Loving roon and the nucleus. Would appreciate it if you would take the same philosophy behind the nucleus and develop a reasonably priced, minimalist, Linux-based, , electronically quiet and fanless streaming bridge to work as an end-point to connect to any dac via usb, coax…call it the Electron or something.
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The hardware is out there. The software is out there. You just need to put the two together!
Check out the Sonore Rendu and/or Small Green Computer Sonicorbiter products and their SonoreUpnP Bridge software app. A used microRendu can be had for under $300.
I know; I’ve seen it and it’s a good solution. Still, I would really just like to plug it in and call it a zone and then administer it similarly or even through the nucleus including software updates.
This is the way I went. Should have the rendu soon. Many of the solutions, including the rendu, have many options not really needed when all I want is a roon bridge. Not complaining, just wishful thinking. It would seem to be a small step to make a micro-nucleus.
That sounds like a pre-built Allo bridge–DigiOne or USBridge–running Ropieee.
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The question you seem to be asking is when @allo.com is finally going to hire someone with industrial (and graphic) design skills that match those of their EEs. Volumio seems to have understood this, Allo, not so much.
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Yes, but considering the Nucleus is 5X the cost of a similar or even more powerful NUC, do you really think it would be inexpensive?
When I saw “Electron”, I thought you were talking about the Javascript platform. How about a musical name? Perhaps the Roon Minim?
Thanks for the tip. Volumio Primo looks to be a nice endpoint option that includes dac.
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You’re likely right; the hope would be that by keeping it really minimal and simple, they could reduce the cost substantially.
And it may be that in practice this is a very simple solution; a quick glance made it seem just a little more effort than than my ideal. I may go for a digi-one just to play with and compare; which os is simplest to use exclusively for roon streaming to dac?
Minim works. Just thought of several small electrons orbiting the nucleus.
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For $80, you can get a Cana kit RPi 4 with everything you need. Put RoPieee on it, and you’ve got a USB streamer. If your DAC doesn’t have USB input, you’d need something else, of course, maybe add the $40 HiFiBerry Digi+ Pro.
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I was thinking of the ready-assembled DigiOne. All you’d need to do is add Ropieee which gives you Roon bridge and a simple UI plus auto updates. Very happy with mine.
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Thanks for all of the quick help, everyone!! Ropieee seems to be what I was missing; hard to get much simpler than that.
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I was put on to Ropieee and related hardware a year ago. It just works. Units are restarted and updated automagically. My units are true audio appliances.
Agree with Ropieee recommendations. I set up an outdoor zone using RPi3, HiFiBerry, and Ropieee this summer and it works great. Even with the HiFiBerry Amp+ in the mix, a powered endpoint for about $100 seemed like a great deal. And not too hard to set up.
I totally agree robert, something plug and play with no DIY involved would make roon/nucleus/electron a stand alone solution that would work in any setup, removing roon ready requirements. Simple is future friendly.
Let’s consider this for a second:
Some people like screens, some don’t. Some who want a screen want it pointing upwards, some want it vertical. Some use USB, some use SPDIF, some use AES, some use i2s over HDMI. Some believe in magic, and will complain if their specific delusion isn’t accounted for. Some need a volume knob. Some don’t. Some need handholding from a dealer, which some dealers are patient enough to provide, and some don’t, or have dealers who aren’t. The list goes on, and on, and on, which is why “works in any setup” is not only a pipe dream, it’s also inadvisable. It’d probably also send the wrong message to the companies RoonLabs has partnered with for integration.
There’s countless prebuilt options, at pretty much all pricepoints (from $50 for a chromecast to $75k for a DcS Vivaldi One), including (from Metrum and Bryston) stuff for those who don’t have a conceptual problem with RaspBerries, but are either allergic to the concept of simple assembly, or want nicer casework / better support than what the board manufacturers provide.