I don’t follow the technical end of things here as closely as I (probably) should.
Can you explain how an AirLens would work in my setup? I’m running a Roon Nucleus into a Matrix SPDIF 2 and then into my DSD Mk I via I2S. Would the AirLens take the place of, or be in addition to any of my components?
Sorry, I’m just in this hobby for the music. 
I assume you are running an ethernet cable to the Nucleus and then a USB cable to the Matrix and then an I2S cable to the MKI (which was my previous setup). If that is the case, then the Matrix and the USB and I2S cables would be replaced by the Airlens, which would have to be connected to your network via an ethernet cable.
I should have spoken up earlier. I was a beta tester for the AirLens and the PST ( and also the DS DAC Mk2 ). I also have a Lumin U2 mini, however I have not really used it much. My main focus has been between my NAS ( made by fidata ) and the Mk2. I record DSD128 needle drops of my best vinyl. The fidata has both a USB and Ethernet outputs, thus I took the Ethernet output into the AL and the I2S into the Mk2. It sounds wonderful. I use the other I2S input to connect to the PST that I use to play SACDs from my collection of about 600 SACDs. That sound wonderful too.
I hope to do detail comparison between the NAS output using the above method and compare it to USB input fom the fidata to the Mk2. I will report back when I do.
My AirLens just arrived to replace the Holo Red, but I cannot enable it with Roon, so I’m dead in the water.
Roon finds it, and has its name in the device drop down, but…
“There’s a problem with this device. Unfortunately, the manufacturer has not yet completed certification for this device. Contact your device’s manufacturer to find out when they expect this device to be certified for use with Roon.”
Bummer.
See Elk’s post above: PS Audio AirLens - #4401 by Elk
Mine will arrive shortly, maybe will have the same issue, wondering why not current.
The update is very new. I expect there would be already packaged product which does not have the update.
It is trivial to update the AirLens if need be.
Thanks! I forgot about that…
Yes, that’s exactly how I have it set up. You’re saying that the AirLens would be replacing the Matrix and both the USB and I2S cables? I’m wondering how the signal would then get from the AirLens to the DSD DAC.
Wouldn’t I still have to use the I2S cable from the AirLens to the DAC or is it enough that I would have an Ethernet cable going from my router to the AirLens?
My AirLens has been running for a couple of hours now. No issues setting up in Roon.
I always do updates when installing new equipment, so I did the update before attempting to setup in Roon. Especially after seeing the posts here.
You need a HDMI/I2S cable (or coax cable) to connect the AirLens to the DAC.
OK, that’s what I thought. It’ll be just as it was with my Matrix except that I wont be needing the USB cable any longer.
I’m up and running now. Sounds good out of the box!
I did a brief comparison of the AirLens, connected by Wireworld HDMI/I2S to the DS Mk2, to my Auralic Aries G1, connected by Wireworld USB. I can’t say the comparison had a really clear winner. I compared using both as Roon endpoints and also using JRMC to the Airlens and the Aries G1 running its own software (LDS) using an attached USB drive. The AirLens is probably not fully broken in, especially to the extent it needs to be paying to burn in. I had a slight preference for the Aries in both cases, but could easily see someone preferring the AirLens. The Airlens had a slightly fuller, rounder, sound whereas the Aries was a little more detailed. Both LDS and JRMC sounded better to me than Roon, on either device, although Roon did sound quite good on both to be honest. It may boil down to taste. The Aries has been replaced with a newer unit, which costs more than the AirLens. I will be keeping my AirLens in any event. One or the other streamers will go into my second system to replace a microRendu.
Edit: But see post 4382. After turning all DS Mk2 inputs to power auto, my preference changed in favor of the AirLens. They’re still close but currently the AirLens is my favorite.
For those of you that might be replacing their Matrix X-SPDIF 2 with an AirLens, can you share your observations?
That’s mighty promising. At AXPONA many of us felt the AirLens (in its iteration at that time) did not sound as good as the PST. Paul had since indicated improvements had been made to the AL.
I had the same experience. What you need to do is connect it to Wi-Fi using the WPS instructions in the manual, and then you need to run the firmware upgrades; there are two. In my case, the light never flashed that the software upgrade was successful, and yet it definitely worked. Best of luck, it’s kind of a pain and disappointing that it didn’t deliver with the most current version of the firmware from the factory. On the other hand, I am indeed happy to have it and probably got it faster because they just moved it out the door rather than if they had bothered to reflash every unit in inventory before shipping. So, I am aware of the tradeoffs.
I am trying to connect a new Airlens. Roon shows the device on my network but will not connect because it says the device is not Roon Certified. What am I missing ?
See the prior post. You need to update the AirLens firmware.
The firmware update fixes the “not certified” error. If your roon is just not showing the airlens at all make sure your roon device is on the latest firmware and power cycle both the airlens and the roon core.
That does the trick!
