Roon ROCK and i7 Core Ultra

Roon Software Discussion ROCK
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Does anyone if ROCK will work with an INTEL i7 Core Ultra processor? Specifically, this NUC model from ASUS.

RNUC14RVKU70000UI slim Barebone kit

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Maybe, but if it is not on the official list then it will not be a supported installation. On the other hand, Use linux or windows and roonserver and you would be good to go.

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3

I’m running Roon Rock on an Asus Nuc 14 pro i3. Works like a charm except for WiFi. But I use ethernet so that doesn’t matter to me. Imho an i7 is overkill.

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I don’t disagree with the i7 being overkill. I’ll also look at the i5 along with the i3. Thanks!!

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Try and use a version of Linux, Debian, Ubuntu etc and install Roon, then use the server for other things too like Plex.

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I am thinking about trying an ASUS NUC 14 Ultra 9

If the i3 nuc 14 works apart from wifi then the ultra 9 should

Currently my ROCK server is on a nuc 12 i7

My library is about 370k tracks music is stored on NAS + tidal + qobuz

Any improvement in responsiveness is a bonus.

I have a nuc 13 i7 I am running as a rock endpoint that I considered using as my server but the 14 seems an interesting option

I am very interested in others experience with Rock on nuc14 especially ultra 9

Regards

Andrew

7

I just failed to install ROCK on my brand new ASUS NUC 14 Pro+ NUC14RVSU5000R2 :cry:
With the famous error message : “Welcome to GRUB!”
Not sure if this was the response you were looking for :wink:

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8

Install dietpi and then Roon server using the included script.
It couldn’t be easier.

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9

Can you please share additional technical details on this workaround ? Thank you !!!

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hi there - did you ever get past this welcome to grub msg on your Nuc14?

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I have ROCK running beautifully on my NUC 14 Ultra 9 96GB DDR5.

It couldn’t be better. More responsive than NUC13i7.

Library about 370K tracks local and streamed.

I couldn’t be happier

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13

After being sorely tempted by the idea of a M4 Mac Mini, I have decided to go with a NUC instead. Gen 15 is out and the models I am interested in will be shipping in about a month. Although they are not (yet) supported for ROCK it seems silly buying something that is already out-of-date so I am willing to take the risk. Any suggestions as to the best model to go for? I don’t have a huge library (currently 60k tracks) nor any requirements for multi-room but I do use DRC and would like to be able to play DSD256 and DSD512 files with DRC enabled. My current first generation sonicTransporter is not capable of this.

I particularly like the look of the Arrow Lake-based models based on the 3nm TSMC process. They seem to be way more thermally efficient than their Raptor Lake predecessors. The “H” (Mobile) models have a TDP of only 28W for all models bar the Core Ultra 9.

I am trying to work out whether the 255H (Core Ultra 7) or 235H (Core Ultra 5 vPro) would offer any meaningful performance gain over the 225H (Core Ultra 5) for Roon/ROCK. Does anyone have a handle on which resources Roon/ROCK uses most intensively? P Cores? E Cores? Cache? RAM? Is vPro functionality even relevant? I am just trying to buy the most future-proofed model I can that maximizes the resources that Roon actually utilizes in my use cases.

Grateful for any clues for the clueless.

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If it’s tidiness you like go for the Tall form with Internal SATA drive bay. You may not need space (yet) but you can get SSD’s at 1,2,4 & 8 TB that fit

I keep mine on my desk under a monitor , you forget it’s there after a while .

As for processor (not sure on the core stuff you are asking) , if budget allows , go big .I would go i7 and put at least 16Gb RAM in it if not 32 , its so (Relatively) cheap.

Don’t skimp its only money !! :smiling_imp:

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Thanks Mike, I want to “go big” but I am trying to focus as specifically as possible in the right areas, the differences essentially boil down to a couple of hundred dollars either way so budget is not an issue. Hoping someone out there knows exactly where the bottlenecks tend to be for typical use cases.

One thing I forgot to mention. Although I stream >90% of the time these days my own library is stored on a NAS so I have no requirement for internal storage beyond the OS/Roon and the Roon database. Does that mean the “Tall” form factor is unnecessary in my case? Is it only necessary to accommodate larger SSDs?

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Yes the tall form has room for a conventional SSD drive for music content in this case, both forms have a slot for an M.2 SSD Which is used for ROCK and Roon based files , any spare space is
‘Lost’ and unusable

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Thanks again Mike.

@danny Would you please comment on the questions above, which specific hardware parameters are critical for Roon on ROCK when considering use cases like DRC and up/down-sampling with high rate DSD?

Are E-cores even relevant? What about vPro? Any granularity beyond ”CPU and RAM”??

FTAOM, I will not interpret your response as confirmation that (as yet) unsupported configurations are supported. Nor that what might happen to be the case today will hold true forever. I am simply seeking ”philosophical” guidance.

TIA!

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After a lot more background reading and being inspired by the antics of forum members like @Torben_Rick and @Michael_Harris I think I will try ROCK and DietPi.

As best I can tell single thread performance is the key attribute for Roon so a 255H or 265H NUC (I can get the former for 2/3 of the price of the latter so it looks like the better option) with 2x16MB of 6400MHz Corsair Vengeance RAM and a zippy 3500MB/sec Lexar NM620 NVMe SSD would seem to be a really high value option for a Roon core.

I am hoping that breaking out of the ROCK straitjacket will also allow me to run MinimServer 2.2 in parallel to Roon for dCS Mosaic. That doesn’t appear to be a native option on DietPi, so if there is a more suitable Unix distribution for this use case I am all ears. I am familiar with DietPi from two Allo DigiOne Roon endpoints which attracts me to that option.

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19

I now (after years of ROCK futzing) run a NUC 10i7 with 64GB of 3200 memory (don’t ask) which is running at 2667 MT/s because of motherboard limitations. It runs Ubuntu server, Latest stable, with Roon Server, Plex, SongKong, and a version of HQPlayer embedded that I have just for kicks and occasionally use on trial (I’m a desktop license owner and use that on my Mac mini M4). With the help of ChatGPT I’m a Linux admin again (well, never really was, but now I am), setting unattended upgrades for a narrow window in the morning, creating rsync jobs, etc etc. Go for it.

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20

If you can get a .deb file version of the install for Minim then it will work fine. DietPi isn’t limited to the included software.
You can also use the relevant apt install minimserver (or whatever it is known as for a Debian installation).
I have installed a number of additional applications this way.

Good luck and just as importantly have fun

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