Here’s the question that completely exposes my limited understanding of the ROON ROCK NUC environment.
I have a NUC, in a fanless enclosure with an LPS which is currently connected to my DAC via ethernet.
If I made a change to a USB DAC can I simple use a USB cable from the NUC to the DAC and the new DAC it is recognized. Seems logical but just wanted to confirm. Currently don’t have a USB cable handy at the moment.
MANY THANKS.
It should be recognised so long as its USB solution works with Linux.
Hello Henry,
Thanks for your reply but must admit I am not certain as to “its USB solution works with Linux”. If the DAC was from a larger world-wide firm (am considering the dCS Bartok or the new headphone amp from Focal) would the USB solution be universal or are these all somewhat proprietary?
Cheers,
Warren
Stick with ethernet; it is the best alternative currently. USB is not optimal, even if computer is using a LPS.
Yes, agree about ethernet and will continue if using the dCS but the Focal accepts USB or SDIF and not ethernet.
Hoping to drive a state of the art headphone system with the ROON NUC as we are moving into a condo from a house with a dedicated room and will likely get into trouble listening at the louder volumes we have been used to.
I run my headphone systems (I have two of them) with a Roon ready network streamer (Moon MiND2 Network Streamer) - then I can use any DAC I would like 
Works flawless; and has done so for a long time without any hint of issues.
Nucleus+ => ethernet => Moon MiND2 Network Streamer => AES/EBU => Schiit Yggdrasil Analog 2 => XLR => Moon 430HAD => XLR => Audeze LCD-4 (rev2).
Just read the specification. It should tell you if it is Linux compliant. At the end of the day it is easy to try with a cheap cable. While I agree with Tor’s assessment that USB isn’t always perfect, it can be very good and it can avoid additional hardware. I imagine the USB on something from Focal would be well engineered.
Most follow the USB Audio standards, which are supported out of the box on Linux and everywhere else. Only a small handful need a proprietary driver.
Sounds like I’m good…but just wanted to confirm.
Thanks to all for your input.
I ran into a problem getting my NUC/ROCK combo to recognize a DAC via USB.
I was able to get it to work by loading Ubuntu with Roon Server instead. This takes more work & knowledge because I had to setup Samba myself and do some additional configuration. But I enjoy tinkering with computers and while not needed, I liked the extra control I had by being able to log into the NUC to monitor & customize it.
Which dac?
@danny When I first attempted to use Roon ROCK via direct USB it was with a Schiit Yggdrasil:
Everyone on the forums was really helpful and this was one of the main reasons I bought a lifetime membership. But I was never able to get it to work, was uncertain as to what the solution would ultimately be so I returned the DAC because the trial period for returning it was closing. Fortunately Roon customer support was kind enough to extend my trial period into the next month while I attempted another solution.
I then replaced it with a Mojo Audio Mystique V2 SE DAC and encountered the same problem. It was at this point I finally figured out that having the full Ubuntu 18.04 LTS combined with Roon Server worked great and I’ve been very pleased with the solution ever since.