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Innous Zenith MKII and Roon DSP

I purchased an Innous Zenith MKII about 6 months and configured it to use Logitech Media Server.  I had used LMS for whole house stereo for many, many years.  I finally decided to use Roon instead, and while Roon doesn't meet all of my whole house stereo needs, the interface and music management capabilities are far superior to LMS, IMHO. 

Before enabling Roon, I reached out to Innuos tech support about the fact that Roon does not list the MKII as a recommend device.  From Innous tech support, " The MkII can run Roon very well, the only reason they suggest such a high system spec is for performing DSD upsampling which is by far the most intensive process Roon has. For normal usage and bitperfect playback, the MkII can easily run Roon, no problems there."

I'm not doing any DSD upsampling.  I am trying to use Roon's DSP capabilities, but I've experienced dropouts when I do.  Other than this problem, I'm quite OK using Room with the MKII when playing DSD, FLAC, and WAV files through a MyTek Liberty DAC, as well as, streaming Tidal MQA directly to my NAD M12 BluOS module.

I want to take advantage of Roon DSP capabilities and keep the MKII.  I leaning towards buying an Intel i7 NUC to run Roon Core and strictly use the MKII as my network media player/NAS.  Thoughts anyone?
128x128oldschool1948
david_ten
5,480 posts
 
Check with Andrew at SGC to find out what he recommends for minimum power needs.

I use the HDPlex 100W unit, which is no longer made. I have no issues running the i7 unit out of the 19V output. I am also using two other power outputs, simultaneously.

The advantage of a multiple output LPS is that once you realize the upside from it with one unit, it makes sense to power your other computer related peripherals from it. The extra spend on the higher Wattage units with multiple outputs is worth considering.

If you want to be a stickler, then a single output LPS would be the way to go. Downsides are that it gets expensive if you want to power more than one unit and means more power cables to the extra LPS units you have, as well as the extra rack space.

The 200W unit that SGC sells is the HDPlex 200. There are other options for a LPS if you want to save a bit. I have found HDPlex very responsive as a company. They swapped out a unit for me. Andrew is terrific with customer support as well.

There are higher performing units out there, but they come at much higher costs.
oldschool1948's avatar
oldschool1948 OP
488 posts
 
@david_ten   200W PS on the way.  Andrew assured me the unit came with a cord compatible with my Liberty DAC.  I was about to buy the Sbooster PS for the Liberty.  Boy, am I happy I waited.

Still waiting for the sonicTransporter to ship.  Once I get everything setup, I'll reach out to via PM.

Thanks for you help with all of this.
cytocycle
1,043 posts
 
Why aren't your running the Zenith direct USB (roon endpoint) into the NAD? and then have your Nuc Roon server feeding it.  That should sound better than feeding the Mytek and then analog cables into the Nad
oldschool1948's avatar
oldschool1948 OP
488 posts
 
USB to the NAD bypasses the Mytec DAC. It sounds great either way.

My plan is to replace the NAD with a tube preamp that has tape in/out so I can connect my Teac X-10R reel-to-reel. 
oldschool1948's avatar
oldschool1948 OP
488 posts
 
Let me add that I’m using Roon DSP, which unfolds MQA; the Mytek converts it to PCM; and Roon upsamples it to DSD 128.  I’m quite happy with the SQ.  

When I buy the tube preamp, I plan to upgrade the DAC - probably a Chord Qutest and upgrade my phono stage to something better.  
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