Is this NUC D54250WYKH suitable?

Maybe something like this one on eBay Australia [Intel Client Systems, NUC815BEH, i5-8259U Mini PC Barebone Desktop, 240GB | eBay
If you watch it for a while the seller often drops the price a bit. Note the price is AU$ so not too bad IMO.

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Thanks for the feedback. I am actually not bad at DIY, havenā€™t done it since my college days though.

Here is the thing, I am passionate about high-quality music and I not only use it for entertainment but also for sound medicine which some of you may know is a recognized medical field. For this to be effective I have to use high-end equipment and of course, a player like Roon to create the correct ecosystem

My issue is the price, not so much how expensive everything is but mostly because I donā€™t have the budget to create the ideal environment.

I would have imagined that NUC would have been the cheapest option and maybe itā€™s cheaper than Nuculuse but still, itā€™s coming up to the same price as a soundbar. Anyway, I donā€™t want to be complaining, Iā€™m grateful for this service being available and for a community like this willing to help.

I have had a look on eBay and it looks like a Mac mini i5 would be a cheaper option. Any tips around mac mini? Any production years to avoid?

Thank you, this looks like a good option

This model is supported

Price is good on this one. Do you think an i3 would be enough?

I tried an 8i3 and it worked really well.

And see @simon_pepperā€™s post above - he was running an older i3 for a while.

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Ran Rock on a 7i3 for sometime and it would even handle Upsampling to dsd512 with a library of 200k tracks on external HDD and 16gb ram.

You should be good.:+1:

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You can get a blemished Nucleus from Roon for $1119. Thatā€™s what I got over 2 1/2 years ago and itā€™s been perfect. I could not find what they were calling the blemish. I am considering buying another one to keep as a spare and keep one Roon version behind.

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Buying a used computer is like buying a used cell phone. I would not do it unless minimizing cost was the highest priority. Even then, probably not.

A new NUC kit snaps together like Legos. You will have more fun and satisfaction if you buy parts and build yourself.

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Get a cheap Windows mini PC from Amazon, install Roon Server for Windows, avoid all the anxiety and drama.

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Roon approved NUC devices:

  1. NUC5i3xxx

  2. NUC5i5xxx

  3. NUC6i3SYx

  4. NUC6i5SYx

  5. NUC7i3BNx

  6. NUC7i5BNx

  7. NUC7i7BNx

  8. NUC7i3DNx

  9. NUC7i5DNx

  10. NUC7i7DNx

  11. NUC8i3BEx

  12. NUC8i5BEx

  13. NUC8i5BEx

  14. NUC8i7BEx

  15. NUC10i3FNx

  16. NUC10i5FNx

  17. NUC10i7FNx

Stick with one of these and you will be all good. If the NUC is not at this list, avoid it at all cost (yes, you can install Windows or Linux on it and install Roon Core, but it will not run Roon ROCK without some issues).

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Weā€™ve told him that 4 times now, but he wonā€™t listen for some reason. I would just go with this and call it a day.

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Iā€™ve had that exact little guy for years, used for a variety of functions that I need 24/7. Recently I consolidated a lot of server containers into my homebrew super NAS box. The antique NUC was available when I started with roon, so I ran it dedicated with ROCK. Worked great, even with mild DSP tweaks. Actually, Iā€™m currently running this NUC with an ultra lightweight Linux (Alpine, I think, but I canā€™t remember) and both roon and Pi-hole containers controlled by a Portainer Agent. Still zippy (enough for me) roon performance.

So donā€™t worry about it. :scream:

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Iā€™ve got Roon, Plex, Sonarr, Radarr, NZBFinder, SABnzbd and Deluge running on an old NUC D54250WYKH. Apart from changing the fan this year, itā€™s never missed a beat. If you see a cheap one, Iā€™d snap it up.

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