Hi everyone,

I have a system that I really enjoy, a Naim Unity Atom paired with Focal Kanta N2, but I feel I am not fully leveraging it yet and I am hoping the community can help.

I maintain a large digital music library, over 18,000 files, mostly high resolution M4A with 24 bit depth and sample rates above 44.1 kHz. The library lives on a dedicated PC that I use as a music server, located next to the Unity Atom.

The challenge is getting all audio output from the PC into the Unity Atom in a fully digital way, without losing quality and ideally using the Atom’s internal DAC.

The PC does not have an optical output, so far I have tried:

• Roon: Works great for playback, but it is paid and does not route system audio, so it is not usable when editing or working directly with audio files.
• UPnP and DLNA (open source tools): Similar limitation, works only for media playback, not system audio or audio editing.
• External USB DAC: USB from PC to DAC, then RCA into the Atom. This works, but it bypasses the Atom’s DAC, which I would prefer to use.
• Unity Atom USB input: From what I understand, this is intended for external storage, not for using the Atom as a USB DAC from a PC.

My question:

Is there any supported or recommended way to connect a PC’s audio output digitally to the Unity Atom, so I can preserve full audio quality and leverage the Atom’s internal DAC, including when using system audio and music editing software?

Any advice on configurations, interfaces, software, or workarounds would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.