Don't buy a Roon Nucleus

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I bought a Roon Nucleus 2 months ago thinking it would be the most convenient, reliable approach to streaming my music. Previously I was using a Mac Mini, but the Mac would stop streaming due to various issues unrelated to Roon.

My Nucleus no longer works, and I believe it’s because of a failed power supply. I used a multimeter to test it and find no voltage across the tip to the barrel. After sharing this with Customer (un)Support, they want me to return the existing power supply before sending me a replacement.

Roon is the heart of my audio system and without a server, I cannot listen to my music. In hind sight I wish I had purchased from Small Green Computers or built my own from a NUC. But I spend the premium amount of money thinking that Roon would be the best experience. Boy was I wrong.

Do NOT buy a Nucleus if you are hoping to get a premium experience.

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@Sharon_Westfall
Your anger is understandable.
Just in order to quickly remedy the situation:
Any power supply 19V / 3.42A / 65W suitable for an Intel NUC (from Amazon) will work. I always have one as a backup.

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@Sharon_Westfall, your if this is a new Nucleus, it remains under warranty by Roon. Have you opened a support ticket in the Nucleus Support category with Roon?

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Yeah, I just don’t find buying a backup power supply as a reasonable solution to this problem. I expect, fast, courteous customer service. I’ve spent nearly 3 days just getting them to the point where they suggested that I send back the broken power supply. That would take a couple days of shipping. Then they would likely send me a replacement, which would take a few more days. So, I did just order a replacement power supply from Roon.

I told them that the power supply tested to be dead. The best course of action is to immediately send me a replacement. Then we can figure out whether it’s worth sending the broken one back. It would likely cost more in shipping to return it than it cost them to buy one.

This is the worst customer experience I’ve had for a very long time. I buy stuff on Amazon on the time and I get great service for returns and replacements. I never have to pay return shipping. They send me replacements very quickly, and I get them in a day or two. Roon wants $180 to send me a new power supply next day. That’s complete crap!

No, I’m very unhappy with Roon at this point. The software is great, but I think I got soaked on the Nucleus. You get a huge device with milled heatsinks only to find out that it contains a very small computer that fills less than a quarter of the case. Yes, It’s fanless, which was what I wanted; but they sure go to great lengths to make you think you’re getting more than you are.

Buy one from Small Green Computers or just build one from a NUC. Don’t spend $1500 on a so-so piece of hardware and get crappy customer service!!!

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Yes, I opened a support topic and provided my order number from the Roon store for my Nucleus, which was purchased 2 months ago. I got ignored for a couple of days. I told them that I tested the power supply and determined that it is not outputting any power. They told me I need to send in the bad power supply before I they would send me a replacement. If I didn’t have a backup device (an old Mac Mini I installed ROCK on), I would be unable to listen to my music. This is an unacceptable situation after spending $500 on a lifetime subscription and over $1000 on a Nucleus.

I guess they must think I’m part of some vast criminal conspiracy that purchases expensive audio components just so that I can rip them off on their cheap POS power supplies. OK, they got me. Call INTERPOL.

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I posted a reply to Sharon’s thread here and it was deleted without me being advised / contacted and the thread locked: Roon Nucleus not powering on; suspected dead power supply (ref#0EUUJV)
It was in agreement that this was very poor customer service & not a good advert for anyone thinking of buying a Nucleus. I knew this forum was heavily moderated but I have not seen posts deleted like this before. It was unnecessarily heavy handed moderation. We should all be interested in customer service even if we do not need it in the present.

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Hi @Grasshopper,
Agreed, and that’s why there is the Feedback section of the forum, Support is for technical support.

Your reply was to a post that had been flagged by the community as Inappropriate. When that post was removed, the system also removed your reply to it.

Your post here in this topic will be read by the right people at Roon. The support staff don’t set policy.

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That’s my experience with companies offering poor customer service.

You appear to be in the UK as I am, I will give you an example, last year my Chord Poly (£400) didn’t work and wouldn’t charge, I raised a ticket and Peter Tyson shipped a replacement the next day by courier and I handed them the defective unit, all at their cost.

Subsequently, they are the first port of call when I need any audio kit in future.
Good customer service goes a long way.

In this instance we’re talking about a very low value item and the fallout and bad feeling will cost more than the value of the PS.

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Hi, thanks I didn’t know it had been flagged and can’t understand why that was.

There ought to be a notification when a customers post is removed I think, the forum rules expect a certain standard when people post and that should extend to how things are removed.

It’s just a courtesy.

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I bought some Ring doorbells that were refurbished. I was not happy with the quality of the devices I received. So, I initiated a return on Amazon and was able to print a return label to return them for no cost. I was able to order new ones and they were shipped and received the next day. Those cost substantially less than the money I paid for my Nucleus.

Only after several days of back and forth did someone say they would pay to ship the old power supply back. At least I think it was for the power supply. They never made it clear whether I had to ship the whole thing back or just the power supply. They should have explained the process up front instead of me waiting days to find that out.

Instead, I chose to just buy a new power supply to short circuit the endless waiting and back and forths. How many days would it take them to get it? How many days would it take them to test it? How many days would it take them to send me a replacement. Sounds like I’d be lucky to get this resolved in a couple weeks. Meanwhile, I would be without the ability to listen to my music if I didn’t have a backup Roon ROCk device.

I also hate their policy on shipping from the Roon store. There are 2 options: 1) free, which takes a long time, and 2) $180 to ship it over night. Well, I don’t need it overnight, and I’m not about to pay $180. They don’t have a 2 day option for a reasonable price? I ordered my power supply in the middle of the day on Thursday. Today is Friday, and it has not yet shipped. So, it will be interesting to see how long this takes to arrive.

If they were truly interested in customer service, they would have sent me a replacement immediately and then waited for me to send in the bad one. We are not talking about a repair, here. We are talking about an inexpensive part that just needs to be replaced.

I’m glad you find Roon’s policy acceptable. This doesn’t meet my experience or expectations buying high end audio gear. The worst part was the delay in getting responses and information. Then, I get a surly response from customer service explaining that if I had provided all of the information they asked for, for which I didn’t see the request, they would THEN have told me it would cost me nothing to send back the faulty unit. I provided my order # early in the process, which should have given them all of the information they needed. But still nothing about the delays involved.

The bottom line is this: the Nucleus is really not better than just building a server from a NUC on Amazon. The case is too big and mostly empty. Most of those cooling fins are a waste since only a very small area of the computer touches the case. They are trying to make it look like a premium device, when it really isn’t. Further, I didn’t get a premium experience purchasing it or getting support when it had a problem.

You pays your money and you takes your chances.

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User notifications are sent for flagged posts, replies to the flagged posts that are caught up in crossfire don’t. It’s unfortunate but that’s the way it is. I can only advise that you consider this possibility when replying esp. in Support where the moderation is stricter as it not a discussion forum area.

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I’m still waiting for my replacement power supply to ship. I purchased it on February 15. It’s a good thing that Roon isn’t the center of my music system used to play all of my music…oh, wait: it is! If I didn’t have a backup device to use as a Roon server, I’d be dead in the water. It will be fun to see how long it takes this to get here. Or I could have paid $180 to get it fast.

So, yeah, great customer service continues.

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I’m confused. You had an issue with returning a power supply. Why would you buy a replacement power supply from Roon?

You can buy a standard Intel NUC power brick from Amazon for next day, and probably for cheaper.

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I didn’t want to use a third party power supply and risk voiding my warranty. My Nucleus is just 2 months old. For me, $30 is not a lot of money. I would have hoped that Roon felt the same and would have sent me a replacement express. Instead, it’s been over a week since I reported the issue and 5 days since I ordered the replacement power supply. I use an old Intel Mac mini as a backup, so I can afford to be patient. Otherwise I’d be without my music for the weeks it is taking them to deal with my issue. In the end, I’m guessing they won’t credit me for the replacement once it is demonstrated that the power supply cis the issue.

That really crappy company service on a product like this.

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Intel uses (used) multiple vendors for its power supplies. As long as the power supply is UL rated and fits the required voltage, wattage and power connector you are good to go. Other Nucleus users have opted to use their own power supplies, for example, they want to use a Linear Power Supply.

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Aboslutely, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But I am in the middle of trying to find out why my Nucleus is not working. I tested the original power supply and it is dead. Interjecting a 3rd party power supply in the middle of a warranty issue does not seem like a good idea. If I did that and they determine that the Nucleus is dead, not just the power supply, they could blame the failure on me for using an unapproved power source. That’s a risk I’m not willing to take, particularly since I have a backup device in place.

I find it curious that the solution to crappy customer service is to go to another company to get what I should already be getting from Roon. Really? You find that to be a good solution? I don’t.

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Got a big surprise just now: my replacement power supply just arrived. The Roon store is still showing it as “AWAITING SHIPMENT”, so maybe fixing the store to provide better updates should be added to their punch list.

My Nucleus is up and running! So, the dead power supply was the issue. It’s just a shame I had to take all the initiative to get this resolved with no meaningful intervention by the support team.

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Sharon,

I’d wager that we all empathize and understand your frustration. So sorry that you had to deal with this, but…

… I can’t immediately think of any reason why the good people at RoonLabs - at a time when all sorts of factors surely add extra pressure - would deliberately withhold support and purposefully delay things. I suspect they were doing everything they could to resolve your ‘case’.

I agree that it’s easy to see a week as a long time when looked at from the individual’s point of view.

But - as your own experience appears to suggest - those managing have to look at the ‘big picture’.

Happy listening!

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I have never accused the support team of malice. I have merely pointed out the ways they were not helpful and the unnecessary delays I have experienced.

I can’t see how they did anything to resolve my case. It took 3 days just for them to ask me to return my suspected failed power supply (which has now been confirmed). A first response should have been provided within a day explaining the process, the information they needed, and the time it would likely take to get a replacement.

I cannot imagine what the “big picture” could be if it isn’t timely support of customers. Oh wait, yes I can: profit. This incident has alll the hallmarks of a company scrimping on support. They should never add complex, support heavy features like ARC if they cannot provide sufficient support on the basics of getting Roon running.

The listening is happy. The support experiencer is not.

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I recieved my new power supply today (purchased on Feb 15) despite the Roon store listing my order as “AWAITING SHIPMENT”. I plugged it in and powered up my Nucleus, and it’s running just fine. Now we’ll see if they will credit the purchase price back to me.

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