Apologies for resurrecting this post. I have a separate thread running in the community regarding Airplay 2. In the replies it was noted by support that there is a Nov 2018 build of Roon server. When I installed the package on my DS912+ in Dec 2018 the installed version was dated March (or July depending upon what the date format is!)
So looking at your Feb 2017 comment the installation file should have installed the Nov build, if I understand correctly. Any help updating my roon server to build 363 would be appreciated.
Hi @Nick_Biden,
the SPKs for Synology will always Install the current Version of RoonServer. The version, which is given in the package center is related to the Installation routine (and all scripts), that is required to make it run on the Synology. You can always check which Roon Server is running on your system, by opening the settings and click the āAboutā text on the upper right corner of the screen on one of your Roon remotes.
I have, as you suggested, checked and (no surprise really) found that I am running build 363. So whilst that answers my query on this thread it means that my original thread remains unsolved. Iāll tag you in it, if thatās OK?
Been using a Synology 1618+ without too much issues. Initially was running a few simple VMs, but had to remove virtual station because of the conflicting issue with some NIC setting (forgot what itās called now). I may look into building a separate system to run Roon in the future, but Iām content.
Library files are stored on both the synology and the mac mini usb drive in sync, so each core accesses files locally. Iām not sure how this affects performance, it works as a backup for me.
Observations:
Synology handles my 27000 tracks, mostly local, some tidal, pretty well, never feels slow or sluggish. Also importing files was pretty quick with the entire library being processed in less than 2 hours.
Mac Mini however feels faster when accessing, retrieval of files and metadata is much faster. Even Play / Pause is faster.
While the Synology is adequate for all basic playback of from MP3 to DSD 128, it falls apart when using DSD & DSP. Any DSD conversion above DSD64 is a no-go, sometimes even 64 falls below 1x speed and Roon eventually skips over the tracks. Also one DSP function with DSD files or multiple withy any other resolutions will start skipping.
I noticed that ROON Core doesnāt use multiple cores for sound processing so even though the system overall might report 25% CPU load, thatās actually one core maxed out and thus Roon starts to skip. It seems that single core speed is most important for Roon. Please correct me if Iām wrong with this.
Iām also using Ropieee as a controller and screen and Extensions sometimes seem to create problems with Roon, and either Extenstion or Roon Server needs to be restarted. This is a much bigger pain on the NAS than on the mac mini where this is very quick.
Sound-wise I did not notice any difference between these two, neither sending the audio to my main Network Player, nor plugging a DAC directly into the USB of either Synology or the Mac.
Conclusion:
Synology DS918+ is adequate but not ideal. Good single core processing power improves overall performance and stability. Havenāt tried ROCKā¦ yetā¦
After seeing how long the post got, was thinking the same, not sure if i can move it Iām rather new in the community (I can create a new threadā¦). Thanks for your suggestion!
Hello Virtuoso,
I would like to make my NAS as the Core of my ROON System. (cause of that very Power hungry PC)
I am new in the Roon business. I already upgraded my DS218+ to 8GB RAM. As I understand, I need to get an external SSD and it needs to be empty, speak no other stuff memorized to it.
Now my question. How many GB`s do I need there. Would a 32GB SSD be big enough?
Thanks for your reply
Greetings, Roger
Very much depends on the size of your collection (both streamed favourites and your files combined). Roon recommend 64gb. But a very small collection will fit on 32gb.
The SSD is just for the Roon database, so it doesnāt need to be large. 32GB should be fine. My collection is around 20,000 tracks (locally stored) and the database is only about 3GB.
The advantage of having the database on an SSD is that it makes the Roon app more responsive.
I have recently moved over to a NUC running ROCK, because I have a few multichannel DSD albums, so I needed the extra horsepower to be able to stream them properly.
Okay, I put an SSD (250GB) on my USB-Port of my NAS and installed the RoonServer-Software onto it. But now, I am a bit confused of what I`m supposed to do next.
Using the Synology web interface, you install the Roon Server app on the main Synology NAS drive and then create a share on the SSD which Roon uses for its database.
Just follow the instructions here (make sure you do everything in the correct order):-
Hi Roger,
if you want to use a USB storage option, Iād recommend initialising it first in the Synology DSM with a ext4 filesystem. (Control Panel -> External Devices: Select your USB Storage and select format on the top bar). This process will delete everything on that disk!
USB devices will automatically be listed in the shared folder list as usbshareX. To use it as a storage for Roon Serverās database, you need to rename it to āRoonServerā. This can be done by selecting the usbshareX entry in the list and click the āEditā-button.
Afterwards you just need to install the spk in the Package Center (if not already done before).
