Roon to Datasat LS10

I called Datasat today and talked to them about the USB port. Turns out it isn’t active. It was added to the LS-10 but never activated for USB Audio. I asked Sinjay if I would see any improvement adding a bridge so I could use the SPDIF Coax connection and he said there is no improvement over the HDMI using the Roon. That they have tested that and there was no sonic improvements.

I’m glad they called me back as I was ready to buy the Bricasti M5 today!

Just so you guys know what I am running here is my "stereo" set up.  

For the front end of my stereo I'm running Kef Reference 3's, JL Fathom 113 V2 sub, and ATI AT3300 amps, which replaced BHK 300 mono blocks.   If you can believe it, the ATI sounds as good as my previous McIntosh and BHK amps.  While they are not huge money, they do sound awesome.  With that said, I'm not familiar with iFi at all, if you guys really think it can improve upon my system great, but if it is just going to be on par with my current HDMI connection then I would rather find something better. 

As @erik_squires suggested try something like the iFi streamer first then for better SQ I'd go for a Bricasti M5 for around 2k.

I'm back from vacation and tried to get the Roon to connect to my Datasat.  I've tried various combinations of turning things on, but the Datasat will not show up in the Roon menu with the USB connection.   Anyone have any suggestion?  Or a Roon Ready device that will allow me to connect using the SPDIF connection?  In the past I had a Lumin U1 which sounded great, but that provided more that what I needed.  An $8k streamer isn't needed here as the Roon handles most of what needs to be done.  I just need to convert the digital signal to something usable. 

Thanks guys, I’ll see if it is a hand shake issue with the USB.  I have to turn on my Apple TV last or the HDMI will not hand shake properly and there will be no sound. 

I would take a look at the LS10 manual before going much further though. This could be a setting issue.

Also, this may be an issue of making sure the LS10 is on before you turn on your Roon Nucleus.

There is some handshaking involved in USB (as well as HDMI) audio. If my DAC is off before I turn on my streamer it won’t ever be seen.  In my case it has to do with the Linux OS does a device scan on startup only.  Any audio devices attached after that process is completed won't make it to the device registry.

Your logic is correct.  However an M5 may still be overkill.  Try the iFi streamer first.  It's a lot cheaper.