Roonready device with AES output?

[Dr Tone]

The refstream will be one of the Bel Canto  RoonReady  devices according to the audiostream link Confused provided above. "Roon Ready applies to the Bel Canto REFStream"

What's the damage on it?

[Confused]

$2495 US. It actually looks quite promising in terms of specs etc. To me, it looks like its planned to be Roonready, but somehow isn't yet. It's a bit of a mine field this Roonready business. I'm kind of tempted to ignore Roon and come back in a years time, when things should be a lot clearer with some decent products around.

[Dr Tone]

$2495 US.  It actually looks quite promising in terms of specs etc.  To me, it looks like its planned to be Roonready, but somehow isn't yet.  It's a bit of a mine field this Roonready business.  I'm kind of tempted to ignore Roon and come back in a years time, when things should be a lot clearer with some decent products around.

I'm pretty sure something changed in 1.2 and or the Roon qualification requirements got a little more strict.  I know Bryston pulled theirs back and are now saying months to deliver the production firmware.

[Hifi_swlon]

I'm pretty sure something changed in 1.2 and or the Roon qualification requirements got a little more strict.  I know Bryston pulled theirs back and are now saying months to deliver the production firmware.

I'm not sure about that one. It just seems like some brands can do things more quickly - maybe some have neater, better written, and well documented code compared to others, or maybe the more established brands have code base built up and patched over years by different people so bringing in something new probably isn't quite so smooth

Bryston apparently let an uncertified beta out that had clearly audible issues. I guess that didn't go down too well....

RoonReady was only launched in Jan, and Auraluc had theirs out really quickly afterwards. I guess it also depends how much resource they put into it. Bryston we know are also launching the new Pi streamer so that's probably taking priority.

I do wish Roon would document all the hardware better - what's undergoing certification, what's tested etc. But maybe they're locked into NDAs. It would probably be pretty embarrassing if someone couldn't get it working and had to pull out - especially if people bought the hardware expecting to use it with Roon.

If you don't want AES there's a small range now. I think it will be well under a year before there are more, and Munich is close.....

[AaronG]

I think the digital edition of the SOTM sMS-1000SQ has AES and it is Roon Core (or one of the models is). Antipodes should be Roon Core very, very soon.

[Celts88]

Antipodes DX Server can have either or both USB & Conventional outputs, whereas the DS Server can only have one or the other not both (due to size)

The Conventional card (Coax/AES3/Toslink) I believe was designed by Mark, therefore is more suited with the Antipodes than a standard Conventional outputs card. The Conventional outputs card option from Antipodes is only PCM 24/192, but no DSD (Roon supports DSD over PCM; DoP)


PS  Some info below regarding RoonReady & RoonCore from RoonLabs Forum



robdarlingRoon Labs: Wiki Editor
16d

Thanks for the question, and I'm sorry this is something we haven't been more clear about.
With our 1.2 release and the introduction of Roon Core for Linux, we will also kick off the Roon Core partner program.
Roon Core partner servers are tested to meet all the requirements to run Roon, and we have them in-house for QA and Support.
They won't be "certified" in the way that the performance of Roon Ready endpoint devices is certified... there is too much variability in servers for us to be able to guarantee their performance... but there will be partners whose Roon Core devices we can support.
This last piece is the important part. We have already found situations where server manufacturers have installed Roon on a server for a customer, but when it comes time to support the user, the server maker has done things that make it hard for us to figure out what is going on and we haven't been able to easily help the customer.
In these cases, a "turnkey" solution was actually harder to support than a diy computer solution. The Roon Core program was set up to address this situation.
So, to answer in regards to Antipodes... they will be a Roon Core partner, not a Roon Ready partner, since they make a server.
They will send it in for us to be able to test it and have it in-house for QA and Support, but it will not be "certified" in the way that Roon Ready devices are certified... how powerful it is as a computing device and how the interface performs, we cannot say.

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robdarlingRoon Labs: Wiki Editor
15d

Yes, our plan is to have separate listings for Roon Ready and Roon Core partners.
As a user, you can probably see how the architecture of Roon is starting to fully flesh out in both hardware and software. As this happens, the website will grow as well to reflect it and you will find all the partners there.
As for performance ratings and benchmarks... this is something we have struggled with.
We don't have a "minimum" spec because a single given point- processor, ram, etc- won't necessarily give the whole picture... you can have a great processor but run the OS on a slow spinning laptop drive and have bad performance. If you are using a remote, the network interface comes into play.
That said, we are working on something like a "roon score" that would give a ballpark of what the performance of a given device will be. Generating that score is still something we are working on and it probably won't be ready for launch, but we will keep everyone posted as it becomes a reality.

[Hifi_swlon]

Looks like the totalDAC's have now joined the 'Roon Ready' club.

https://roonlabs.com/partner-totaldac.html

[Hifi_swlon]

Dont know anything about it but looks like this has an AES option and has just joined too:

Musica Pristina 'A Cappella II'

https://roonlabs.com/partner-musicapristina.html

[GuillaumeB]

Looks like the totalDAC's have now joined the 'Roon Ready' club.

https://roonlabs.com/partner-totaldac.html

Super! Now is it possible to run Roon Core on my QNAP where all my music files reside?

If so things could be about to get interesting. 

Guillaume

[Hifi_swlon]

Looks like the totalDAC's have now joined the 'Roon Ready' club.

https://roonlabs.com/partner-totaldac.html

Super! Now is it possible to run Roon Core on my QNAP where all my music files reside?

If so things could be about to get interesting. 

Guillaume

Sort of, depending on what one you've got and how much effort/time you want to invest. There's no 'official version' as yet, and they still seem to be of the opinion that they aren't happy with the performance / user experience using a NAS as a RoonServer Core.

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/how-to-...p-nas/6996 - this person tried via VM Windows and Linux in this topic.