then has its own external LPS, finally feeding a DAC is just too many boxes, wires & mess for me.  Hence the desire for an Antipodes/Innuos or similar, which simplifies the clutter and feeds the dac with pure musical goodness.

I was hoping that the NDS/555PSDR would hit the spot, but I didn't feel the need, even with a posh Melco unit feeding it.

The idea of a £7k Melco unit feeding the ND555 is more than the piggy bank can bear at this point.

Best regards, FT

Foot tapper posted:

So the idea of a NUC with external linear power supply feeding a renderer (e.g. Ultrarendu) with external power supply smoother (Uptone LPS1.2) which then has its own external LPS, finally feeding a DAC is just too many boxes, wires & mess for me.  Hence the desire for an Antipodes/Innuos or similar, which simplifies the clutter and feeds the dac with pure musical goodness.

 

I agree entirely re. keeping the clutter to a minimum, and I thought the Innuos servers could be a good way to integrate Roon into a system with no additional boxes. Having looked into this a little, the Roon functionality of the Innuos devices is not comprehensive, so you should check them out carefully before deciding. They are probably not powerful enough to run the full (and ever expanding) range of Roon functions, and also, they are intended primarily to use it when playing from their USB output rather than as UPnP severs. It's a bit of a minefield!!

If you want to keep the clutter and mess then i would seriously  look at the Roon Nucleus it's a very simple setup, all you need is a DAC and you can add lps if you want. If you won't want the NAS you can add drive to it or have extental UsB. By all accounts it's very good. 

Also look at the Small Green Computer line of SonicTransporters that run Roon core, and can have internal HD storage if so desired. If $ was no object I would go for the Sonore Signature Rendu that combines the Ultra and their state of the art linear power supply into one box, along with an SGC server. 

Seriously though, it seems like a lot of complexity, but for a bit under $2k one can do a solid Roon package of UltraRendu, NUC, and two linear power supplies and all the cabling needed. One of the great things about the Rendu or SonicTransporters is that you can run SonicOrbiter Bridge, which can send Roon to any Naim device that isn’t Roon ready via ethernet (direct to DAC is via USB). So if you have a UQ in another room it would be good to go. 

Anyway, there’s now a myriad of options, so it comes down to individual use and how one needs to input.