Suggestions for replacing Nucleus

Roon Software Discussion Nucleus
69

IMHO - I personally would attempt to find a local electronic repair shop and get a quote. If this is the only thing wrong with your Nucleus, you could be back up and running for minimal costs.

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70

I just replaced a sonicTransporter i9 with an M1 Mac mini and could not be happier with the experience. I also use HQPlayer and the M1 Mac mini has more than enough power to run both. It is simple to maintain as well. It is easy to run headless after you get it setupā€¦

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71

@musicjunkie917 Thx. what the advantage of a M1 Mac mini vs a sonicTransporter? Price looks pretty comparable.

72

Are you already in the Apple eco-system?

Are you conversant with macOS? If you arenā€™t, there will be a learning curve that you might not be able to negotiate.

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73

I have the sonicTransporter i9 (an earlier version than the latest one). Always thought it delivered more for the money than a Nucleus. These days, you might get even more bang for the buck from an M1 Mac Mini. Iā€™ve run Roon Core on an older Mini with an Intel chip and it worked fine.

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74

The M1 Mac mini is comparable in performance to the sonicTransporter i9 but at the price of the sonicTransporter i5ā€¦.

Itā€™s a huge bargain!

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75

Thanks. is there a link on how to migrate from a Nucleus to a Mac mini M1?

76

Along these lines but the other way round ā€¦

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77

@Carl Thank you

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78

Get a new M1 Mac mini with 8 or 16GB of memory and 256G storage to run Roon. Get an external disk for your music files. I use this setup and I donā€™t have this server in the same room as my audio system. I use Ethernet to the dac instead of the flawed usb connection in any dac.

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80

I would get a M1 Mac mini with 16GB or RAM. I bought a refurbished one from Apple for a nice discount.

81

How is it defective? For that kind of money, Iā€™d be looking at repair options first.

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82

I used a Pentium-based Lenovo Tiny PC with 4GB of RAM as a Roon core for quite a while with no issues. I upgraded to an older i7-based laptop with 16GB of RAM because it runs my backup maintenance tasks (unrelated to Roon) quite faster. Once you give up on the concept of appliance, choices are endless.

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83

So i currently have my Nucleus connected to my DAC via usb. Can I just connect the M1 to my Mac snd use it as a server and streamer ?

84

From a frustrated Mac/Roon users: Do a bit of searching on this forum before you decide to use a Mac as your Roonserver.

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85

What specifically are you referring to that is a current issue with an M1 Mac?

I am currently using an M1 Mac mini as a Roon server with zero issues and have used an Intel iMac off and on for years also with zero issues.

86

I think ethernet is preferred for better SQ.

87

If youā€™re using a Mac and itā€™s working, great. Keep on trucking. My reply wasnā€™t intended for your situation; I was responding to the OP.

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89

You already have a Mac. Why canā€™t you run Core on that?

90

I use a innuos mini, its cheaper and you get the benefit of cd ripping