Lobbster

Spotify Connect & Tidal works fine on old Sonos zone players. Plus, it outputs via coax/optical which match your input choices right now. Maybe give a spin with Spotify Connect first. Spotify is supposed to be upgrading to CD quality sometime soon. I haven't tried it yet, but even Roon will play over old Sonos gear.

Hey Ben, I remember you on DPReview. Welcome aboard, you'll find the solutions you're looking for and a lot of help here. Like you, not a lot of gear hang ups here, just community effort for better SQ. Not sure about the hub, maybe a better power supply on the one you're using will help. sounds like you need a USB Decrapifier/Regenerator and that will lead you to clean power supplies. Start by checking Uptone and Sonore Sponsored Forums on this website and there's a few options to deal with USB noise. You can also create a low powered end point that's specifically designed to isola

Please let us know if there's an opportunity to jump in on the FrankenRouter order. Your solution is exactly what I'm looking for. I'm in!

And a bottle of Red from Eddie's personal stash! Worth a donation just for a crack at that 😁 As Buble's grandad used to say, the most selfish thing you can do is give someone a gift because it makes you feel good about yourself.

General question on Balanced Power Isolation Transformers implementation. Is it best to have them near the room outlet or is it equally effective wired in at the mains distribution panel using sheilded (BX) AC runs? TIA!

Didn't see Hiby mentioned. I have the R6 in Stainless and it's very nice. The problem i had using my cellphone was battery life. If you have to pack an add on DAC/Amp for your cellphone, just get a DAP. The R5 looks pretty nice at a lower price point. https://www.amazon.com/HiBy-Lossless-Bluetooth-Android-Resolution/dp/B07Z7WSQZZ/ref=pd_sbs_107_t_0/133-7765201-0469100?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07Z7WSQZZ&pd_rd_r=d88a6b04-4d2b-429c-a0ed-c9e083e181e3&pd_rd_w=62SNo&pd_rd_wg=TUQgs&pf_rd_p=5cfcfe89-300f-47d2-b1ad-a4e27203a02a&pf_rd_r=00F535B0G0T2896MDN5H&psc=1&refR

Cool! Forces the use of software Volume control which is very responsive. Sounds like a good fit for smartphones and Crestron touchscreens. My wife operates the volume control buttons like a gas pedal and expects immediate feedback.

This is interesting and timely. I've got many zones of Sonos plus Crestron. My Sonos gear is 10-13 yrs old and the Crestron is being upgraded to the newer display. The old one couldn't integrate anything but distributed audio. Nice to know there's an alternative to Sonos. That NAD network music player is intriguing. Sonos was a wonderful experience originally because the Controller was so easy for anyone to figure out. I find the hardware volume controls on cellphones (Sonos or Spotify Connect) are too laggy for the average person (my wife) to figure out, there's huge delays so no

Is this just for a specific room in the house, and portable isn't an issue? Sonos the new Move for indoor/outdoor has BT. All their gear is Airplay & WiFi and sounds decent. And the ultimate party mate Ultimate Ears MegaBoom However, if retro is your deal, why fake it. Get a real retro device and plug one of these in https://www.focal.com/en/home-audio/multimedia-and-wireless/wireless-solution/universal-wireless-receiver-aptx (worked awesome in my 2009 Infiniti)

I just got Notice from Sonos today that all gear produced from 2005-2011 (10 zones for me) will no longer be supported from May on. As I understand any newer gear will not be updated if it's combined with legacy gear (must all use the same operating system). They're giving a 30% discount on new gear. Wonder what happens next year if I add new gear - what will and won't work? Well, I'm not sure what I'll miss after May, but I'll be damned if I'm going to upgrade to a new proprietary, closed, low resolution system like Sonos. I've had a real good run with Sonos, no equipment failures

I'll have to take a closer look, it seemed it was for those who didn't get their Pulse.

Yeah but, can I trade my Wave, S100 Amp and a Station X for some Campfire Stella's ? I wonder how they'll sound on my HiBy R6... I'm holding out!

Wow, this thread is a treasure - thank you ! Interesting that you swapped mobos. I was googling 'which mini itx motherboard highest vrm' and the Asus was high on everyone's lists. So the RAM is non-ECC? Great post!

Aren't the Taiko's are doing some very heavy lifting as single box solutions (HQP etc). If it was only a networked server how far do we need to go, or faster is better as long as you can keep processor power consumption to the fanless case limits? The common parts seem to be high VRM Mobo (that sounds good), Apacer Industrial ECC RAM, NetCard, fanless case, shielded cabling and the best power supply you can muster. If the most you're calling on the server is for Volume Leveling in Roon, does an i9900 processor still sound better than lesser alternatives? Any idea which

Thanks for posting this, your attention to detail inspires! Would you consider less powerful hardware if the only purpose was Roon without any additional processing? In my case all the heavy lifting is at the end of the line, resampling by the network DAC and DSP by the Preamp. I currently use ROCK on a NUC7i5 and am wondering if a new server with AL in Ramroot and netcard bridged to DAC will lift my boat.