Introducing Nucleus One - the most affordable Server Roon ever made!

Roon Software Discussion
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Hey Community gang,

We’ve got exciting news to share with you!

Since we first introduced Nucleus years ago, we’ve received requests for a budget-priced model. We were inspired by your requests, and we’ve been quietly working on this for a while.

We asked ourselves a simple question: Can we build something that bears the Nucleus name and performs like one but only costs as much as an off-the-shelf mini PC?

You asked, and we did it. Today, we’re thrilled to introduce Nucleus One - the most affordable Roon server ever made. Priced at just $499.99 (US).

Please see the official press release below and follow the links for more details! Feel free to drop your comments and questions in this thread. We’ll get to them as soon as we can!

Roon Labs Announces Nucleus One, the Next-Generation Nucleus For Everyone

Nucleus One pairs high performance with unrivaled affordability, providing a best-in-class streaming experience to Roon users of every budget

Nucleus One
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NEW YORK — March 19, 2024 — Roon, the world’s most innovative listening experience for music lovers, is excited to announce the release of Nucleus One, the newest addition to the Nucleus music server product line. Nucleus One leverages advances in computer technology, technical design, and manufacturing processes to deliver an attractively priced turn-key device specifically intended for Roon’s library management, music exploration, and multi-room music player software.

Nucleus, long recognized as the first choice of those seeking the best possible server/streamer option for Roon, takes a giant step forward with these new offerings. Nucleus One joins Nucleus Titan, replacing previous Nucleus models with updated hardware and cutting-edge performance — providing effortless setup, rock-solid operation, and stunning design aesthetics to buyers of every budget.

Nucleus One sets a new standard in the Nucleus product line. Comparable in performance to the previous Nucleus, Nucleus One is an affordably priced, dedicated Roon server molded from high-quality polycarbonate with visual characteristics that echo the premium Nucleus Titan. Priced at just $499.99 (U.S.), Nucleus One is the perfect choice for anyone seeking a reliable Roon server that offers a best-in-class music experience at an unrivaled price point.

Features include:

  • The most affordable dedicated Roon server on the market.
  • Delivers Roon OS reliability and performance to all Roon users.
  • Flexible connectivity: two USB-A, and one audio-only HDMI port.
  • Provides space for 2.5” internal SATA drives for up to 8TB library storage capacity.
  • CPU cooling is assisted by a quiet internal fan.
  • Precision molded, modern matte black, high-quality polycarbonate enclosure.
  • Exterior design aesthetics evoke those of Roon’s new flagship Nucleus Titan server.

“In the rare case where one team can control hardware, firmware, operating system, and application software, it’s possible to do amazing things. You can create products that are rock-solid and feature-rich, which provide the foundation of a great user experience. We’ve been lucky enough to do it a few times, starting with the Sooloos system nearly 20 years ago. That product had a five-figure retail price, and we’ve been on a mission ever since to develop something we could recommend to our friends and families. Nucleus One is the culmination of all our experience up to this point: a dedicated Roon server for the price of an off-the-shelf mini PC.” — Enno Vandermeer, Roon founder.

Roon Labs is part of the HARMAN family of audio brands.

As always, thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm.

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Oh yes, I like the look of that, I’ll be looking out for one as soon as they are available.

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Curious how this will boot as it appears to have no included storage.
Will it be sold with storage options?

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Sadly this uses a fan for cooling, presumably because of the plastic case.
Shame but makes sense when engineering to this budget.

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It will have an m.2 SSD that holds the Roon OS and the Roon Server software. The (optional) 2.5" drive is purely for local music storage.

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If the fan bothers you, put the unit somewhere outside of your listening space(s) - it will talk to endpoint Zones over the network…

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What a fantastic release!

The everyday mans Nucleus, I love it.

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I’m in the minority in that I use Roon exclusively with gear that falls firmly in the budget bracket. Titan had me worried that we wouldn’t see something like this, that Roon’s own gear was moving further upmarket. Very welcome indeed.

Now maybe we’ll have something before too long that’s ARM based…

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How many SATA slots are there? The blurb that appeared at the top of the forum spoke about two drives, IIRC, the press release also uses the plural,

but the language on the store page suggests one:

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And as always, I am wondering what NUC version and CPU it has (although I am aware that this is not how Roon sees it, and I understand their point, but I still want to know)

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These are my thoughts exactly, its network based. No need to be in the same room.

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I suspect the plural of drive is used because there are so many to choose from, let alone whether you plump for an SSD or an HDD…

Nevertheless, the Nucleus One will be based on a new generation of NUC, and my bet is that there will still be only one SATA slot.

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That would be weird.

I thought so but I’m pretty sure the language in the forum notification blurb said something else, if I am not completely mistaken. Anyway, not everyone knows how many SATA slots the different configurations of the current NUC have (or that the NO is based on a NUC), so it might make sense to write “1x SATA slot” or something.

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I’ll cover this more in an upcoming Nucleus One blog post, but I wanted to comment on the fan. I’ve been using a Nucleus One for several weeks and had to ask for confirmation that it really has an internal fan.

I’ve pushed Hi-Res audio to a couple of grouped zones using DSP and haven’t been able to get the fan to kick on. Nucleus One seems very thermally efficient and doesn’t get hot, even after several hours of use.

I was doubtful of the fan initially also. But it’s a beefy little box, that does its job well. Only the molded top is polycarbonate; the rest of the enclosure is steel.

Understandably, I know my opinion has to be taken with a shovel of salt, but I’ve been mightily impressed.

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@jamie - can you settle the discussion @Suedkiez and I are having over how many 2.5" drives can be fitted internally? Thanks.

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By the way, the store page uses singular as mentioned

and the specs on the release page uses plural:

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https://roon.app/en/nucleus/one

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There’s space for a single drive. The plurality of options spurred the use of “drives”.

Actually, there’s a quick drive installation segment in the Nucleus One unboxing video, posted on our store page. Scroll down to the bottom of the page, and you’ll see it.

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At least has to have an SSD.

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EU Pricing? (and UK, and Australia etc…)

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Good move, Roon!
This target audience likely will appreciate the offer.

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What is the NUC spec in the Nucleus One? Thx.

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