New NUC to DDC/Gustard DAC (ROCK vs Windows)

[Kelly_OBrien]

Hi. I was running Roon on an older laptop into a DDC which is connected to my Gustard R26 via the I2S connection.

My DAC feeds into my tube Lamm preamp and high end system.

It was running beautifully, but then my laptop was no longer able to launch Roon. I do not have an Ethernet network set up.

I’ve been thinking of building a dedicated NUC but am unsure if I should load it with ROCK or Windows.

Will a ROCK NAC communicate with the DDC via USB?

Can I load drivers into ROCK?

Or if I want to keep the same setup, must I load Windows which can then incorporate the Roon core, drivers and DSP software?

Any other suggestions?

Sorry if this has been handled before but I could not find a clear answer.

Thank you.

[AceRimmer (Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast!)]

@Kelly_OBrien

It was running beautifully, but then my laptop was no longer able to launch Roon. I do not have an Ethernet network set up

This is what you need to take care of, a new NUC is not going to change Roon requirements for an always on network connection im afraid.
Once you have this your laptop should work just fine once again.

[David_Snyder]

Read this article carefully before proceeding.

Sound Quality

These are recommendations from Roon Labs for getting the best sound quality from Roon. Since you have built a high-end system, the extra cost and effort will be justified.