Yeah NUC8i3BEK almost there ,missing codecs to sort next.
NUC8I3BEK, 250GB Samsung EVO 970 PLUS SSD, 2x4GB DDR4
Total cost £285 
Not including the external ssd drive for library storage which I already had.
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Be aware, you must unzip ffmpeg twice to get the usable codec.
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OkI ordered the parts and assembled a Roon ROCK NUC ( NUC8I3BEH + 8 GB Ram + 128GB M.2 SSD ) per the Roon Optimised Core Kit.
I haven’t looked at BIOS settings in years. I probably took longer than others because I had a bit of trouble getting the 128GB M.2 SSD to show up in the list of bootable devices. After a bit of Googling I was able to get that sorted. ROCK installation was painless. I restored the database from a previous installation.
I’m really happy with this whole experience. The NUC is very quiet, does it job perfectly and has vastly improved how I experience my music. The value for money factor is amazing. I no longer have dropouts or music stops and starts that I had when the Roon core was on my iMac 27. The focus has now shifted back to the music itself. I love “Discovery” and Roon Radio based on my favourite music. There’s alot to love about the Roon experience.
In my opening post I mentioned that I want to build a new system around the ROCK. I have my eye on a few devices, I think I’ll start that discussion in the Hardware section.
I just want to list my Signal Paths here now. If anyone can see how I can improve the experience with my existing hardware or by adding to it please feel welcome to say so.
Living Room: Roon Core -> ROCK NUC8I3BEH -> HDMI -> Onkyo TX-SR313 + Onkyo 4800 5.1 Speaker System
Office: Roon Remote on iMac 27 -> Sound Blaster Omni Surround 5.1 USB Sound Card -> Logitech Z906 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers System
I was pleasantly surprised to see that the HDMI output on the NUC could be grouped with the Sound Blaster Omni on the iMac 27. I wasn’t expecting that.
I had never changed the settings on my Onkyo TX-SR313 until hearing music from the NUC. After a few tweaks it’s sounding better. My system is older and entry level so there’s not alot of guidance on setup.
I’ll leave it there for the time being. Thank you for your assistance in this thread and to other newbies like me in other threads. It all helps.
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How did you get your M.2 SSD to show up in the list of bootable devices? I never did figure that one out although it doesn’t seem to be a problem. I did spend a lot of time working on that and finally gave up.
I don’t remember exactly. Here is what I do remember.
Getting into the BIOS setting was not as described in the Bios section of the ROCK install guide. I had to hold the power button for exactly 3 seconds and release or until the blue light blipped to orange. Any longer and it would restart the NUC. Thank you Google!
I plugged in everything to the NUC, including the ethernet connection. It wanted to boot from the network so I unplugged that.
I updated the BIOS and and rebooted. Then loaded the default settings for the Bios. Then I went to change the BIOS to boot from Legacy , not UEFI. Then I looked to set the Boot order with the SSD at the top. It wasn’t there! I thought I had a defective SSD. As I had not selected the boot order I quit without saving, I unplugged everything and opened the NUC up and made sure everything was seated correctly. Satisfied that it was I started again.
The I got into the BIOS settings I loaded the default settings , saved and rebooted.
Then got into BiOS settings again and changed the BIOS to boot from Legacy , not UEFI and saved again and rebooted.
I google about the SSD and found something that related to my problem here. This line got my attention:
“Intel just added an option in the BIOS to switch on or off the M.2 slot. And by default the M.2 slot is disabled (go figure)!”
So I went into the DEVICE sections and made sure that anything to do with the SSD was enabled. I think I ended up ticking a few boxes and toggling others. After that it appeared!
In the BIOS section of the ROCK install guide these is a instruction:
“You may need to enable the M.2 slot, depending on the BIOS version”
But I’m not sure if the DEVICES options were present while the BIOS was still set at UEFI instead of Legacy. IT may have been, but I was not aware of it until I had set the Bios to ‘Legacy’ , saved and rebooted.
Sorry I can’t remember specifically what I did but hopefully that will help.
What did you install ROCK on then?
Thanks for that description. It sounds like your experience was pretty much identical to mine. My M.2 SSD showed in the BIOS as an active device but was not listed in the Boot Order list. I finally went ahead and installed ROCK on the M.2 SSD w/o issue as the SSD was listed as a drive to install ROCK on. Afterward I went back into the BIOS settings to see if the SSD was now listed in the Boot Order list since it was clearly a bootable drive, however nothing had changed. At this point I installed the NUC in my listening room and set about migrating my library. One thing I still need to do is check to see if the Fast Boot option is turned on in the BIOS which would explain why we both need to hold the power button in for 3 sec in order to get to the BIOS menu.
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Yes I had this too, the M.2 SSD showed up as a device but not in the boot order. That all changed after I went to the PCI tab to enable the M2 slot. It’s a box that you tick.
Thanks, I will check that out the next time I hook my NUC up to a keyboard and monitor.
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Today another Nuc8i3 (BEK) Roon Rock is up and running
No problems other than those that have been touched on recently (enabling usb boot and M2 slot in bios). In the end it surprised me just how quickly it took for the tunes and art work etc to load up seemed ready to go in no time at all.
I’m using a Microsoft surface pro to run the control app. End points (Oppo 205 and Marantz NA7004) Roon finding both no problem on my network.
Next on the list is to pour myself a drink put my feet up and listening to some tunes
Cheers all
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Just want to thank everyone for their advice and troubleshooting in the thread and others.
I went from using the roon free trial a week ago on my laptop to buying an Intel nuc8i3beh and a lifetime member ship.
Happy customer up to now.
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My NUC 8 i5 is also dead silent when running Roon ROCK and is using only 3 watt. Only when upsampling to DSD512 and some equalising the fane starts.