Guidance needed for setting up Roon on new Apple M4 desktop with large library (ref#WVW331)

Support
1

Hi! What’s not quite right with Roon?

· None of the above quite fits

None of the above quite fits

· None of these quite match

Tell us what's going on

· I had Roon in the very beginning and was never able to use it because of the size of my library, the age of my computer, and the fact that I couldn't figure out where to put anything. My music is all mostly tagged, but just artist, album and song. So, now I have an Apple M4 desktop, a 4TB U34 Bolt, an NAD C658, and an external hard drive which has 8TB of spinning memory and where my music currently resides. Will my original attempts to install Roon on my old system screw up this installation, and where do I put what? My music collection currently holds about 6tb of music, and have accounts with Apple Music, Qobuz, Spotify, Prime, and YouTube music. Can someone please offer me an idiot's guide to getting started? I am very excited to get Roon going.

Tell us about your home network

· My router is an Xfinity X1, no switches, extenders, or VPN.

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Hi @Wes_Marshall, and welcome back to Roon.

This sounds like a fresh setup question more than a malfunction, so I’ll keep it focused on the basic layout.

Your old attempts on the previous machine will not interfere with a new installation on the M4 desktop, as long as we set things up cleanly on the new machine. In a Roon setup, the new desktop would run Roon Server, your 8TB drive would hold the music files, and the NAD C658 would be the playback endpoint. Your 4TB U34 Bolt would be a good place for backups or for a second copy of the library.

The most practical starting point is:

  1. Install Roon on the M4 desktop and let that machine be the Roon Server.
  2. Point Roon to the folder on the 8TB drive that contains your music.
  3. Set up automatic backups to the 4TB drive so you have a second copy of the Roon database and settings.
  4. Then connect the NAD C658 as an audio zone inside Roon.
Because your library is large, I’d also suggest keeping the music drive directly attached to the M4 desktop if possible, rather than moving the server around. That keeps things simple and reliable.

To give you the right “idiot’s guide” for your exact setup, two things would help: are you planning to keep the 8TB music drive connected to the M4 desktop, and do you want the M4 to stay on whenever you use Roon?

We also have documentation around getting started, but let us know if you can’t find any specific information you need:

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Thanks for the rapid reply. My fear about the old machine had to do with the migration of my old computer to the new and whether any of that would interfere with the new install.

I have two 8tb spinners both connected directly to the Mac. One backs up the other. One of the reasons I plumped for the expense of the SSD was because I was told there is a need for large, fast drive to serve as the Roon Core and having the NAD as an endpoint. Just the last sentence probably assures you that I have absolutely zero idea of the architecture of Roon.

I have BluOS. I have JRiver. I could go on with a half dozen other. The last time I had a player that was easy to install and use was Media Monkey on a Windows machine.

One of your founders, Rob Darling, got me so excited about Roon and its rich offerings (this was 5-10, years ago. I don’t remember exactly when) that I have tried and failed, and then tried other, lesser offerings, but with my eye on finally putting together the equipment to be able to use and finally enjoy Roon. Part of the definition of elegance is ease of use and accessibility.

I have two iPads, two iPhones, six Sonos speakers, the NAD I mentioned connected to a pair of Barefoot monitors. I have four sets of headphones, two using Bluetooth and two wired. My connection to the internet is the fastest I can get from Comcast and use their X1 Xfinity router. What I would like to do is be able to listen to music from anything, on anything, and pick and choose without having to do anything that a normal human being can understand.

One last point. Friends say, “Just stream it.” Sadly, hundreds, maybe thousands of tracks that I know and love are available on my hard drive, but not on Spotify, Qobuz, Apple, Prime, YouTube, or any other streaming service. So if I am sitting in the bedroom wanting to use a Bluetooth headphone and read a nice Roon biography of Mickey Newbury while listening to one of the box sets that doesn’t exist on any streaming service, I want to be able to do it.

Roon looks like one of the greatest additions to music enjoyment of the last 25 years. I can’t wait to use it. I just hope I can figure it out. Thanks in advance for your care and concern about getting me there.

Wes

4

Should I wait for a reply? Or start and just hope?

5

I feel like I need to keep adding messages to just keep the topic alive.

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Hello @Wes_Marshall,

Please don’t feel the need to keep the topic alive manually—we’re here! Your excitement is well-founded; you have a “powerhouse” setup that is perfectly suited for Roon.

Since you asked for an “idiot’s guide,” let’s break down the architecture and address your specific hardware.

1. The “Where does it go?” Architecture

The secret to a fast Roon experience with a 6TB library is splitting the Database from the Files.

  • The Brain (Roon Server): Install this on your Apple M4 desktop.
  • The Muscle (Music Files): Keep your 8TB Spinner connected to the Mac. Roon will “watch” this drive and index everything.
  • The Safety: Keep your second 8TB drive for backups of the music files, and use a small portion of it for Roon Backups (Settings > Backups).

2. What can Roon actually “see”?

It is important to manage expectations regarding your streaming services. Roon is a “Deep Integration” platform.

  • Included: Qobuz and your Local Files will be fused into one giant, beautiful library.
  • Excluded: Spotify, Apple Music, Prime, and YouTube Music do not allow 3rd-party integration. You will still use their individual apps for those, but Roon will be your “High-Fidelity Command Center” for everything else.

3. Playing to “Anything, Anywhere”

You mentioned a mix of Sonos, NAD, and iPhones. Roon can talk to all of them, but they use different “languages” (protocols):

  • NAD C658: This is Roon Ready. It will give you the highest quality and best stability.
  • Sonos: Roon speaks to these via the Sonos protocol.
  • iPads/iPhones/Bluetooth: Roon uses RoonReady to send music to these.
  • The Nuance: You can group all your Sonos speakers together, or all your Roon Ready devices together. However, you generally cannot “group” a Sonos speaker with the NAD C658 to play in perfect sync because they speak different languages.

4. How to Start (The “Just Do It” Step)

Don’t worry about your old installation. A fresh install on an M4 will ignore any “ghosts” from 5-10 years ago.

  1. Download Roon Server to your M4.
  2. Go to Settings > Storage and click “Add Folder.” Point it to the music folder on your 8TB spinner.
  3. Permissions: If macOS asks if “Roon” or “RAATServer” can access your Local Network, always say Yes.
  4. Go to Settings>Audio and enable preferable audio devices.

Your 6TB library is not a problem for the M4; it was built for this.