The Dark Side; Digital audio equipment recommendations and setup.

[apholden]

USB Audio Player Pro is a great app and worth the 8-11 bucks (only microtransaction is if you buy MQA decoding) to buy on the google play store, but the issue is that tidal streaming on it (one of the 2 reasons i bought it, the other being that the audio driver is bit perfect and sounds better than the stock apps) is so glitchy and irritating, the UI is a bit annoying if only because the search button is on the bottom but the main issue is just that it has seeking issues and stops playing music for no reason but still says its playing, then skips to the next song, then 2 seconds later the next song. thats the worst case scenario thats happened a few times, the more common thing is the music just pauses because it had trouble getting the music and has decoding errors on MQA or non MQA albums (im using an LGV35, it has built in MQA decoding and rendering) so it just doesn't play the song.

i emailed tech support to see if they can patch out or fix the problem and they kept saying it was my internet connection (no because audirvana on my PC AND the stock tidal app work perfectly) or because i didn't have it as a power savings exclusion (again.. no)

Congrats on finding that player! Keep at it with the tech support. It sounds like you're still with level 1 support--they're just reading a script and don't know what they're talking about. Once you exhaust that script, they should pass you on to the next level, which has some engineering knowledge.

 

[AngryVal]

I still love mine, and I still think it stands alone at it’s price point. Above the node 2i (not massively, but has some nice additions for the money).

Tidal connect will be icing on the cake once they roll out the update.

I just took delivery of my CXNV2 last week and am VERY impressed with it - picked up Tidal special for $4 for 4 months but will definitely roll it over as an accompaniment to my burgeoning vinyl collection. Curious as to what the Tidal Connect update is though?

I know some of you use a NUC for Roon. Are there any recommendations on specs to go for? I'm debating buying one to mess with, but was wondering a few things....First off, I"m primarily a Mac household so is it silly to go for an Intel NUC and will there be any compatibility issues? I'm figuring there won't be, but then a Mac Mini is the other option for a small server so something to consider on my end...

Instead of a NUC can I just rip all my CDs/download digital files to an external NAS attached to my router and use Roon software on a Mac laptop?Do I even need Roon? My preferred hi-fi store said the CXN will just pick up the NAS on the network and I can skip paying for another service. I will admit I'm getting confused at all the layers offered by these digital services!

 

[MikeH]

I just took delivery of my CXNV2 last week and am VERY impressed with it - picked up Tidal special for $4 for 4 months but will definitely roll it over as an accompaniment to my burgeoning vinyl collection. Curious as to what the Tidal Connect update is though?


Instead of a NUC can I just rip all my CDs/download digital files to an external NAS attached to my router and use Roon software on a Mac laptop?Do I even need Roon? My preferred hi-fi store said the CXN will just pick up the NAS on the network and I can skip paying for another service. I will admit I'm getting confused at all the layers offered by these digital services!

I believe you can use a NAS but to use Roon, you need to set up something as a Roon core that’s always powered on and running Roon software. So if your Mac laptop is always on you could theoretically use that.

Roon is all about the software, organization and presentation. It connects your streaming account on tidal or Qobuz with your downloaded library to make one seamless library. I have the Aries Mini which has its own software and didn’t use Roon for awhile but the software is shit. Not sure about the CXN

 

[jamieanderson1968]

I just took delivery of my CXNV2 last week and am VERY impressed with it - picked up Tidal special for $4 for 4 months but will definitely roll it over as an accompaniment to my burgeoning vinyl collection. Curious as to what the Tidal Connect update is though?


Instead of a NUC can I just rip all my CDs/download digital files to an external NAS attached to my router and use Roon software on a Mac laptop?Do I even need Roon? My preferred hi-fi store said the CXN will just pick up the NAS on the network and I can skip paying for another service. I will admit I'm getting confused at all the layers offered by these digital services!

I am running the Bluesound Node 2i and love it. I use Roon to organize my collection and integrate with Tidal. Though I find I rarely use Tidal in my music room, more for when I am in the car or downstairs and listening in the kitchen with the Sonos.

I love how Roon integrates my own collection with Tidal. I don’t like the price for Roon but I have not found a system that works as well as it does and does not mess with my metadata.

 

[displayname]

Curious as to what the Tidal Connect update is though?

So right now Spotify has Spotify Connect on basically all devices. It allows you to bypass the CXNs Stream Magic software and just use the Spotify app. You just select which device you want to play on. Tidal has made the exact same function, and it actually currently works to the CXN via Chromecast. But they have already announced that Cambridge is one of the early companies getting Tidal Connect, so in theory, we should have the CXN showing up on the Tidal app. No need for Roon or Stream Magic apps. I've heard rumors of a Jan release for Tidal, but no hard dates yet.

Not sure about the CXN

CXN has it's own software too, and it's fine. Not terrible, not great.
From what I've heard, Roon is still hard to beat if you have a large volume of files. But I think if you're just streaming via services like Tidal and Qobuz, it's a pretty hard price to justify.

 

[MikeH]

So right now Spotify has Spotify Connect on basically all devices. It allows you to bypass the CXNs Stream Magic software and just use the Spotify app. You just select which device you want to play on. Tidal has made the exact same function, and it actually currently works to the CXN via Chromecast. But they have already announced that Cambridge is one of the early companies getting Tidal Connect, so in theory, we should have the CXN showing up on the Tidal app. No need for Roon or Stream Magic apps. I've heard rumors of a Jan release for Tidal, but no hard dates yet.


CXN has it's own software too, and it's fine. Not terrible, not great.
From what I've heard, Roon is still hard to beat if you have a large volume of files. But I think if you're just streaming via services like Tidal and Qobuz, it's a pretty hard price to justify.

Agree that Roon is really nice to have if you have tons of downloaded files AND a high res streaming service. Also if you want multi-room audio. If you’re just streaming tidal or Qobuz primarily I think it’s overkill. I love it because it I have about 200GB of downloaded FLAC files now and my Qobuz favorites so it seamlessly organizes them into one app that’s super easy to use and navigate. I also like that it will recommend stuff to me from Qobuz if I just leave an album or song playing.

 

[duke86fan]

Congrats on finding that player! Keep at it with the tech support. It sounds like you're still with level 1 support--they're just reading a script and don't know what they're talking about. Once you exhaust that script, they should pass you on to the next level, which has some engineering knowledge.

Aaand they just gave up.. basically saying "its either a phone issue or a network issue".. they gave me a test of restarting my phone, being on airplane mode, and having absolutely nothing but the music open and i had the same issue so they know its either a network issue or an optimization thing

 

[duke86fan]

I actually think I figured out the issue, it's with my WiFi, my phone and UAPP are not working as well with the 5Ghz range, because when I'm using 4G (I have unlimited data on cricket). There are absolutely no problems and in fact it pays perfectly

 

[Thackeraye]

Question for the Roon users:

I have loads of music files, including a good chunk of bootleg gigs/radio shows which are FLAC files with poor metadata. This means my library on my Sonos is a riot, and I tend to just browse by folder. It also means I don’t really listen to the bootlegs much.

How does Roon handle poor metadata files? Ideally I’d love to move the bootlegs into a separate folder structure (my NAS is currently set up with A-Z folders with folders by artist in each letter) for normal albums and bootlegs, and then switch between the 2 libraries depending on what I want to listen to.

 

[duke86fan]

Question for the Roon users:

I have loads of music files, including a good chunk of bootleg gigs/radio shows which are FLAC files with poor metadata. This means my library on my Sonos is a riot, and I tend to just browse by folder. It also means I don’t really listen to the bootlegs much.

How does Roon handle poor metadata files? Ideally I’d love to move the bootlegs into a separate folder structure (my NAS is currently set up with A-Z folders with folders by artist in each letter) for normal albums and bootlegs, and then switch between the 2 libraries depending on what I want to listen to.

From what I know roon has its own extra metadata layer, but these are bootlegs so I dunno if they have the metadata for it compared to how they take everything from influence to allmusic descriptions

 

[Joe Mac]

Question for the Roon users:

I have loads of music files, including a good chunk of bootleg gigs/radio shows which are FLAC files with poor metadata. This means my library on my Sonos is a riot, and I tend to just browse by folder. It also means I don’t really listen to the bootlegs much.

How does Roon handle poor metadata files? Ideally I’d love to move the bootlegs into a separate folder structure (my NAS is currently set up with A-Z folders with folders by artist in each letter) for normal albums and bootlegs, and then switch between the 2 libraries depending on what I want to listen to.

So Roon doesn’t alter the metadata on the file at all. It has its own library and that saves the data displayed in Roon there. It pulls its data from all music which can be very mixed but you have the full ability to edit all of these and input your own. Because of this way of doing it you’re able to edit the data shown for albums/tracks from Qobuz and Tidal that are in your library too!

To expand on the bootleg point. In the artist view there are sections for albums and also Singles & EPs. You can put a bootleg/live tag on those albums but they’ll still show in the album section.

Id love a bootleg section in there too even just for official bootleg series ones like the Dylan ones so I could keep them separate from the “official” studio/live releases!

 

[MikeH]

Question for the Roon users:

I have loads of music files, including a good chunk of bootleg gigs/radio shows which are FLAC files with poor metadata. This means my library on my Sonos is a riot, and I tend to just browse by folder. It also means I don’t really listen to the bootlegs much.

How does Roon handle poor metadata files? Ideally I’d love to move the bootlegs into a separate folder structure (my NAS is currently set up with A-Z folders with folders by artist in each letter) for normal albums and bootlegs, and then switch between the 2 libraries depending on what I want to listen to.

Roon doesn't sort anything by folder structure. It'll all just be in one main library. @Joe Mac is right about the rest--metadata doesn't change on your files at all, which is a great feature.

Interestingly, I just learned yesterday that you can even merge albums that are in your library with albums that are on Qobuz. For example, I bought the deluxe vinyl pressing of Matt Berninger's Serpentine Prison which had a bonus disc of tracks not on streaming anywhere. But it was sent as an MP3 download and isn't available as FLAC. So I combined the Qobuz high-res of the main album with the MP3 bonuses as a "disc 2" so it's just one album listing in my library.

 

[Thackeraye]

So Roon doesn’t alter the metadata on the file at all. It has its own library and that saves the data displayed in Roon there. It pulls its data from all music which can be very mixed but you have the full ability to edit all of these and input your own. Because of this way of doing it you’re able to edit the data shown for albums/tracks from Qobuz and Tidal that are in your library too!

To expand on the bootleg point. In the artist view there are sections for albums and also Singles & EPs. You can put a bootleg/live tag on those albums but they’ll still show in the album section.

Id love a bootleg section in there too even just for official bootleg series ones like the Dylan ones so I could keep them separate from the “official” studio/live releases!

Thanks (and thanks Dukey! Edit - and Mike!).

So, if I've got this right, Roon has it's own metadata system that pulls info from the files, but which I can edit independently from the file metadata to create my own library? If that's the case that might work for my long term goals...

 

[MikeH]

Thanks (and thanks Dukey!).

So, if I've got this right, Roon has it's own metadata system that pulls info from the files, but which I can edit independently from the file metadata to create my own library? If that's the case that might work for my long term goals...

Yep! "editing metadata" on Roon doesn't change your original files at all. It just organizes it in Roon.

You may be able to do a free trial of Roon if you haven't already. There are also referral links to get a free month when you sign up, so if you need one, let me know that's my shameless plug for today!

 

[Joe Mac]

Thanks (and thanks Dukey! Edit - and Mike!).

So, if I've got this right, Roon has it's own metadata system that pulls info from the files, but which I can edit independently from the file metadata to create my own library? If that's the case that might work for my long term goals...

Yes that’s exactly it. It will try to match the file with allmusic first and use that or if there is none it will just replicate what is on the file. All of that is editable because all the data it is using is held in its library, not on the files themselves.

 

[Thackeraye]

Yes that’s exactly it. It will try to match the file with allmusic first and use that or if there is none it will just replicate what is on the file. All of that is editable because all the data it is using is held in its library, not on the files themselves.

Smashing, thanks all!

I'm also right in thinking that it looks at your files and says you can play a better quality version of the file elsewhere? So if I have an MP3 version of a file it says "Play the hi-res version of this on Tidal/Qobuz"?

Looks like I'm going to have to add Roon into my budget plans. It was a serious consideration, as apparently the Linn software is a bit of a dug, but if it makes my library tidier then it's definitely worth it. I do probably need to trim out a lot of unused files - one of the failings of digital music is you do end up hoarding a bunch of stuff you don't listen to!

 

[Joe Mac]

Smashing, thanks all!

I'm also right in thinking that it looks at your files and says you can play a better quality version of the file elsewhere? So if I have an MP3 version of a file it says "Play the hi-res version of this on Tidal/Qobuz"?

Looks like I'm going to have to add Roon into my budget plans. It was a serious consideration, as apparently the Linn software is a bit of a dug, but if it makes my library tidier then it's definitely worth it. I do probably need to trim out a lot of unused files - one of the failings of digital music is you do end up hoarding a bunch of stuff you don't listen to!

It will use the version that’s in your library first. Be that your file or a version you’ve added to the library from Qobuz/Tidal. It does however have a “Versions” tab next to the track list. That shows all available versions on all your services. If you see a better quality one on there you can always delete your current one, or remove it from your library if streaming, and then add that one to your library.

 

[MikeH]

It will use the version that’s in your library first. Be that your file or a version you’ve added to the library from Qobuz/Tidal. It does however have a “Versions” tab next to the track list. That shows all available versions on all your services. If you see a better quality one on there you can always delete your current one, or remove it from your library if streaming, and then add that one to your library.

Here's what it looks like. The library version is my downloaded FLAC. the Qobuz version is NOT currently favorited in my library but you can still see it there. As @Joe Mac said, it will only play the higher quality version of an album in your library if you have it favorited in Qobuz. But when you search in Roon, if the album is not in your downloaded files, it also searches Qobuz so you can favorite an album that's on Qobuz and it will add it to your library without you having to open the Qobuz app.

 

[jamieanderson1968]

Hey @Thackeraye I am like you, I have tons of bootlegs (Bowie et al). There is no additional metadata for Roon to pull from AllMusic. But you can add genres within Roon (does not alter the IDtags). You can categorize within Roon by indicating album is LIVE and it is also a BOOTLEG.

You can also create tags (these function outside genres). So I have a tags like BOWIEBOOT, MOGWAIBOOT, etc so I can see them easily all in one spot. Even though Roon has a Live category, I also used a tag called LIVE for any bootleg.

Also it reads your folder names in an interesting way using brackets and parenthesis. So this is the folder name I have as an example for a Bowie boot. I use the [ ] for a lot of different information
1999 - Eternal Life [Paris Bootleg]
Paris Bootleg will display on the information screen when you are playing, just under the star rating. I will try to remember to do a screenshot when I get home this afternoon.

So the short answer is that with a little work on the backend, Roon handles bootlegs really well.

 

[Thackeraye]

Hey @Thackeraye I am like you, I have tons of bootlegs (Bowie et al). There is no additional metadata for Roon to pull from AllMusic. But you can add genres within Roon (does not alter the IDtags). You can categorize within Roon by indicating album is LIVE and it is also a BOOTLEG.

You can also create tags (these function outside genres). So I have a tags like BOWIEBOOT, MOGWAIBOOT, etc so I can see them easily all in one spot. Even though Roon has a Live category, I also used a tag called LIVE for any bootleg.

Also it reads your folder names in an interesting way using brackets and parenthesis. So this is the folder name I have as an example for a Bowie boot. I use the [ ] for a lot of different information
1999 - Eternal Life [Paris Bootleg]
Paris Bootleg will display on the information screen when you are playing, just under the star rating. I will try to remember to do a screenshot when I get home this afternoon.

So the short answer is that with a little work on the backend, Roon handles bootlegs really well.

I also have a lot of Mogwai boots!