What hardware are y'all using for Roon?

I'm using the Bis Vivat, which is a bit more analytical than the Maestro.

Interested to read your thoughts on the level 3 upgrade...

Jan

Sounds like a very nice interconnect; however I am getting conflicting information about the best way to connect the DAC to 252. I’ll have to open a new thread...

I have a  homemade i5 pc running vortexbox os which can rip my CDs automatically and this runs Roon core and Bliss sorts out the metadata. I did have several pi endpoints and Squeezeboxes about the house. Just bought an Naim Atom for my main system for convenience. Works well with Roon but it's proving problematic for other things.

If your going for pi endpoints I strongly recommend to install Ropieee as the software it's a dedicated Roon endpoint thats simple to use has touch screen support and supports most DACs. 

Jan-Erik Nordoen posted:

Hi William, 

Yes, listening via the balanced outputs is more engaging, holding my interest longer in the music. Via the single-ended outputs, the Pavane can, at times, seem slightly mechanical. 

The single-ended outputs use Lundahl output transformers to convert dual-differential into a single-ended signal, whereas the balanced outputs are driven directly from the Pavane's converters (the Transient modules in the photo below). As pointed out in the Six Moons review, "the Pavane's converters and I/V stage are potent enough to not require a conventional output stage. Hence there isn't one." (photo from Six Moons review).

So, one less thing in the signal path !

Jan

Jan, I opened a new thread here:

https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...25#73793444751782425

In case you haven’t being following it, I have another question for you over there.

Cheers, William

P.S. Will keep you posted on the Pavane upgrade. They are currently waiting for a delivery of MQA boards....

NUC7i5BNH with ROCK installed powered by 12v/5A linear supply to microRendu/DAC V1. Music on an external OWC powered 2.5” USB drive. Sounds superb. Might get a fanless case for the NUC someday as that’s supposed to increase sq. As well. Screaming deal on a new one with 256gb SSD and 8gb of RAM for $340 off the bay. Cheap drive and ram of course, but it gets the job done. Couldn’t be happier. 

Roon Core on a NUC5i3 running ROCK and my music library on the same NAS that Asset UPnP server on the RPi can index also.

Roon Endpoints are the SonicorbiterSE running the UPnP Bridge directly into my NDS, and also through a USB->S/PDIF converter into the BNC input of the NDS.

I also have a RPi Model B running Squeezelite into the Speakers on a B&O TV in the bedroom, and a Bluetooth speaker in the Bathroom connected to the USB dongle in the NUC.

Simon

William posted:

P.S. Will keep you posted on the Pavane upgrade. They are currently waiting for a delivery of MQA boards....

I look forward to that. Thank-you

You have 5k and you live in the US???

(2) Micro Rendu - $1,300

(2) PSU - $600

(1) Schiit Yggy - $2,400

(1) Schiit Bimba or Chord Mojo

The MR + Yggy should give you NDX Performance. The other should be about a ND5XS. 

Possibly a DAC V1 instead of a Yggy if you want the Naim Sound. 

I use a MR with upgraded PSU, Schiit Eitr and Gumby, but with LUMIN control app. 

Jan-Erik Nordoen posted:

William posted:

P.S. Will keep you posted on the Pavane upgrade. They are currently waiting for a delivery of MQA boards....

I look forward to that. Thank-you

Jan-Erik, my upgraded Pavane arrived back from Holland yesterday. My gear had been switched off for over a week but, even with a cold amp, the L3 version of the Pavane is stunning. I will endeavour to elaborate in due course as I get used to the new presentation, but for now my initial impression is more composure, more emotion. more involvement. I wasn’t really expecting the difference to be so big.

Would like to try Raspberry Pi 3 + HiFiBerry Digi+ Pro into original Naim DAC, just for curiosity's sake; none of this was around, of course, when the DAC first came out, and much has changed on the software and embedded hardware front since.

I'm not looking for volume control (bitperfect >>> software volume in that scenario), but am curious to see what the performance level is with hardware oscillator clocks in the DAC (vs DSP-generated ones in the other stuff).

Pi and HifiBerry is very good combo and sounded very good to me.

William posted:

Jan-Erik, my upgraded Pavane arrived back from Holland yesterday. My gear had been switched off for over a week but, even with a cold amp, the L3 version of the Pavane is stunning. I will endeavour to elaborate in due course as I get used to the new presentation, but for now my initial impression is more composure, more emotion. more involvement. I wasn’t really expecting the difference to be so big.

Thanks William, ... more emotion, more involvement.... I’ll investigate getting mine upgraded

Jan

The new Naim streamers all promise to be Roon Ready, meaning they will fully function as endpoints, so you might just want to wait; rumor has it the NDX 2 will be released around August and be in the $6-7K price range.  Basically that's my plan, with the NDX 2 replacing my current ND5xs.  I already have a XPS level power supply but will eventually go for the real deal.

In the meantime I recently bought a Lenovo compact desktop for around $650 which I've dedicated to being a Roon Core.  It came with a 240 GB SSD, 7400 i5 CPU, 8 GBs of RAM and Win10 Pro.  Setup was a cinch following Roon's instructions for migrating the Core from my general purpose / gaming desktop.  The little Lenovo has a fan but it's almost completely silent; network connection is via Ethernet.  So Roon now outputs 24/7 to all my devices like iPhone and iPad, all the Mac and Windows computers on the network, and via Airplay to MuSo and a linked Aries Mini system in my TV area; so far so good and the Core's performance on the Lenovo seems on a par with the previous much more powerful system. 

Still working on how to go direct to my Naim gear; I have a much older Mac Mini which may have optical out which I could input to my nDAC; failing that I could use the headphone out to RCA inputs on my 282 preamp.  In either case as the Mini will function as an endpoint, not the Core, its spinning drive and dated i5 CPU should be more than sufficient, the question will be if there is no optical output how good the Mac's built-in DAC + headphone amp output sounds. 

Still it's just a temporary solution until the new NDX 2 is released at which point I'll retire the the Mini, the nDAC + PS, and reduce my box count by 3.  As Thoreau says, "Simplify, simplify!"