english210

Ok, I fixed that...tried some AQ Colorado balanced cables from the Oppo to the Marantz, and yes, much better!! everything seems to working as I’d like as of now. MM with Roon server, Oppo as endpoint connected to the network, iPhone and/or iPad as the remote. now to decide if a ‘real’ preamp will take it all to another level instead of the Marantz AV8802a pre-pro.... it never ends, does it?

So next step, change the output from the Oppo to analog (XLR or RCA), then I’m back to using the Oppo’s DAC’s, and MQA is back on the table. I can do that...

So for the next step, attaching the mini to the Oppo, is there a definitive preference for the digital connection? The mini has HDMI and usb, the Oppo has USB, USB-B, and HDMI inputs

Ok great, thanks. Although I have to admit, now I remember the only connection from Oppo to Marantz is the HDMI cable for movies, so I guess I’m actually using the Marantz’s DAC, for whatever difference that makes time for more experiments....

Good tips, thanks! I had to go out tonight, but just home and did a quick test, and it did work, once I turned on the tv to see the Oppo menu, and went back and forth a couple of times on the apps. Using the mconnect player lite as suggested, is the music going from the phone to Oppo, or does the Oppo pick it up off the incoming network as ‘instructed’ by the player? Semantics, maybe, just wondering if my phone is giving the Oppo the data, how good is the quality? i don’t have much physical media to put into some kind of drive, but would like to load what I have so everything is accessible, so that’s still to come, but thanks for getting me this far! Baby steps, right? in case it matters, the rest of the system is a Marantz AV8802a, Odyssey Stratos 2-channel, to Aerial 7T speakers. Not ultra high end, but I’m happy with them. I am considering a ‘real’ 2-channel preamp to up the music performance of the system. I’m here to learn about how to feed good SQ source material, so thanks for all the help to this point!

duplicated below

I stand corrected, looks like it will work that way....more testing ahead.....

I am seeing some units with a CD ripper buoy in. That would be good for me to get all my music into one place, however once that’s done I wouldn’t need the burner any more. Consequently I’m torn about the concept of a unit with the ripper built in. I don’t want to spent a lot of extra for that feature if an outboard one would be cheaper and just as good.

I’m not sure the Oppo has streaming on the 2xx series players?

Thanks. That does look like a good option for simple plug and play, but a little richer than I was hoping to get away with. Having said that, spending money on something that is a PITA to use is more ‘expensive’ IMHO. Let me research that some more. I take it you’re familiar with and happy with the ease of use and reliability of use? I’m not that interested in all the various metadata options, I literally want to find and play music.

I am a technical idiot, looking to upgrade the sound quality going into my 2-channel (for now, HTPC May happen one day). i have an Oppo UCD205 as a DAC, and an older Mac Mini ( can’t remember how old, but I think first gen after cd-rom). I want a setup as easy to use as my current Spotify connect into my Marantz 8802a, but the Marantz won’t be part of the 2-channel system. I want to get into Tidal/Qobuz hi-Rez (I have a decent system, and I know a little about GIGO), but I also know I want it to be super easy and reliable so that I’ll actually use it. I am fairly sure Roon is the program I should use. I plan to add a good preamp to the system with HTBP, and use the Oppo as the analog source to that, and want to feed it good quality digital that is easy to use, and reliable. I know the Mac mini can be the Roon Core location, and can plug into the Oppo (which is the best type of connection for that?). Can/will the Mac mini stay powered on 24/7 for immediate use when I start the Roon app on iPad or iPhone? I’m sure settings will be involved, need help there. i can use the Oppo to spin the few discs I have, but would like to migrate those into the Mac mini and have Roon know where they are and access on demand. I can deal with physical connections of systems, but my eyes glaze over quickly with computer instructions, sorry... im sure you have a beginners section, but couldn’t find it, so feel free to point me where I need to read, instead of having repeat yourselves for the umteenth time. thanks!

Sorry for the mini-hijack, but when I click on the links in this thread, and where the blog is linked in the other thread, it won't load on my phone (iPhone5). It's the same as before the CA app, it loads a blank page only.

Great, it looks like you're all set. I'll be interested to read the results after the holidays.

One of the reasons for wanting to get this going is the quality of my Aerials, and wanting to 'feed' them good input. Pandora sounds good, so how much better can they sound with a quality source? So, some work is expected and ok, I just hope to be able to get the setup done and then be good to go. I know, that's probably a pipe dream in this world, but its a worthy goal, right? Back to the reading....I did read over the Well Tempered you provided,

Given my VERY limited understanding of how this stuff works, I do think that's exactly the concept of mayhem13's suggestion to me. I'm used to seeing everything in old-school terms, and the computer will be just another input like we used to have tape decks, tuners, etc, so your DAC will be just the input to the preamp/receiver. It will be getting its 'bits' through the network connection, and won't care what room the bits are stored in. I too perceived mayhem13's thoughts to say the powerline adaptors would not be a degradation of quality, certainly not to the extent that trying to send it wirelessly would be. Gary, I'm sure its possible, since the sonos/heos type systems differentiate easily within their apps, but again, I couldn't begin to say exactly how you'd set it up...