Micromega M-100/150 field reports

"...any thoughts on best ways to feed the Micromega M100. I’m loving the Roon interface but from what I understand it feeds the M100 via Airplay which may not be giving the highest quality sound. I also have Audirvana+ latest version which seems to output UPnP to the M100 giving all the filtering options. Would adding a microRendu and feeding Ethernet into that and then USB into the M100 give even better sound? The microRendu is also Roon ready which I think would open up possibilities within Roon."

No devices output UPnP per se. Like Apple’s proprietary AirPlay it’s a set of protocols for devices to interact with each other on a IP network. UPnP is open-source, _not_ proprietary (lots of advantages to that), and there’s an entire subset of the standard dedicated to A/V applications. And where there’s UPnP, DLNA is often there too - at least on AV hardware from such manufacturers. Indeed, DLNA is a superset of the UPnP spec.

Of course, Apple’s OSX doesn’t support UPnP - that would be antithetical to their AirPlay machinations. Nor does Roon: like with Apple, I think that would erode or otherwise devalue their proprietary and competing spec, RAAT. Roon also wants to cater to (read: extract $$$ from) the semi-incumbent audiophile ’elite’ on Macs, so they support AirPlay too. Here and there you may find Roon reps doing some thinly-veiled sniping at UPnP.

Those fancy-pants, multi-thousands-of-dollars ’audiophile’ streamers/servers/players (eg Auralic, Aurender, Cary, Moon, Music Fidelity, and the’elite’ lines from Denon/Marantz/Onkyo/Sony etc) are basically all computers, running dedicated (and proprietary) OS’s, most if not all of them Linux variants. They too support UPnP/DLNA as a means to deliver a lot of their value.

It’s work to get learned-up on all this, but the computer audio future has been here since about 2000, and it’s only going to become more pervasive, disruptive and all-consuming. Among a handful of helpful resources for getting informed is Archimago’s blog - start with this article:

http://archimago.blogspot.com/2017/03/musings-computer-audio-part-ii-basics.html

And especially read this, top to bottom and everything in between:

http://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/

"... M100 sounds absolutely fabulous almost any way I feed it including straight Airplay from iTunes"

2nd that - like, I'm again at risk of gushing.  My primary source is my LAN: .flac over UPnP/http from a Win7-64 Pro host (acting as the 'NAS' - Network Attached Storage), with the UPnP control point being the excellent BubbleUPnP android app on my phone, and the M-100 as the UPnP renderer.  Transcendent sound quality out of the M-100 ... I could only be happier if Micromega fixed the android version of their mobile app  ;  )

"I could only be happier if Micromega fixed the android version of their mobile app ; )"

I contacted main distributor Audio Plus Services about the crappy Android version of the Micromega app. They passed on my inquiry to Micromega en Boissy-saint-Leger, et voila, Micromega ils ont répondu:

me: "...I’m using the Micromega for Android app with my M-100, and as you may know the app is outdated and not maintained (no updates since 2016). It is extremely unstable, crashes frequently and is missing features that are included in the iOS version (internet radio, maybe others are missing?). I inquired with Micromega weeks ago, but no reply from them. I’d like to hear whether they plan to address the problems with their Android app."

Micromega: "To answer your question, indeed we have decided to go straight [to] and finalize the iOS version before the Android version. But as the software is very demanding in terms of time, cost and development, [we] have decided to work with a new software company dedicated & specialized in Android development!   On our agreement with them, it [is] shown that the entire development including Tidal, qobuz, deezer, web radio and the audio server has to be completed and done by December 31st 2018."

That’s hopeful ... une bonne année ; )

They are also also adding Roon to firmware hopefully by the end of the year, but that’s just for us “semi-incumbent audiophile “elite” on Macs” who like music more than equipment :)

Ok I got to finally play with my wife's work ipad not sure I can keep the app on it, anyway, yes this is what I thought this thing could do.  It's an older version so it wouldn't put the latest app release on but it plays radio stations from all over the world as well as internet only stations. I don't need jriver or bubbleUPnP.  any other third party media player just share a folder with your ripped music just make sure you have DLNA enabled on windows 10,  or use a DLNA NAS and the amp finds it and plays. I think I might buy me a new ipad mini to get the latest app version. 

Just FYI, Roon will also play internet radio.  For the price of an iPad mini, you might be able to buy a lifetime subscription to Roon and that may have a better Android interface (I don’t have any to check but it should be easy enough to find out on the web).  You can try a trial to see.   I’ve become a big fan of the interface.