Nucleus Hardware Questions before I buy

No apology needed! That’s what this community is for.

As far as SQ goes, what I meant was if someone is convinced that his/her SQ is ten times better than before, I won’t argue! I do know this hobby includes the never ending search for audio holy grail.

I am in that club, but at my point in life, Roon is my answer. Doubt I will see (or hear) better. I am happy with my equipment and sources, even if I suspect there are better dacs, amps, and speakers. In my ears, my SQ is fine. That is what I was referencing.

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I’ve has Roon for about a month. I moved into file based autio about 5 years ago via iTunes. Its very hard to get THAT taste out of my mouth. But the idea of streamers and servers and cores and endpoints never crossed my mind until Roon. I have a very good analoge system and have been happy with SQ for years…until this computer based landscape showed that ripped CDs and downloaded HiRes is more then just a convenient alternative at a lower quality then CDs and records.

Point is I’m on a learning curve for sound improvement in the non analogue world. Being an old audiophile never prepares you for this brave new world. I’ve got great DACs fed by crappy renderers. I will learn.

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Amen Amen. Precisely the reason I bought a Nucleus. Easiest decision I made. Split second decision. Done! :slight_smile: No regrets at all.

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This is the number one reason why I don’t, at all, understand why Roon whent this path of selling at a big premium. Distribution today doesn’t have to cost the consumer that much money. Especially for something that is easily gained for 1/3 of the price with no difference what so ever.

Still boggles my mind. :thinking:

From what’s been explained to me, by a Roon principal, when I raised the same point, it’s the cuts that the resellers take that boosts the price.

One could offer that Roon should sell the Nucleus from a web site and thereby offer it at a more reasonable price, but I don’t think that selling Nucleus as a loss leader is in their business plan.

One the other hand, people in this hobby seemed to think nothing of the prices they pay.

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Nucleus isn’t aimed at the hobbyist, enthusiast market it is aimed at the turnkey dealer market where it would be a small part of an overall fit out of multimedia with crestron control, whole house wiring etc.
There it is a small part of a huge bill.

I purchased a Nucleus for three reasons: 1) I previously had Roon core on a Win10 computer and was tired of firing it up when I wanted to play music; 2) I didn’t want to go through the hassle of purchasing NUC components and installing ROCK; and 3) I read the Nucleus white paper and a few audio press reviews of the device and became convinced it was the turn-key solution for me. As for the price, I felt the value proposition was reasonable, at least for me. I’m a happy camper.

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That’s exactly my point. The reseller cut is something that belongs in the 1990s or at tops early 2000s. Repackaging a Intel NUC and selling it at what something like 7-8 times production cost? To keep an old business model alive…? :thinking:

While Roon is at it I think that they should stop selling their software themselves and start selling subscriptions over the counter in physical Hifi stores. Maybe on discs. And increase the price 40% to attract the right crowd. :wink:

Really, what’s the alternative then? This, I guess -

For some reason, Roon has chosen not to go that way. Probably to avoid the hassle, although I’m not sure that worked from what I read on the forum.

Yes that route. Calculating loss in sales through “old channels” comepared to increase in sales to own the distribution with a lower price. Trusting your (their) core value and build upon that.

I know e-commerce is scary for most businesses. I’ve worked a lot in that field. But cutting out the middleman has been done online tremendously successful since at least 2010. There are billion dollar business built on that idea. As well as smaller merchants shipping worldwide.

Just look at hifi and you see a lot of successful players doing the same with gear that actually needs to “sound good” to be bought. And a Nucleus doesn’t even need to prove its worth in sonic performance in the same way as amps, DACs, speakers or headphones.

So my mind is boggled. :thinking:

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Maybe you should apply for a position, no snark intended.:slightly_smiling_face:

I was using a Mac Mini which worked, but it didn’t play well with my pre/pro. After many weeks of frustration, I wanted something that was plug and play. Convenience is a strong factor at 72.

The Nucleus was a fine solution!

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I believe they would do an awesome job if they just pivoted in that direction.

It seems that hifi is a conservative business in that regard. Even for companies that embrace streaming and build upon the death of physical media. I give it a couple of years and hopefully things will slowly catch up on the hardware side as well. :ok_hand:t3:

Anyway, I’ll stop my hijacking of this thread. :face_with_hand_over_mouth:

Maybe on floppy discs!