[Marc4]

Unfortunately, this is exactly my experience. I do not want to return my player as the sound quality is VERY good. I hope for an early software update.

[shevans]

I removed my posts as they were not based on all the real facts. After speaking to Simple Audio the roomplyers I received from my dealer were pre-production units from last year and should never have been sold to me.

In light of this I saw fit to remove the comments which are unjustfied.

[xbtman]

I am not altogether convinced by the last post.
I have had a roomplayer replaced with still various problems.
However the firmware upgrade did adress some issues.
Maybe they were both pre production models ?

[mark_baguley]

I wonder if someone could clarify a couple of things for me. I've been looking for a really simple way to get my lossless audio files to my amp, will this be able to use the files if I just put them on a USB drive and attach it? I don't want to mess around with NAS drives and whatnot because I have no other use for them. Obviously in the future I may invest in a NAS and another roomplayer for a different rooms but for now I want to keep it simple.

I also want to know what people on here think of the sound quality, £499 is quite a lot of money to be spending and I would hope that I wouldn't be disappointed and want to buy a separate DAC in the future. Would you guys say it stands up to buying something with a digital out and then connecting it to an external DAC for around the same price.

I'm really hoping this is the solution I've been waiting for!

[shevans]

Originally Posted by xbtman

I am not altogether convinced by the last post.
I have had a roomplayer replaced with still various problems.
However the firmware upgrade did adress some issues.
Maybe they were both pre production models ?

Yes both units I was sold were confirmed by Simple Audio as "early pre-production units"

[shevans]

Originally Posted by mark_baguley

I wonder if someone could clarify a couple of things for me. I've been looking for a really simple way to get my lossless audio files to my amp, will this be able to use the files if I just put them on a USB drive and attach it? I don't want to mess around with NAS drives and whatnot because I have no other use for them. Obviously in the future I may invest in a NAS and another roomplayer for a different rooms but for now I want to keep it simple.

I also want to know what people on here think of the sound quality, £499 is quite a lot of money to be spending and I would hope that I wouldn't be disappointed and want to buy a separate DAC in the future. Would you guys say it stands up to buying something with a digital out and then connecting it to an external DAC for around the same price.

I'm really hoping this is the solution I've been waiting for!

At the moment the USB port is not enabled, it will however be in a future software upgrade. No idea of timescales and as SA have previously announced schedules which were not met I think they will keep quiet about any dates until the software is released.

DAC's are very subjective, I have been using until very recently a QED Digit. A really old DAC but when I compared it (at home) to other DAC's at £200-£500 I honestly could not hear any improvement. Your milage may vary depending on the source quality amplification and speaker you use. You really do need to try a demo DAC at home.

The SA Roomplyers (for me) are better than the Squeezebox Touch or Sonos (zp90/connect) via analogue out. Not been able to do a side by side comparison using the digital outputs yet. Listening to WE7 and Deezer streams I was very impressed. The amplifier in the Roomplayer I is much better than the Sonos equivalent but does cost £200 more, but I truly believe it is worth the additional £200.

SA are setting up a good network of dealers now so if interested its worthwhile seeing if you can get a demo.

[mark_baguley]

Originally Posted by shevans

At the moment the USB port is not enabled, it will however be in a future software upgrade. No idea of timescales and as SA have previously announced schedules which were not met I think they will keep quiet about any dates until the software is released.

DAC's are very subjective, I have been using until very recently a QED Digit. A really old DAC but when I compared it (at home) to other DAC's at £200-£500 I honestly could not hear any improvement. Your milage may vary depending on the source quality amplification and speaker you use. You really do need to try a demo DAC at home.

The SA Roomplyers (for me) are better than the Squeezebox Touch or Sonos (zp90/connect) via analogue out. Not been able to do a side by side comparison using the digital outputs yet. Listening to WE7 and Deezer streams I was very impressed. The amplifier in the Roomplayer I is much better than the Sonos equivalent but does cost £200 more, but I truly believe it is worth the additional £200.

SA are setting up a good network of dealers now so if interested its worthwhile seeing if you can get a demo.

Thanks for the reply, it's a shame about the USB port not being enabled, they don't really make any mention of that on the website which is a bit misleading. I think as you say I will have to wait for a proper demo, although I may be waiting a while as the Hi-Fi retailers in Norwich don't seem to be stocking them yet.

I would be using a Cambridge Audio P50 mkII for amplification so I would probably just go for the Room Player 2 with the view that I can upgrade my amp and speakers whenever.

[HMHB]

You could just buy a normal hifi amp that accepts a USB stick and do it that way and then wait and see if Simple Audio do ever enable the USB port.

[mark_baguley]

I could I suppose but it seems with new Hi-Fi amps I'd be paying at least £500 before I got to something with decent quality that accepts lossless files from USB. I already have an amp for surround sound which does all the fancy stuff and I'm getting a CA P50 amp from my Dad which has been refurbished and had all of the capacitors replaced so should sound very good for stereo audio.

Plus if I do it this way there is much more scope to upgrade my equipment if I know the output from the SA players is top notch. The interface looks very good as well, I don't want to be constrained to a small LED display trying to find my way through the thousands of songs I have!

[HMHB]

I see what you mean, but it's worth taking note of previous posts where the iphone app keeps freezing and I would certainly never buy anything on a promise that a feature will be working in the future

[shevans]

They did promise the Digital out upgrade and it did materialise, along with Deezer integration and Twonky support.

I also worry about buying anything new, I had the same worried when the Sonos system came out and similar worries running at the moment for Logitech and the Squeezebox range as there is little happening.

[amcluesent]

I've tidied posts which speculated about motives, please keep on topic about the product! Thanks!

[Crocodile]

Originally Posted by JohnG

You could just buy a normal hifi amp that accepts a USB stick and do it that way and then wait and see if Simple Audio do ever enable the USB port.

Originally Posted by mark_baguley

I don't want to be constrained to a small LED display trying to find my way through the thousands of songs I have!

Maybe take a look at the Onkyo TX-8050 as a stop-gap? It has iOS & Android apps & quite a following on the WHFS&V forums.

[xbtman]

I must admit I am quite impressed with the sound quality from this device even utilising the onboard amp. Of course this is always highly subjective.
I may have been a little unkind in my last post to SA as some of my remaining issues could well be network related.
The lack of USB support at present may be a short term issue for some but this system paired with a NAS or similar has great potential in my opinion.
Just for reference I am running the player via powerline networking into a Qnap TS-110 NAS into Kef 104/2 reference speakers. Had no time as yet to run in any other configuration on the audio side ( seperate amp or dac).
Other kit I have in Meridian 506 CD just to give you an idea what I am used to listening to.
Hope this helps someone.

[Smurfin]

Sorry I've not read the whole thread, but how is this unit now that the digital out is working? Is there any real world differences between this and Sonos/Squeezebox?

How much are both the Roomplayer I and II?

[shevans]

Originally Posted by Smurfin

Sorry I've not read the whole thread, but how is this unit now that the digital out is working? Is there any real world differences between this and Sonos/Squeezebox?

How much are both the Roomplayer I and II?

The Roomplayer I is £599 (with amp) and Roomplayer II is £499 only difference is the Roomplayer I has an amplifier.

Digital out is now working, it is at a fixed level and not variable.

Audio quality is very subjective, I compared (via analogue output only) the SB Touch, Sonos:connect and the Roomplayer I using an NVA amp and a pair of Royd Minstrels. I have alway thought the SB Touch to sound better than the Sonos but the audio was even better from the Roomplayer. The Roomplayer was also able to make the music from Deezer sound very good.

I also compared the Roomplyer I to the Sonos connect:amp. For me the Roomplayer I's amplifier is considerable better. Switching back to the Sonos connect:amp the music lacked life or put it another way my foot stopped tapping in time to the music.

[graham.myers]

The Class-D amp in the RP I is very good. I have MA BX2s plugged in and it sounds great. They're not the greatest of speakers but they fine for my demo system and show off the units without spending zillions . My RP II demo is plugged into an Onkyo 905 with KEF THX Reference speakers and again sounds fantastic. I dont have Sonos or SB but they sound better than the Cocktail Audio kit which I also have set up on demo - but at twice the price it should be!

[AngelEyes]

Originally Posted by Smurfin

Sorry I've not read the whole thread, but how is this unit now that the digital out is working? Is there any real world differences between this and Sonos/Squeezebox?

How much are both the Roomplayer I and II?

The more I vary digital sources the more I am belatedly coming to the conclusion that provided the DAC is of sufficient quality, digital is digital.

For me the strengths of the RP are in the analogue outputs but as with any other quality analogue source, you would probably need an analogue bypass to appreciate them fully. Or you could connect direct to the power amps.

I am just too indoctrinated by the SB/iPeng interface to take a step back in usability. Someone not so old and set in their ways probably won't have my reservations.

Adam

Edit: I should clarify I returned the SA before the Digi-out was enabled so am not commenting on the Digi out of the RP specifically, just my general thoughts have tried a few digital streamers via digital.

[HeadBanger]

Yep would agree digital is digital when fed into modern DACs.

iPeng for Squeezeboxes is a revelation. On an iPad the user experience is miles ahead of anything else I've seen.

If you have an AirPlay device iPeng will steam your music directly to it you just need to run LMS somewhere. Give it a go.

[Smurfin]

Ive used ipeng and liked it, but now using squeezebox commander as my phone is android. Can anyone comment on the ios/android control for Sonos?

[graham.myers]

new user guide now available for download
http://simpleaudio.co.uk/media/45937...guide_v1.0.pdf

[graham.myers]

first looks review from whathifi

First impressions: Simple Audio HD multiroom hi-fi system | whathifi.com

[HMHB]

Originally Posted by graham.myers

first looks review from whathifi

First impressions: Simple Audio HD multiroom hi-fi system | whathifi.com

Hmm not very inspiring so far, but it's early days yet. I'd want it to be a mature product before I was tempted though.

I'm not sure if this has been asked before but here goes! Does the network connection have to be by Powerline, if you already have a cat5 connection to your router where the player is going can you use that instead?

[amcluesent]

The web-site says you can use ethernet to a router, the players have RJ45 sockets on the back.

[graham.myers]

correct. I've tested both units with cat5 cable (into a homeplug ) and using their own powerline into a normal socket. connected to a TP-Link 200mb system fine.

[graham.myers]

Originally Posted by JohnG

Hmm not very inspiring so far, but it's early days yet. I'd want it to be a mature product before I was tempted though.

the units I have plugged in paired fine and worked fine across wired so maybe it was just their network playing up or other factors.

The only niggling point I have is the iOS app goes hunting for the roomplayer again after being run again. So if I switch to another app and then back to the roomplayer app it starts again, it doesn't go back to the screen it was on. So if you auto turn the screen saver on and then you want to mute the music, you have to wait for the app to start back up from scratch. I have the auto screen lock turned off now.

I'm sure this will be address in the dedicated ipad though as this is just the iphone app at the moment and looks like they havent taken multitasking into account.

[HMHB]

This is what gets me about these sorts of systems. Because it's partly "computer based" people seem to put up with things freezing and needing resetting regularly whereas if it was just a normal hifi it would have been rejected and returned to the shop after a week.

[Crocodile]

Can't help but wonder exactly what the issues are? How hard can it be to enable a digital output or a USB input built into your own hardware? Or write an app dedicated to the iPad? Or one for Android? Or incorporate a simple IR remote control?

None of these things are exactly cutting edge technology so why is this company, that has nothing else to concentrate on, struggling so badly?

Looking in from the outside it appears that they believe the Linn Sneaky DS is the ultimate streamer & they're simply trying to (unsuccessfully) copy it. The only "innovation" being offering a version without the amp.

[Dead Cell]

Originally Posted by Crocodile

Maybe take a look at the Onkyo TX-8050 as a stop-gap? It has iOS & Android apps & quite a following on the WHFS&V forums.

Hey Crocodile/Everyone.

I was just catching up with this Simple Audio thread as its something that I've been interested in for a while.

So far it still seems like a work in progress or maybe I'm just not clued up on all the details such as, will there ever be an Android app? Do I need a PC at all to be able to play FLAC music? Can it not simply stream from my QNAP NAS etc.

I currently have the following setup.
Sony STRDA2400ES AVR
Mordaunt-Short Floor Standing Speakers
Logitech Touch
QNAP NAS

I am no Audiophile expert but I always want the best that I can get as long as its convenient. I use an AVR instead of an AMP because I need the AVR for my Dune HD Media Player for HD movies, and I don't want to add more wires and use up more space adding an AMP.

I was looking at the Room Player I with built in amp which seems perfect as I won't need to turn on my AVR every time I want to listen to music but I am not sure how good the built in amp is. I am guessing though it has to be better than my at the time £400 AVR.

The other problem is I have a Dune HD Media player connected to my AVR which means I can use the Floor Standing speakers when watching movies, if I get rid of the AVR and stick with the Room Player I, then I guess I can still plug in the the DUNE using PHONO cables into the Room Player?

I only have a pair of Floor Standing speakers and a SUB which I currently am not even using so at best I will need a 2.1 setup for my movie needs so if the Room Player can handle a 2.1 setup thats fine by me. But will it decode DTS etc like an AVR does?

Anyway, Crocodile, your comment regarding the Onkyo TX-8050 has really interested me and I wonder how good the 8050 is at streaming lossless files from a NAS.

The Touch works fine feeding files from my QNAP which has the LMS installed but to be honest I don't use it all that often, I use my AVR and speakers more for movies than music and I really want to change that.

Maybe buy a Sonos Play 5 and see how I get on with that? But then that will never compare to the quality of music that the Mordaunt Short Floor Standers provide!

Damn it this is so annoying! I am this close to buying a Linn Sneaky DS/Naim Uniti and getting it all over and done with but will either of them make me want to listen to music more than I do now? I somehow doubt it!

I think I need to sacrifice a little quality and instead settle for more usability which ultimately means a Sonos Play 5. Just one, no multiroom setup!

Or replace the Sony AVR with the TX-8050 and do away with the Logitech Touch?

Or just buy the Room Player I?

Do I sound confused?

[amcluesent]

Do I sound confused?

Yep . Given you have speakers, AVR, Touch and NAS, IMHO the 'obvious' upgrade is an integrated amp with a fixed gain input connected to the front pre-outs of the Sony AVR. Hook the Touch to the integrated and you'll have a nice music system, then fire up the AVR for movies.

You could pick up an Arcam A75 for under £200, which can be flipped to fixed gain.

That's how I use my Sony STRDA2400ES, just don't forget to re-run the auto-setup!