I don’t think you’re missing anything. It seems the recommendations are based on the assumption that a busy OS generates noise that seeps into the digital output. I don’t think that is - or should be - the case with a good DAC. The only noise that might actually impact the experience is the one coming from the fan and/or HDD.
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Personally, I don’t think you are. We should remember that the Help article referred to by @David_Snyder was written back in the early days of Roon - before the Nucleus existed. It was written at a time when the only option for a Roon Core was to host it on a PC or a Mac.
Roon Labs documentation for the Nucleus makes no distinction between direct connection to a DAC and an ethernet connection to a networked output device - merely listing them as options.
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I don’t think it matters what machine the core runs on, as long as fan or HDD noise is not an issue.
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I have a fanless Nuc in a nice case. Works perfectly with Roon. The HW is basically the same as Nucleus. The case is very nice, not quite as fancy.
The advantage: even being fanless and a nice case, it’s much cheaper than a Nucleus.
If you really want plug and play, Nucleus is a good option.
If you think you can install an OS and Roon, I don’t think there’s any reason to have one.
You can get a fanless NUC and install Windows or Rock OS and I don’t think in reality you will notice any difference to having Nucleus (especially with Roon Rock OS). For Rock, just make sure you get the appropriate HW.
Thomas. I don’t have a stand-alone DAC or NUC. My Hegel is integrated w a DAC & I’m considering a Nucleus vs my iMac or building a NUC (assuming I understand what all are :)). Thanks.
Thanks David.
You wish… Some otherwise “good” (and pricey) DACs have proven to be sensitive to electrical noise traveling down the USB cable.
Then they’re not good DACs.
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I have a nucleus and I bought it to ease the burden of learning how to setup roon via a core and zones. It has done its job flawlessly. I have a slight glitch when using my Control4 of the metadata not refreshing on the Neo remote after a reboot. Otherwise error free.
Offer including the internal 1TB drive ends soon. I’ve been very impressed with my Nucleus since the unboxing.
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I haven’t read all the responses here but I can tell you that I’m totally pleased with the performance of my Nucleus and I’m glad that I purchased a lifetime subscription to Roon.
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I get that free is free, but given the Nucleus costs $1459 (or $2559 for Nucleus plus), I would not let the inclusion of a $35 HDD be a factor in my purchase decision.
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Fair enough, everyone makes their own value decisions. I consider the cost of the Nucleus almost incidental to the cost of a mid-fi system, and one of the components that is one of the best values.
The normal Nucleus is 1649€ with a 1 year license.
The hardware in the nucleus is not that expensive. You could buy a NUC that is overkill compared to the Nucleus…
Even if you somehow manage to spend 800€ on that… add a Lifetime roon license to that for 650€ and you still have money left for 2 raspberry pi4 roon endpoints with 4gb ram.
And that’s with a lifetime license.
The Nucleus has a really nice case… sure. But that’s it really.
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I’m not making a value judgement about whether or not a person should buy a Nucleus in the first place. I’m saying that on a device that has a 4-figure pricetag, the inclusion of a $35 item in the box should not drive the decision one way or the other. Much in the same way that it would be unwise to decide whether or not to purchase a Mercedes S-class based on whether the dealership was putting a 50" TV in the trunk.
Welcome. I consider Roon to be one of the essential “components” of my audio system. It is easy to get caught up in equipment, but the reason why we do this is music reproduction and for me, Roon gives me the best interface and the best way to (re)discover music in my collection and beyond in Qobuz. I use a Roon rock NUC and generally shut it down between sessions and boot it up while I’m spooling up the stereo and it is ready to go in a couple minutes.
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