The Titan now appears to be in the price range of the exaSound Delta MKII which is built primarily as a Roon server. The Delta has the performance goodies (CPU, memory, storage), a much more detailed Web interface with performance monitor, plus a separate 7 inch screen device. It has a lot going for it but it was too expensive for me at the time which was several years ago.
With the Titan in the same price range Roon will need to up its game and deck out the Titan to have it in the same performance and capability league.
Exactly as I bought mine ,my fingers âainât what they used to beâ so I specified what I wanted they built and tested it. I could have had Windows installed but as I planned for ROCK I didnât. I have never even opened the base , just add wires !!
I picked up a box , followed the ROCK install instructions
SGCâs SonicTransporter has always been a better choice. Theyâve always had better specs and no marketing crap⌠no pretense as to being a computer. Their optical i9 which has been around for a while already probably has better specs than the ânewâ !!TITAN!!
They are just all a bog standard hatchback with some fancy spoilers and go fast stripes, they are not a performance car in any shape or form. Given the cheap ssd and memory this generation shipped with they are not even decent mods just cheap Halfords ones.
I like to see real specifications, not buying air. What processor and generation, what type of SSD and speed, usb4? Can I install my own SSD? I donât want dated hardware like the old nucleus, when it come out it was already dated. prefer to put my money in the BACCH4Mac.
I agree with you about the software company branching out into Luxury items, seems weird, but now that Harman are involved, itâs not just a software company any longer.
Guys like yourself, with a wealth of computer knowledge, are fortunate that you can avoid having to pay for these type of products. Guys like me, who see computers as a necessary evil of modern life, and view the âundoâ button as your best friend, are a bit more at the mercy of these type of products.
As a control point, I havenât found anything as slick, easy to use and stable as Roon. Audirvana may come close, but that would involve me relying on the iMac being awake. The fact that Roon also offered the hardware made it a no brainer for me. The less time I spend on a computer the better.
The Nucleus is/was overpriced if it is judged purely on itâs performance capabilities, and I would have been satisfied with a simpler case if that had made it cheaper, but I ultimately judge the cost of the Nucleus on the value it gives as a complete hardware/software package that just works all the time. I come home from work, load up a playlist on my iPhone, and relax and enjoy the music.
I am probably the exact type of person that the Nucleus was aimed at, someone who lacks computer skill or desire to gain it. With the time it would take me to figure out a DIY NUC system, I can earn more money than the Nucleus costs. Everyone has a tipping point of cost/value where they have decide whether a product is worth that cost to them.
I didnât blink at buying the Nucleus but if I was in the same situation and the Titan was the only choice, I would probably have to look elsewhere. One similar, cheaper option would be the Innuos ZenMini which has itâs own software app, streams, has SSD storage and has itâs own CD ripper. Lack of DSP capabilities may discount it for some.
There will be those who wonât blink at the cost of a Titan, and Iâm sure we will find out soon enough if the marketing department got it right, but as Bill said, a software company dealing luxury products seems alarming. Perhaps they will eventually call it Harman Titan.
I tend to agree, Miguel. But I wouldnât be surprised if Roon took a similar step as Grimm in their MU-1/2 with a daughter FPGA/output board. I think that is unlikely, but not impossible.
I strongly doubt that - It is key to Roon to keep ROCK simple and not tailored (in my opinion anyway). The Grimm units have DACs.
I also seem to recall seeing a pic of the back of the Titan and it looked like a NUC plain and simple. It might well be the case that the power supply is linear and all that jazz, but all variations on a theme.
The one place where there might be a difference is in the USB output to the DAC, which might use one of the JCAT solutions or similar. But frankly I doubt it.
PS: Misspoke⌠the M1 does not have a DAC, but does have an array of SPDIF outputs. Again I think that very unlikely.
