Inexpensive Roon Endpoint for my Yamaha RX-A2080

[MaestroS]

Do you realize the CCA has mini-toslink? That gives you a digital Roon endpoint about as easily as possible. The analog outs aren't as bad as commonly believed. I use them in both analog and digital with Roon, and it works perfectly.

yes...but the whole idea of using ROON is to get the best possible sound out of my system. Otherwise why wouldn't I just continue using my MusicMatch from Apple over Airplay to my AX2080 or playing my FLAC files using Roon over Airplay to the AX2080?

 

[BDWoody]

yes...but the whole idea of using ROON is to get the best possible sound out of my system. Otherwise why wouldn't I just continue using my MusicMatch from Apple over Airplay to my AX2080 or playing my FLAC files using Roon over Airplay to the AX2080?

I'm not sure Roon would improve the quality of the sound... It's offers fantastic levels of convenience, but doesn't improve anything.

CCA can act as a lossless transport up to 24/96, which is not going to be any kind of SQ limitation.

 

[MaestroS]

Do you realize the CCA has mini-toslink? That gives you a digital Roon endpoint about as easily as possible. The analog outs aren't as bad as commonly believed. I use them in both analog and digital with Roon, and it works perfectly.

Thanks @BDWoody, I was responding to @dpippel's comment "It's nice not having the resolution limitations inherent in the CCA, although that was most certainly the least expensive option." I interpreted that to mean that the HiFi Berry Digi+Pro bundle would give me better audio into my AX2080 than I could get out of a ChromeCast Audio.

 

[BDWoody]

Thanks @BDWoody, I was responding to @dpippel's comment "It's nice not having the resolution limitations inherent in the CCA, although that was most certainly the least expensive option." I interpreted that to mean that the HiFi Berry Digi+Pro bundle would give me better audio into my AX2080 than I could get out of a ChromeCast Audio.

You can certainly spend your money however you like, but it isn't going to be a higher sound quality.

It sounds like you have mostly ripped CD's? 16/44? No difference at all.

The limitation is 24/96, and that's certainly beyond anything useful to my human ears.

 

[MaestroS]

Hi @BDWoody thanks for saving my hard earned money. Yes. My CDs are ripped at 16/44 on FLAC. So you expect I will hear a difference playing those files from ROON to the CCA setup as a ROON endpoint connected via optical to the AX2080 vs what I would hear using ROON to optimize Airplay output from my ROON Core directly to my AX2080?

 

[BDWoody]

Hi @BDWoody thanks for saving my hard earned money. Yes. My CDs are ripped at 16/44 on FLAC. So you expect I will hear a difference playing those files from ROON to the CCA setup as a ROON endpoint connected via optical to the AX2080 vs what I would hear using ROON to optimize Airplay output from my ROON Core directly to my AX2080?

I would actually bet quite a bit that you couldn't tell the difference... Neither could I or anyone, I don't believe.

 

[MaestroS]

I would actually bet quite a bit that you couldn't tell the difference... Neither could I or anyone, I don't believe.

Thanks again @BDWoody . But at least you agree I should be able to tell the difference between playing my FLAC 16/44 files over ROON--Airplay vs just continuing to use iTunes MusicMatch and my underlying 44/320 kbps MP3s over Airplay to the same AX2080 setup?

 

[BDWoody]

Thanks again @BDWoody . But at least you agree I should be able to tell the difference between playing my FLAC 16/44 files over ROON--Airplay vs just continuing to use iTunes MusicMatch and my underlying 44/320 kbps MP3s over Airplay to the same AX2080 setup?

Honestly...I doubt it, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't do it myself. The Roon-CCA combo is just so convenient. You can also add more and sync them through Roon, which you may already know since you have one. CCA optical in to your Amp, Roon-CCA... That's what I'd go with, but again, it would be for convenience, not sound quality.

There are sites where you can test your ability to discern between varying sample rates... Most don't get beyond 192k, or maybe 320k, but beyond that...best of luck.

Have someone switch between them without you knowing which is which after turning the volume down between switching...after you get your Roon trial...and see (hear?) for yourself... Would be interesting.