I’m looking for suggestions on how best to set up my digital playback system. I will have a Synology NAS with mostly CDs ripped to FLAC, but will add some higher res files over time, including DSD. I already have a DS DAC, but no Bridge yet. I plan to run Roon Server off a SGC Sonictransporter and I need to decide the best way to get these files to the DS. I’m looking at two options:
Buy and Install Bridge II and once Torrey’s comes out and it is (hopefully) a Roon-ready endpoint, I just stream the files over Ethernet to the Bridge; or
Buy the Sonore microrendu and stream the files through it into the USB input of the DS.
Option one will be slightly more expensive, but not enough to matter. I would like some input on which of these options will provide the highest sound quality, the greatest flexibility on types and resolutions of files I can play, and the best reliability and ease of setup and maintenance. Which option do you guys recommend and why?
Frode said
How about a third option, put Roon Server on your NAS (where you have your library) and use uRendu as your Roon USB playpoint towards the DS?
I am currently doing this with my Aries as RoonSpeaker. Works like a charm.
But you have to be pretty computer savvy to do that don't you, Avadia may well be of course.
I’ve considered the option of installing rune server on the NAS and have decided against it. Which leaves me with the two options described above. I lean toward bridge (assuming rune support) but was curious about advantages/disadvantages of this setup vs. microrendu and usb input.
Hi, I recently replaced a Synology NAS / Auralic Aries combo with a Melco N1A NAS, using USB input to DS with Wyred4Sound Recovery, and there was a significant improvement in all areas of performance. It also eradicates any potential issues with streaming/playing files over the internal network which means I’ll never be looking for tweaks in that area.
My dealer also carried PSAudio and lent me their demo Bridge2 for a week and I was struggling to hear any difference via the Melco (Melco supports both USB and Ethernet output direct to DS) to the extent that it wasn’t worth me using that instead of USB. Perhaps a tad more detail with the Bridge2 but not necessarily more enjoyable to listen to.
Only downside has been that I stream Tidal Hifi and there’s no IOS App that can handle that for the Melco, so I had to buy an cheapish Android with Bubbleupnp. But that works flawlessly.
Also I’m not sure if Melco is Roon compatible. I’m not saying it isn’t, it’s just something I haven’t looked into.
I for one am really looking forward to Torreys and Roon integration. My DS DAC has a BridgeII installed and the unit is sitting in my rack unused at this point. Bryston BDA-3 is handling DAC duties via USB and W4S Recovery. Sounds great, but I’m hopeful that Torreys and the elimination of USB will be noticeably better. I love the Roon interface and I was a die hard JRiver user. Now there is no going back and I’m looking to optimize around Roon.
Roon is a great app, but I find that BubbleUp to Bridge II sounds better than Roon thru USB. I’m looking forward to native Roon support in the next firmware.