if you do an install on a NUC, recommend latest BIOS, plus make sure UEFI boot enabled in BIOS, and select UEFI installer when installing from USB; else won’t boot properly.
all that said, there are other, lighter weight, Linux distros out there more suited to task; I’m not an expert, but there are probably some in the Roon forums that are
I’ll do some more listening with the NUC in the next few days, including in a more capable system (Rotel RC1590+RB1590+B&WCM10S2). Will let you know how I get on.
Our reason for wanting to use the NUC as a Bridge/End Point comes from some of the negative issues I’ve heard about the Raspberry Pi’s USB output. I thought, why not just use a NUC when USB is needed, not to mention we are comfortable with the NUC because we build Core/ROCKs with them.
We’ve also been spoiled by the SOtM SMS-200 Ultra with the SPS-500 power supply. This has proven to be our reference for how good we would like a NUC solution to sound.
I noticed a big step-up in SQ between the Diet Pi / Roon Bridge USB and the Bryston BDP-1USB. I settled on the Bryston as I liked its “audio component” form factor with wires out the back and controls/display on the front. Microrendu / Ultrarendu had piqued my interest - but I’d been able to listen to the Bryston first and got it for a good price.
I wouldn’t say the Bryston is the best end point, nor would I say the Raspberry Pi is awful - it was in service for over a year and gave me lots of pleasure. I didn’t investigate PSUs or USB isolation.
The Celeron NUC is interesting. Most of the time, it sits with processor usage at 2-3% in Roon playback, with memory <400MB. However, every so often (every 2-3 hours?) it pauses for a few seconds, then picks up again. It did stop dead once, and I saw that a Mono process (like .NET for Linux) had run away, and jammed up the CPU.
I don’t think it’s the network, as I’ve had another nearby stereo in running in the same zone, and it doesn’t pause; It’s also not a problem I’ve ever had on the USBridge.
I also have an old i3 NUC; I will install the same software set up on that, and see if the problem goes away. I might also see if I can test a lighter weight version of Linux on the Celeron.
@Malcolm_Percival – yes, I figured digital was all 0 & 1s, so I was perfectly happy with a recycled Pi as a transport. Then I thought, for not a huge amount of money, I’d try the USBridge – and was kind of shocked at the difference. As you say, they are not all equal (although I wonder if there’s a threshold point where they are “not broken”, beyond which everything is just 0 & 1 and brand premium).
Yes - I was (and am) a bit of a ones-and-zeros kind of guy - and I hope I’m immune (as human nature allows) to being wooed by looks, brand, size, construction, expectations etc. The combination of the Raspberry Pi and Meridian Explorer 2 confounded all my expectations of what a portable DAC and DIY endpoint could do. (One of my high-end vinyl friends declared it the best digital he’d heard - and he owns a lovely vintage dCS SACD player!)
Certainly one of the drivers behind my interest in the Bryston was a desire to get my system sat in the hi-fi rack with all the cables around the back (and getting play/pause and track skip on the remote instead of having to unlock the iPad). I got to have a good, long listen (a couple of weeks) before buying - and I like to think I wasn’t too swayed by extra-musical concerns.
I’m ready to start learning the Pi/Linux/Roon Bridge “thing”. We just got comfortable with Core/ROCK/NUCs, so it’s time to proceed to the “PiBridge”.
I’m following your guidance and appreciate your recommendations:
I need to be able to run the best/simplest version of Roon Bridge and Shairport (AirPlay) at the same time, on the same Pi. I need AirPlay to work for clients and guests, but will use Roon in some rooms.
A ROCK/NUC will usually be used and hardwired to the network.
I would like to connect a miniDSP 2x4HD directly to the USB (no HAT). Just curious if it will work, and how well.
I will probably use the HiFi Berry HATs, but I’m also looking at the Allo boards.
I will use the iFi iPower power supply, just to clean up the power.
Questions:
Which RPi board should I get?
Which version of Linux is best for Roon Bridge and Shairport? The less programming, the better.
B. If Shairport is a must have, I think only choice is DietPi (which is also only choice on the Allo boards); looks like as per below in Roon. Ropieee is dead simple, but no Shairport.
Re: miniDSP 2x4HD – it ought to; probably will be seen as DoP (e.g. https://www.ropieee.org/audio_hardware/). But you won’t know until you try, or you could ask the package owners (their handles are at the bottom of the table, and they are active in the Roon forums).
Ropieee is easiest, but RPi only (with good hat support), and no Shairplay.
DietPi is pretty good, does Shairplay, has broad SBC and audio package support, but in my experience is a little more tweaky, and sometimes USB to DAC goes MIA (maybe they just hate Rotel on board DACs). Not horrible at all, just not completely transparent.
I know it’s been said before – the USB to DAC is nicer on an Allo USBridge than it is a Pi.
Both software packages are very well supported in the Roon forums – I haven’t interacted personally, but the owners look like good people in their posts.
A disclaimer – this represents the best of my knowledge, but I’ve been wrong before – others reading this are welcome to contribute / offer opinions.
Happy to help – let me know if clarity / follow on questions on the above.
The Bryston looks like a nice piece of equipment. Imagine it sounds pretty nice, too . One day my allowance might stretch to a Lumin box. But that’s in the future.
Interested to learn that it lets you skip tracks. I did a Ropieee + Pi touchscreen to do the same thing; reaching for a screen was getting old. A dedicated hardware “Roon Remote” would be fabulous – volume, skip, pause, etc.
My threshold for cable management is that the wife doesn’t complain; I am not perfect all the time, evidently.
One thing to note: DietPi uses the latest kernel that is available for the specific SBC. For Sparky, that’s quite an old kernel indeed (3.10) – but for the Pi it is a well-maintained 4.14 release.
Is it worth also considering Volumio here? I think it offers Shairport, though I don’t use that feature. My 2 volumio RPi endpoints have run without fault for many months.
Hey Scott. I use MoOde with my RPi’s too. This supports Airplay and UPnP Renderer modes. It’s very easy to install Roon Bridge via ssh.
Moode’s always sounded better than other Pi distro’s to my ears - it’s developer, Tim, is very big on low latency and low CPU usage etc, so that may (or not) have something to do with it.
There’s just 3 command lines required to install Roon Bridge:
@In-Tone – looks like @dabassgoesboomboom has a solution that meets your requirements. Although you’ll have to do a little copy and paste into SSH (the command line is not all bad). I’ll have a tinker in the next day or two – am keen to learn.
@dabassgoesboomboom – Thanks. I had a quick look, and will come back for a more thorough investigation; it looks cool. You are right about it being a little tweaky, though; I suspect beyond the challenge that Brian might be looking for at the moment.
@dhusky – Thanks – I have just fired it up on my Pi + HifiBerry Digi. Shairport and Roon Bridge both running (once I figured out how to turn SSH on). I am also going to try it with USB to DAC; if that’s satisfactory, then I think it ticks all Brian’s boxes. Could you please confirm the update process? Is it automatic, or do you need to navigate to the device’s webpage and hit the button? Or is it pretty solid anyways?
@John_V – you are very kind, but I’ve quickly learned there are other options too (namely MoOde and Volumio), so will have to update table for that.
@In-Tone – I need to improve on my post of yesterday; I think Volumio will do everything you need, so long as you are comfortable with a bit of SSH command line work (just copy and paste) – I can quickly lay out a how to if needed. Also looks like Volumio covers both Pi and Sparky, so only one learning curve. I will expand my table and redo the words (give me a day or two to do some testing / writing). Credit to Sean2016 and dhusky for their input – they have offered better solutions.
If I were in Brian’s shoes, in the custom installs business, I would avoid all these DIY options (even though I’ve used and enjoy all these DIY options myself).
For a USB source solution I’d recommend customers get the Sonore micro/ultraRendu - Roon, DLNA/UPnP, MPD, OpenHome, Airplay & Spotify Connect endpoint - a commercial turn key Roon Ready solution, with great support.
For a TOSlink/Digital Coax source solution, I’d recommend customers get a Bluesound Node 2 - another commercial turn key Roon Ready solution, with great support. It’s also a Roon Ready DAC of course too.
The reason: there’s no ssh’ing involved with these solutions…
I’m not in the business though and not an expert in this area - I’m just playing armchair expert
No worries, glad it’s of some help. As for updating, RoonBridge updates in the normal Roon way, Volumio needs the user to initiate a check through the Web UI (System -> Check for updates). I do this every couple of months or so but have never had an issue that needed to be fixed via an update (nor have I had any problems with the update process).
. One day my allowance might stretch to a Lumin box. But that’s in the future.
