Looking for a Roon Core Solution for a library of 220k+ tracks

I am presently using a Mac mini with latest is and 16gb of ram as core. It is a daily experience that the core roon app crashes. I typically stream to 2-4 zones simultaneously More frequently is the norm. I’m constantly having to restart the core and I have regular interruptions of music it’s frustrating.

What would be a good solution going forward?. I have a lifetime roon subscription and want to maximize its playability and eliminate the hourly restarts. Thanks for your thoughts.

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One data point.

I have an even larger library and used a Mac Pro as core, with many problems.
I switched to a Small Green Computer SonicTransporter i5 with 16GB of RAM, and my problems went away. If I had to do it over, I would get one of the newer processors, so that the device would have a longer useful life, but I currently have no complaints.
I keep all my music on an attached 14TB USB drive.

I think I paid around $1100USD for the Transporter.

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I have a much smaller library (10k tracks?), but have had flawless performance from my Roon ROCK + Intel NUC as a dedicated solution. Prior to that, I had a dedicated Win10 minipc that was like you described - a giant hassle.

For my new setup, I used the hardware that matches what Roon used for their Nucleus - a premium device that they will definitely keep working smoothly. There’s a post somewhere in which I outline specifics and my justification.

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Similar experience here - I have about 150k tracks, running on SGC SonicTransporter i9, lightning fast, no problems.

I actually had no problem running the same library on a 2012 MacMini i5 :wink: but just got the urge to upgrade. It certainly is FASTER, but the Mini was running just fine prior to the migration.

PS - If you need to rip CDs as well, SGC just introduced the latest version of their i7 server, containing a CD / DVD drive and integrating ripping into the server.

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Another vote for the Sonic Transporter from Small Green Computer. Great customer service, works like. a charm with roon, I have 177K tracks.

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Question. Does the tracks from streaming services count towards the track count that the processor can handle? Or is it just cd rips?

Yes they do count…

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Was there anything in specific that you did to the Mac mini to get it to be as reliable as you indicate? Did you disable anything in particular?

I’m finding that there are just constant crashes and I can’t locate the cause. Thanks!

What type of Mac mini do you have, an Intel or M-series? Since the update to Roon 2.0 and integration of .NET6, I have seen good performance on both my MBPro from 2019 (Intel) and a Windows 11 PC that scales and does not break a sweat it seems.

From my understanding of the underlying changes, 2.0 and .NET6 results in all of the platforms scaling equally now, so SSD and RAM performance may be the limiting factors on newer computers with recent x86 or M-series processors. Again, just my thoughts.

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Not a thing :man_shrugging:

I’ve been with Roon since Day One (or, really, before, as I got into a prerelease cycle, I believe), always running on a Mac Mini (upgraded to a newer Mini along the way) and, as far as I know, I’ve NEVER had a crash of any sort.

I do recall some instances of slow performance, etc., but I just rebooted my Mini and those always went away.

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I was using a Mac Mini 2014 with 16 Gb RAM with a similar size library and I was having very slow processing, lag in playback and frequent crashes.

I upgraded the network cables to CAT8 (using two cables to connect the NAS to the switch) and upgraded the switch as well (I had a very cheap non programmable one before and went for a 1 Gbit programmable linksys)

The lag reduced and the music was not stopping but only if Roon was not optimizing the database and stopping all other activities on the Mac Mini.

I recently upgraded to a Mac Studio, that I also use to process my photos, and all problems went away and all is working great. I can listen to m\usic and edit photos or work on excel or PowerPoint without any lag or interruption.

The new Mac Mini based on M2 should also work very well

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I run Roon and Plex in a Mac Mini M2Pro, music is stored on the Synology NAS that it sits next to with about 125000 music files. The Roon database is on the local SSD. The Synology and the Mac Mini are connected via 10Gb network cables on a common switch. I have had no issues at all with Roon, I haven’t restarted Roon or Plex since I got the M2 several weeks ago.

I use various end points including an Auralic Aries, MiniDSP SHD, iPhone, iPad and a bunch of Macs.

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