Hi All - after absolutely loving Roon this past year (glad I got lifetime!), I think I’m finally ready to get a NUC. Currently using a networked 2018 Mac mini for the core, but just way too many problems with it as my core and hoping for a much better user experience. The NUC seems to be the answer without breaking the bank too much (and I seem to now have a lot of time on my hands for some reason …). I have a large music library, so I’m thinking of getting the NUC8i7BEH along with 512gb SSD and 16gb RAM to directly plug into my router/switch in another room. I hope I’m not wasting my money, but figured I should somewhat maximize the system to future-proof it. I plan on hooking up an external LaCie 5TB USB 3.0 drive to the NUC that stores my large music library (instead of installing a separate SSD in the NUC or some other method of housing the music). Will this work great as far as performance and user experience? Internal SSD is expensive for what I need, and am hoping that using a normal external USB 3.0 hard drive should more than suffice when directly plugged into the NUC. If an internal SSD is really that much better, I am all ears.
Separately, I love the Logitech Deep Harmony extension which I also run on my Mac mini alongside the Core. How can I get that extension to run on the NUC, or do I need to use a Pi or some other method to run it separately from the Mac mini? I would love for this to run on something other than my computer to really make this a seamless experience, unless that’s not a good idea for one reason or another (meaning maybe I should just keep it running on my Mac Mini).
I’m not tech savvy at building machines, and never worked with a Pi…I just heard about it here and there so this is all new to me! Just wondering what others are doing that have a NUC and that also utilize Deep Harmony.
I have a largish library (275K tracks) and use a 256GB SSD as thats the smallest I could find some years ago. It is only 20% full. save your money on the SSD
An external disk is fine for music via USB but be careful of the format as *HPFS+ is read only. Have a backup of this drive too. Note that only USB-A connections work - no USB-C support that I am aware of unless running windows.
*I assume you are going to run ROCK
I cant help on the harmony side but a RPi might be an option there…google is your friend.
if you plan to run windows or even ROCK maybe for future redeployment a bigger SSD wont hurt - make sure to use an NVMe SSD not the 2.5" type as the NVMe is faster
Hi
I built a Nuc just a month ago and chose the NUC8i5BEH since I want it to be quiet. I7 gets hotter so the fan revs up.
Not enough power? Dont think so.
I use oversampling and get 60x
DSD transcoding is about 30x.
And this is just using 1 core of 4.
I use a 3B RPi just for extensions such as Harmony. Works great.
BTW, excellent decision to go with the NUC. I recommend ROCK for its simplicity and rock solid performance.
Your choice of an i7 and the external LaCie is also good, methinks. The i7 can easily accommodate multiple zones, signal dickering, and large libraries. The LaCie is plenty good enough; internal SSD is overkill.
I’ve been having too many stuttering issues, etc. with my maxed out Mac mini. So recently I’ve been reading/learning all about NUC/ROCK to separate this completely out (wish I would’ve looked at this sooner, but time was less available until now), including some very helpful YouTube videos to help explain it all (I never even knew NUCs existed…seems similar to a mac mini(?)). Based on everyone’s feedback I went ahead and pulled the trigger! Got a good deal on a used i7 and getting 512gb SSD along with used 16gb RAM (I might want to repurpose this in the future as a Plex server or something, and the cost differential was minor to do this). Glad I was able to find some used components which really brought the cost down more. Can’t wait to start the project and figure out how to build this out. I found more YouTube videos in another thread to help me through this, so hopefully it will come easy in putting it altogether.
After this, I will put on my research hat and try to learn all about Pis … looking at the mentioned 3B RPi above. I was always a bit curious about Pis but never seen one (except online). I really want the Harmony extension to run on a completely separate system that just runs all the time. Curious what other extensions are worth checking out as I have only used Deep Harmony (since I am big on Harmony hubs and remotes).
The latest RPi is v4; I’d go ahead and get that; not much price diff. Your next decision is which OS to install. DietPi and Ropieee are the two I have used; a bit of a learning curve.
Install the Roon Extension Manager first, the rest will follow except for Khazul. It (I don’t believe) works with the extension manager. I’ll stop here, but you’ll have followup questions I’m sure.
Nuc/Rock is a good choice. I have the NUC8I7BEH/Rock with 250GB M.2 for OS software and database, 16GB ram, 1TB internal Sata drive for my small but growing library, USB attached SSD for backup and USB attached Disc player for Ripping.
Its in my media closet with the rest of the Audio/Video/Network equipment. Only time I lay eyes on it is while ripping new additions. The setup just works, all the time. It has quickly breezed through every upgrade without any issues and I am very pleased it. Wishing you Good luck with yours.
Hi - quick clarification if I may. While I’m anxiously awaiting my NUC, I am getting my external drive ready to plug into it with all my music. I formatted the drive as ExFat using my mac per the instructions, but does the Scheme matter? I set it to GUID Partition Map (instead of Master Boot Record) for the top level, and the sync is in progress (which will take hours). Figured I should get clarification on this before I waste too much time (I couldn’t find the answer in my research - hopefully I didn’t miss it). Thanks.
Hey guys - while I’m waiting for NUC, I’ve been researching Pis so that I can run the Deep Harmony extension. Been learning a bit about OSMC remote too because I’d like to have another remote control option by my sitting chair. If my logic is sound, I plan to get the following and install Ropieee on the Pi:
Thanks for that clarification - after researching this some more last night that’s what I was thinking that RoPieee doesn’t support Deep Harmony extension, which is the sole purpose of getting the Pi at this point.
I also looked more at what others have bought for their Pi, and thinking now that I’ll get separate components as follows: Pi 4 with 4gb, 32gb Micro SDHC, Argon ONE Pi 4 USB C Power Supply, and Flirc Pi 4 case.
I’d like to get a Pi 4 display too as that looks like a cool idea to see what’s playing where I put the Pi … just need to figure out the right components for that (e.g. am I getting the wrong case, etc.). So much to learn … lol.
I explained to you as completely as I could that it is not a node extension, but rather an executable compiled for each of the 4 platforms that does its own update management in a simple manner that is basically only possible because it is a self contained executable.
I think I failed in explaining my idea, allow me a second try. The Extension Manager isn’t restricted to node anymore, it can create containers by using images from Docker Hub, like your Deep Harmony image. Taking the use case of the OP as an example:
He wants to use the Deep Harmony extension and plans on using a Raspberry Pi. By installing DietPi and from that the Extension Manager there is an easier interface in creating the Deep Harmony container, avoiding the need to search for the right options. It also makes it easier to stop, (re)start or remove the container. Deep Harmony updates remain handled from its own interface.
Nothing big, just trying to bundle community efforts in order to improve the user experience.
OK, so I don’t understand why you cant deploy it if that is the case? The deep harmony docker image is a multi platform image that refers to the 2 linux platform specific sub images.
