For roon the sub model can just be bought as a lifetime. Build your own NUC and lifetime can come as cheap as $1200 total or less if you can find a good deal on hardware. Far less than some pay for the USB cable. Not sure why everyone complains about that. it works with most audiophile hardware and the list continues to expand.
Now the Sound Quality comment is one for discussion. I follow that discussion in many forums, not just this one. Most come from the super high end all in one solutions that provide their own software and store the music local. Everyone’s setup is diff from network perspective. Given an all in one solution with just L*R output to pre vs adding in more hops on network with yet another server involved it does not surprise me that there may be some loss in SQ. I have not seen that but I do not have a $10-20k Arender or Aurlic device. Or MU-1 etc… If you have funding to get one of these go for it. But if you are concerned about the $700 Roon price (or whatever it is now) I am figuring that is not on your list. Full blown Roon Rock on NUC and AirLens looking at 3200 to 3500 investment. Done.
The Innuos users on this forum seem to be very happy too. They have an app and their devices support having a music library. Lumin might do too. Roon is too intrusive for me. I am sure I could turn off all its helpful features. But then it would not be value add for me. Maybe just compare some before moving.
I’ve been intrigued by the recently released Innuos Pulse. But most USA Innuos dealers are either a long drive from me or have online-only operations. One thing I have to give Bryston is that they provided nearly instantaneous online support long after the warranty ended. I am not confident I will have that when I inevitably encounter issues with an Innuos device. Also, the reviews on the iOS app (in the App Store) are very mixed.
Definitely Innuos Zen mini, good basis quality and upgradable, linear power supply, Ethernet filters etc. For higher budget the Zen or Zenith with money no object Statement.
Innuos runs as Roon Core, Roon Client or even both. Not into Roon licensing fees? Innuos supplies its own server and streaming app.
As far as I know it does not work with BluOS. So in my system I stay with my iMac + BluOS server and Apple Music App.
Roon could easily do a standalone “lite” version. However complex it becomes, it has to remain easy to use. Otherwise people will stop using it.
Wifi is one of the best ways to do audio - I think the AirLens is a wifi receiver.
Without ethernet you wouldn’t get far these days.
Coding? Just think how much code there is in the DSD DAC.
I bought my Innuos just as a server and Roon Core. For that alone it is superb. I’m still amazed they managed to produce a streaming platform that was pretty good from the first release and now, only 18 months later, is really excellent.
As a company, they have been very systematic about developing core technology and progressing their product ranges. It’s very efficient and focused. A bit like Auralic who, when their streaming took off (thanks in no small part to the great Lightning app), dropped other non-core products like amplifiers.
It’s the complete opposite of PS Audio, who want to do everything from the recording to the studio to the complete audio system, plus power units. It’s a big ask and very expensive. From what I read the PSA streamer project failed simply because it needed more manpower.
That wouldn’t be a problem, as long as we can leave the device open, as e.g. with Roon. It would definitely help if battery life wasn’t compromised as much as it is nowadays.
“From what I read the PSA streamer project failed simply because it needed more manpower.”
As far as we’re aware, it’s not so much the man power, but the lack of available components to build the device and be readied for the market.
Do you have information to prove otherwise?
Some quick background. I saw Paul at AXPONA in spring of 2018 and at that time he thought they would have a genuine streamer/server ready to go by end of 2018. That was pre-pandemic by two years. I think the project turned out to be way bigger than they originally thought and I get the sense that the single biggest difficulty was that software controller. Certainly the pandemic did not help the effort. Supply chain is certainly a problem today, however, they were able to get the DS MK2 DAC out in spite of supply chain problems and expect they are going to do the same for the AirLens.
Well I guess my only comment is that the streamer must have been shelved. If they really wanted to do it, the pandemic with supply chain problems is the perfect time to write software
And as I mentioned in an earlier post, good software is very difficult. I’m not saying it’s harder or easier than hardware; but quite often hardware companies greatly underestimate the work needed to write functional, high quality, extensible software. (I have scars to prove it. One thing I vowed–never to get a job at a hardware company.)
Now a PSA streamer will be a dime a dozen. The AL is a great compromise.
Paul made a post at the time noting only 2 or 3 people had been working on it. Roon has 50+. There was no mention of parts that I recall. The idea of spending the $millions needed to get such software to a competitive level for a single product 10 years behind the market was an incredibly difficult ask. The likes of Lumin, Linn and Auralic have done it over many years supporting a whole product range. Innuos did it with a large existing user base and their streaming platform could be downloaded and installed on the last two generations of machines, so they had a captive market with the hardware. The software will drive the next generation of their hardware, Pulse.
Not to be critical of a small company shooting for the moon. That is always to be celebrated. But if a small company has limited resources to invest in a project, then they need to focus earlier. When Paul mentioned in August 2021 that they were trying, in effect, to solve classical music metadata, it was a warning sign for me: “large libraries and working with metadata are serious focuses for our team - and then add to that classical music which I don’t think anyone has yet tackled as well as we will.”
By March 2022, the posting was: “it would have been great but Octave SW is no longer. After 5 years of hard work and intense effort we threw in the towel. Sad day. Octave Streamer is alive and well and fixes the issue I have with Roon SQ”.
The only large library handling I was looking for was to be able to select music off my NAS using the metadata that I already have loaded in the files and that it not be done with the typical shoddy UPnP apps, and not be Roon either. OK, probably not a big market. But plenty of other small hardware companies offer this.
At least Tidal Connect is onboard the AirLens. This is a big plus for me, as I generally recommend Tidal to non-audiophile friends, who often also are interested in ATMOS, which could be another opportunity for a small company to shoot for the moon, and to get ahead on a potentially big trend.
The landscape was quite different 5 years. Roon and a few others have taken over. I think Paul read the writing on the wall that there is no need from him to do that. he was also looking at doing a music server with it. Then along comes the streaming boom. Add in Covid and the whole market flipped upside down.
Best laid plans…
Also yes he mentioned several times about parts shortages and how it effects the design and how many times it has to change due to the shortages. Also no Airplay was not a decision Paul like, it was due to no parts for a year.
