MeloManiac

This is my personal reference song: Keb'Mo's There's more than one way home.

https://blog.roonlabs.com/what-a-journey/#more-28 At least there, we find a bit of history.

English is not my native language, and when I wrote about 'hiding' it , I was looking for a better word, one that didn't have a negative connotation, but couldn't find one. I'm from a generation where the source of the info matters. Just to know if it is reliable. Also, mentioning your source is one way of 'honoring' the writer, if not financially. Also, I am more intested in analysis and interpretation, rather than 'tidbits and facts', which in my opinion, are collected by clever datamining. I find it remarkable Roonlabs has no tab 'about us' on their website, but rather 'partners'. I dug a bit deeper, and their blog reveils: "From Bangkok to Paris and Toronto to Montevideo, we’ve always been a “pants optional” operation, meeting on Skype, and passing the baton from time zone to time zone in a kind of global relay." This seems to suggest they are a group of codewriters working together and putting together a fine piece of software, technically advanced, and intuitive in use, and they had a great success in partnering up with many audiophile companies. I'm just wondering why they don't even have a Wikipedia page: Also, there are some worrying issues concerning 'security'. I'm not sure I want to give these guys, with little credentials, full access to my complete home network... And I'm not the only one asking questions: https://community.roonlabs.com/t/roon-labs-doesnt-talk-about-itself-much/73621/2

I do care about music and I like to read about it too. So that makes me wonder: if it is 'not bland, generic data', they must have editors and writers etc. But I can't find anything about these people on the roon website. Why are they 'hiding' this from the public? If it was something the company really invested in, they would put this on their frontpage and use it as a sale argument... Qobuz does it. But not Roon, they mostly focus on 'their partners' and the 'technology'.

There's an interesting list here: https://www.whathifi.com/features/10-of-the-best-1970s-albums-to-test-your-speakers

Before I migrated from Qobuz to Spotify Family (Qobuz doesn't have that kind of account), I was a year with Qobuz, and the Qobuz player brings a lot more information about the music to the consumer, compared to Spotify. They also have a great portal on the internet with reviews etc. As far as I know, Spotify doesn't have this. Question: Where does Roon get all this information about the music? Who wrote this, or is it a case of 'data leeching'? At Qobuz, at least every review has its author's name. Can they do this, legally, are they paying the writers royalties? Not much is found about that on roonlabs.com

Besides the price, what is Roon's most important advantage compared to a Qobuz or Tidal or Spotify subscription?

Roon only supports Tidal and Qobuz for streaming and you have to pay for the subscription so it 9.99 + 23.99 per month. Hm, a bit expensive.

It does come with pre-out.

My PS4 fan produces the noise of a blender / vacuumcleaner. Comes not near my audio gear...

If you have a collection of rare, unique CDs that aren't on streaming platforms, it is worth buying a cd player. I recently researched for a DAC/streaming device and finally invested in something that suits my needs. I posted an extensive review of it here:

You already messed up, Schu... This was to be the Fibonacci sequence, right? 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584, 4181, 6765, 10946

When I set up my laptop, I remember seeing UPnp at one point.

All these considerations are about the Chromecast and NAD? Or do they apply to the Advance Acoustic product? It's a bit unclear. Google has nothing to do with Advance Acoustic. They do have pretty high-end gear too, like this one: https://advance-acoustic.com/en/hifi-elements/all-in-one-system/151-myconnect-150

... For your Amp, not for your pc or laptop.

The Marantz has more futureproof features than the Denon. I use a 40W Marantz with my H1s, and I can make the house shake and blow the tiles off the roof, no worries there. Denon sounds great too. The Marantz has two amps, one for each channel. Denon has a 'symmetrical design', which probably means the same thing...

From time to time, I do a video/music project. In February I was asked to record a number of songs at a live gig. For the band it was a special day, because one of the singers would be moving to Brussels, and it was his goodbye concert. There was a PA present and the audio was professionally mastered afterwards. I was sent these files so I could use them for my videos. What a difference of quality there is, between the in-camera audio and the mastered audio. Enjoy listening to it. For now, the videos are password protected (password: Tritons). Feedback welcome.

I have just tested it for you. Activated DLNA on my Windows 10 Dell Latitutude E5550 laptop (nothing fancy...) and it works flawlessly with the standard Advance Playstream app. See screenshot.

I've got a chip implanted into my brain. I just have to 'think' of a song or a playlist, 'select' the streaming service, and the music starts to play! 😁😁😁

I want to share my review of a budget streamer/dac:

The caption of the picture says: "Despite the possible protective effect, smokers who have caught Covid-19 often develop more serious symptoms." ... let's not help the tobacco lobby...

It can survive up to 3 days, but on day 3 the chance of contamination is really low. However, shoes ARE a problem and a source of contamination, esp. because elderly people need help to change shoes. Also, people often take all the necessary precautions (social distance, mask, etc) but forget their shoes. Cleaning them with a soap and water, the sole included, will go a long way in disinfecting the shoes. Test first, because soap (and alcohol) may damage the fabric or leather. BTW, also when you go to the supermarket, you need to do this. In fact, do this everytime you return home.

Up to now, I was streaming music to my amp using bluetooth or a rca/mini-jack cable connecting my phone or my Amazon Fire Tablet. This, of course, was not a hifi solution, and I was really curious about how my 1972 Heresy speakers would sound if connected to a more 'audiophile grade' streamer. I know how they sound with vinyl and a CD-player. But I wanted to find out what it would be like streaming Spotify Connect or local flac files. With the Amazon Fire tablet, I was particularly dissatisfied: 1) the output volume was really low and 2) there was often a popping sound. Take into account that the my TubeCube amp only has 3.5W output. With the cd player, this is enough, with the Fire Tablet, it was not enough. After doing extensive research - also on this forum - and shifting from really cheap solutions to considering the Bluesound Node 2, a Shiit dac and even more expensive DAC/streamers, I thought I had found it: I had an unused Raspberry Pi in the house, and thought, what the hell, why not, I’ll buy a Hifiberry add-on DAC and stream music with the RPI. Soon I realized, however, that this was a way too complicated solution, which could cost a lot of money too, esp. when you start adding linear power supply etc. So I ditched that project as well. So I started looking for the simplest, easiest, smallest solution. And somehow, I found the Advance Acoustic WTX Microstreamer. It is a real streamer: you plug it into your amp (rca aux in), it connects to your wifi network (2.4Ghz only), and you use a tablet or your phone as a remote, using the free Advance Playstream app. It comes with multi-room functionality. Haven’t tested that myself. All this in an apparatus that is smaller than a box of matches. It comes with the Wolfson WM8740 DAC chip, which has a pretty decent reputation (NAD uses its CD players and Cambridge Audio the CXA60). Setup: Comes with a small power unit. The streamer plugs directly into a standard RCA AUX input of the amp. It fits both my Marantz PM5005 amp and my TubeDepot TubeCube 7. So no cable is required. Wifi connection: it has a WPS button and comes with good instructions. It only connects to a 2.4Ghz network. Mine is both 2.5/5Ghz. After trying all different methods and failing, I had just made up my mind and was about to change the settings of my router to 2.4, and just before that, it worked. (it took about 10 minutes). I had the same happening with the wifi dongle of my solar panels. I guess my routers scans every few minutes in the 2.4Ghz area, and I have to wait until it connects. Since then, the WTX Microstreamer has never lost connection. It has no on/off button. It has a blue LED that is far too bright and always on. I considered ductape to shield it from view. At night, I sprays a laserbeam of blue light on the wall and the ceiling. I left it, because its helps me prevent bumping into things when on my way to the toilet. 😴 Sound Quality: To my ears, it sounds like CD quality. I’m using Spotify Family at 320Kbps, and I have also tried playing some commercially bought flac files. They sound marvellous. Rich in the bass frequencies, excellent in the mids and highs. I don’t have a subwoofer. I have no command of the usual audiophiliac vernacular. Let's just say it is "set and forget": I'm enjoying streamed music, as if I was listening to a cd or vinyl record, with access to millions of songs, without having to leave my sofa. Available services: Tidal, Deezer, Spotify Connect (with subscription), Qobuz, and many more. Internet Radio has many channels that sound excellent. Also Belgian radio stations sound much better than their DAB equivalent. Prize: €135, bought at Amazon.de, delivered within a week (in corona-time…) Specs: https://advance-acoustic.com/en/multimedia-and-wireless/wifi-network-player/130-wtx-microstreamer Conclusion: Pro: excellent value for money, great sound Con: no way to connect anything else to this DAC (no usb-connection available) & a very, very bright blue LED that is always on (see second picture)