Hi,

I'm thinking of installing Roon on my Mac mini and store the FLAC music files on my (5 year old) QNAP.

I only have apodizing in the HD621, so which of the following will give the best audio quality?

1. Mac mini -> HD621 -> 568.2MM (with apodizing/ upsampling)
2. Mac mini -> Explorer 1 -> 568.2MM (via Toslink digital optical, no apodizing/ upsampling)

Thanks in advance for your help!

Regards,
Bob

Roon will upsample any way you want it to, then you can send it to the Explorer as 176/192. That would be my choice.

(Can't say what Roon filter approximates most closely to Meridian's apodising, mind you. But someone else will be able to.)

Hi Bob,

I would go the Explorer way as well. Roon is a very powerful program and you can set the Sample Rate Conversion to 96KHz (since 24bit / 96KHz is what the 568 can decode).

But if you have a toshlink and a HDMI cable you can try both and tell us your opinion.

Regards
George

HD621 handles 24/192KHz input on HDMI and downsamples to 24/96 for 568.2MM so this might not be so clearcut as you may think.

Use a recent HS 10/18Gbit certified good quality HDMI cable and tell us your results.

I missed the bit about Toslink, sorry. But I'd still use the Explorer.

If Roon eventually handles MQA decode/upsampling he can just set his Mac to HDMI audio 2ch 24/192 and skip the apodizing in HD621 and use the flavor he wants from Roon @24/192KHz.

Anyways, I'm interested in the results if you try this.

For me, if I used Roon, my set-up would be...

Mac Mini > Network > MS200 > SpeakerLink > AC12 > G95.

I already have a ReadyNAS for system backup.

Why not just go MS200 to G95 via optical?

Comms, and Coax.

I already have the AC12.

Ah yes, comms although for anyone else without an AC12, optical and comms only dongle would be a very cost effective method especially as anyone even with basic soldering skills and good eyesight could make one with for a few quid.

I don't have good eyesight (far from it).

Thanks for your help guys!
Will let you know the results.

Cheers,
Bob