Why spend the extra money for a Nucleus rather than a less expensive desktop computer?

Roon Software Discussion Nucleus
21

As far as noise, it is setup on wireless tucked out of set, in a galaxy far far away

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22

Every OS needs regular software updates.

23

Automatic baby. Look everybody, chill out. I will probably end up buying one because I just want the dam thing. I like Roon and want to support them. And I do think itā€™s really cool. Peace and prosper everyone.

Dennisā€¦

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24

Only buy a Nucleus after you have everything else optimized including speakers, amp, pre-amp, DAC, streamer, etc.

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25

Sigh. The point is that macOS or Linux OS updates are separate manual steps. I donā€™t mind them because Iā€™ve been maintaining my own systems for decades, but they require more human intervention that what is needed for a self-contained appliance like the Nucleus. Is that difference difficult to understand?

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I may be wrong here as Iā€™m not familiar with Linux or Mac OS, but is Windows the only OS supporting automatic updates? My Roon server has been running for years without intervention.

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27

My Nucleus seems to get more updates than my Windows 10 computer.

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28

Donā€™t know about all distros, but Debian and Ubuntu have optional automatic updates.

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29

The Nucleus(+) is compact, silent, dedicated and ready to run.

Canā€™t say that was my experience.

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I was being ā€˜tongue in cheekā€™ as the op didnā€™t seem to want to be dissuaded.

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31

Automatic updates on a general-purpose server is asking for trouble. On something like the Nucleus that does just one thing, no problem.

32

Weā€™re not talking about a corporate server here. If you want your machine to only do Roon, itā€™s going to only do Roon.

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33

So, now itā€™s not that

but rather, that they are

??

I understood we were talking about a PC running, say, Linux, configured to do just one thing, running the Roon Core. Just like the Nucleus is a Linux PC configured to do just one thing, running the Roon Core. Maybe I misunderstood.

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34

Get a nice cat. The lap warmth will align your listening, uh, chakras. Yeah, thatā€™s it!

35

A Mac mini is probably just fine - otherwise, the choice is between a Nucleus or Nuc & Rockā€¦ if you have the money, get a Nucleus. If you want to save a few bob (or bucks), get a NUC, install Rock, then worry about finding (and fitting) a fanless case to match the Nucleusā€™ quietness.

IOW, Nucelus is turnkey, Rock is for DIYers. In either case, you will still need a drive for you music files.

Regardless of hardware, SQ will NOT CHANGE. ā† controversial, but true.

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36

There are also regular Linux distros or Windows. Everything Roon Core supports is a choice.

37

Not really. I always edit /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/50unattended-upgrades on my cloud servers to perform automated updates. Itā€™s reliable, and Iā€™m in control of the updates, and if and when a reboot is needed.

38

This thread cracks me up. Anyone who posts after the OPā€™s last post is just talking amongst themselves. Except for me of course.

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39

The nucleus is a simple solution for an off the shelve Roon Server and do not want to deal with computers.

Yes is a computer, for the hardware that has inside is expensive and not that impressive, but a lot of people that just want an audio installation without having much to config, nucleus could be a solution that is visually acceptable and simple to manage with a tablet.

If the price was lower, a lot lower since in my country the entry level is 1799 euros for the lowest config and 3149 euros for the better nucleus, it is even illogical to think to buy one, because in my view is a pure rip off the client.

Love the idea but will never buy it.

For the price of a nucleus you can buy a lot of power on a computer or even the same intel nuc for a fraction of the price with an Alkasa case with a good ssd, more memory, an sbooster and still have have some money to buy a an interesting dac.

Will the nucleus give you a bit uplift on the sound, I canā€™t testify as I donā€™t have one, but I can say different computers give different results.

Love the nucleus but my reason says buy an intel nuc instead.

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40

The closest you can get to a turn key system is to buy a machine with a pre-installed OS on it - whether itā€™s a NUC, regular PC, laptop or Mac - and install Roon core on it.

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