New mac mini server

im receiving a new mac mini m2 8gb 256 ssd to use a roon core tomorrow. android tablet as remote.

2 questions i need help with

can i just power on and off the mac mini (connected to dac) whenever i want to use roon? the mini will be used for nothing else

secondly is another option to enable the never sleep with display off option.

tbh option 1 just powering off and on the mini would be best for me. in this case the tablet would discover and rediscover the core each time

many thanks

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Hey Music…I use a 2012 MAC Mini for my Server. You cannot just turn it on without booting it up. This particular Mini is almost NEVER shut off. Then I have a M1 MAC Mini for my Core so that I can use it creating files for Room Correction. That MAC mini gets turned off every night.

The combo works great …the 2012 Mini is getting long in the tooth so I will replace it with hopefully an M4 MAC Mini next year.

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slightly confused. so 1) i should leave my mac mini powered on 24/7? and what about the prevent automatic sleeping when the display is off option? should i select that option when initially setting it up?

in this case the remote is always displaying roon. turning it on and off so it reconnects to the core each time.

i came across this screenshot of a roon core mac mini user

I leave my M1 MacBook powered on, display off. Amphetamin App running to prevent sleep mode and powersaving features that might mess with roon.

The MacBook has a 2.5gbps thunderbolt dongle because the WiFi sucked. (The WiFi Modul is sharing CPU lanes with the thunderbolt stuff etc) .

I use thunderbolt certified external devices only. Overall the MacBook has been a great roon core + office machine the last few years :slight_smile:

Hello,

I used to have my roon server running on a Mac mini, before eventually switching to a Rock NUC (I was fed up with the too often OSX updates sometimes interrupting roon)

This being said, I managed at the time to have a headless server with the Mac Mini running roon.
If I recall well I configured the mini so that it booted automatically, logging-in into my user session without asking for credentials. Then I set roon in the list of programs automatically loaded at my session start-up. Finally I programmed the mini so that it auto powers on at 8am and switch off at 0am, and disabled the sleep mode, and that was working (with the caveat mentioned above with the constant OSX updates that ended up being a bother)

Hope this can help,

Erwan

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I essentially do exactly as Erwan describe with a 2012 Mac Mini except I never power it down and it’s set to power back on after a power failure. Auto logs in and runs Roon on startup. This is also on a large UPS install in my AV rack. I can remotely power cycle the outlet if a hard reboot is necessary.

I run the optical out 24/96k from the same Mac Mini for audio to a Savant audio matrix switch and distribute through my home that I have Savant. I can watch the hdmi output of the same Mac mini to an 85" Samsung that’s part of a 2 channel hifi listening area and also a 65" LG in my living room. This is cool because I see the entire Roon GUI as I listen to music if I want. I use remote mouse app(on my phone) running on the Mac mini to navigate Roon when using the display same as a mouse on a computer would allow with also a keyboard available.
I use Roon App without the display and sometimes with as well.

I can select Roon as a source in all my audio only zones and with either the Display on or with the display off in the hifi zone and Living room zone using Savant.

Yeah I wish there was full integration with Savant but oh well. I have basic IR control of the Roon Mac mini so I can pause/play and skip tracks within the Savant app. All else I can use the Roon app or remote mouse app if i have the display on. I play a lot of playlists so once it starts playing I don’t mess with other than skipping a song.

I can use remote desktop to access the Mac mini running the Roon server app for any reason needed from my desktop computer as well as on either display.

All works quite well with little messing around. Nothing is perfect. LIke mentioned a recent Mac update I believe messed with my firewall settings on the Mac and I lost Roon app and Roon Arc connection from my phone.

This I fixed and posted it here fyi:

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I run a Roon server on a Nucleus and a Mac Mini (late 2014). They both run 24/7.

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many thanks to all…i loaded amphetamine app onto the m2 mini and set it to never sleep. in addition i carefully went through the settings…energy saver…lock screen and software updates and the mini is running roon server 24/7 headless with no issues. i have a certified usb cable from the mini into the usb port of my chord tt2 or mscaler…the mini will be solely dedicated to roon. as control i have a £500 pound honor magic pad 2 as remote with a beautiful 12 inch oled screen. 2 pictures. a portable battery in the image just seen at the bottom enables me to use the pad without worrying about it running out of battery power.

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I had internet problems with the original Nucleus, swapped it for a 2012 Mac mini. Last year I upgraded (slow memory) to a 2018 and I am very happy. I love how it plays my 5.1 Roon tracks thru HDMI output to my AVR (surround sound and complete Roon video experience on my 65" Bravia), and 2.1 Roon selections to my integrated amp with video output simultaneously. I will likely never use any device that is not a dedicated Mac mini.

My m1 8gb ram MacBook is already a pretty good roon server (you got a display and a keyboard/ touchpad and works with a closed display:) )

Nonetheless I’m waiting for a M4 pro Mac mini with 16gb ram to be able to also Run HQPlayer and Autodesk Fusion for Work.

could i check an important point.

i do no dsp and play directly to my mscaler usb direct from the mac mini roon core. the mac mini is functioning exclusively as a roon server.

i stream tidal//qobuz only no local files. i have around 40,000 tracks.

is 8gb ram enough until i get near to 100,000 tracks?

the mini has a 256ssd and an apple m2 chip. the memory is non upgradeable. im hoping the mini will work for the next 4-5 years. im guessing it will take that long to get near the 100,000 track mark.

im basing this on the following

For libraries that contain fewer than 100,000 tracks, with moderate DSP and multiroom usage, the following specifications will typically be sufficient:
Mac
macOS 10.15+
Intel Core i3
8GB
SSD

I do DSP stuff … have around 1,4 TB of music and 8gb ram have been absolutely fine.

roughly how man tracks in your library does 1.4TB store and are they all flac?

how much more does your library have to increase by in terms of numbers of tracks before you consider upgrading to 16gb ram?

is the roon official guide of 8gb ram sufficient up to 100,000 tracks accurate? when it mentions 100,000 tracks is that flac?

thanks to all

Mac OS will swap to the SSD if you run out of ram.

I have stereo and multichannel flacs and DSD files. I’m a bit over 100k tracks probably. Didn’t really check recently. 8gb ram is still fine so far.

Can’t really offer more help .

Note that the number is only for Roon. RAM for macOS and anything else that would be running (or not) is in addition

Importing local tracks/albums is necessary for Roon to access them. Adding streaming tracks/albums is not necessary and doing so gains you very little. As long as you have at least one streaming track/album from a specific artist added to your library, then you have all available streaming tracks/albums from that artist available under the Discography tab.

Take that into consideration. You likely can keep your streaming library well under 100,000, probably even reduce it from the current 40,000.

AJ

Except, of course, being able to include them in album focus choices or similar, which may or may not be of importance to any one person

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very important for me at least

to summarise is it simple enough to say that if roon is fast and responsive and all pages and album
artwork load up quickly and there are no issues with playback of music over an extended period you then know your core doesn’t need upgrading and all is ok? in effect measuring roon core system specs by actual performance?