I watch the videos that Hans does; they can be very informative. Almost anything will work as a server. There are a lot of variables.
I do not think I would build a PC for this today. I would fuss over the design too much.
The Roon Nucleus servers are very interesting and have additional features for home automation and more.
The Intel NUC is running Roon ROCK is next. Simple to use and not bad at all to set up.
I “feel” that a dedicated OS for running a music system is exciting.
There is also Audio Linux, but that might be a bridge too far as it needs some care and feeding to get up and to run.
Intel NUC7I7BNH, 8 GB RAM DDR4, Samsung 970 EVO 250 GB M.2 SSD as primary drive and Samsung 850 EVO 500 GB as secondary drive for holding the library, although at this time the library is still on NAS.
The hardware is managed by Debian Stretch. Roon Core and HQPlayer Embedded are running together in the same box.
Intel NUC 7th Gen i7 (7i7BNH) with 8GB RAM and 250GB Samsung Evo 960 PCIe M.2 drive.
Initially used ROCK (free Linux from Roon) OS.
Added 4TB Samsung Evo 860 SATA SSD to store music locally.
Added Keces P8 Linear PSU to power NUC (19v / 3.43A).
Transplanted NUC into Akasa Plato X7 fanless case.
Bought Euphony OS (another Linux distro focussed on the Hi-Fi sector) to replace ROCK.
Although I’ve always found good quality linear PSUs to provide a significant upgrade in my Hi-Fi life (Squeezebox, Chord 2Qute, Aurender X100L) the real “key to the door” here was the UpTone Audio ISO REGEN. I connect my DAC (PS Audio DirectStream Senior) direct to my NUC, I don’t use RAAT over Ethernet. I think because ultimately the NUC is a generic mini PC device the USB output is noisy even when the whole system is fed with a Linear PSU. Adding the ISO REGEN was a real night and day “wow” moment. Output then goes into a Matrix Audio X-SPDIF 2 which converts USB to I2S over HDMI. Using the I2S input of the DirectStream DAC makes a big difference in overall quality.
You would think that the protocol conversion done by the Matrix inherently reclocks and galvanically isolates the USB input but the whole chain still sounds better with the REGEN in it. In fact NUC USB -> ISO REGEN -> DirectStream USB input sounds better than NUC USB -> Matrix -> DirectStream I2S input. However NUC USB -> ISO REGEN -> Matrix -> DirectStream I2S input is best overall albeit a bit of a box and cable fest.
I have found direct attaching my DAC via USB much better than using Ethernet although I do have a Bridge II card inside the PS Audio DirectStream DAC. Although many advocate the transformer based isolation that Ethernet uses there (to me) doesn’t seem to be the same level of detail or dynamics.
alex_wood
(Vinyl is still King, but Roon is heir apparent.)
85
I have an old fanless NUC i3, running Win 10. Not doing much more than running a headless Roon install, but it’s often running hot and even skips here and there when under a little stress. Will running ROCK on it instead be easier for it, and maybe last me another year or two?
@Greg_Guillot , I’m low tech and in need of a dedicated core device. I have a few old minis’ sitting around. How do you interface with the the Roon desktop app. I’m assuming “headless” means no monitor?
I don’t understand most of what is being referred to here. Is there a general recommendation for:
An inexpensive, always-on, device to house my Roon core (like a rasberry pi, or similar?)
It would need to throw the desktop app to an iPad, TV, or computer monitor (or can I have the desktop software installed on my laptop and link it… to the core device?)
My local library is 800 tracks, and I stream it and TIDAL to a Sonos Arc “5.1.2” home theater endpoint (think I’m using the correct terminology, here?) - that’s it; very minimal needs.
![image|502x228]
Is there a general recommendation for: