An audiolaz box between your source and your DAC?

Our own engine has to run on the computer your DAC is plugged into (see "Our own convolution engine, or Roon's?"). That leaves out ROCK, Nucleus and network streamers. One way round it: a small box of ours, between the source and the DAC.

• Your streamer, ROCK or computer plays to it over USB, as it would to a USB DAC.
• The box applies the room correction, with the instant A/B from your phone, and passes the music on to your DAC over USB.
• Nothing to install anywhere else, whatever plays the music.

It is only an idea for now, and we would rather ask before building anything:

1. Would you want one?
2. How does your source reach your DAC today: USB, optical, coaxial, or is the DAC inside the streamer?
3. What price would make sense to you?

Would love this kind of a box for Apple TV and an hdmi input.

1. Not really.
2. Streamer (Diretta Target DST-00, I2S to DAC)
3. 300 US Dollars, maybe

Thank you, Israel and Hiroshi. Rather than a box of our own, we are going to release a Raspberry Pi version. We will post here when it is ready to try.

Would likely not add a pi to my system

Thank you, Israel, that's clear: a finished box rather than a Raspberry Pi to put together. Two more questions for everyone:

1. Would an HDMI input matter to you (Apple TV, TV, game console), so that films and series are corrected too, not only music?
2. A finished box, ready to plug in and found by the app on its own: would you want one, and what price would make sense to you?

Hi. Yes. HDMI in to correct video, unless timing/sync issues would not allow that. Maybe fewer taps on that input?

I have nothing to gauge price on other than what I paid for a Wiim ultra, which is what I use for room correction for video now.

Hi Israel, a quick update that answers your video question. In the next version, your Apple TV's sound can be corrected by audiolaz with no extra box: on your Mac mini, turn on the AirPlay Receiver (System Settings › General › AirDrop & Handoff), switch on Correction in Room for Mac, then on the Apple TV choose your Mac as the speaker. Room for Mac tells macOS exactly how much its correction delays the sound, so the Apple TV holds the picture back by that much and lips stay in sync, the « fewer taps » idea, handled the other way round. The same works on our Linux player, which we tried this evening with an Apple TV 4K in our living room. Would you be up for trying it against your WiiM Ultra when the version is out? One honest limit: it goes through AirPlay, so a film's 5.1 track arrives as stereo, and some apps send a heavily compressed sound.

Tried those instructions. No sound. Should I be using the same ethernet input I use for Roon and Room on my pre-amp, or should I use the output of the Wiim connected by USB? I use the Wiim Ultra to covert HDMI to USB (my pre-amp doesn't have and HDMI input.

No sound on the USB input either

OK. I think I got it working, but mostly by accident. I had to choose my preamp as the audio destination on the Apple TV. If my preamp is showing AirPlay for Apple TV audio, does that mean it’s coming from room and being filtered?

In other words, how can I be sure that I am now getting involved Audio through Apple TV? Can you confirm that so far at least, Audio and video are completely in sync assuming when I’m getting is processed audio

Thanks for trying it, Israel, and sorry: my instructions assumed the Mac's own audio output feeds your preamp. Here is what happened:

• With your preamp chosen as the AirPlay destination, the Apple TV sends its sound straight to the preamp: it is NOT going through audiolaz, so it is not corrected. Sync is fine, but that's the preamp's own AirPlay.
• With the Mac chosen, the sound is corrected by Room for Mac but comes out of the Mac's own output, and your preamp gets Roon over the network, not from the Mac: hence no sound.

To have it corrected, the Mac must feed the preamp directly: a USB cable from the Mac mini to the preamp's USB input (the one the WiiM uses now), that output chosen in Room for Mac, then the Mac as the speaker on the Apple TV. What is your preamp's model? I'll check its USB input with you.

It would solve the porblem I'm having; however, I'd be reluctant to add another device between my streamer and my DAC. If Audiolaz becomes compatible with Audirvana Studio, that would be an optimal scenario because my streamers have Audirvana Studio natively installed.

Thanks, Aric, that makes sense. Today our player needs a computer to run on (a Mac or a Linux machine): Audirvāna can play to it over UPnP, then it sends the corrected sound on to your streamer or DAC. It can't run inside the streamer itself yet. If you ever have a computer close to your system, I'll gladly help you try it.