I have a Mac mini 2018, 32 GB ram (3rd party) 3.2 Ghz Quad-Core Intel Core i3.
My library is on 3 external hard drives (2xSSD, 1xUSB 3).
My library is pretty huge- 372058 tracks, as Roon is getting pretty slow, I was thinking of getting a new Mac mini M1 16 GB and a 16TB external hd USB 3.1. Would this improve Roon’s Speed ?
Thanks
Probably. A library that size is def. i5, if not i7 CPU territory.
I use an M1 mac mini and its been great. Multiple zones, dsp, upsampling and everything. No issues. If there’s a power failure it boots up on its own and starts Roon on startup.
I am in the same boat here,
I am using an iMac i5, I upgraded to 64GB RAM and added SSD
It is super slow, I have a large library too, will be exceeding 400K tracks soon
I link my library to my WAV files too
I am using a Lacie 16T as an external hard drive
Will a MAC mini M1 16GB RAM solve this problem or?
Appreciate it if we get a firm answer before I commit to buying a new one
Dear Richard
Did you find a solution?
Thanks
I7 is must, second that, but it’s common sense.
The bigger the offline library is the more RAM you would need.
What is also increases you speeds and processing capacity is the way Storage is handled. Internal SSD will be way faster. I.E. I use Mac Mini 2019 i7 16GB 2TB SDD internal as Roon Core. It will run you in $1300 roughly. If you want cheaper option – go for Roon Rock, also I believe Roon running a promo right now with their Nucleus.
TL:DR; Want to stay inside MacOS ecosystem - spec core a bit more - ssd, cpu, ram. Want to spec it and save – Roon Rock.
Is the source of your problem, not core. Swap HDD for SSD and go internal vs external. If your library is that big – try indexing it, been written numerous times about on forum.
Thank you for the suggestion
As i mentioned
I am using 3.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5 iMAC with 64 GB 2400 MHz DDR4
The internal HD is SSD
My external storage is Lacie 16TB 2big Dock Thunderbolt 3
My Music Library is at 4.77TB so it is not feasible to utilize local storage, and definitely will increase with time
I am trying to trigger the indexing for the external hard drive as you suggested, hopefully it will fix the issue
When i access the core from my MacBook Air M1, It is sluggish too
I prefer to stick with MacOS
Appreciate more help
Thanks in advance
Your internal storage might be SSD but you store your music on HDD. An not only on HDD but on a clunky 2big Dock - I’ve used it previously. The part which you previously skipped to mention is that it’s RAID. In numerous FAQ articles written by Roon it is said that RAID and NAS enclosure are highly not recommended as storage and you might experience delays because of that.
In regards to the size of the library – among more than 250,000 Roon users there are dozens of users who have bigger library than yours and they utilize SSD, which costs a buck, for sure, yet they get what you pay for - search a forum, it’s highly popular topic.
Therefore, my advice - get a standalone machine, be it Mac or any other stuff – get yourself either spacious internal SSD or index files to external HDD or SSD - can stick with Lacie if you wish, but Samsung makes a very decent yet affordable SSDs. And make sure to say away from connecting Core via WiFi, only Ethernet and it’s highly likely you will see gigantic improvement in speed and overall performance.
Thank you for your reply
It is configured in Raid 0, I am using the full 16 TB available with no protection.
Currently i have 376,155 and i am trying no to add all my WAV albums to avoid the slow performance.
Will look into other threads as you mentioned
Thanks
Hi Bilal_A
I did get the M1 mini 16gb / 1tb with the Lacie 16T and it’s slightly better…only slightly, still have to reboot Roon every other day which helps with speed of operation, I do hope that Roon will be optimized for M1 soon.
@Richard_Heyfron
Thank you Richard for the update
I really appreciate it, I was planning to get an M1 mac mini but was really hesitant to take this decision
I read in the forums several comments on dealing with large libraries, I believe the support never recommended Macs
I am looking for an all-in-one solution because I prefer to work on tagging and cleaning up my library, the original files on a regular basis. To add, given that I have many CDs too I am ripping them in WAV and MP3. Many of these are Arabic releases and there are issues with the metadata. Many of these files were accumulated over the years, so there is work to be done. Personally, I do not find it feasible to dedicate a machine for the core, it will be a hassle for my workflow.
I was looking at a Dell Optiplex, with the following specifications:
10th Generation Intel® CoreTM i7-10700, 16 MB Cache, 8 Cores, 16 Threads, 2.9 GHz to 4.8 GHz, 65 W
64 GB, 2 x 32 GB, DDR4
SSD 1TB M.2
HDD 1TB
I will be using my Lacie 2big 16TB configured in Raid 0 as mentioned earlier, it is where all the files are stored.
Again I am not sure if this will solve the issue, maybe the support can step in and give their opinion on this. I am looking for a long-term solution, I stopped adding tracks to Roon after the 375K to avoid further drops in performance.
Do you actually listen to 375,000 tracks? That’s like 46,875 hours of music or almost 2000 days/24hrs/day. What I always wonder about collections this large is…why? I guess same as a dog licks himself…because you can…
You should look at things form a collector’s perspective, personally I have many physical releases that I convert to digital
Nevertheless, I can not rely on streaming services because many of these Arabic releases are not available. If available, some are removed with time for various issues (exclusive deals with certain providers). It is complicated.
Deezer has and edge over Tidal when it comes to Arabic release, but I am using Tidal because it is compatible with Roon.
Thanks for the reply…however I buy music to listen to…not to collect…life is short…there is simply no time for 2000+ days of music without repeating a track is simply non starter for me.
True, maybe I should consider reducing my files on Roon
By removing the Non-Arabic tracks and resort to Tidal
I think by this my problem might be solved
Maybe at 150K songs the experience will be smoother