You guys are free to bash me for being impatient, as I am free to voice my displeasure with having to wait. I have followed this thread since day one. The fact is that many of us are waiting for a turn-key, inexpensive and yes…stable option. Have you visited the support page recently? Idiots like me are waiting for ROCK. I will refer you to this post:
I realize I jumped the gun buying gear. That’s on me. All I’m saying is that back in September when I was mulling a subscription, the “promise” of ROCK, followed by “near done” comments, subsequent how-tos and tutorials, etc… led many of us to think its release was imminent and in my particular case was the incentive needed to give Roon my credit card. Call me disingenuous, call me rude or call me stupid for reading into things… that’s fine. Try to put yourself in someone else’s shoes… those folks who pay for a subscription and spends more time on support thread looking for solutions to problems that actually listening to music. Maybe ROCK isn’t the cure all, but I’m hedging my bet on it improving my Roon experience.
You haven’t put that gear to work yet?
Nor a working Roon setup playing?
It is not that much more difficult than ROCK. If you have the gear laying around idle, open a separate topic and I’m sure we’ll get you to a working setup. That way you can enjoy Roon and ROCK will be the icing on the cake when it comes.
I just put ubuntu server on a nuc for fun, quite easy going. The most difficult steps will apply to ROCK as well (ensuring your bios is up to date & burning an image on a usb stick).
Your frustration is understandable. I have a year-old i3 NUC wating for ROCK, but right now it’s running Roon Core on Windows 10. It’s running without a monitor (i.e., headless), just like the appliance-type device promised by ROCK. Ask questions, because it’s not too hard to get that installed. Good luck!
[quote=“Antonio_Bendezu, post:400, topic:14175, full:true”]
Your frustration is understandable. I have a year-old i3 NUC wating for ROCK, but right now it’s running Roon Core on Windows 10. It’s running without a monitor (i.e., headless), just like the appliance-type device promised by ROCK. [/quote]
Just curious, but if your NUC is headless, why are you running Roon Core instead of Roon Server?
I’ve had a hard time subduing my desire to go and get a NUC but have resisted thus far. I don’t have any issues with stability in either MAC OS or Windows 10 Pro, and having recently upgraded my CPU to i7-7700 to cope with the DSD512 upsampling now available, in part as my new DAC supports it, I might not even need it now - unless the DAC is natively supported at 512.
I think it will be perhaps the go to setup for those with minimal DSP processing needs and will I hope pave the way for less technical solutions for some.
The fact that one can try it soon will be fun. I did not buy Roon based on ROCK, I was in boots and all way before that surfaced.
I must be misunderstanding: I am under the impression that Core and Server are the same thing. It’s the installation with no user interface on the machine in which it is installed. I “adjust” it from remote installation, and it serves music (stored in a NAS) to all my zones.
[quote=“Antonio_Bendezu, post:403, topic:14175, full:true”]
I must be misunderstanding: I am under the impression that Core and Server are the same thing.[/quote]
Not quite. The “Core” refers to the function performed by the Roon software - just as “Control” and “Endpoint” are also functions.
There are several flavours of Roon software, each of which may support one or more of these functions. So the “Roon” software flavour supports all three functions. The “Roon Server” software supports the “Core” and “Endpoint” functions, but not the “Control” function. And the “Roon Bridge” software supports just the “Endpoint” function.
So you are running “Roon Server”, and that is the natural fit for a headless NUC…
Yes, the NUC has the Server install (just Core and Endpoint functionality). I haven’t done comparisons, but with basic DSP (no room correction yet), it performs great across 2 zones simultaneously. I think there is plenty of processing power left for more intensive DSP.
It is my hope that the simpler software environment of ROCK will result in noticeable sound quality improvements and, if necessary, more processing power left for the demands of room correction. That’s why I’m excited about ROCK. The set-it-and-forget-it benefit of ROCK has not made itself something to be coveted in my setup. Windows 10 updates itself automagically, and Roon asks me to verify updates to itself at my remotes (Android phone, ultrabook). I never have to mess with the NUC directly. I suppose BIOS updates would require such attention, but that’s going to be the case with ROCK, too.
I just don’t understand the value proposition of ROCK. If you guys can already install and run Roon on Windows/Mac/Linux then why do you care about ROCK so much?
How hard is it to keep one of these OS’s running - Roon updates are already crazy simple and you can choose to not auto-update the OS if that’s really a problem.
Moreover, you can’t run HQPlayer or Dirac or Roon Extensions (via Node etc) or anything else on the ROCK server. So there is only a simplification in management if you are not going to run any other PC based software in your chain. And if you do want to, things get more complicated.
There is no gain in SQ unless you are directly connecting a DAC, in which I can see a bit of a bonus. With any other endpoint there will be no difference.
Roon is already very stable.
I just don’t get it. You lose the ability to run your software stack on a single box in exchange for a wee bit of management ease in a closed system. Just my 2 cents.
I agree, as I understand it ROCK will be a means to sell an off the shelf solution using ROCK as the operating system. Great for Hi Fi sellers as it brings computer audio to the non technical. Brilliant to bring Roon to a wider audience.
I run my QNAP Nuc with Roon headless now and as you say, update is almost automatic.
Your audio endpoints Dacs and Hi Fi system will determine the sound quality. You get to choose that also.
Right, I do get that use-case. A simple out-of-the-box Roon with no fuss no muss.
But what I don’t get it is the interest from those that already have (often-complex) Roon based systems running … how is it going to help them?
I suppose that if you are
a) in need of more horsepower to do more DSP and want to do it all in Roon and/or
b) want to try and eke out some more SQ if directly connecting a DAC to a Roon only system
… then it might make sense to migrate your current system to ROCK.
I guess I am falsely assuming that everyone posting here already has a complex system of Roon Endpoints, HQPlayer, Room correction software, etc. Maybe that’s where I am mistaken
A typical original Sooloos type user would see the case I guess. Dedicated system that looks after itself. No wondering about what went wrong with your latest Windows (or anything else) update or drivers that suddenly broke your system. I run Roon happily on a laptop, but I’ll be going down the Rock road in due course
I guess it’s a question of the value proposition to any given individual.
I don’t know the total Roon subscriber numbers, but I’m going to take a wild guess that the active members of this forum represent a small fraction of the total user base. Much in the same way, the active members of this thread represent a small fraction of the total number of active forum members.
There are thousands of Roon users out there who would absolutely benefit from a turnkey solution and that is the target market for ROCK. Hell, I’m very technically savvy and I have zero interest in managing another computer to run the Roon core, nor do I have any desire to run the core on my primary desktop.
I have a significant number of Roon users who do not post on this forum and the vast majority of them never come here for support. Instead, they call me directly and I help them through whatever problem they may have. In these cases something like ROCK will be a godsend as I no longer need to be concerned with any strangeness that may be going on with their computer. For my clients it will be an appliance that sits there and does what it’s supposed to do. Given that a large portion of my customers fear stepping into the world of file-based playback and streaming something like ROCK has a huge perceived value. They don’t need to know anything about how to make the box work other than how to copy music files into and out of it.
What’s interesting about this thread is that ROCK was never promoted as a must-have for any Roon user. It was just a means to create a highly reliable and efficient Roon core for those who want a turn-key solution. Nothing more than that. Some have made assumptions and inferred benefits that were never even hinted at and that, unfortunately, has led to a lot of confusion.
There are some very cool features in ROCK which may prompt some who are on the fence to take the plunge. I think the Roon guys have learned not to hint at features so it’s likely that little more will be made public until ROCK is ready for release.
While I know the wait has been frustrating the product has evolved significantly in the past 8 weeks. While it may not be for everyone it’s shaping up to be a very well-considered product for a large number of Roon users.
I’m no Buddhist, but years of playing with audiophool toys has given the same advice you offer. What’s worse, it will probably make a difference in sound quality, but I won’t be able to tell which is “better.” Argh.
It won’t effect quality. Your audio endpoints and Hi Fi will. Room correction may. Room treatment will. MQA will. Hi Res Files will.
Not all or exclusively, but you get my point. The Roon core just serves up the files and on a network, the computer noise is isolated.
To use the nomenclature learned from Geoff, the ROCK NUC will be my Core and Endpoint in the fancy-equipment zone. That’s why I’m excited about potential sound quality improvements. I transplanted the NUC to a fanless case, to avoid that source of problems. I’m also curious about playing with those USB dongle noise reduction products, since the NUC has several USB ports. Also also, I wanted to play with USB to SPDIF converters, but it looks like that takes the ship into pricey waters.
and ROCK will be the icing on the cake when it comes.