So, this would replace my NUC? If so, I don’t need it quite yet, but I’d DEFINITELY opt to buy this before ever trying to configure my own computer again. This is absolutely what Roon needed to appeal to more subscribers. There are so many people who just can’t deal with building up a small computer. If Roon is listening, I have a suggestion and comments on my experience.
Make sure Roon software is already installed. It’s one of the great miracles in my life that I was able to buy a NUC, insert RAM and a SSD, and load and configure Roon. Going on 2 years and it still works and updates perfectly, but if it failed to work and update I wouldn’t know what to do. If I had to restore from a backup, I wouldn’t know what to do. Also, I was never able to figure out how to get my library from an external drive where it’s stored onto the extra internal SSD I installed; instead, I’ve got that external hard drive just attached via USB, and a 500GB drive in my NUC that is 100% empty.
Just like the Nucleus models that have existed for years, it comes preinstalled and is plug-and-play. This is just a new hardware revision and much cheaper than previous models (and price-competitive to assembling a NUC, so that’s great)
This doesn’t change whether you have a Nucleus or a NUC.
Backups are explained here:
(Or to restore to an earlier state while Roon still works: Roon > Settings > Backup)
I have a question that may have already been asked, although I have not found a feature comparison between the Nucleas One and the Titan.
DSP Capability Specs for the Nucleus One state:
“Most DSP functions available in the PCM domain, some DSD + DSP combinations may not be possible”
DSP Capability Specs for the Nucleus Titan state:
“All MUSE DSP functions available”
I am running ROCK and interested in purchasing the Nucleus One. My question is; Does the Nucleus One have the same feature set and DSP capabilities as the ROCK?
It has the same feature set, but the “capabilities” would depend on what NUC hardware you are running ROCK on… So if you’re running ROCK on a NUC i7, you would expect to be able to do more DSP and support more simultaneous Zones than you would be able to do on a NUC i3…
The Nucleus One is the entry level model - and has similar specs to the now discontinued Nucleus…
Once again, check out what Roon Labs say about hardware/software setups:
The software (ROCK) can do everything, but what you can actually do is limited by the processor (CPU). That is, the most modest Roon nucleus models usually use an i3 processor and that limits the DSP capabilities.
Complete victory for those of us who want a reasonably priced Room server that is plug and play. Some will always say they can make their own cheaper, but they always discount the value of the their time wasted working on it. I am a software developer and have no interest in futzing with hardware when there is a solution that will just work.
To be honest I’m not sure if a fan would be an issue. My Mac Mini also has a fan, but I have never heard it turning on. And yes it does work.
My Mac Mini is now 10 years old. Should it quit working one day, then a Nucleus One would be perfect for me. My library has been sitting at around 6k albums and close to 57k tracks for awhile now. I don’t add stuff that often.
Apart from volume leveling on both my streamers, I don’t use DSP. So it sounds to me this new Nucleus ticks all the boxes.
A very smart move by Roon Labs! I currently run Roon server on a Windows based Mini PC, but I definitely will be open to this in the future as an option. Plenty of energy efficient Mini PCs out there with fans that rarely kick and if they do…are quiet. In other words, for those worried that this has a fan…I wouldn’t be too concerned.
I feared that Roon would price itself out of existence with the introduction of the Titan, but now I know that they’re making room for other non-technical music lovers too.
For comparison, I added up the cost of my latest NUC 11th Gen i7 with 250GB SSD (for the OS and Library), and 16GB of RAM w/ROCK. The total cost was $513.97. While I have no idea what the actual RAM or performance of the One will be, it’s surprising how close the cost is.
Do you ask Cambridge Audio what motherboard they use in their products.
Surely it’s about performance and the size of library, DSP etc supported on the chosen hardware , what’s inside is Roon’s business . Just because the original Nucleus was based on a NUC doesn’t mean this one needs to be.
Harman has far more extensive manufacturing experience and resources than Roon , isn’t that one of the strengths to be leveraged ?
I think for me the biggest question is whether to upgrade to the One from a Nucleus Standard, purchased 4 years ago (wasn’t cheap!), exclusively for streaming music. Perhaps someone will do a comparison at some point?
Also I think it’s not so much about the hardware, the software plays a huge part in providing a great user experience. Roon app on my Mac performs seamlessly whereas the iOS experience on my iPhone needs some improvement, it’s not quite the same experience as on my Mac.
Does your Nucleus have any issues? I doubt there’ll be a huge difference in performance, and IIRC the standard Nucleus doesn’t have a fan, does it? Even if the fan in the One is completely inaudible, it’s still a potential point of failure, so if I already had a Nucleus I don’t think I’d be looking to replace it.
