New Nucleus User

Roon Software Discussion Nucleus
1

OK I have just got my Nucleus up and running. It is connected by USB to my Devialet amp.
Prior to this I have had an ethernet connection. In the past when I have been watching TV for example and wanted to start listening to music I just hit the play button on the chosen album. The Devialt amp automatically switched to Ethernet Zone and it started playing automaticlaly. The volume was also adjustable in the Roon Remote app.

Now this does not happen. I have to switch the zone to USB on the Devialet myself and I can no longer control the volume. Is this normal?

Also where do i set my back ups too? I assume i cant back it up to the Nucleus? I have looked at the manuals and they are really no help at all.

Any guidance will be apprecaited

2

You need to back up to a network shared drive or DropBox. The backup is ONLY the Roon database, not the music files - which you will also want to have backed up somewhere.

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3

I am no help here, I have a 440Pro, but have never connected Roon to it via USB. I prefer a wifi connection for various reasons, such as automatic power up, source selection, and volume control. With USB, i guess its just another DAC, you maybe able to select “Device Volume” in device setup (as opposed to “fixed volume”), I’m not sure.

4

Thanks for the reply. My music is backed up separately
I am talking about the Roon Database. I am not very technical and I have no idea how to set up a network shared drive …or even what Dropbox is. There are no guidelines on how to do this from what I can find.

5

With a network connection Roon can “talk” to your Devialet. A handshake occurs when Roon opens communication over the network and it can tell the amp to switch to the ethernet or wifi input, it can even tell the amp to turn on if it is in standby mode and the amp will turn on, swap to the appropriate network input, and start playing as soon as it is ready to.

USB is not a network connection. With a USB connection you need to manually switch the amp to its USB input. Roon can’t send the amp the messages it can send it over the network, it can only stream the music and it’s up to you to switch inputs on the amp so the amp can receive the music.

Just go back to using an ethernet connection to the amp and everything will go back to working the way you are used to it working. I find ethernet and USB inputs sound different in my system and prefer ethernet anyway.

The backup functionion in Roon is just for the database as @mikeb said. You can backup to a network shared drive or Dropbox as he said, or you can get a USB stick, leave it in one of the USB ports at the back of the Nucleus, and back up to it. That’s what I do.

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6

Mac or PC?
For Mac, there is this: https://kb.roonlabs.com/FAQ:_How_do_I_create_a_shared_folder_on_Mac_and_add_it_as_a_watched_folder_in_Roon%3F
Once you have the shared folder setup, you specify that folder under Settings>Backups>Scheduled Backups in Roon.
A PC will be a similar process. You can just Google Shared Folder Windows 10 and there will be some tutorials.

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7

Great advice thanks.
It’s a shame as in my set up USB sounds better . It’s one of the main reasons i opted fo the Nucleus

8

I have tried to back up to my usb stick, but it does not have enough storage.
I have about 1700 albums in my roon library , what size usb stick would be sufficient ? I can buy another one.
There is also Dropbox to investigate as it is free …I will try and find out more about this

9

A backup for 4000 or so albums is under 4GB.

10

The hard drive on which the database is stored is 64 GB and your library is around the same size as mine. I’m backing up to a 64 GB USB stick and with several backups on it, there’s still only 3.57 GB of data on the stick. I’d say anything over 16 GB will last you for ages but at the price of USB sticks there’s no reason not to go for a 64 GB stick.

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11

Thanks guys I have ordered a 128gb stick so that should do the job.

12

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Does this signal path look correct. When using Ethernet it was a different more pure ? signal

13

That’s pretty direct, and looks correct.
It is too easy to get hung up on what is ‘more pure’ with all this information. Use what makes you happiest!
People will insist on a ‘pure’ signal and put it into tube amps where they ‘roll tubes’ to get the most desirable euphonics. What’s wrong with THAT picture?
If ethernet is easiest for you to use, and there isn’t a big tradeoff in sound (and it shouldn’t be large), I’d use ethernet.

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14

Thanks for the reply. USB sounds better in my room and this is why I ordered the nucleus

Thanks to all who have helped me on this thread. Much appreciated

15

What @grossmsj said. That looks correct.

Note the top line which says “Signal path: Lossless”. That’s the important bit really, at least if you’re n to using any of the DSP functions. That tells you that what you’re streaming to the Devialet is unmodified in any way.

The source line tells you what the music file is and where it’s coming from, the second line tells you that the Nucleus is using RAAT to communicate internally within the Nucleus, and the third line tells you that your Devialet ia receiving the signal via ALSA which is the protocol the Nucleus uses for USB output.

Basically that first line which says “lossless” tells you whether the data in the file is being modified in any way and the second line tells you what the data is, in your case a FLAC file with CD resolution sourced from Tidal. Everything after those first 2 lines tells you 2 things. One is how the signal is getting from the Nucleus to your Devialet and the second is what is being done to the data if it is being processed in any way. If you’re using USB, you will only see information about anything that Roon does to the data but if you’re using the Roon Ready network connection to the Devialet you will also see information about what the Devialet is doing if you’re using SAM or the tone controls because the Devialet will send that info back to Roon. The Devialet can only send that kind of info back over a network connection so you won’t see that sort of info with a USB connection, you will only see what Roon is doing.

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16

I never thought of that! I upgraded from an USB input stage to a Network Renderer input stage for an MSB DAC and it has added some additional features. It never occurred to me how that made some of these features possible.

17

Roon have a wonderful document called “The Roon User Guide” which is basically a manual which contains a lot of info apart from the usual “how to” stuff you expect to find in a manual. I wish other people put out manuals of the same standard.

There’s a section in it called “Signal Path” (https://kb.roonlabs.com/Signal_Path#Interpreting_the_Signal_Path) which really tells you all the things you didn’t know you wanted to know about the signal path. There’s a great section on interpreting the signal path with photos of the signal path display for various sorts of path which shows you what you can expect to see in various situations and what the various entries in the display mean.

Definitely recommended reading. In fact the whole User Guide is recommended reading in my view. Whenever you’re trying to figure out something about Roon, the User Guide should be the first place to look. They’ve also made it really accessible with a link to the Guide appearing in the Help item in Roon’s menu.

And if the User Guide doesn’t answer your question or you’re just a glutton for punishment, type a topic into the search window at the top of the web page and you’ll get a list of every page in the Guide and any other information document Roon have available on that topic.