I have a Synology 415play NAS and a Bluesound system. I realize that Roon is in the process of supporting Bluesound, but will my Synology run the Room system adequately? I am hoping that I do not need to buy a new computer. Thanks.
Hi Andrew,
Probably just semantics, but more accurately Bluesound is in the process of supporting Roon as they adopt the RAAT network protocol and thus become a Roon Ready network audio devices.
Unfortunately a lot of Synology NAS devices are too underpowered for Roon though as new Intel i3, i5 models are released this is changing.
I know some people are here are running Roon on less than ideal powered NAS but I’ve just searched the forum for the 415play and did not get any hits. So there’s no guidance there.
The 415play is powered by an 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor and 1GB of RAM, you might get away with the processor but 1GB RAM is the kicker as the chips are solder directly to the board it is not possible to increase its capacity.
Have a look at this page Roon Server on NAS in the Roon Knowledge Base for further advice on NAS hardware specifications.
Of course you don’t have to run Roon on a NAS, an i5 powered NUC or a Mac Mini are other options.
To echo Carl, the Sonic Transporter is a great option. It comes with Roon Server already installed and it’s easy to setup and configure. It will cost less and be less hassle than buying a new NAS and transferring your files. I have both a Transporter and a QNAP running Roon Server and the is no difference in SQ in my system. In fact, I have a slight preference for the Transporter.
Hi. I couldn’t find anything about a Sonic Transporter. Where can I find out information about it?
Could I, instead of buying a QNAP, get a Mac Mini with an SSD but connect it to my Synology NAS over Cat-6 Ethernet so I don’t have to replace my music-storage system? My NAS has enough RAID-configured storage (in the form of spinning hard discs) for my music, so I prefer not to replace it. Would this setup work optimally with Roon, with the Mac’s SSD serving to speed up Roon’s database and functionality? Or would my NAS operate as a bottleneck?
Thanks for your help.
Yes that would work… it covers the key performance factors.
- CPU (Intel i5, or higher)
- RAM (4-6 GB, more nerve hurts)
- SSD (for Roon database)
Just one point to note, just for completeness:
Roon is a native Windows application which is ported for OSX and Linux, for extremely large libraries (20,000+ albums) for now at least it seems the Windows version is more suited. That said for 99% of users it’s a free choice to use the OS that thay are most comfortable with.
Try this link for more info on the SonicTransporter
https://www.smallgreencomputer.com/products/sonictransporter
It is cheaper than a Mac Mini, designed to be run headless from any browser, and comes with Roon Server already installed.
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Thanks. I have over 60,000 tracks, so would the i5 version, which appears to come with SSD for the Roon database, work better?
Here is a link:
If I used this setup, would the system still use my DAC, which is connected to one of the Bluesound components?
Personally I view the i5 as minimum spec as it allows for a degree of future proofing, but with 60,000 tracks then it’s a no-brainer.
Roon Core just needs to be on the same local network to connect to devices that support RAAT.
Agree with Carl on getting the i5. The Sonic Transporter using Roon Server offers two ways to connect to your DAC. If your DAC is Roon Ready (supports RAAT), then you just have to connect the Transport and the DAC to your network. If the DAC is configured as a Roon Audio device in your Roon config, you can use the Roon Remote app running on any PC, Mac, or mobile device to stream the music from your NAS to your DAC.
If your DAC does not (yet) support Roon, you can still connect the Transporter to it via USB. There is a config option in the Transporter to enable local streaming via USB.
Karl
I have a Bluesound 2 system composed of four Bluesound components. One component is a Node 2, which outputs to a Peachtree DAC that I bought around 2011. I doubt that the Peachtree is compatible with the Roon, given the age. But the Node 2 connects to the DAC digitally and works fine. If I introduced a Sonic Transporter with Roon, would I not be able to continue to use the Peachtree DAC to receive sound from the Node 2?
Sorry. I don’t know much about Bluesound but if the Node 2 supports RAAT, then Roon Server can stream to it and your existing DAC should continue to work, as is.
This is the announcement. I don’t know if it means RAAT support.
[quote=Pickering Ontario Canada October 17 2016]NAD Electronics and Bluesound, manufacturers of premium consumer electronics, announced that they will become a Roon Ready Partner.
The integration as a Roon Ready Partner will provide subscribers of Roon’s intuitive, information-rich music library management software the ability to connect to BluOS-enabled devices from NAD and Bluesound. The integration is expected to be live before the end of 2016.[/quote]
For a device to be Roon Ready it has to support RAAT, Roon will see it on the LAN and will be able to stream to it.
Until Blusound release we can only make educated guesses, but it sounds very promising for what you require.
Found this in the Bluesound forum, so it looks good. Thanks for all your help.
[quote]From Brian at Roon:
The thing that matters is the streaming technology used, not the manufacturer. AirPlay is a streaming tech–so airplay plays with AirPlay.
In the case of Bluesound, their devices will become Roon Ready–which means that they will implement RAAT, our streaming technology, in addition to their own pre-existing stuff.
All RAAT-based zones can be grouped with other RAAT-based zones, regardless of manufacturer. Local outputs (for example, USB DACs/interfaces), are RAAT-based zones, too, so you can indeed group them with Roon Ready devices.[/quote]
So that’s good news for all of us with our Roon computer hooked up to an Amp. Roon will be doing the syncing/buffering and grouping functions, so we’ll be able to have our Bluesound devices in sync and grouped with a Roon computer. That means I just gained a “room” in my house.
Does the transporter operate over WiFi, or does it need to be physically connected with a cable? I also have the 415+ play, and at the moment have the Roon server on my MacBook Pro which I plug into my DAC with USB. I intend to buy the blue sound vault and plug that into my DAC, and then was expecting to by able to stream Roon to the vault from my mac, with most of the data coming from the NAS.
However, can I swap the transporter for mac in this picture, and have it all running with WiFi connections, not cords?
No WiFi, wires connection only although you can use an external WifI extender.
My setup:
Synology connected with ethernet to my router.
SonicTransporter (ROONcore) connected with ethernet to my router.
ROONremote via PC and WiFi.
Bluesound can be addressed with WiFi as a ROON endpoint, when it is available
That looks good, I think I might be able to emulate that (even with my limited tech skills…). So if the sonicTransporter is plugged into the router it can locate the Bluesound on the wifi network and stream wirelessly to it when Bluesound becomes Roon Ready. Did you have to set the router in any particular way, or just plug it in? I’ll be using my ipad as the controller (well, I guess also, my MacBook Pro, once it is retired from service as the rooncore, as at present.)
I just connected the SonicTransporter, there is no need for an extra configuration. By the way, I have an ASUS DSL-AC68U…very powerful router
Would running Roon from an i7 iMac over Ethernet work as well as running it from an i5 Sonic Transporter? I already have the iMac on the same network as my Synology 415play and my Bluesound components. If Roon runs better in Windows, I am running Windows 10 in a Parallels virtual machine on my Mac. Thanks.