My first DIY totally fanless Roon Music Server

Thank you Geoff! I guess KISS means keep it simple and stable? :slight_smile:
Yes sure I have actually most of my music with iMatch on line but I also do backup in external disks so I can bring physically all my music with me…
Sure now with 50Gb it is very easy…

I too would say option 2 in a windows environment…but I hate windows and FWIW if this is only to run roon get a NUC and use ROCK with an extra drive for the library - internally or external.

I don’t hate Windows - but I agree that if this is just to run Roon, I would go the NUC + ROCK route. In fact, that’s what I’ve already done.

Thank you!
How can I download Rock? Will it be easy to install and manage? Also for driver with dac and all these headache stuff (I have a m2tech YOUNG dac that I could even not connect with my macbookwhite 2008… so I am afraid about this in another OS… while windows seems reliable for m2tech stuff…)
Yes I need the OS just to run Roon… nothing more…
I was thinking about windows because I have already bought JPLAY, Fidelizer and I was planning to buy also Fidelizer Pro and AudioOptimizer…
So would it be all useless with Rock???
Is so, Rock really rocks!! :wink:

I just sent and email to Nicola of M2TECH… I will let you know what M2Tech says about ROCK…

I refer you to my post 6 days ago:

The Getting Started guide is here. Also, be aware that if you install ROCK on anything other than the supported NUC hardware, then you do so AYOR. You’ll then be in the Tinkering zone, and this thread is probably worth a read.

And once more - if you’re going the ROCK route, you will need a second drive to hold your music. The ROCK OS does not support storage of your music on the OS drive.

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Can I use the mini pc I just bought instead of a NUC?
this is the model: https://it.aliexpress.com/store/product/Mini-PC-Windows-10-Barebone-quad-core-celeron-J1900-HTPC-OpenELEC-Kodi-Supported-windows-linux-Android/109426_32425706564.html?spm=2114.12010612.0.0.KMVjrJ
I am getting very interested in ROCK… it seems first generation products of M2tech even if not officially support linux, run fine in linux…

As I say above, that would make it a MOCK, rather than a ROCK device. It might work, or it might not. I suppose you could always try, but even if it works, there’s no guarantee that it would continue to work for future releases of Roon, as it’s not supported hardware. That’s why this whole conversation is taking place in the “Tinkering” category of the forum…

It makes sense, so there nothing to plan rather try and see how it goes…

Option 2 all the way.

may be in the end it is the most simple e stable solution… sure a MOCK is interesting but then there is no guarantee for the future and Linux demands always a lot of work for any simple thing like connecting a device and have it recognized, then the interface usually is not very friendly… no maybe it could become a nightmare for me…

If you already bought the pc just try it. You may be pleasently surprised. Google for instructions on downloading and installing rock.

I have a mock…seems fine for now but I also have a NUC version and I sometimes play with OS X and windows 10 cores too…because it’s easy to move a lic and swapping cores around is fun :smiley:

What is a lic?

license…

thank you everybody, the problem is that actually I am living for working reason in Algiers and my pc has been shipped in Italy so for the moment I cannot do anything, so I am planning what do to when I will go to Italy.
For me the best solution is the one that produces a great sound and it is easy to implement and it is reliable, so it does not happen that I come back to Italy and the music server does not work because I needed to do an upgrade… or I did it and now the driver does not work…what I care is listen music in the best possible way for my budget and my skills.
As an engineer and musician I love do things by myself and extend my knowledge in interesting field like this one (I have decent knowledge for DAW and reconding with computer not much in audiophile world).
I am very curious and looking forward to trying you suggestions as soon as I can, so I will do and of course let you know!
Anyway I just did subscribe with Roon for lifetime and I am really enjoung the music I listen at work with my lenovo, JDS labs Element DAC and Grado Headphones, playing with JPLAY!
Really it is a pleasure! :slight_smile:
Great community I have already learnt a lot!

Thinking back about your suggestions I think I will get me the components (SSD, RAM and wifi module that is not included in the pc I ordered) for solution 2 so a 500Gb SSD and 4Gb RAM and then I will experiment different options… the only issue I see is that the SSD is a mSATA disk so if the MOCK works fine I will not be able to use the rest of the SSD and it would be a waste… so I am a little biases over Windows 10…

Another idea is related to a portable (to use in office at work or wherever I go) music server to use with a headphone amp/dac like the Chord Mojo, do you have any suggestion about it? Still use a NUC or there are different options?
thanks!

There is a combo solution from Chord (Poly) but I would prefer a DIY solutions for many reasons… I am sure you have the right path to explore… :wink:

Hi to everybody!
I did my music server where I installed Windows 10 (with no automatic update) with Roon core (not the server) with Fidelizer optimization.
I use an ipad 2 with teamviewer to control it, or roon controller on my iphone but this get disconnected after a while and I have to reconnect to the hotspot created by my server and reconnect the core, so I prefer Teamviewer.
The quality is very good and I am very happy about it.
I am not sure of having used my resources in the best way but it works well and I am happy!
Thank you for your support!
Mau