Yeah $700 is a sharp price. And them going vaporware is a concern.
So if you buy a pricey streamer thats is based off roon, roon goes belly up, where does that leave you? I know any companies app can hit EOL too but if its not based off back end servers then it will more likely last a bit longer.
Most of the streamers that arenāt just based on the free Linux stacks have their own software. Itās just not usually great. I donāt know a single streamer that requires Roon.
A company like Roon focused on software is going to produce a better app than a company who predominantly makes hardware, and has to provide a software solution.
Being subscription based probably increases their chances of survival, it means they just have to retain their existing customers not have to continually find new ones in whatās an obviously niche market.
I subscribe monthly to Roon, if they go away, I lose nothing, I just have to find a different solution.
Ok reviewing everything, I see I was a bit mistaken. Roon is so heavily pushed and promoted on some of these it made it seem like it was the ONLY way it would work.
Iām into streaming since 1999, the user interfaces were always crap, a lot of metadata issue and most were just unstable and ugly. Roon was such a relieve, the way it integrates local and online streaming, the way its able to control all my streaming devices and the sound quality. I donāt know if its me but it just sounds better when streaming via Roon. Its much more than just a streaming service and Iām convinced there will be a target group for quite some time.
I figured it will last at least until I break even, the rest is icing on the cake and it has the potential of becoming my best audio investment. Although tech and features evolve quickly in the streamer market, software doesnāt. People underestimate the effort, cost and expertise that goes into building good software. Roon will not be replaced tomorrow and if they die, they will probably die slowly.
Since I am looking at a streamer to basically hold down both music and movie/tv dutyā¦
How important is an HDMI (E)ARC hookup? I heard some say it can be essential and others say it is just an alternative to the usual Toslink. I will put it here to discuss.
I 100% plan on keeping everything 2.0/2.1 channel and music focused, but why not multi-use things?
They are the same connector but NOT the same function.
How essential, IMO they can get you last last bit up oomph from a system that can take advantage of it but I wouldnāt build a system around it. If you can make it work, great but like TLC said, donāt go chasing waterfalls please stick to the rivers and the lakes that youāre used to.
BTW Iām kinda sorta in the same boat. In my new place to save space Iāll be using my TV setup as a 2.1 system that while Iām at it, might as well also use for music if Iāve got people over or background dinner music etc.
Iāll be using my Apple TV into the TV and then get audio out from the TV still havenāt looked at how to do it cleanly and into a sub and a pair of powered monitors.
Well i dont think its the is2 you see on some dacs. Its hdmi arc (audio return connector) and its been on the a/v side for a while. The one benefit i see is there is an audio sync in some implementations.
I was going to go with a naim uniti atom since it looked extremely intuitive, takes roon, and all the streamers apps direct. Then i realized there was no digital out, theyre all ins! I could make use of the dac and amp for utility but at least let me bypass those and just use the nice streaming.
Welp the research goes on.
OH, sorry I though you meantā¦ lol, never mind. Yeah the ARC I use primarily because it turns on and shuts off everything with one button. But I havenāt come across any additional performance benefits (meaning a higher quality audio out).
EDIT: I just checked my TV does have an HDMI ARC audio out connector. No USB out, just a Toslink audio out.
Yes, this. I think optical out can do most of it but i dont know. I also like the naim since it can be very easy to Just toss it on for entertaining, and others can loop right in and even chromecast.
Since we donāt have a Pi streamer thread, I figured Iād write a few words here. I just put my Pi2AES up for sale and itās a bittersweet moment.
At this time I have about $5500 retail dollars worth of audio streamers in my possession. A Lumin U1 Mini and a full SOtM kit consisting for a PS, Streamer and USB Reclocker.
The reason that putting the Pi2AES up for sale is ābittersweetā is because 1) I built it, 2) is custom AF and 3) it performs AMAZINGLY well when compared to the mound of cash the other streamers I have go for.
Is it as good, no but that is in no way a demerit. The thing goes for about $350 worth of parts, time and labor to put together, and the quality is at least 80% of the way there. Itās not as detailed, but paired with a LPS itās close. It would make a great match for the $600 to $700 DAC and $500 to $600 dollar HP amp gear.
Iām actually glad I had a good long time with it, because I realized how much more it took to improve on it. Iām enjoying my Lumin and was very impressed with my first listen to the full SOtM suite I was able to put together I canāt even imagine what an Ares G2 would bring to the table.
The moral of the story is streamers do make a difference.
I donāt know if a streamer is the name of what Iām looking for. But essentially I was wondering if thereās a device that I can use to hook up to my dac, speakers to listen to music and change it from afar? I know you can do that with computers but that involves a screen needed that isnāt something like my phone or tablet. Anyone know what Iām talking about? Asking this question here because it sounds like a streamer might be it?
Would be nice being able to change song without getting up.
Yepā¦sounds like you might want a RPi or maybe even a Chromecast (can output optical) to run into your DAC and control remotely to change tracks and such. Chromecast is purely streaming, while RPi can use local storage via micro SD or USB storage.
I think I have heard of a Raspberry pi before. To my knowledge itās like a mini pc right? That does seem like what I need, only two questions I have though is that my main dac is the RS6 which connects through 3.5,4.4 and does have a USB Type C - RCA Digital Coaxial Cable. So I would be able to connect it like that?
Sorry about a the questions since I really donāt have info on these things. Iāll start going through the threads etc. Also only reason I donāt use the hiby function to be used as a streamer is that the lack of language capabilities makes it very inconvinient for a big portion of my library as everything that isnāt written in Roman alphabet just falls into a # category which wouldnāt be the end of the world but within there everything is mixed and not alphabetically
Does the RS6 take SPDIF or TOSLINK input via the 3.5mm? You could do that. otherwise, I think you could set the RS6 to DAC mode and plug it into the RPi via USB.
You might also be able to remote control the Hiby from your phone. Like if youāre using Spotify how you can select a device to play onā¦
Unless the RS6 can act as a standalone DAC, your going to need software to control it remotely, there might be something in the Android ecosystem.
Oh man how did I forget that lol. Yeah thatās totally doable.
Hmm not sure tbh
Yeah the hiby music player has that function. Would be great but again itās terrible when you have korean music as it jumbles the korean artists in no alphabetical order!
Thankfully it does have a standalone dac option. So should be OK there!
Also this didnāt cross my mind. I know my brother for example has an app to control his pc from any android tablet. Really might be something like that for controlling another android remotely!
I think Iāll first look into that, see if itās possible 
Maybe the Primare NP5 is also worth a look. It hits a sweet spot in price/convenience/sound quality combination
I picked up a MK1 pretty cheap recently, main difference with MKII is that MK I does not pass through MQA. Solid piece of gear, just works, looks nice and it has the holy trinity of streaming: Chromecast, Airplay and Roon Ready. You can basically just cast from any app on your phone to the streamer: Soundcloud, Spotify, Tidal, Amazon Music, Youtube, Deezer and probably even from the app from your local radio station.
I compared it (with regular SMPS) on the 2-channel with the Sotm Ultra Neo + SPS500 and it was very close. The Sotm + SPS was mainly richer tonality-wise.