Fantastic! ROCK rocks!

Thank you Roon! I’ve fought dropouts and skips on a dedicated Windows 10 (Core i7 Duo with 8GB RAM, SSD) machine for weeks. I tweaked the OS, adjusted background processes and services, swapped ethernet hubs, etc, etc. Finally I went out and bought your recommended Intel i5 NUC, M.2 128GB SSD, external 2TB USB drive, 16GB of RAM, and installed your ROCK software. Up and running in about an hour. Copied all 50,000 tracks onto the USB drive from my Windows 10 machine. Hooked it back up, pointed the Roon Server at the drive, and away it went. Perfect!!! My big noisy hot Windows 10 box has been replaced with a cool, quiet, tiny, energy efficient NUC (total cost about $1k Cdn). No skips. Great 5.1 sound (hint - set the Roon output to 7.1) off the HDMI port (could never get the 5.1 to work in Windows). Brilliant! Again, THANK YOU.

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I think ROCK allows Roon to fully utilise the hardware as a dedicated high quality audio player. In no distant to the future, audio manufacturers can use ROCK to build their own streamers with or integrated DAC. This really help to cut down software development time. ROCK is really a one solution for both DIY enthusiasts and audio manufacturers.

Multiple in the works, and one already released… the Merging NADACPLAYER… One of the best things I’ve heard!

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2 posts were split to a new topic: ROCK + NUC + HDMI quality

Can you send link for this DAC ?.

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Where does this player stand with the preference in the Roon KB to have core and endpoint separate or does a major company’s ability with audio engineering obviate the need for this separation?

.sjb

This company’s engineering seems to obviate pretty much everything the audio world does. Pop off the case and I can see it’s so simple inside, yet it’s in my top few listening experiences ever. Their history is in Pro, and this box is meant to reproduce sound using the techniques and mechanisms that are used to record all the stuff we love. It works.

If you find an audio show or showroom where there is a demo, I would make it a point to visit. I rarely speak good or bad about a specific audio brand, but this box impressed me in a way I did not expect.

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2 posts were split to a new topic: ROCK + movies – what’s your solution?

Awesome NDAC with a high price tag! There’s no mention what processor it is using?
I always want a streamer cum DAC, it makes setup so easy and playback quality is top notch coz the interface between the processor to DAC chip is via I2C bus; this most direct interface instead of using USB.

Sabre…

Back to the beginning of this thread, the OP, THIS FREAKIN’ ROCK JUST PLAIN ROCKS! I have also been playing for months with my Windows 10 based core to play to zones reliably, with no luck. Pauses, frequently skipping to the next track in the middle of a song, yada yada yada. Well, built out my ROCK last night, I have listened to several hours today without a single glitch, skip or problem, just crystal clear music!! Thanks ROON team! (And thanks for prying another several hundred dollars out of my pocket :grinning:)

Hah! If you bought a Nucleus, then you could blame us for doing the prying… but with ROCK, it’s all on you!

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Maybe you didn’t pry, but your gentle coaxing is very much appreciated. Still ROCKin’ on here with narry a gap or a skip. Thank you!!!

The Merging appears to be a nice solution. Maybe I’d bite if they offered up something without a DAC. Otherwise I’ll await another entrant in the Nucleus field as they appear.

Hi,

I’m also impressed with ROCK.

My NUC: NUC7i3BNH (WD Green M.2 SSD 120GB / Crucial 4GB DDR4 2133 / WD Red 2.5" NAS 750GB)

Everything has been running fine for a few days. I upsample 44.1 to 48 (that’s as far as my Dac goes) and I have a small library (around 400 cd’s)

The sound is better compared to Imac Mid 2010 core (i3/4GB/1TB HHD)

Minor issues whilst installing ROCK on the Nuc:

  • Make sure to format the USB drive for the BIOS update in fat and not exfat (as i did)

  • Make sure you plug in your LAN cable sometime before the end of the install, otherwise you aren’t shown your Nuc (ROCK) ip address (maybe I missed this in the ROCK KB articles)

Why not the Nucleus itself?

if you plug it in after the fact,the screen will update to show you the ip – however, if you use the roon app, you can get to the web ui without knowing the ip.

I guess I must have missed something, but where can I find a Nucleus to purchase?

Not Stevie here, but maybe because of the pricing?