ROON ROCK with a linear power supply?

Roon Software Discussion ROCK
41

Thanks. So there are (at least) 4 possible explanations.

42

Correct! Except for the only purchase I did is the linear power supply with multiple outputs

43

OK, I had the chance to play around a bit: it is definitely the NUC being powered by SPS-1000 that makes a difference. Also maybe because my switch had already the JS ground trick already done with its SMpS before.

1 Like
44

Thanks, thatā€™s interesting.
Is all the equipment in the same room and/or on same power outlet?

45

Same room. Different outlet

46

Hi all

Just a quick update.

Moving to the fanless case made a huge difference. Much more than moving to the linear supply.

I did not hear much of the fan, however, apparently it was messing with the internal power noise levels.

Quite amazed.

Cheers

47

Interesting,

I added a Sbooster 19V power supply to my Nuc 7i3 (with internal 750GB HDD for my music) and it made a considerable difference wrt to the SQ. Iā€™m thinking of moving my Nuc 7i3 to fanless case but have been hesitant since I thought it wouldnā€™t yield that much of a SQ improvement.

48

Interesting! Any links for that fanless case? My NUC is NUC7i5BNH. Thanks

49

Used this:
https://www.quietpc.com/akasa-plato-x7

I have the exact same motherboard, but had the BNK case.

Took me half hour. watching this helped:

2 Likes
50

Thanks. I donā€™t have the skills to put that together myself

51

Anyone have experience simply turning off the fan in the BIOS of the Intel NUC slim case (NUC7i5)?

I may just try that rather than drop $200 on a replacement case.

Iā€™d love to do a linear supply as I found it made a significant difference on my SB Touch years ago, but the options are so darn expensive (SPS1000 and BOTW) in comparison to the insubstantial cost of a ROCK server itself, it just seems meh.

52

either you will hit limits and the cpu will shut down, or you will run way out of spec and drop the lifetime of your cpu down to months.

we did this with the i3/i5/i7 when doing Nucleus testingā€¦ its not good. you must cool sufficiently, and the stock-NUC case requires a fan.

5 Likes
53

danny,

Please put an indicator for cpu heat at the web interface. A CPU load and Memory load indicator will also be very beneficial.

Cheersā€¦

1 Like
54

@christoph, @Kunter_Kutluay ā€“ ive commented on this already here:

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/roon-build-269-no-longer-displays-roon-server-uptime-on-rock-status-page-fixed-and-released-rock-build-150/32324/13

Letā€™s keep this topic about the linear PS.

56

Just installed an SBooster LPS. It is, to our ears, a very positive improvement in rhythm and pace. An easy upgrade with a smallish cost. Recommended.
We also put the NUC in an Akasa Fanless case using the video instructions posted by Kunter_Kutluay in this thread. Easy install. Thanks for the link. Also installed an Amazon Basic USB3 to Ethernet adapter and it was recognized and works as intended without any drivers nor tweaking. Ethernet to the NUC and then NUC out to DAC.

57

An SBooster is a real big improvement in sound comparing it to the original NUC PS!

58

Using the NUC w/ ROCK as an endpoint?

59

For those interested in Sbooster for NUC, please beware that its spec states output up to 36W, which should be more than sufficient for NUC7i5BNH (on the Sbooster support list). However, use of NUC7i7BNH (not on the Sbooster support list) plus a drive may be too close to the power output limit.

Akasa fanless cases also support up to i5 only, not i7. So people not using a huge library and not using heavy DSP, and desiring to use a fanless case and/or LPS, are probably better off using NUC7i5BNH (if a NUC is preferred to other options such as Nucleus).

2 Likes
60

Yes NUC as endpoint/streamer but without ROCK
Iā€™m (still?) using ROON with Win10.

61

About to finally place an order for the NUC7i5BNH as well as the Akasa Newton S7 fanless case for the purpose of running ROCK. I have a spare Sbooster BOTW P&P Eco 12-13.2v which is rated at 12v/3A (meaning a maximum of 36W).

The setup should look like this:

NUC7i5BNH - 15W
128GB M.2 SSD for the OS - 5W
1TB Samsung Evo 850 for the library - 5W
USB to ethernet adapter - 3W

Total: 28W

According to the Sbooster website, the NUC7i5BNH is supported and can be powered either by the 12v or the 19v Sbooster BOTW.

https://www.sbooster.com/intel-nucs-roon-servers/

Do you think the 12v Sbooster will be up to the task? The only heavier task would be upsampling redbook to DSD64 in Roon (so that I can have dual AES on my dCS Network Bridge as rates lower than 88.2 require single AES). All audio files in my library starting from 24/88.2 up to 24/384 as well as DSD would be played bit perfect without upsampling.