New setup question

Roon Software Discussion
1

I am so excited to finally have the opportunity to try your product with my mixed Linn / Sonos system, and started the process yesterday. So, thank you to the team for working so long with Linn to make this a reality!

For now, during the two-week trial, have put the Room core on my iMac (meets minimum system specs), connected to my Synology NAS successfully, and logged onto tidal. The iMac is shared mostly by my wife and occasionally by me, is powered on all the time, and is connected to the system through ethernet (for a faster, more reliable connection), with wi-fi as backup. I first installed and logged on on the Administrator account, with full privileges, thinking that would potentially bypass problems, and I saw on my iPhone control app that the iPhone connected, but I did not try playback. Later when I tried playback, the iPhone and iPad did not find my library (I think my wife had started working in her iMac account by then). I then realized that I did not want to have the Administrator account logged on all the time, for security (this account is only used sparingly for system stuff), so I decided to use it from my user account. When I logged out of the Administrator account and into my user account, the Room app icon was appropriately in the Applications folder. When I tried opening the program, I got a pop-up window that said something to the effect of “the post-installation update did not work”. I then decided to re-download and install Roon on the David account. I did so, and when asked, confirmed I wanted to remove the preexisting app. This also all worked fine, and I saw my library on my iPhone app after it connected again. I again did not have the chance to test playback immediately. Later, when my wife was again working in her iMac account, the iPhone and iPad control were not able to find the library. So, this morning, I just decided to install the Room core from her account, since she is the primary user of the iMac, and it is usually logged in to her account. I did the identical process a third time this morning, and again saw the library in my iPhone control app. 15 minutes later after doing some things around the house, the iPhone control does not find the library: “Remote connection. Waiting for Remote core…” The iMac remains logged in to my wife’s account, and I think acts this way whether the scrensaver is turned on or off.

I would like recommendations and a better understanding of the correct method to use the Roon core on the Mac in the way we are using the Mac with different users and screensaver / sleep settings. While there may be a complete thread here that covers this exact topic, I was not able to find it, but did find bits and pieces of an incomplete puzzle.

I do not have an alternate computer to run the core, except for potentially the NAS drive. I don’t know if it would work, but you would know that better than I. My local library is small, about 1000 CDs; Tidal is currently about the same, but will grow quite a bit if this is successful.

NAS: Synology DiskStation DS1515+ 5-Bay NAS Server B&H # SYDS1515P MFR # DS1515+ Purchased April 2016

Synology DS1515+ Specs
CPU 2.4 GHz Intel Atom C2538
Hardware Encryption Engine Yes (AES-NI)
Floating Point Yes
Memory 2 GB DDR3 (expandable up to 6 GB)
Bays Drive Bays
5 Drives:
WD 4TB Red Pro 7200 rpm SATA III 3.5" Internal NAS HDD B&H # WED4002FFWX MFR # WD4002FFWX
Hot Swappable HDD Yes
External Ports 4 x USB 3.0 ports
2 x eSATA ports
LAN 4 x Gigabit Ethernet ports
Wake on LAN/WAN Yes

Thank you,
David

@support

5

@David_Dickey Ok…maybe the Mac is going into power save/sleep that needs to be stopped. I would also suggest you run the roon server app then you don’t need the roon app open all the time. You can set it to run at login in the menu by clicking on the roon icon in the menu bar top right side of the screen.

You can set the screen to blank saver instead of the sleeping the Mac when not being used…I usually set a hot corner to force screen sleep

See the knowledge base for migrating to roon server

https://kb.roonlabs.com/RoonServer

https://kb.roonlabs.com/FAQ:_How_do_I_move_my_library_over_to_RoonServer%3F_How_do_I_run_headless%3F

6

Maybe I got it wrong here, use a NUC (windows) for Roon core, NAS for music store and Roon app on Ipad.

The NUC is not used for anything else (no screen etc) and controlled by teamview only from my Ipad. All runs perfect, but fan runs constantly on my Nuc and (NAS @support still without clarification to why NAS cant go into sleeping mode when not used).

Should I use Roon server instead?

7

If you are running headless why would you not run roon server?

As to the fans…well if you are importing still or analysing tracks then fan use is likely.

8

No idea, new to Roon ( trial membership). Roon told me to install the Core version or server version, so did the Core version.

There are absolute no importing or analysing activities, Roon is informed with screen pic., but still the Nas is running - also after restart of whole system.

9

Thanks; will consider trying the move to server after waiting a bit for more responses.

10

Moved to server on iMac, working better, but I don’t want to disable all sleep / screensaver functions. Considering moving the core to the NAS, but still waiting for an assessment of how well that might work for me.

11

I am running Roon on a DS1515+ with a library of about 1000 CD/SACDs with no additional Tidal content. Overall, I think this works fine for my needs. Transcoding DSD to PCM runs about 6x speed and PCM to PCM upsampling is more than 10x with all filter options up to 384 kHz.

I will note that my library is installed in an internal SATA SSD, which is essential for smooth operation. I was running only on the internal spinning disks for the first week or so, and the transition to SSD makes an enormous difference (as advised in the KB). My DS1515+ has been upgraded to 6GB RAM. Most of the time, the RAM usage hovers around 20% (~1.6 GB), so your standard 2GB should work, but could start to be a limitation as your library grows.

I do sometimes use my 2017 MacBook Pro as a Roon core while at work, and I do notice that searching/browsing is a bit faster than the NAS at home, but it is not so large a difference that I have been motivated to upgrade the NAS roon core (though the new Dawson Canyon I7 NUCs look interesting for a potential ROCK install in the future with only 15W TDP).

12

Thank you all for the information! I have been enjoying my trial, but I think that I’m going to let it lapse for a time, while I consider a different long term setup as well as the financials. I don’t really want to put the money into the NAS to upgrade the memory and get a SSD, although it sounds like the solution would work well enough for my needs. It is working on the desktop, enough for me to know that when it is working, I like the features and usability. The issue with the desktop is the multiple users, screensavers, timeouts, and I don’t want to change our patterns or deal with that long-term. I may wait for the next couple of Apple announcements this year (soon, and in the Fall), to see if there is any word on the long-awaited, rumored, and possible next-gen Mac mini. If a new Mac mini materializes and is not put down for good this year, then I think I would get a lot more use out of that as a server, which could multitask for me as well. If it does not materialize, then I may look for a used one, or put that money into the NAS upgrades instead.