The fact that it only comes in black gets my vote. Haha
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Times change, and often it is the strong who are willing to admit it.
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Octave Streamer, couple comments…
There isn’t a supply chain problem in software. There is a lack of good project people managing excellent devs who are able to bring reality with too few good UX leads and artists. Software is easy. Good software is very very hard.
I also believe PS put too much “faith” in how much the server influenced sound quality. It doesn’t. Once you’ve got the streamer right then the value of the server is purely UI/UX. The AirLens can obtain the SQ they were chasing with anyone’s server. (or, least, that’s how I read it)
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Storyboarding a beautiful UX is an art form.
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The streaming boom started well over a decade ago. Sonos in 2005, Sooloos in 2008 (was part of Meridian at the time, before they left and designed Roon), Linn Kinsky in 2009, Auralic Lightning around 2014, and plenty of others. I think Roon turned up around 2015.
How I miss my previous comfortable vinyl life! You guys aren’t guiltless at all!
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The tweaks are surely easier to accommodate than that vinyl mine is rotting in the attic.
The older I get and the better the digital why bother for a 60k plus table plus 20k cables to find what I am missing ?
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Octave server software should have been developed with one thing in mind only: Flawless compatibility with the hardware for maximum speed (gapless) and sound quality only.
Never to beat Roon UI. Roon is a different animal for those who like to pay for it. The price for Roon on top of music provider license and hardware costs, while simpler and free solutions play the music as well, has never been an appealing concept for me.
I like to pay for vinyl and CDs, as I prefer the physical cover art and artist information.
For Octave to shine above all other platforms, in speed and SQ the Octave server needed to be the counterpart to the streamer. The way the files are extracted from the memory or drives does certainly determine speed, thus UX. When PS Audio pulled the plug on the server, developing the software for an open end of server hardware options became way too complex and not worth it anymore.
Innuos mastered the server and free of charge, gapless, high quality playback software concept.
Roon got its paying customers in a straitjacket with their last software release, checking for a freaking license key via the internet, even when streaming locally stored files. I’d be out of that straitjacket very soon and say farewell to it (and my money that I put into it). It’s pretty clear that Roon doesn’t only want to know everything about the artists but also everything about the whereabouts of their customers.
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I like this but I don’t believe there’s Wi-Fi. I’m currently using the Nuprime Stream 9 with I2S out into DS MK2 with great results however MK2 has red light on that means no connection but sounds great.
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True “streaming” started back in 2005 time, but back then it was called music server. It was pretty much that for a while. Then true streaming came and when Tidal/Qobuz started offering CD grade (yeah I know) streaming of all things for a monthly price the landscape started to change.
What I was referring to was PSAudio’s roadmap changed along with that. They started the server years ago, then the landscape started to change and they changed. Then as Roon exploded (yes been around for a while but its only recently where it exploded) they decided to adjust again. Then Covid delays…
Really it was not a point I was making, nor was I trying to be accurate history of streaming, but responding the comments on how PSAdudio ended up where we are not today. They adjusted to the market and the fact that its really really hard to do software and found out why do we want to do this?
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I am in my 70’s and I am trying to setup a music server ( a NAS ) and a streamer for the first time for me. I refer to it as going over to the dark side. 
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Oh of course, the first streamers were personal computers when ripping CDs finally became common place…and yuch, I hate to say it, MP3’s.
Streaming is basically music from a non-physical source. So a ripped CD is streaming, although I don’t know if anyone did that before music servers turned up. The iTunes Store was streaming and I think that started in 2004. Napster was around for a few years before that and was a sort of proof of concept. My first server back in 2009 used Windows Media Server (terrible software) and was controlled by Linn Kinsky.
Roon took off because it was the only piece of software than can be onboarded and is not hardware specific. The Roon people previously made hardware specific software for Meridian (Sooloos), but decided that was too limiting.
The market is not large enough for anyone to develop a Roon look-a-like, although BluOs is quite flexible and several manufacturers have adopted it. It is a lot cheaper just to implement Roon RAAT, which lots of people wanted. PSA decided not to.
I have 30 Roon Ready units, which do audio and lighting and have Roon, Amazon HD, AirPlay, Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music and uPnP, so I can play files from my server. They cost less than $500. The AirLens seems very limited without Roon or Airplay.
I am not trying to argue who was first when, but more of the overall market. The market for end points has change dramatically in the past 5 years a few times and PSAudio is trying to shift during R&D to match.
I will agree with that, but its the Target market is not the patio speaker or Kitchen counter device, its the Audiophile market. Ease to hook up and use with your high end system and keep the noise out. Now the no USB, thats another argument, but its what Paul decided. Its his company. My guess is that it will have one in rev 2. Maybe Airplay if the chips come back in stock.
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@tonyplachy How’s the media server set up on the NAS going? If I understand the Lumin U2 Mini right, it needs the NAS to be running a UPnP server. And then you need one that will handle your DSD files, not just PCM. @magister0 mentioned that they use Minimserver. I have used Twonky, but just to test how much I dislike standard UPnP apps. I do not live with / use Twonky on a daily basis.
It goes but very slowly. We are still working on the NAS and have not touched the Lumin. It is embarrassing to read reviews of the NAS where the reviewer has it working with no problems. I feel like a dinosaur.
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Well over a decade ago! As far as I’m concerned streaming started in 2001 with the SliMP3 from Slim Devices. But I’ll admit real capability had to wait until 2003 with the Squeezebox. Slim Devices knew what was going to happen. Too bad they couldn’t hold on, selling out to Logitech in 2006.
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Mark Cuban and audio net then broadcast.com perhaps?
Roon seems primarily audiophile and AirPlay is perfectly acceptable for lossless wireless audio.
I’ve used usb for years. If you do usb well, you need to take a lot of care over the power supply, often an internal linear power supply, and that’s not a minor upgrade.
Wireless keeps the noise out, that’s how I do my Roon.