I have two macbooks pro, one 2011 (intel core i5, running High Sierra) and one 2019 (i9 running Sonoma). On the first I use Roon 1.8 Legacy, on the other the latest Roon version. Both machines are completely dedicated to Roon and optimized to the best of my knowledge. No remote, just ethernet and stream to dac.
The 2019 macbook sounds slightly better. It has Roon core/server installed. The older machine has the all-in-one legacy install and I don’t see the server icon on the menu when it’s running. So I’m not sure both installs are equivalent. I wonder if someone can confirm that that’s how it should be.
Also, I wonder if the ROCK install can be done in any of these machines. That would probably be an improvement, I guess…
The split into separate server and GUI, but both installed by the same standard installer, happened in 2.0.
At the time of 1.8, there were separate installers: the all-in-one and a separate server installer (no GUI), but you don’t have the server package installed, it seems.
So what you are seeing is as expected.
You can try but I guess that on an Intel Mac/Macbook it doesn’t work. ROCK is designed for the hardware in the supported NUC machines. It may or may not have the drivers for other hardware, and on Macs it’s very likely that it does not.
In any case it won’t be a supported configuration even if it works.
However, I wouldn’t expect any difference. There’s no reason for why there would be one and Roon makes no claims to that effect.
The official answer is that the Macbooks are not supported by ROCK. You may be able to install it - or you may not. In any event it would be considered Tinkering
I’m not sure that there would be much point installing ROCK on the 2019 Macbook - even it it’s possible. I don’t think you would gain anything. Roon Server should run just fine on this machine.
With respect to the 2011 Macbook, if you are running Roon 1.8 because the OS is too old to run Roon 2.0, you may be interested in the thread talking about a ROCK install on a 2011 Mac Mini at :
Thank you. If it installs on the macmini 2011, it should be possible on the macbook pro as they use the same cpu. But the risk of being a huge waste of time seems big…
Not necessarily. The cpu is probably the least of you worries when considering a ROCK install. Much more important is the USB bridge, Network and (depending on priorities) HDMI solutions on the board.
The CPU isn’t the problem, the drivers for the multitude of other hardware are. As mentioned on the linked post, the network card wasn’t working, hence the need for an external USB adapter (and external USB adapters are also hit and miss)
Thank you. Should I install Roon server on the 2011 machine? Any advantage doing that, if I’m using the macbook as endpoint too?
As for the difference with using ROCK in a lighter system vs. what I have now, well in my experience, the lighter the system, the less activity it has, the quieter or cleaner the streaming quality will be. I suppose exclusive mode and integer would make that a moot point, but I have been testing different audio settings with ROON like sample rate, clock priority, buffer size etc, and the difference can be very significant. That’s why I would be curious to try ROCK and compare. It does seem like risking being a major waste of my time…
I don’t think really. There are some when using the same Mac for control as well. The reasons for Roon changing to always installing a separate server were explained in the release notes of this version:
I guess that’s possible if you use the same machine as an endpoint, too. But then you’d be even better off by separating server and streaming endpoint like Roon recommends. There are nice and cheap Roon Ready streamers now, so maybe that’s a better time investment.
Thanks, very helpful.
Just to be clear, I’m using the same mac for control and endpoint. Not sure in which situation you meant “there are some [advantages]” .
I see. In this case, Roon states „a smoother, more responsive, high-performance Roon experience“ in the linked release notes. Another, practical, advantage is that the music keeps playing when the GUI app is quit (or crashes).
I have never run the server on the GUI machine, so I don’t know from own experience how big the difference is. But may be worth it with 1.8.
I have downloaded and installed roon server 1.8 on the 2011 MBP, but when I start both apps (core and server) they seem to be completely independent, which is not the case with the 2.0 version. Here if I quit the GUI app with roon server on, the music stops. And on the about settings on the GUI app roon server doesn’t appear. Am I missing something?
Yes they are independent. They are also independent in 2.0, except that they are installed together by the same setup file.
No it doesn’t, not after the update. See the release notes that I linked, it is all explained there. Are you sure your 2.0 is up to date? At first, 2.0 was like 1.8 in this regard, then that changed with the referenced update
I think I didn’t express myself well: with roon 1.8 if I quit the GUI app with roon server on, the music stops. And on the about settings on the GUI app, roon server doesn’t appear. Am I missing something? They seem completely disconnected
They are. Roon has always been different sub programs. Previously, like in 1.8, opening Roon would also start the server, and closing Roon would also stop the server. This meant you needed to keep the graphical client program running on the server box when all you needed was server running. There was always a convoluted way to get separate programs running, some, like me, used it, others did not. There were several functional benefits for doing so.
Several releases ago (long after 2.0), Roon modified the connection between the server program and the graphical client program, so that, closing the graphical program did not close the server program. If you need the server portion stopped, you have to (and this is from Windows, not sure of the Mac equivalent), go to the Roon Icon in the notification tray and right click. This will bring up a menu that allows you to start the server on bootup automatically, quit the server, etc.