Roon - the next step?

[David A]

How about using a USB to Ethernet adaptor like this one on the incoming side?

https://www.mwave.com.au/product/startec...gzEALw_wcB

Hadn't thought about something like that. My problem with it is that I, like a lot of us, are waiting for our Devialets to become Roon Ready so we can take advantage of RAAT and Roon uses RAAT between the server and a Roon Ready device it sees on the network and that means a device connected to the network by ethernet or wifi.

If I were to consider using the USB output on my server rather than the networked ethernet connection, I'd simply connect the USB server output to the Devialet's USB input. I've tried that and it works well but I prefer the sound I get with the network connection over the ethernet path. I could try an adapter but in terms of what happens along the signal path it just replaces a switch with an adapter and still doesn't give a direct path. If people like Innuos and Antipodes are right about a direct ethernet connection delivering better sound quality than a connection which passes through a switch, then why wouldn't we expect a direct USB connection to deliver better sound quality than a USB connection which passes through a USB to ethernet adapter and then connects to the amp via ethernet? I'm not saying that it can't deliver better sound quality but I am saying that it's not something I would expect based on my own very limited knowledge of the science and art of digital connections.