Roon or Bridge

[Giubeca]

Hi all,
The new dilemma is to choose between a Roon Rock server or a simple network bridge like Auralic Aries or Primare NP5 for Qobuz HiRes on Expert Pro. It’s impossible to have the two systems for testing. Good music!

[David A]

I use Roon. I run a Roon Nucleus+ and I stream Qobuz HiRes to my Expert Pro. I think Roon does a very good job. I also have no experience with network bridge devices'.

Roon is not a bridge device, Roon is software. It's server software which allows you to manage your own library of music files on a drive somewhere on your network, play music from that library, and as an added feature it also allows you to connect to streaming services like Qobuz and stream from them as well. If you're not going to be streaming music from your own file library then you can certainly stream Qobuz to your Expert Pro using Roon but you're going to be paying Roon a subscription to use their software and you're also going to have to pay Qobuz separately for your Qobuz subscription. You haven't mentioned that you want to be able to stream music from a file library of your own and it's the ability to do that which you're really paying for when you use Roon.

If all you want to do is to stream from a service like Qobuz then look for a device that lets you do that without the need to pay an extra subscription on top of your Qobuz subscription. You can even stream to your Expert Pro by using the Qobuz app on your computer or handheld device and the Qobuz app is free. You don't have a need for Roon if you aren't running your own music library from a drive of your own.

[Giubeca]

Hi David, 
I know the difference between a network bridge (hardware) and Roon Rock (software) but the question is: which on give you the best quality. It’s true, Qobuz can stream to the expert pro but only using airplay so no Hi Res, cd quality only.

[David A]

First, I'm going to make 2 assumptions. First, you're streaming to your Expert Pro because it's in a different room to your computer and router and you don't have an ethernet cable connection between the 2 rooms. Second, because you're using Airplay, an Apple wifi streaming protocol, I assume your computer is a Mac desktop because if it were a Mac laptop you could place it near your Expert Pro, connect it to the internet via wifi and to the Expert Pro by either ethernet or USB.

Whether you use Roon or a bridge device you have 2 possible connection scenarios based on my 2 assumptions above:

1- the Roon device or the bridge can only connect to the internet via ethernet. My Roon Nucleus+ can only connect to my network and the internet via ethernet, Roon Rock software is a version of Roon specifically for use on a small number of NAS servers and I assume they're all going to require an ethernet connection like my Nucleus+. That means that if you use Roon Rock or a bridge which can only connect to the internet via ethernet, you are going to have to place that device near your computer and router and that means you're going to be using a wifi connection to your Expert Pro.

If you use a device running Roon your wifi connection options are Roon's Roon Ready option, Roon's version of Devialet AIR, or Airplay. Both the Roon Ready option and Roon's version of Devialet AIR will give you hires streaming to the Expert Pro which is better than what you're currently getting.

If you use a bridge device and connect it to your network via ethernet you will have to use whatever wifi options that device offers. I checked out the Primare NP5 and its only wifi streaming option seems to be Airplay. That means that Roon is a better option than the NP5 if you want hires streaming. I did not check any other bridge devices so there may be some which can stream hires as well as Airplay but if wifi is your only connection option between whatever device you're using, Roon or a bridge. Roon will be better unless you can find a bridge device which uses a better wifi connection protocol than Airplay.

2- is that you run Roon on a device which can connect to your network via wifi so it can be placed near your Expert Pro so you can connect the 2 via a wired connection. Depending on the device that could be via ethernet, USB, coax, an optical digital connection, HDMI, or possibly AES/EBU depending on your Expert Pro model.. The best of those options are ethernet, USB, and AES/EBU. My Nucleus+ allows ethernet, HDMI and USB wired connections to my 140 Pro. I use ethernet and I'd go for either ethernet or USB over HDMI.

Different bridge devices offer different wired connection output. The NP5 offers USB, coax, and optical fibre connections for wired output. I'd take USB over the other 2 options. In my system using my Nucleus+, I think ethernet provides better sound quality than USB but not all bridge devices can stream to the Devialet over ethernet. Other bridge devices may offer ethernet and/or other wired output options, I only checked the connections for the NP5.

If you're comparing a Roon device to a bridge I think the sound quality of both will be fairly close if you're using the same connection to the Expert Pro. If you're comparing different connections methods to the Expert Pro I can't really say which is better other than stating my preference for Ethernet over USB.

You may have a couple of other possible options.

First, if you're using a Mac or Windows computer you could install Devialet's own AIR app on your computer and see if you can stream Qobuz to your Expert Pro using AIR rather than Airplay. That would give you hires wifi streaming from your current computer at no cost, the AIR app is free, and the results should be similar to what you'd get using a wifi connection with a Roon device or a bridge which offers a superior wifi protocol to Airplay.

Second, if you use a laptop computer you could place it next to your Expert Pro and connect the 2 via USB. You could run Qobuz's app on the computer and get hires Qobuz since you could connect your computer to the internet via wifi. That should give you similar results to connecting a Roon device or a bridge to your Expert Pro via USB

Finally, instead of running Roon Rock on a NAS drive, you could run Roon Server on your computer and stream via wifi to your Expert Pro using Roon's Roon Ready or Devialet AIR options.

That throws the ball back into your court. Your results with Roon vs results with a bridge will vary depending on how you connect the device to the internet and how you stream to your Expert Pro. Not all devices capable of running Roon and not all bridges provide the same connectivity options and which is best is going to depend on how you make that connection to your Expert Pro. If your only connection option to your Expert Pro is wifi then I think Roon may offer the best wifi options but you may be able to find a bridge with equally good wifi connection options. If you can connect whatever device you choose to your Expert Pro with a wired connection it's going to depend on what wired connection options are available to you. I haven't tried them all but, as I said, I prefer ethernet to USB. Others prefer USB to ethernet and then there's that range of other options some devices offer as well. I think the 3 best wired connection options are ethernet, USB, and AES/EBU and different people have different personal preferences. I have no idea which of those 3 you would prefer.

Then, as I said in my earlier message, there's the costs involved with both options. If you go the Roon route then you're up for $150 US a year if you pay annually, more if you pay monthly, or $830 US if you buy a lifetime subscription. You can run Roon Server on your existing computer but if you want to run Roon Rock and you don't already have a suitable NAS drive to install that software on, then you're up for the cost of a NAS drive as well plus a hard drive for it if you want to use it to host a personal music library. You don't have those costs if you use a bridge, you've got a once only cost for the bridge device and bridges are available over a very wide price range. According to Roon the Primare NP5 costs $750 US but there are cheaper and more expensive bridge options than the NP5. You can run Roon on your existing computer for $150 US a year, cheaper in the short term than buying a bridge device but more expensive over a longer term. You'll have to make your own cost benefit assessment of the options.

[Giubeca]

Thank you David