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Implementing a Roon Core Server--Success & Comments

I installed a Roon Optimized Core Kit or "ROCK" on a new Intel NUC.  Here are my thoughts.

1.  ~$450.  This is substantially cheaper than a Roon Nucleus (~$1300). 

2.  4 Hours Work.  After I got supplies, this took me all of four hours.  Why?  Well, There were all sorts of glitchy things with--interestingly, NOT ROON--the Intel NUC.  All sorts of dumb stuff happened that I had to spend some time on forums researching.  For example, I couldn't get the NUC to recognize a USB fed keyboard or mouse.  I'm not using the ROON ROCK with a monitor or keyboard, but you need one for the initial install.  What a pain!  That was one of 3-4 aggravating things, which once I cleaned up all was good. 

3.  Getting up To Speed.  The Roon ROCK integrated well.  During the initial 2-3 boots it was slow to get up to speed--likely reading everything for the first time. Up and running, it just stays on, 24/7.  Impressive that it's so stable.  Very impressive in today's world. 

4.  Worked OK with Bluesound.  The Roon ROCK did ok with Bluesound. Overall, things worked and sounded fine.  One issue was getting the Roon end to stop seeing players in the house individually; they were stuck in a group pairing from a party we had awhile ago.  No the end of the world, but it means I still have to use the Bluesound app to turn switches off here and there.  

5. Worked Wonders with my DAC.  My tube DAC, while it does do DSD, is not a Roon partner.  Nonetheless, I was able to find it networked through the software and send the Roon signal natively to it with no processing.  This was sonically amazing for me.  Everything got bigger, clearer and punchier.  My DAC has always been fed by my Bluesound Node or Node 2i.  This was a meaningful improvement. 

I love the Bluesound product line.  Yet, I have to agree with those who say Tidal sounds better directly into their DAC via USB or another compatible feed.  Running Tidal into the Bluesound then to my DAC is good, but not as great as this. 

6.  Roon Community.  The Roon Community made this much less a pain in the ass than it could have been or would have been in, say, 2005.  There are great resources at their website:  articles, forums, FAQs, and so on.  Very informative.  While I wish that I didn't need any of this to begin with, when I needed it, it was fairly clear and thoughtfully written with few exceptions.


128x128jbhiller
jbhiller's avatar
jbhiller OP
1,437 posts
 
@gasnsteering,  the beauty of the Intel NUC is that it's super fast and has the processing power to do the job.  Further, because the NUC runs a simple Linux-based platform it's very stable.  The little, powerful computer for ~$500 has one task--run Roon.  There are no hiccups or issues whatsoever.  The sound quality blew me away.  I might sell one of my Bluesound Nodes because it's no longer needed and this sounds better. 

I used a quality SSD and 16GB of RAM. Here's my parts list: 

1.  INTEL **INTEL NUC 8I3BEH. $279.99

2.  CRUCIAL 16GB D4 2400 CL17 SODIMM. $69.99

3.  512GB I PREMIUM NVME SSD.  $69.99

I also had to buy a cheap keyboard and mouse to set this up for the first time; I had a spare monitor that I used too. Once set up, I put all that away and the little box runs silently by the system.  I have Mac computers so I couldn't use their mice or keyboards easily, forcing me to buy some junk stuff just to get it up. 

arafiq's avatar
arafiq
1,684 posts
 
@jbhiller I understand that Roon ROCK acts as a purpose built operating system, but do you need to pre-install another OS before installing ROCK, or can it work in a bare metal manner?

Secondly, do you see any advantage in going with Core i5? I feel that if all we're running is Roon, i5 might be overkill. On Amazon there is a $100 difference between i3 and i5. I'm trying to gauge if it there is a sonic advantage that justifies the extra $$$
djones51
4,947 posts
 
ROCK is Roons linux OS you can't use any other OS on the NUC. If you aren't doing DSP and your library isn't huge an i3 works fine. Here is Roons recommended products. 

https://kb.roonlabs.com/Roon_Optimized_Core_Kit
arafiq's avatar
arafiq
1,684 posts
 
@djones52 -- thanks for the link. This is just what I was looking for. I almost pulled the trigger on Small Green Computer's sonicTrasporter i5 ($895). But if I can build my own Roon core at less than half the price, that is a winner in my eyes. Given that nowadays I'm streaming almost 80% of my music and don't foresee buying too many CDs in the future, I think the i3 is a good choice.
The sonicTrasporter i5 has the advantage that it is fanless and noiseless. Wondering how the NUC stacks up in this area.
jbhiller's avatar
jbhiller OP
1,437 posts
 
@arafiq,  are you close to a Micro Center store?  Or you can buy online at Micro Center and have your parts list shipped to you.  I went that route as Amazon and other e-retailers didn't have exactly the model I wanted.  I went with the I3 version that Roon recommends in the link djones52 sent you.  

I'm about a week in and the ROCK has not crashed or slowed once!
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