Cheap way to enable Roon streamig to older NAIM streamers

Streaming Audio
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Been looking for a cheap and easy solution to be able to enable older Naim streamers to be Roon enabled…

One cheap and cheerful way is to use a Raspberry Pi – one you build it yourself or get a ready made one from a well know auction site for anywhere between £110 to £125. (building it yourself saves you around £20 - £10 if you decide to use the 8GB raspberry Pi and nice metal case) – this installed with the Roon endpoint software

However the problem with this solution is that the older Naim streamers do not support a USB input… (at the rear – not sure if it’s possible to use the front USP port as a input from a Roon endpoint device)

An alternative is to again use a Raspberry Pi (I used the 8GB version £73.50) + HiFiBerry Digi+ Pro (£38) + case (£12 for plastic or £22 for metal) + Power supply (£7.50) + microSD memory card (32gb approx. £6 from amazon) – all in for less than £140.

You do need to be able to put together Raspberry ‘parts’ together – it is actually easy the hardest part being installing the spacers and screws to keep the built unit from coming loose – no soldering at all is required.

This YouTube video give the necessary instructions on loading the software, etc. and the links to the necessary software.

The advantage of this solution vs a installing a Roon end point on a Raspberry pi, is that the HiFiBerry Digi+ Pro solution give both optical and digital output (at up to 192MHz, 24bit) which can be fed into any of the older Naim streamers.

I was able to use the Roon app on my table to stream to the Raspberry Pi connected to a NDX – and also stream Qobuz via the Roon app to the NDX

There is some software that you will need to download from the web (all free) – first to burn the PiCorePlayer software and a second app – app to identify the ip address of the Raspberry Pi to set the output to the digital outputs (vs the default analogue output) – I downloaded an app on my android phone for this. Both of these software was free.

Once I got all the neceaasry parts together, it took me about 1 hour from start to connecting the device to my NDX and playing music…

Soundwise - it very good. I understand that further improvements can be made by upgradig to a linear power supply for the Raspebrry Pi (need one that outputs 5V at 3A via a USB-C ) - looking around these cost more than the Raspberry bundles itself… I havent tried this upgrade myself yet.

Because the Naim streamers buffer the digitial input, I wonder how much improvement will be gained for the additional cost…

Happt to provide more details if anyone is interested…

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I use a Sonore UPnP Bridge, a bit more costly than the Pi but provides a UPnP feed to my ND5XS. The ND5 just sees the incoming stream from Roon just as it would from the Naim App.

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No you can’t. As you say, pi plus digi hat is the simplest way, I run mine on raspbian os with roon bridge installed. Once set up you never need to fiddle with it. Must have had mine for a couple of years or more.

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An alternative software is RoPieee. Work’s flawlessly.

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Do you need an 8GB RAM RPi? I am running several RPi’s for Roon streaming and 2GB seems more than adequate and, of course, a lot cheaper.

Dave

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A RPi in a fancy case! :grinning:

Dave

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I’ve also had good results using HiFiBerryOS.

Dave

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With the advantage that I don’t have to use shonky USB or RCA connections. It just plugs into the LAN.

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Don’t forget the possibility to just add a ChromeCast Audio dongle. Hard to find a cheaper and simpler way to add Roon capability.

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The limitation with the Chromecast Audio dongle is that it limited to 48KHz (or is it 96KHz - cant remember) - the Raspberry Pi solutions limit it 192KHz

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To the OP, is picoreplayer a roon end point or are you using airplay or something?

Never used it so dont know.

I have three raspberry pis here running roopieee which is a genuine roon end point so no need for airplay etc.

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It emulates a Logitech Media client - which is supported by Roon

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Jazzman22

I got the 8GB version for two reason - firstly the price delta between a 2GB and 8GB was not too steep and secondly, if I find a neater solution, I could use the Pi for a different project.

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Fair enough. I run Daphile on my streamers for the same reason.

I think you will find Roopiee is better placed for roon though on a PI. To use LMS in roon, you have to turn off its main server functions. Roopiee XL allows you to airplay which is very handy. and by that I mean airplay anything to the endpoint. My son for instance airplays his youtube music to it whilst washing up, and I use it for roon when cooking dinner.

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It’s your call but 2GB RPi 4 circa. GB£34.00 v. 8GB GB£73.50.

Dave

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The thread title was “Cheap way to enable Roon streaming…”. Depend’s how cheap you want to go I guess and still achieve acceptable results. :grinning:

Dave

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I thought £165 for a flawless out of the box solution was terrific value. Nothing is connected to the ND5 other than the normal network cable and the DC1 cable to the nDAC.

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Currently $229 + shipping + VAT from the US. Not sure there is a UK supplier.

Dave

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I have a couple of RPi with Hifiberry hats that I used to input into Unitiqutes. I was happy with them as a lockdown project; but then I cracked LMS2UPNP, an elegant software solution that identifies all my Naim units. I have yet to find another yes for the RPi, although I have plans to Roonify an old Quad system.

The LMS2UPNP software runs on my MacMini; it needs some under the bonnet tinkering, but I don’t mind that. And it’s free.
There’s a thread that walks you thru’ the process: HowTo: Roonify non-Roon streamers (lms-to-uPnP)

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I got mine from the US. Arrived in a few days or so. Working within minutes :+1: