Class A Options for adding Roon and MQA to existing system
Have a look at the Antipodes range.I have a DS which rips, serves and streams.It sounds wonderful to my ears using the USB output to my DAC but it works well with RCA outputs too.Don't worry too much about the SS drive, I can't hear the Antipodes when it's running. Some of their models do come with SSDs though if you must have one.Good luck with the search. |
My apologies ianrodger! I didnt proofread my initial posting question and left out an important digit. My budget it $2,000 for this endeavor which with Roon license at $500, leaves me $1,500 for the electronics. Ive had good luck with used equipment in the past so I'll certainly keep an eye out for Antipodes deal like you were able to find. I'm wondering if the Roon Nucleus might be the right solution? It has Roon and MQA capability, but i dont know if it needs to use an external DAC to handle any of the MQA processing duties which i dont think my Oppo Sonica DAC is capable of. |
Roon Nucleus has no DAC, it is just a server. It has a USB output to hook up a USB DAC. I bought one recently and as a plug and play server I like it but not what you are looking for. check out the new Bel Canto e.One Stream. It is a music streamer that’s MQA compliant and has a built in 24/192 kHz DAC. It also lets you add a Stand alone DAC using various digital outputs. It has native Tidal support and also is Roon compatible. So out of the box it does Tidal MQA using its own app, and expands to enable Roon and third party DAC solutions if you so choose. Only thing it can’t do without a third party DAC is DSD. |
I agree ianrodger, davehg's suggestion to check out the Bel Canto e.One Stream looks like it could be exactly what im looking for. Thank you davehg! Because it was just released this fall, the professional reviewers haven't had time to audition it and publish reviews. Does anyone in the Audiogon community have any hands on experience with the e.One Stream? |
The OP has picked an interesting price point at $1.5K. In a Roon world, $1.5K buys a Roon Nucleus. You can further improve on that with another $500 for an Ethernet-to-USB renderer like the Sonore MicroRendu, and perhaps upgrade later from the mR to a SOtM renderer and USB conditioner. But to support Roon’s impressive DSP engine, you need $2.5K for a Nucleus+ with an i7 processor. Alternatively, for around $1.5K you can install the Roon core with full DSP engine functionality on a QNAP NAS with i5 processor and expandable RAID storage. I’m using a QNAP TVS882 with one SD slot hosting Roon core(with sufficient computing power to fully support the Roon DSP engine) and a second SD slot to cache the music library stored on multiple disk drives in the RAID slots. You pay a premium for the shrink-wrapped Nucleus, which may or may not be worth it, depending on your ability to set up and maintain a NAS. It’s not that hard to do, and it adds extra value as network storage and back-up for files unrelated to music. |
Small Green Computer. Options at a number of price points. https://www.smallgreencomputer.com/collections/audio-server |
I am serious about Class A, but i am not very computer literate. Ive looked at NUC options and they concern me due to those limitations. I use a Synology NAS for non-music back-up/ storage and it was a challenge to set up. I may not be able to get close to Class A at the budget I've set for this front end, but half the fun of being an audio enthusiast and hobbyist is the research, the hunt, and the dialogues like this with others that share the same interests. The other half is enjoying the fruits of that pursuit! The Aries Mini appears to have the functionality im looking for, but several of the professional reviewers say or imply that versatility and price are its strengths with good but not great sonics. Im definately going to keep my eye out for professional reviews of the newly released Bel Canto e.One as well as any observations or suggestions from people on this forum community. |
As far as Mini SQ, I am very impressed with it via USB to Mytek Brooklyn DAC, in my system to my ears, about all I can attest to tbh. It was an improvement on say, Tidal streaming from my Bluesound Vault 2 which fed the Brooklyn by SPDIF ( no USB out on the Vault). But yes versality and price are very strong suits for it and with the capability of adding in any size SSD you desire it has become a full music server in my system for now. I am sure there are lots of even better options but at what price? Good luck with the search, always half the fun as you say! |
