Some questions about Roon/Naim

[Rugby (aka Daniel or Big Dan)]

@Gary_Walker

• Familiar with the volume control in my Naim ND555 and how it affects SQ, particularly on Hi Rez material. Roon also controls volume. I presume that the Roon Volume control does so in a manner that does not have the same effect as the one in the ND555. Hence the Naim recommendation to use a preamp and not go straight into a power amp. Did the test and Naim are right

I never use volume control in Roon. I prefer to do volume control at the hardware level.

@Gary_Walker

* The biggest reason for Room for me is to have access to streamed Hi Rez material so as it exists and is available. Do you notice a benefit from the hi rez material? Which ones stand out?

Roon can playback high resolution music files. Whether someone notices a difference depends on the source and its particular mastering, the DAC, the speakers, the amp, the room treatments, etc. And even then, your personal hearing. The best high resolution I’ve heard is not available via streaming but I won’t muddy the water, so to speak. On streaming, try the albums from 2L, they are well recorded and mastered.

@Gary_Walker

* I have TIDAL HiFi. Will I be able to stream the Masters/Hi Rez material from TIDAL?

The only “Hi Rez” material on Tidal is MQA. If you have the appropriate subscription, you can stream the MQA files and Roon will do the first unfold on them. Qobuz, if you have access to the service, will stream high resolution flac. Note, that not everything on either service is available in high resolution. Either way Roon can play the high resolution stream. Assuming your network and internet is up to the task.

@Gary_Walker

* I like the idea of the Nucleus. I know its more expensive, but I am plug and play when it comes to IT. Seems like my kind of Tool. Anyone with a Nucleus or Nucleus+? (I have a linited music collection–100 cd’s, the main system and 2 Qb’s and will probably want to play with REW–will the Nucleus handle this or do I need to get the Nucleus+?

I am not sure what 2 Qb’s refer to, but if you do not have that many CDs and are going to basically stream; then, it sounds like the Nucleus will work for you.

@Gary_Walker

* I am not going to tie into my computer for my audio. Its worth it for me to have a separate device.

Well, you will need to use your computer for some things. For example, if you have storage on the Nucleus, you will need a computer to copy files to it. Just keep in mind, that the Nucleus is a computer.

@Gary_Walker

* Other than ripping cd’s, the Naim Unity Core with Roon continues to store ripped cd’s? I assume that other downloads now get stored on the Nucleus?

Your Unity Core can be used to rip CDs. When you setup Roon, you will point Roon to the Unity as a storage device only. There are several threads on here on how to do this. It will require knowledge of network path names to implement.

@Gary_Walker

* From what I read, the preferred way to connect the Nucleus/+ would be with a wired ethernet wire. The ND555 and the Unity Core are connected that way.

When it comes to this, everything should be wired except for a tablet you might use to control the RoonServer. WiFi should not be used along the path from music storage to RoonServer to Music Output.