Guys rather than making this too complicated would this work ?
Thanks
I’m.also assuming no hard drive library and using it’s purely for Quobuz. I don’t have a big music collection anyway
Nope, probably too underpowered.
It depends on how many endpoints or how strenuous the DSP you want to do.
Would be good to know what CPU his QNAP has. Could be sufficient.
Not directed at you. This is a public service message. Numerous posters here really need to stop seeing Celeron or Pentium and then automatically assuming inadequate for Roon.
People, do an actual PassMark comparison. Use the i3 in the Nucleus as a baseline.
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/3667vs2879/Intel-Celeron-J4125-vs-Intel-i3-7100U
When similar to or faster than the Nucleus i3, the processor almost certainly is adequate.
AJ
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As another option and NOT officially support by Roon, is to use old business desktops which are no longer supported by companies.
I use a Dell 3050 SFF.
Very very cheap alternative to any of the NUC of similar specs. It can be run headless too, as mine is tucked away in the front porch connected via Ethernet.
Excellent. Sound like what I might use - did you say this was secondhand or is there a link ? Thanks
Umm might be a tad big. I’m really after a little box ideally. In a perfect world
I purchased mine from a charity on eBay for £49. An absolute bargain of a price. I’ll link a UK listing if I can but, for Americans and such I would expect around $70/$80 or €60.
An example listing;
If it helps, these are based on the old designs of desktops where you can lay them down flat with the screen on top…
Yes, I understand.
The Innuos devices, among others, use a Celeron.
OTOH, if there ever is a problem, the first thing that’s going to be offered is that the device is not up to spec.
FWIW
Thanks. Yep I’ll keep all options open. Ideally mini PC high specs - Also can the library of songs be accessible via microSd? Not sure if it’s possible?
I personally wouldn’t. I use an external 4TB HDD connected to USB 3.0 port, like many do on here. Picked up a WD Passport for around £50.
But also way lower powered CPU can cope with a Roon Core job often quite easily. It depends.
Running my core on an intel Atom in a Synology NAS. That guy is idling nearly all the time. Not recommending this but it can easily work out very ok.
Innuos servers consciously use pea shooter Intel processors. Those truly are under spec. But many a Celeron and Pentium actually are faster than some i3.
Like I said, check the PassMark figures. Do a real comparison with the Nucleus i3 processor. Do not rely on the generalization that Celeron or Pentium means lesser than i3.
AJ
Guys all good. Found a work around. I’ve got some new software now on my android box that can be used for video downloads etc and solves the problem. Can now switch off the VPN on the Qnap. Will close the ticket. Thanks again for all the input. Cheers
If you try to do Roon “on the cheap,” that’s what you will get. Just my opinion.
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Jim I’m looking at a much higher spec for the core than the Qnap that I have now. Only difference is Linux v windows. But won’t do anything unless it’s a step up. Still looking at the options.
That’s why I suggested a Roon supported NUC.
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Is this correct? I am not convinced that many are faster. A new Celeron may be broadly comparable to an i3 of a few years ago, but most are not. However, as a rule of thumb, it’s best to avoid the Celeron unless you know what you’re doing and have made an informed decision.
Moreover, it’s not a straight race. My Xeon-based server has a comparable benchmark score to my NUC, yet Roon server doesn’t perform nearly as well on that machine. L2 cache, clock frequency, architecture, and multi-threading appear to affect [Roon] performance considerably.
So, what you say adds confusion to those seeking advice. Likewise, if the library is large or the computer has other workloads, the Celeron is unlikely to be the correct choice.
For example, and incidently I do check Passmark when commenting, one of the best Celeron’s presently available (2022) is only marginally better than my NIUC8i3 (2018) and Xeon E3 (2016.)
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Celeron+G6900&id=4709
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i3-8109U+%40+3.00GHz&id=3333
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Xeon+E3-1225+v5+@+3.30GHz&id=2707
Note: Clock speed is broadly the same for all three processors.
Just annoying about Quobuz VPN block. Wish someone had found a way around it.
As I understand, the payment credit card must have a billing address in a supported country. If the requirement is met, the Qobuz account can be used to play from anywhere even without VPN.