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Mac Mini vs. Auralic Aries as "streamer"/Roon?

jamesd

jamesd

pfm Member
My digital front-end is currently an old MacBook Pro running iTunes/Audirvana with a pair of external hard drives attached to it. I'm hoping to clean up/simplify my digital front-end and get the laptop monitor off the shelf. I have a large flat screen tv between my speakers and above the shelf that houses my gear, so a second monitor just clutters things up.

I've been planning on picking up an Aries Mini, but I'm also thinking...why not a "headless" Mac Mini? Would this setup work?

Mac Mini running Roon > USB out to Mytek Brooklyn as DAC
Mac Mini has large iTunes Libary (Roon can see this/pull from it?)
Headless Tidal capability (via iphone or iPad)?
Headless Spotify capability (also via iPhone or iPad)?

I can power on the TV to see the OS on the Mac Mini when needing to update, but don't want to navigate a computer OS to play music.

Does anyone know if this setup can do all that? Disclaimer: I've never used Roon
 
Why use Roon - for what you describe you could keep using Audirvana with a headless Mac Mini, I have done this in the past? Tidal and Qobuz integrate with the Audirvana remote app, not sure about Spotify. Do you have other devices capable of streaming that can work as Roon end points.

Bear in mind that Aries Mini only acts as an end point, you would still need a Mac or Roon authorised equivalent to act as main Roon server.

What I like about Roon is the ability to use it to manage multiple end points, in different rooms but am no Roon expert to be able to describe other benefits. Personally, I'm not sure whether I will bother to upgrade to lifetime membership so would be interested to hear other comments indicating otherwise.

To my cloth ears there was no aural difference between Roon and Audirvana but mileage may very well vary here :)

To me it sounds as though headless Mac Mini is the way to go for you.
 
Huwge said:
Why use Roon - for what you describe you could keep using Audirvana with a headless Mac Mini, I have done this in the past? Tidal and Qobuz integrate with the Audirvana remote app, not sure about Spotify. Do you have other devices capable of streaming that can work as Roon end points.
Click to expand...

interesting. i've never used the Audirvana remote app. I've just always used the native iTunes iOS Remote.app

I thought the draw of Roon was the quality and robustness of it's interface/remote app and it's ability to combine your own library with Tidal's library
 
jamesd said:
interesting. i've never used the Audirvana remote app. I've just always used the native iTunes iOS Remote.app

I thought the draw of Roon was the quality and robustness of it's interface/remote app and it's ability to combine your own library with Tidal's library
Click to expand...

I've never had a problem with Audirvana and library management - I am having a constant fight trying to get Roon to update folder content when adding to new albums to pre-existing artist folders on my NAS. It may just me and my impatience at not digging more into Roon. :rolleyes:
 
the aries mini with 2 tera fitted . is very good adding a different psu improvements are noted... using and external dac and its top notch and the app .stunning .the app is one of the best on the market GO aries
 
My digital set-up is very similar to the OP's query.
Mac-mini to DAC, hooked up to a TV screen for looking at updates etc. I use Audirvana/Tidal, along with a 1TB hard drive of ripped CD's.
I haven't yet tried Roon, as I think Audirvana is adequate for the metadata info.
I mainly control it via the Audirvana app on an iPad & iPhone. I do have a wireless apple keyboard & mouse for occasional use.
It's a reliable, easy to use & stable system. Also sounds good to my ears.
Matt.
 
manicatel said:
My digital set-up is very similar to the OP's query.
Mac-mini to DAC, hooked up to a TV screen for looking at updates etc. I use Audirvana/Tidal, along with a 1TB hard drive of ripped CD's.
I haven't yet tried Roon, as I think Audirvana is adequate for the metadata info.
I mainly control it via the Audirvana app on an iPad & iPhone. I do have a wireless apple keyboard & mouse for occasional use.
It's a reliable, easy to use & stable system. Also sounds good to my ears.
Matt.
Click to expand...

what are you waiting for! it's free to try!

*he says selfishly to have his question fully answered*

thanks for the reply
 
jamesd said:
...
Mac Mini has large iTunes Libary (Roon can see this/pull from it?)
Click to expand...

If you mean a local (either on the Mini itself, or a NAS etc.), then yes - it’s just a file system - with the caveat that you would need to ensure that iTunes and Roon don’t play badly together with file/folder management. If I remember correctly Roon can be set up just to look at the file system, and not manage it.

Roon won’t work with Apple Music (subscription streaming)

Headless Tidal capability (via iphone or iPad)?
Click to expand...

Yes.

Headless Spotify capability (also via iPhone or iPad)?
Click to expand...

No.

Hope that helps.
 
Aries mini is a brilliant bit of kit - with linear power supply it’s a very good sounding machine and so easy to setup and use
 
Just confirming that Roon will not change your files under any circumstances. It just builds its own database from them and reads them for playing.
 
I've been using a google Chromecast to stream tidal. £20 and sets up in seconds. Sounds pretty good too.
 
I think the Auralic streamers work really well. I use an Aries in my main system feeding into a Mytek Brooklyn and it sounds great. I also have three Minis feeding directly into poweramps in other rooms in the house and I think these are fantastic value for money. Their support has also been very good. I haven't used roon yet but might give it a try over the next couple of months...
 
I also run a MBP with Audirvana to stream Tidal and playback from external HD works great, I tried Roon for a few months and it offers nothing sq wise over A+, basically it's just a nice organiser that I was not prepared to pay another monthly payment for.
A mini will do all that your MBP does and once setup you can run it from the A+ app on your phone/ipad.
 
I use Audirvana+ with a Mac mini and control with via the Audirvana app on my iPad, I wouldn't go back to the apple remote app anymore.

I like that the Audirvana app is still supported (and continues to get updates) on my old iPad 2 which acts as a display while sitting in it's docking station. The integration with Tidal and support for MQA via Tidal are improving with each release and now Audirvana also supports uPNP if that's important.
 
I use Audirvana with the iOS remote. The Mac program is rather ‘industrial’when running in stand alone mode, but there’s an update on the way that should have a more elegant interface.
 
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