I went with Roon in large part for this. It had a free trial period. The other consideration for me was that it was constantly being maintained. I am not a big fan of subscription software models, but when it comes to software in embedded systems I've changed my mind. I worry more about streaming services coming and going than I do really about DAC's getting better anymore.
Today I use Tidal. In 3 months it could vanish. 2 more services could appear. It is very hard for me to tell if a particular DAC company has a really active software group, that can respond to these changes rapidly or if they contract it all out, maybe 1x a year and maybe never update older units.
For these reasons I don't mind supporting Roon.
Today I use Tidal. In 3 months it could vanish. 2 more services could appear. It is very hard for me to tell if a particular DAC company has a really active software group, that can respond to these changes rapidly or if they contract it all out, maybe 1x a year and maybe never update older units.
For these reasons I don't mind supporting Roon.