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Can my Roon Nucleus be used with a non-Roon-ready DAC?

I have questions that are due to my limited knowledge, so I am turning to this wise crowd for the answers.

I own a Roon Nucleus that lives in a closet with my cable/modem and is attached directly to the Nucleus via an ethernet cable.

My audio system is about 35 feet away. It consists of an integrated tube amp, DAC/Streamer and a power conditioner (and speakers, of course). The DAC/Streamer is connected via an ethernet cable to a wi-fi extender (so that I don’t have to run 35 feet of cable from the modem to the DAC; not to mention, the WAF would be zero for that solution).

A friend recently brought over his DAC with an Innuous server. I LOVED his DAC!! It brought just the qualities to my system that I was looking for. But, his DAC is not Roon ready. This led me to several questions which I’m hoping you can answer:

1)    Is it possible to make a non-Roon-ready DAC work with Roon?
2)    If I were to get an ethernet switch, could I connect the switch to the wi-fi extender, and then to my Roon Nucleus? If so, would the Nucleus be able to act as a server for the DAC? 
3)    Assuming that the (nameless) DAC is at or above the quality level of the Innuous server, to what degree might the Innuous be contributing to the quality sound I was hearing?

I am purposely being vague about both my specific equipment and my friend’s DAC as I am asking these questions for general purposes, not to get feedback on my equipment vs my friend’s.

Any help you can offer will be appreciated.
 

mwsl
mwsl OP
52 posts
 

Thanks for the info everybody. I was actually able to get in touch with the DAC manufacturer, and he said that his DAC is Roon Ready. That said, I understand that as long as the DAC is new’ish, the Nucleus will be able to serve music to the DAC. I’m going over to my friend’s house with my Nuc to confirm. 

@jjss49 What you said about running the Nucleus directly into the DAC would be ill advised got me concerned….as that is exactly what I was thinking about doing. 

Also, I tried an experiment: I moved my nucleus over to my equipment area (unplugging the Nucleus from the cable/modem) and plugged it into the ethernet port on my wi-fi extender. It allowed me to stream music for about 30 seconds before stopping as it seems the bandwidth of info from the extender is not enough for the Nucleus (whereas it is more than enough for my current DAC). Any thoughts about how to solve this? I suppose I could just call the cable company and get them to install another cable outlet near my equipment rack so that I can plug the modem in physically close to my audio equipment. Any other thoughts about this?

I’m aware of ethernet switches, but not exactly sure how I might use them in my circumstance. 

Thanks again everybody….this is really helpful.

brunomarcs's avatar
brunomarcs
242 posts
 

What are you using for a roon remote? I had a problem for 3 days where I was trying to control roon using a MacBook Pro after installing roon onto it, I never could get it to work and still to this day I can't. But my iPad and iPhone easily downloaded roon remote and can control it. No one on the roon forum could figure out my problem with the MacBook either, they were helpful but hadn't  any answers. Don't overlook the small stuff. 

big_greg
6,573 posts
 

I have a DAC that is not Roon ready - Aqua La Voce S3.  I have it connected to my Nucleus via USB and it sounds great, definitely better than "background music".  Maybe if I stuck some filters and other doodads in there I'd be an audiophile.

I would try to get the Nucleus and DAC positioned near your system and hard wire the internet connection.

mwsl OP
52 posts
 

@brunomarcs - I use either an iPhone or iPad as Roon remotes. I occasionally use my iMac, but far less frequently. Very infrequently, I need to restart the Roon app, but basically, it’s been bomb proof.

@big_greg - I brought my Nucleus over to my friends house and plugged it into his DAC. Not only did Roon recognize his DAC immediately, but it sounded fantastic. I too thought this was far better than “background” music. I agree with your suggestion to “get the Nuc and DAC positioned near my system and hard wire the internet connection.” I think that is the simplest way to proceed. Thanks.

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