Raumfeld Connector questions

muljao

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For anyone who may have knowledge on a Raumfeld Connector

I am near the end of my continuous barrage of questions, as I am nearly finished buying gear-all your guidance on this form has been helpful

I read the words "Raumfeld Connector" here the other day and have been looking into it since. I am considering this along with the Pioneer a50n and a few other nice options that were mentioned on a differennt post yesterday

This box looks like it does a lot I want (though it doesn't have a usb dac or digital inputs, if I undersatnd its ability correctly I may not need it). I think I can plug a hard drive directly into this box (such as a drive full of cd rips) and access this on the App- is this correct? I think also it has tunein or similar radio apps and spotify and between all this I think I'd have 100% of my music needs covered. can someone just please confirm I am understanding this box correctly? Thanks, and also is the sound quality from this guy good? Thanks again
 

davedotco

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Because I find it hard to see why you would need both...

Yes, you can use a usb drive full of rips, providing the drive is formatted appropriately, check this before you start loading it up. You should bear in mind that if either the drive or the 'Connector' is switched off or loses power for any reason, it may take quite a while for the connector to read and catalogue the contents of the disc. I do not use a usb drive in such a way so I can not offer more details.

If your music library is stored on a NAS drive and accessed over the network, this works fine. Tune-in Radio, Spotify Connect and, I think, Tidal are all supported natively, the Raumfeld App is easy to set up and use, I use an oldish iPad, and with Spotify Connect it shows up as on the Spotify desktop app that I use on my Macbook.

The only thing I miss is the lack of Airplay (no Bluetooth either) and ideally a couple of digital inputs, though I manage well enough without.
 

muljao

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Thanks davedotco,

Yes a Pioneer n50a. I was looking at both, I'll only buy one if at all.

My thing is I came back at the hifi side of things after a while and all the possibilities with gadgets was a bit overwhelming. I ended up with few bits and a chromecast, though the chromecast is great with most apps, its very flakey with Spotify. I have flac ripped some files and would be happy to maybe throw 100 or so flac cds on a usb and use spotify for almost everything else. I already have a usb dac, the Pioneer was going to replace this, or the Raunfeld suppliment it. I did ask about upgrading that DAC before, but I think it was yourself who recknoed there would be very little improvement unless big money was spent.

I will eventually set up a NAS, but it is down the road a bit
 

davedotco

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There are separate issues of functionality and performance that should not be confused.

I use the Raumfeld Connector as it is a complete solution for my needs. By that I mean that I use it as a streamer/dac/preamp as everything is then controlled from the app on my tablet (old iPad). If I was to use an external dac to improve performance then I would loose important areas of functionality such as volume control and equalisation.

I did try the Raumfeld with both a budget and mid priced dac but I considered the performance improvement to be trivial but the reduction in functionality to be serious. Hence my choice.

I do not use an integrated amplifier so this functionality is important to me, if you do use an integrated this could well change your choice.
 

muljao

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I do use and amp, and would likely use the Raumfeld if I get it directly to the amp (my dac is quite good, but at 50 pounds probably wont improve on the Raumfeld)

I'll consider this box seriously. the difference in price between it and the Pioneer is substantial. At the end of the day I want a convenient,well sounding spotify and flac cds. The pioneer does and likely is in ways better, but the Raumfeld app looks quite good from what I acn see on youtube. I don't want to get to caught up in specs. A simple enjoyable listening experience and interaction is all I need. I think this ticks my boxes because if it reads flac albums from a usb, the amount I'll be connecting my computer is less and less, and I always have my dac when I need to do this

Thanks again
 

davedotco

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muljao said:
I do use and amp, and would likely use the Raumfeld if I get it directly to the amp (my dac is quite good, but at 50 pounds probably wont improve on the Raumfeld)

I'll consider this box seriously. the difference in price between it and the Pioneer is substantial. At the end of the day I want a convenient,well sounding spotify and flac cds. The pioneer does and likely is in ways better, but the Raumfeld app looks quite good from what I acn see on youtube. I don't want to get to caught up in specs. A simple enjoyable listening experience and interaction is all I need. I think this ticks my boxes because if it reads flac albums from a usb, the amount I'll be connecting my computer is less and less, and I always have my dac when I need to do this

Thanks again

I found it very easy to set up and to use, actually simpler than I expected. Virtually all my music listening is via Spotify and I use the Tune-In app primarily for talk radio. You can select between different bit rates on stations where this is available.

Do you have any other sources connected to your amp? If not, just preset the volume about half way and use the volume and eq on the app, everthing in one place, much simpler than swaping around remotes.
 

muljao

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I have a bluray player connected in stereo through the dac, along with the chromecast and occasionally my pc also through the DAC. They will be rarely used and I could go back to the remote if required so I'll take on board your tip.

I'll sit on my hands until tomorrow as I can be a bit impulsve, but I think I'll buy this unit. They are going for 180 euro at the moment
 

muljao

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Went with this baby anyway. Also went with a Marantz PM6005 that I got an open box for 195. In a way I would have liked an full network receiver such as the yamaha rn602 or even the Onkyo tx8150, but my thinking is a single model for each job might be better, or at least make it easier if something fails a few years down the road. Thanks for your input

Expect to have the 2 boxes monday
 

insider9

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Congrats! Excellent price for Marantz. I do agree a number of dedicated separates is imho also a better solution to all in ones. More flexibility and usually better quality all round.

These all in ones are great if you're lacking space or for a second system. With multitude of features most manufacturers cut corners on quality of certain components to meet a price point.
 

muljao

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insider9 said:
Congrats! Excellent price for Marantz. I do agree a number of dedicated separates is imho also a better solution to all in ones. More flexibility and usually better quality all round.

These all in ones are great if you're lacking space or for a second system. With multitude of features most manufacturers cut corners on quality of certain components to meet a price point.

Thanks insider9
 

muljao

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All I can say about this is my initial thoughts are that the system far exceeds my expectations. I decided to go from the Raumfeld to the Marantz via the RCA cables instead of digital output to the Marantz DAC, as it was suggested elsewhere the Raumfeld had a pretty good built in DAC, well I concur. The only oddity is my favourite night time radio station is on tunein, but not on the Raumfeld tunein. Thats odd and a pity but there is something about the Raumfelds being able to chromecast soon, so I should be able to use the tunein app on my phone and cast direct I think.

My father was listening earlier, and though he is not into the setup side as much as me he commented that he never heard music as good quality before and noticed a good difference between this and my previous setup.

I must say that the Cambridge Audio SX50, small speakers work realy well with the marantz, they perform amazing for their size and price. I thought I'd want to upgrade these soon, but I'd doubt it. I think now that they are broken in I nearly prefer them to the Q acoustics 2020i (goes and hides somewhere)

Pretty sure not many really interested, but just giving a little feedback in case anyone else is tying to decide a similar set up.
 

insider9

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muljao said:
All I can say about this is my initial thoughts are that the system far exceeds my expectations. I decided to go from the Raumfeld to the Marantz via the RCA cables instead of digital output to the Marantz DAC, as it was suggested elsewhere the Raumfeld had a pretty good built in DAC, well I concur. The only oddity is my favourite night time radio station is on tunein, but not on the Raumfeld tunein. Thats odd and a pity but there is something about the Raumfelds being able to chromecast soon, so I should be able to use the tunein app on my phone and cast direct I think.

My father was listening earlier, and though he is not into the setup side as much as me he commented that he never heard music as good quality before and noticed a good difference between this and my previous setup.

I must say that the Cambridge Audio SX50, small speakers work realy well with the marantz, they perform amazing for their size and price. I thought I'd want to upgrade these soon, but I'd doubt it. I think now that they are broken in I nearly prefer them to the Q acoustics 2020i (goes and hides somewhere)

Pretty sure not many really interested, but just giving a little feedback in case anyone else is tying to decide a similar set up.
There's nothing wrong with admitting you prefer SX50s. In fact considering they're on your main system that's how it should be.

One of the things I like about your threads is the curiosity you show and it clearly pays off. You've done your research, weighted pros and cons, didn't rush the decision and you made a choice you are happy with.

That's all that matters! Enjoy!
 

davedotco

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muljao said:
All I can say about this is my initial thoughts are that the system far exceeds my expectations. I decided to go from the Raumfeld to the Marantz via the RCA cables instead of digital output to the Marantz DAC, as it was suggested elsewhere the Raumfeld had a pretty good built in DAC, well I concur. The only oddity is my favourite night time radio station is on tunein, but not on the Raumfeld tunein. Thats odd and a pity but there is something about the Raumfelds being able to chromecast soon, so I should be able to use the tunein app on my phone and cast direct I think.

My father was listening earlier, and though he is not into the setup side as much as me he commented that he never heard music as good quality before and noticed a good difference between this and my previous setup.

I must say that the Cambridge Audio SX50, small speakers work realy well with the marantz, they perform amazing for their size and price. I thought I'd want to upgrade these soon, but I'd doubt it. I think now that they are broken in I nearly prefer them to the Q acoustics 2020i (goes and hides somewhere)

Pretty sure not many really interested, but just giving a little feedback in case anyone else is tying to decide a similar set up.

As I have explained before, the Connector 2 is the only piece of active electronics in my system and it is buried in a cupboad next to my router. It's great and ridiculously cheap.

Regarding Tune-in, if you know the url of your favourite station, you should be able to find it by entering it into the search facility on the Tune-in main page.
 

muljao

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Thanks davedotco, it was your mention of one of the Raumfelds that putme onto them originally, I think it as you also who said an outside dac didn't give much improvement.

I will try that suggestion with tune-in
 

davedotco

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muljao said:
Thanks davedotco, it was your mention of one of the Raumfelds that putme onto them originally, I think it as you also who said an outside dac didn't give much improvement.

I will try that suggestion with tune-in

I said "a budget dac" made little different. The impact on the functionality was so great that I did not try a better dac.

The Connector 2 is a budget product and outstanding for the price. Set up correctly to output a bit perfect data stream I would expect a really good dac to make a difference, however that was not why I bought it.
 

muljao

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davedotco said:
muljao said:
Thanks davedotco, it was your mention of one of the Raumfelds that putme onto them originally, I think it as you also who said an outside dac didn't give much improvement.

I will try that suggestion with tune-in

I said "a budget dac" made little different. The impact on the functionality was so great that I did not try a better dac.

The Connector 2 is a budget product and outstanding for the price. Set up correctly to output a bit perfect data stream I would expect a really good dac to make a difference, however that was not why I bought it.

Yes, of course. I had mentioned a 50 pound dac in the conversation so I'm sure the jist of the conversation was along them lines. I won't be adding a Chord Dave anytime soon :)

I tried your suggestion about tune-in, I found the station but says it is not supported. I regularly liten to this station on tune-in with my tablet and phone, so it's just one of those things
 

thewinelake.

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Glad we have another member of our elite band for Connector2 users - even with a passive speaker setup! ;-)

Tune-in has a pretty low bit-rate, but sounds OK considering. It would be nice if there was some way to get the BBC's full quality "HD Sound" streamed through the Raumfeld live. I guess one could do it with a laptop or something, but my system isn't really setup for that.
 

muljao

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thewinelake. said:
Glad we have another member of our elite band for Connector2 users - even with a passive speaker setup! ;-)

Tune-in has a pretty low bit-rate, but sounds OK considering. It would be nice if there was some way to get the BBC's full quality "HD Sound" streamed through the Raumfeld live. I guess one could do it with a laptop or something, but my system isn't really setup for that.

So far so good. I am very happy with the sound quality. I loaded a usb with a few flac albums and plugged in, again very happy.

There are some rumblings on the website about giving them chromecast abilities, so whether that opens up some hd sound radio, I am not sure, but any update in features is a bonus
 

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