Hi everyone I wonder if I can have some help. I’ve read a lot but now seem to not be able to see the forest from the trees…
At the moment all my music (c 2tb) is on an aging WD 3TB spinning external hard drive. My late 2014 imac is my core.
What I want is to have my library on a headless server with fast ssd and continue to use my iMac for the actual listening.
Is this possible, or am I talking rubbish?
If I go with a NUC, which seems to be a popular option, can I download Roon server and transfer the music to the NUC without a second screen? Furthermore, is it possible to use a windows server whilst using a mac to listen
I don’t really understand the NAS vs server differences but is that a better option?
the only thing you need an ssd for is the Roon library, not to be confused with your music files. the Roon library is where Roon keeps all the info it knows about your music files.
put the Roon server (that’s just the core) on the NUC. at that point you can use your iMac as an endpoint and a place from which to control Roon. if you install the whole Roon software suite on the NUC, you can also control from there and use as an endpoint.
your actual music files (WAVs, FLACs, or whatever) can stay on the WD, be put on a NAS, or, as some people prefer on an internal drive within your NUC, where the core is.
before you do anything back up your current Roon library.
if you want to rescan your music file all over again, then point to where you have moved them and rescan. in this case you don’t need the library backup, unless you have tags, etc… if you want stuff from the old core, then restore the library you backed up.
point your new core, the NUC core, to where your music files are and you’re good to go.
Didn’t mean this as a cookbook, just a proof of concept. Probably didn’t get everything, but that’s the bare bones. There’'s an excellent article in this forum. See ‘Before you start’. Also, search the KB on ‘moving Roon’.
