How do you use your Wolf?

We built the first Wolf when we could not find a product that would allow us to do everything that we like to do when playing around with digital audio. We have sizable collections of CD, DVD and BluRay Audio, we like to purchase music online, we stream, and we visit random sites to find music or past performances that aren’t available through the traditional mediums or services. There isn’t a hardware company or software firm that gives us a silver-bullet solution to accomplish our goals in digital audio.  So rather than settle, or put together a hodge-podge of devices to accomplish our goals, we put in the time and figured out what was needed to make it all work together. From there, Wolf was born, a company founded to deliver a premium audio product to audiophiles, from digital audio newcomers to the experienced techies. From the beginning, we knew that no user is exactly alike, so we needed something that was malleable, able to be used by everyone, from the user who wants his system to be easily set up and just work, to the tuner who likes to set up and design his system to behave exactly how he wants.

When is Wolf coming out with its own software?

There really isn’t a solution out there that will let you move seamlessly through all the we could find was to utilize a full-blown OS, one that would let s

Software

There is no silver-bullet app out there. JRiver does a hell of a lot. It will play anything – DSD1024, 24/384 (and up) it rips, allows you to manage metadata, create advanced views and playlists for organization, can serve audio in and out of the home, plays video, transcode, (we’ll stop here, JRiver is massive, continually being updated, and it is powerful.) What it doesn’t do is integrate Qobuz, Tidal or Amazon Music, and it doesn’t look or behave like Roon.

Roon is beautiful. It is packed with data from AllMusic.com and seems a little magical in its ability to recognize music and tracks with little to no metadata. It arranges by Genre in the best way we have found, and can be mastered by even the most tech-befuddled users out there. For us, though, as advanced technologists and digital audio lunatics, Roon has it downsides. In our opinion Roon is great for playing audio. What we mean is, when it is time to take music and play it, Roon can’t be beat. But when we want to arrange our music, organize by PCM or DSD, edit Metadata at a large scale, it won’t do everything we would like it to do.

Wolf offers you the choice between both of these, depending on what you’re looking to use your server for. We have many customers who are completely happy with the way Roon effortlessly manages their music, and just want to be able to open up their tablet app and control everything on their server. Alternatively, we have power users who refuse to use anything besides JRiver, for the customization and control it offers. Whether you use one or both, any music you play is being sent through our custom audio engine to ensure that both sound the best that they possibly can.

Hardware

Most digital audio servers are simply too weak for anything besides audio playback. This comes from the antiquated idea that low power equals high fidelity. These days, that is not necessarily the case, and in fact, our belief is that a higher power server not only offers you more flexibility, it allows for the system processes to be separated from anything handling audio, isolating any interference that may be introduced into the signal. Higher power allows a Wolf to be much more than just a music server. Want to catalog, tag, and add music to your library without any other components needed? Want to watch concert movies on your TV or monitor while pushing the audio through a world-class audio engine? A Wolf can do all of this and more.

There are a number of different ways that a Wolf can be configured, depending on how you prefer to interact with it.

Server + Touchscreen Monitor

If you have visited us at shows or seen a Wolf in a stereo shop, this is the configuration you’ll most likely see. A monitor will be to the left or right of the listening position, and JRriver’s Theater View or Roon will be running, where you can interact with the screen by hand. Swipe through the albums, point and click tracks, The monitor also gives you a view into the OS – you can minimize the app and open a web browser – HDtracks, NativeDSD, YouTube, Netflix, etc. All the benefits of running a full-blown OS while running your audio through the Wolf’s fantastic audio engine.

Not only does this setup let you get the most out of your Wolf, it also gives you the most full and direct access to the system itself, allowing you to tweak and configure things perfectly for your system.

Server + TV

Some Audiophiles’ stereo systems are designed around their television. We see this most often with our Multi-channel audio customers, but there are plenty of two-channel enthusiasts with a TV in the room. Usually we will create two zones, for instance on of our latest customers utilizes HDMI based audio for Multi-channel with a Trinnov processor, and USB for two-channel Audio with an MSB DAC. The Zones and the rules that govern the playback are completely transparent to the user. You set it, and forget it. It’s that simple. You can use a tablet app to navigate your way through JRiver by touch, or utilize an IR remote (accessory available from us) to navigate through the  interfaces. JRiver’s Theater View is best for Remote Control navigation, Roon is a little unwieldy. Of course, the keyboard/touchpad combo we sell gives you full control of the screen, plus easier web browsing and searching in web-based interfaces like YouTube or Netflix.

Server + Tablet (Headless)

Headless operation is how most digital audio devices are controlled these days. Some audiophiles don’t have room for a TV or Monitor, or prefer to not have a screen to impact their listening or divide their attention. For these users, Roon is often the top choice for them, given the ability to get a full experience and manipulate the application itself from the tablet app.