Going Tidal, Need ???

Steve +Swajames + Rbstehno:

I was told I need to buy a server to fit between the Internet download
and the DAC. Roon makes one for $1400.00 that was recommended
to me ( by the store owner who claimed he had one personally).
 Now it seems I may have the jitters. My home has an easy solution 
for hard wiring internet to where it is needed. Is the $500 Bluemoon 2
a solution as good or better than the Roon ?

Firstnot, honestly I'd just give the 205 a try.  You have it already and it really is all you need to get started.  Get a free trial of Roon (you can find 14 day/30 day free trial codes if you look around). You can then use an existing Mac or PC as your Roon Core (if you have an iTunes library etc on that PC then Roon will tap into that).   Provided your PC (Roon Core) and your UDP-205 are on the same network it will show up as a Roon endpoint and you can use your PC or the Roon app on your phone or a tablet to control your music.     You can buy standalone Roon Cores, Roon Nucleus, and store music on that but you can use what you have for now and see if you like it.  If you have a PC, a 205 and a Tidal account it won't cost you a penny to try it and I am betting you will be as happy with it as other Roon users are.   

Good luck and report back.  Interested to learn what you think!

adding one point - the UDP-205 does indeed support MQA. Tidal has quite a lot of MQA content now (in addition to the lossless FLAC you get on the Tidal HiFi tier). You may need to use the USB DAC input for MQA.

I’m in a similar boat; I’ve been using a Bluesound Node 1 for a while and have a Node 2 still in the box. I like the convenience etc.
I like the Oppo 103D for the display useage but have an Oppo 205 in the box waiting also.
Wishing the 205 was easier to get Tidal and Tidal MQA but looks like the USB is the only way to get the full “unfold” of MQA.

Maybe I need a computer to do it?

Chris

Thanks I will do the freebie method and report back as how it sounds.
I have a mac laptop and saw the free trial offer from Roon.
Tidal doesn't seem to have the trial offer but perhaps Qobuz does?