Why bitwerk

How to read this page

bitwerk is pre-release (1.0.0-alpha). “Built” below means the feature is in the code and tested against a test DAC and on two test players; the verification with three DAC types is still running. Planned features carry their roadmap version. The comparison uses the vendors’ public pages as read on 2026-10-20; products change with updates, so check the sources before you rely on a cell.

bitwerk is for people who own their music as files and want to hear exactly those files: in a listening room, a studio, a bar or at home. Its strengths are proof of what reaches the DAC, rooms in sync without hidden processing, studio and demo tools in the same system, and a server you run yourself. What is still on the way, such as hi-res streaming services, AirPlay and our own devices, is listed below.

Where bitwerk is strong

You can see what reaches the DAC

Every room shows the format of the file and of the DAC, and a badge: Bit-Perfect when the samples at the DAC are the ones in the file, DSP as soon as anything is computed. Tap DSP and it lists every reason (volume below 100 %, ReplayGain, resampling, room sync, PEQ …) and what to change to stay bit-perfect. Roon shows its processing chain in a similar way (Signal Path) [2]. → When the badge says DSP

Rooms in sync, and honest about it

Group rooms and they play on a shared clock. The first room of the group stays bit-perfect; the others follow its clock by repeating or dropping a single sample now and then, and their badge says “Room sync”. A delay per room compensates for active speakers with a DSP. Gapless albums stay gapless in every room. → Synchronous rooms

The DAC sets the limit, not the platform

FLAC, ALAC, WAV and AIFF up to 384 kHz and 32 bit, DSD64 to DSD512 as DoP, native DSD or converted PCM. The player asks the DAC what it can do and clocks it to each file’s own rate, so a 96 kHz album plays at 96 kHz. For comparison: Sonos plays library files up to 48 kHz [9], WiiM Ultra and BluOS up to 192 kHz [5, 6], Roon up to 768 kHz [1].

Studio and demo-room tools in the same system

Monitor controller (mono, L−R, dim, sub mute, trim), A/B comparison with automatic loudness matching, room correction filters from REW or Equalizer APO, Stream Deck and OSC faders, signed webhooks and MQTT. A dealer compares two systems at the same level, a mastering engineer checks a mix against a reference, without a second app. → Smart Studio

DJ sets play as sets

A set recorded in rekordbox arrives with its cue sheet: bitwerk splits it into songs, shows which song is mixing in and can lay the overlapping songs out as lanes, on the web UI and on the touch display.

The library sorts itself

Copy files into the upload folder: bitwerk reads the tags, sorts the files, finds cover art, measures loudness (EBU R128) when tags are missing, splits cue images sample-accurately and flags lossy or fake hi-res files. USB drives and archives are indexed in place and never written to. → Library

A touch display on the player, without a browser

The player’s own touch display runs a native interface (no browser underneath) that boots straight to Now Playing: cover, format, DAC name and channels, rooms, search, lyrics and DJ sets. moOde also drives displays on the Pi [4]; WiiM Ultra has a 3.5” screen [5].

Your server, your music

Server and players run on your own hardware. Nothing needs a cloud account, and every online lookup (cover art, artist info, station directory, update check) can be switched off. Private use is free with no subscription; businesses need a commercial licence (licensing). If you want open source in the strict sense, moOde, Lyrion, Navidrome and Music Assistant are free open-source projects [4, 11, 12, 13]; bitwerk is source-available under the Business Source License 1.1.

Music made by people

bitwerk never generates music, voices, lyrics or images, and may not be used to make them. The AI features in planning only search, filter and explain the music you own: find a track by how it sounded, keep a room playing from your own library, add facts with their sources. They are off until you turn them on, and your audio stays on your server. → AI and artists

Built to be run every day

A traffic light per player (temperature, under-voltage, throttling, dropouts), an event log, Identify to find a player in the rack, a diagnostic bundle for support, every setting in the web UI instead of config files, a guest role that may only listen, and paired players with signed stream URLs.

Comparison for the hi-fi streamer

✅ yes · 🛣️ planned (version) · – not offered (per the source) · n/a does not apply · n/s: our sources say nothing about it, which is not a “no” · [n] source below

	bitwerk	Roon	moOde	Volumio	WiiM Ultra	BluOS	Sonos
What it is	Server and Pi players	Server software and endpoints	Player OS for the Pi	Player OS and devices	Streamer	OS of Bluesound and NAD devices	Speakers
Highest PCM rate from files	384 kHz, 32 bit¹	768 kHz, 32 bit [1]	n/s	n/s	192 kHz, 24 bit [5]	192 kHz, 24 bit [6]	48 kHz, 24 bit [9]
DSD	DSD64–512: DoP, native or PCM¹	up to DSD512 [1]	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s
Shows what is processed	✅ badge with every reason	✅ Signal Path [2]	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s
Rooms in sync	✅¹	✅ within one protocol [3]	✅ [4]	✅ Premium, up to 6 devices [10]	✅ [5]	✅ up to 63 zones [6]	✅ [14]
Room correction	Filters from REW; guided 🛣️ v1.2	✅ MUSE [2]	CamillaDSP [4]	n/s	RoomFit, PEQ [5]	Dirac Live on NAD modules [6]	n/s
Qobuz, TIDAL	🛣️ v1.1 via control-point apps, v1.4 native	✅ [1]	Qobuz Connect [4]	Premium [10]	TIDAL Connect, Qobuz [5]	✅ [7]	n/s
Spotify Connect	✅²	n/s	✅ [4]	n/s	✅ [5]	✅ [8]	n/s
AirPlay 2 receiver	🛣️ v1.4	n/s	✅ [4]	n/s	– [5]	✅ [8]	✅ [14]
Roon Ready	under review	n/a	RoonBridge [4]	n/s	✅ [5]	✅ on some models [8]	n/s
Touch display on the device	✅ native	n/s	✅ HDMI, DSI, SPI [4]	n/s	✅ 3.5” [5]	n/s	n/s
Monitor controller, level-matched A/B, OSC	✅	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s
DJ sets split by their cue sheet	✅	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s

¹ Built; tested against a test DAC and on two test players, the verification with three DAC types is running. ² Off by default, for private listening (unofficial librespot client); the test with a real Premium account is open.

Coming next

Where other systems are ahead today, and what bitwerk does about it:

• Hi-res streaming services. Roon, WiiM, BluOS and Volumio Premium play Qobuz and TIDAL from their own apps [1, 5, 7, 10]. bitwerk gets them in v1.1 through control-point apps (UPnP/OpenHome renderer); native Qobuz in v1.4 only if Qobuz agrees.
• Qobuz Connect, TIDAL Connect, Roon Ready. Many streamers support them [5, 8, 4]. bitwerk is checking the partner programs.
• AirPlay 2 for guests and Apple Music: planned for v1.4.
• Guided room correction with a microphone: WiiM RoomFit, Dirac Live on NAD modules, Roon MUSE [5, 6, 2]. bitwerk imports filters from REW today; a guided measurement is planned for v1.2.
• A native phone app. bitwerk’s web UI installs as an app (PWA); a native app with lock-screen controls is planned for v1.1.
• Classical music and credits (works, movements, performers): Roon, Volumio Premium [10]. Planned for v1.3.
• CD playback and ripping: Volumio Premium [10]. Planned for v1.6, next to the record collection.
• Listening away from home and offline downloads: Roon ARC, Plexamp [16, 15]. Not planned yet.
• A finished device. Every vendor above sells one. bitwerk runs on a Raspberry Pi with a DAC today; its own devices are in development.

More in Features › Coming next. Need something on this list first? Tell us.

Sources

Read on 2026-10-20. Vendor pages, help centres, retailer listings and reviews.

1. Roon, pricing and formats: roon.app/en/pricing, supported file formats
2. Roon, MUSE and Signal Path: roon.app/sound-quality
3. Roon, linking zones: help.roonlabs.com
4. moOde audio player: moodeaudio.org
5. WiiM Ultra: wiimhome.com
6. NAD MDC2 BluOS-D: nadelectronics.com
7. BluOS streaming services: Sound & Vision
8. Bluesound Pulse M review: SoundStage! Simplifi
9. Sonos, library formats: support.sonos.com
10. Volumio Standard and Premium: volumio.com/get-started
11. Lyrion Music Server and Squeezelite: lyrion.org
12. Navidrome: navidrome.org
13. Music Assistant: music-assistant.io
14. Sonos and AirPlay: support.sonos.com
15. Plexamp: plex.tv/plexamp
16. Roon ARC: roon.app/en/arc

Roon, moOde, Volumio, WiiM, BluOS, Bluesound, NAD, Sonos, Qobuz, TIDAL, Spotify, AirPlay, Lyrion, Plexamp, Navidrome, Music Assistant and rekordbox are trademarks of their owners. bitwerk is not affiliated with any of them. Found something out of date or wrong? Tell us and we correct it.