Can I use Roon ARC to provide Roon capabilities at a 2nd home I’m setting up for extended family getaways?
Or, do i need to include a separate Nucleus or NUC in the 2nd home system?
Hi @Eric_Streams -
Assuming I’m understanding your question, you can use ARC anywhere - it is a mobile connection to your core. For example, this weekend I’ll be away from home all weekend with only a cellular internet connection but I’ll use ARC connected to my Roon core at home (a Mac mini in my case) to listen to music. Assuming you have a way to connect a mobile device to the system in your second home, you should be all set without the need for another core.
If I’ve misunderstood your question, please let me know! Cheers!
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You would not have the same experience as a Roon core using ARC, It would only play through your phone (output to what ever you connect the phone to) , so would tie it up, you can not play to multiple zones, and it would use cell data.
If it’s an extended stay, why not just bring the Nucleus with you?
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Thank you, you understood what i was asking perfectly.
Its a lakehouse that will mostly be used on weekends so id rather not keep uninstalling and installing the nucleus.
Not being able to play multiple zones will be an issue.
It’s a good problem to have. Best solution is to purchase a second subscription and run two independent Cores. Enjoy.
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Do you have internet service at your lake house? Also, will anyone be at your primary residence using Roon when you are at the lake house? If yes to the first question and no to the second, I would purchase a NUC or MacMini to run a Roon core at your lake house. You don’t need a second Roon subscription if you don’t need to use Roon at both locations at the same time.
You can also use a laptop for this purpose.
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I know this is a first world problem, but its an interesting challenge to have and to solve frugally.
Internet (gig-speed fiber) will be installed next week. I want to set up a multizone music wireless system. Its an older house not wired with ethernet. The rooms are such that there will be no duplication of my home primary system it will be low to possibly mid-fi at best (which is fine for now being used as a week-ender).
Thank you again for your suggestions.
You can use ARC to play to any AirPlay 2 device and it will group for multiroom in Apple Home. So this is an option. Obviously your phone will be responsible for the streaming. It’s also possible to make it work with Chromecast on Android I believe so that might be another option for multiroom from ARC. Both AirPlay 2 and Chromecast speakers can be bought for reasonable costs. I would suggest get two and try it out before going full hog. The phone will be in charge of all this mind so it’s only as good as your Wi-Fi that you will have.
Given ARCs reliability how well it works is an unknown.
Thank you Crystalgipsy. Since im going to be buying the speakers and components for the house and outside zones, i can certainly use one of those protocols (preferably AirPlay2). I do, however, get serious about figuring out how to make ARC work. I havent spent too many calories on that yet and know there are likely many posts on the subject here on this forum. I just need to research it.
You need to make sure you can get it working before investing. Most issues are down to network configuration or isp that stops it due to using cgnat. Plenty of threads on this and this is a knowledge base on it. Check it all out. I used ARCs AirPlay to play to me sisters Denon system when I last stayed with her it worked fine.
My suggestion would be a second Roon core, but not a second license. That is, unless you need them both to run simultaneously. Backup the Roon core at your primary home and restore the database to your second home. I’ve been doing this for 6 years and it works well to keep the cores in sync - however all the history at the lake house is overwritten. It also provides a solid historical backup in case the main core crashes and cannot be restored. Roon has had issues with corrupt databases that were unrecoverable, so I like having a second “cold site” to backup the years of work.
Thanks for the suggestion of a 2nd Core James_I.
Having worked developing manned space laboratories in the 80’s and 90’s, i fully appreciate fault tolerant systems.
A 2nd Core does represent another science project. But that’s part of the joy this hobby/“affliction” brings to me.
All the best to you all on this Memorial Day weekend!
You can also look into setting up a VPN to bridge the networks between the two houses. A level 2 VPN with the server on the home router and the client on the lake house router would likely work.
Not if you have a Nuclues or Rock as the op does it won’t as you need the VPN on same machine.
Personally, I would not use Roon ARC for the lake house. Roon ARC is OK for walking the dog and in the car with CarPlay, but not the best user experience for what you are looking for. I would go with an Intel NUC and call it a day. If you’re more of an Apple guy, then a late model Mac Mini.
EDIT: I have three Roon cores including a Mac Mini (late 2014) I bought used for $200.
I am an Apple guy. From all I’ve read using a PC as a Roon Core is not the best solution due to their multitasking nature. Also the Mac Mini starts at $600. If i need to go the dedicated Roon Core route for this weekender system, is there a dedicated NUC solution that supports multizone for under $500?
My engineering skills (long long ago when i did real engineering) were structures and mechanical so even if a VPN was an inexpensive viable option. I dont have t would have to go to Google, UTube, audio forums to learn how😀
I use ARC in my 2nd home. I connect my iPhone and/or iPad to a DAC (SMSL Su-9n) via usb and I’m able to play hi res music (up to 24/192 from my collection back home!, inc MQA) . You only need a solid internet connection and (if using an iPhone)/iPad) a lightning to USB adapter that works (note: apple killed charging capabilities of their USB3 adapter with their latest iOS 16.5 upgrade, so some USB DACs won’t work with iPhones/iPads). They acknowledge the issue and SAY they will save it in a future upgrade)
I think i just showed how much i have to learn and asked a not intelligent question.
A NUC is actually a PC, right? It has been stripped of most normal PC tasks to free up its CPU to focus on fewer tasks. A NUC is in intel based machine that runs Windows. Im not sure if that makes it incompatible with AirPlay devices.
A Mac Mini is Apples version of a NUC that is compatible with AirPlay. Can you turn off all applications not required to operate as a Roon Core?
Questions, questions, i apologize for my need to come up this learning curve. I just want a simple to use multizone Roon/Tidal system that sounds decent.
Roon supports AirPlay on whatever device the local core is on, it doesn’t use system AirPlay but it’s own code that allows it to play to AirPlay compatible devices. It doesn’t use Apples Home app it’s all done on the Roon core . It however doesn’t support native AirPlay 2 streaming so if you have say two HomePods it can’t play to them as a stereo pair as you can via Apples home grouping. But it will still play to the them.
If you going down having another core at the lakeside then you don’t need to limit your self to AirPlay as you can use any Roon Ready device but you can only group like for like streaming protocols.
I’ve had luck with TAP openvpn on my router. TUN won’t work. It has to be layer 2.