Hello everyone,
I’d like to hear the community’s opinion.
Is an Asus NUC 15 Pro with 48-64 GB RAM with ROCK better than a Mac Mini M4 with 32 GB RAM with Roon Server? And what are the differences between using ROCK and Roon Server, both for the added music library and for Qobuz integration? Thanks.
Roon only support up to ASUS NUC 13 Pro (Intel Core i3/i5/i7), see
That’s not to say it won’t run but you would be into Tinkering territory with just community support.
As for RAM and CPU specification it all depends on your music library size (total number of tracks), how many zones you wish to stream to and what if any DSP operations you wish to utilise.
Hardware aside, ROCK (RoonOS + Roon Server) or Mac Mini (macOS + Roon Server), a lot boils down to how comfortable you are / would be with each environment. ROCK is a closed system (appliance in nature, no scope for tweaking or addons but is very stable); macOS updates have created some issues of late (with Roon and other apps) with their increased network security models, there are workarounds but having to readjust settings after each Roon update can get tiresome.
Nothing, they are functionally equivalent.
@guimx,
Please define very large library in terms of the number of albums or tracks.
@guimx,
How/where is your music stored?
I have an intel NUC with 16gb ram. I have a large library as well and it’s been working well. I had the Mac mini prior this is just more efficient.
Can you be specific, how many tracks are in your library?
Far beyond the regularly supported territory
The library has about 800,000 tracks… I have to aim for the best hardware. However, I can say, as a useful testimony for others, that an ASUS Arena Canyon NUC13ANHI3 NUC works pretty well. It reboots every now and then and the scan is a bit slow (about 5 minutes), but that’s fine.
This is very interesting. Perhaps I prefer a system where I don’t have to update the OS. A Mac has some advantages, such as quietness, energy savings, processor power, and having a Mini PC that can be reused for other purposes. However, I’m mostly thinking about the efficiency of managing a large library without OS updates, and an Asus NUC or similar would be a winner at the moment.
There was a topic where somebody had a very large library. I don’t remember exaxtly how many tracks but could be similar to yours. He used a desktop. I am not sure if you could install ROCK on NUC15 Pro. I read in this forum sometimesast week that somebody had a hard time installing ROCK on one.
If you have that many tracks, I would go at least 64GB. Why not? RAM is getting edpensive now but in comparison to the value of your albums it becomes meaningles. Eliminating one possible point of problem.
Maxed out RAM high spec NUC running ROCK is better than MAC mini M4 with 16GB RAM running Roon Server.
Lags and restarts are frequently due to lack of RAM.
I am currently running ROCK on an AUS NUC 14 pro + U9 running 96GB of DDR5 RAM 400K library and it is responsive. I have tried ROCK NUC 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 all I7s and all were good. I have also run Roon server on NUC12 Extreme I9 64GB RAM and on MAC Mini M4with 16GB RAM.
I was unimpressed with MAC Mini M4 and RAM is stupidly expensive on Apple.
I max out RAM on all my NUCs and from NUC12 I7 on all were good on ROCK. I have seen a need to upgrade since the NUC14 pro + which is unusual for me as I usually upgrade every year.
The only glitch I ever have is adding albums on Tidal and Qobuz occasionally lags which is usually fixed my restarting ROCK server.
I have been thinking about attempting to install ROCK on the NUC12 Extreme I9.
The 2.5GB Ethernet on recent NUCs is cool and the lack of an Ethernet port on the Mac Mini M4s is a stupid compromise.
Regards Andrew
130236 to be exact right now. My Rock runs pretty well.
Since the NUC 14 Pro is not on the Roon supported list (yet), did you have any issues with the ROCK install? I’m looking to replace my NUC 8i7 with something more powerful (as my library has grown) and Roon responsiveness seems slower.
And for what it’s worth, I used to run Roon Server on a fairly robust i7 Windows 10 desktop. I did have occasional stability issues with Roon but after I switched to ROCK on my NUC 8i7, it has been far more stable and I love that ROCK updates are automatic and rarely seem to impact Roon performance as did Windows updates at times.
I just swapped my nvme drive out of my old ROCK NUC and it worked perfectly in the 14 pro + U9 
The NUC14 pro + U9 does spin the fan much more than any of my previous NUCs have. I wouldn’t tolerate it in the same rooms as my stereos
Ah, good point to consider. My NUC is not in the same room but on a quiet night, the fan can be heard. I can only imagine that would be worse with an i9. Thanks for the info!
Nas Synology
This is quite an important factor, on my ASUS Arena Canyon NUC13ANHI3 the fan is never heard… but is it also heard when listening to music or only when the NUC is under heavy load?
I recently mgrated from a i7 desktop running Debian Linux to a MacMini M4 with 16GB. I have no issues in general use but I am finding that I have to reboot the Mac after Roon upgrades. Roon gets a bit odd after the update (drop outs, not connecting to HomePods and the like). The reboot only takes about 30 sec so I have not really tried troubleshooting the issue.
I’m not sure how much storage you’ve used but my findings were that managing a collection across the network is slower and less efficient. My relatively small collection took twenty minutes to analyse from a NAS compared to three or four minutes on local storage. It would be interesting to see if ROCK allows two of the three available drives on a NUC pro to be used as local storage as that would allow up to 16gb storage. With a single solid state drive it would be 8gb. Even DAS attached storage would be quicker via TB/USB4 but that again would be proof of concept.