roon core options

[rrwmd]

​I've had roon for a few years now. I have kind of a love/hate relationship with it.

Obviously, having both my Lumin players as roon endpoints is big. Sometimes I'll play my main rig and another zone in my basement at the same time which is cool. I have some other endpoints for other zones inside and outside as well (although I can use all of these without roon). And sure, all the metadata and connectedness is great. And now that Tidal and Qobuz have been incorporated even better. Roon radio is also nice. And with 1.7, live radio is much improved. And occasionally I will dabble with upsampling and eq also...

But...there are some quirks, like the queue, with its collapse/expand of skipped songs, the fact that you can only view like six tracks at a time, some other nagging behaviors. And at least running the core on my i7 iMac it still feels way more like computer audio than it should: the occasional loss of connection from ipad/iphone, need to reboot, need to log out and log back into Tidal or Qobuz, etc. I mean, just go to the roon discussion forum and see how many computer/networking issues people have...

Everything runs so much smoother going direct from my Lumin that I find myself listening this way the majority of the time. The Lumin players have just worked almost flawlessly for me.

I'm pretty sure roon would run better if I had a dedicated machine for the core.

The main options I'm considering are:
1) roon Nucleus plus
2) Small Green computer sonicTransporter i7
3) NAS

My Synology NAS is an older model that can't run roon core, so if I went with option 3 I'd have to buy a new NAS. No big deal, as mine is getting long in the tooth anyway.

The potential advantages I see of the sonicTransporter over a Nucleus would be the ability to run HQPlayer (I've never used this before, but maybe nice to have as an option?) and two ethernet ports, one of which could (I think) be connected to my Lumin (or any other streamer) if I had it in my listening room without having to add a switch.

Anyway, I'm looking for feedback and recommendations from those who have been down this road.

 

[Dth31]

My experience is somewhat similar to yours. I definitely share the frustration part!

In my system, the iPhone app always works (although it took me 9 months to figure that out) and the iPad app rarely works. Rebooting some combination of iMac/iPad usually does gets the iPad working again, but who wants to be rebooting a computer every day, especially when music is already playing? Annoying.

I, too, have finally given up on running Roon Core on my iMac. Both my dacs are totaldac, so I’m going with the totaldac d1-player. Wish I could hear it first, but Vincent makes great products and has earned my trust. Besides, Vincent has a 20-day return policy.

 

[Roland_O]

​

Anyway, I'm looking for feedback and recommendations from those who have been down this road.

I opted to run Roon on a dedicated intel NUC box. This is basically what the nucleus is, but in a standard intel case, not roon’s sexy fanless case. On their help pages, Roon list the parts you need to order to make the CORE box, and also they give instructions for how to download their software to it. Doing this will save you a four figure sum.

It’s works well, keeps itself backed up, and I can’t hear its little fan. No drop outs. Everything seems very snappy. Sound is good. I have my core box feeding my DAC via USB in my main system, but elsewhere I have network connected speakers acting as endpoints.

Recommended.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Randy Myers]

I think when you say NAS you probably actually mean a computer. To run Roon Core you do need an OS. I hear people complaining about issues with Mac and Roon but I rarely see anyone having issues with Roon and Windows.

The SGC option is running Windows. If you want to do HQPlayer and really see what it can do then you should be looking towards a Windows solution. I know many Apple users instantly think it will be too complicated, but honestly it really is not. Windows really has become a breeze if you are dedicating it as a music server machine, weather it be from SGC, SGM, or having a quality computer built from companies such as Falcon Northwest.

I never, ever have issues with Roon... then again I have all my music on drives within my PC/Server...

 

[rbbert]

NAS do have a processor and some RAM, enough to run Roon in many cases

 

[Randy Myers]

Yes, I know, but what OS? NAS are designed for mass storage. if you are running an OS and server programs you are running a computer/server...

NAS- Network Attached Storage, is storage not operating system controlled processing units... aka computers... all NAS units have processors and RAM and Cache, etc., but they are not designed as independent computing units. They are 100% dependent on computers (PCs, servers, etc.).

 

[dminches]

Roon runs on a good number of NAS. From Roon's knowledge base:

Which NAS devices are supported?Most QNAP, Synology, and Asustor devices with a 64-bit x86 CPU, like Intel or AMD, and at least 2GB RAM are supported.

 

[dminches]

​I've had roon for a few years now. I have kind of a love/hate relationship with it.


The main options I'm considering are:
1) roon Nucleus plus
2) Small Green computer sonicTransporter i7
3) NAS

Another option is to build a special purpose computer to run Roon. That's what I did. I built a Xeon-based PC which runs Roon Server under Windows Server 2019. Windows 10 will work as well. The build is not complicated if you have any experience with computers. The advantage of building your own is that you can tweak things to improve the sound quality. I wouldn't suggest this if you aren't into tinkering and playing with stuff. If you are, it can be fun and rewarding.

 

[Randy Myers]

As I did; I had Falcon build the basic core unit because they can do the core better than me, and have greater access to the grade A parts. They put the guts together how I want and then I modify from there.

Also I totally understand that a Roon application can run on a basic NAS but that is not the same thing... please don't go down that road...

I do not claim to know crap about this stuff.... just whatever little bit I have picked up in 30 years as a software engineer, DBA, database architect, and designing and developing software to assist in launching rockets for national reconnaissance missions...

 

[dminches]

Doesn't every NAS have a OS? The synology units run on Linux.

 

[Randy Myers]

Yea, but not really... certainly not designed to do real music server duties.

Their OS's are designed for storage duties... not productivity duties... but from there I would be going into areas that I have not explored. The bottom line, if someone wants to run Roon Core they should be running it on a computer, a PC or server and not on a machine that is designed as storage first and foremost.

To do Roon Core right you need an i7 or at the very least an i5; while most NAS run Marvell processors at about 1.6 to 2 Ghz if they even list it. Roon and especially HQPlayer are very CPU dependent, and a 8th generation or newer i7 processor is virtually essential.

I guess the bottom line, why get a separate NAS, trying to force it to do duties it was not design to do when you can get a computer with built in storage. I have 3 TB internal M.2 drives... my NAS is for backup and file sharing, what they are designed to do.

 

[dminches]

I wouldn't run Roon on a NAS but there are those who do.

What I find interesting is that when I monitor CPU activity on my music server when Roon is running it is really low. Programs like HQ Player are the ones that require a lot of horsepower.

 

[Randy Myers]

Yes, as I have pointed out, however there are huge processing capability differences. Also, the OS on a NAS is very single purpose designed. Anyone who think they are going to get an acceptable user experience running Roon on a NAS OS are unfortunately in for a rude awakening.

However peoples needs and wants do indeed vary :dunno:.

 

[aKnyght]

i also opted for a self-built transport which can run roon via windows, linux or roonOS. you can specify the memory, storage and CPU to your needs and add things like fiber optic ethernet capability. all-in it was half the price of a nucleus+ but much better spec'd.

it was quite enjoyable to build and has worked flawlessly. if interested, you can read more here and here

 

[still-one]

I can't say enough about the Small Green Computer options. I have the second generation i5 and it just works and support if needed that is just a quick phone call away. Since I switched over to optical connections I haven't had one drop out or issue.

 

[Mike]

Yes, as I have pointed out, however there are huge processing capability differences. Also, the OS on a NAS is very single purpose designed. Anyone who think they are going to get an acceptable user experience running Roon on a NAS OS are unfortunately in for a rude awakening.

However peoples needs and wants do indeed vary :dunno:.

I wondered if anyone tried running Roon OS on a QNAP NAS. No go huh?

 

[aKnyght]

I wondered if anyone tried running Roon OS on a QNAP NAS.

for those looking to run roon on a NAS...

> see this roon support FAQ for general info: https://kb.roonlabs.com/Roon_Server_on_NAS

> see this link for installation on a qnap, synology or asusto NAS: https://roononnas.org/en/roon-on-nas/

have not tried it but does look exceedingly straightforward from the description. enjoy!!

 

[Alpinist]

I’m totally satisfied with my Roon Nucleus Plus and Synology DS3018XS NAS on the MSB Select II DAC with Renderer II input module. Totally turnkey, zero glitches and sounds phenomenal. Now the Roon Radio option gives you easy access to all your favorite radio stations. What more could you ask for?

Ken

 

[wklie]

The main options I'm considering are:
1) roon Nucleus plus
2) Small Green computer sonicTransporter i7
3) NAS

My Synology NAS is an older model that can't run roon core, so if I went with option 3 I'd have to buy a new NAS. No big deal, as mine is getting long in the tooth anyway.

The potential advantages I see of the sonicTransporter over a Nucleus would be the ability to run HQPlayer (I've never used this before, but maybe nice to have as an option?) and two ethernet ports, one of which could (I think) be connected to my Lumin (or any other streamer) if I had it in my listening room without having to add a switch.

I do not recommend 3.

For HQPlayer, Lumin hardware is not currently compatible with it. I read that people have positive experience with 2 and their support, so I believe it's a fine choice.

As an alternative to 1, my standard recommendation is to get a NUC8i7BEH m.2 SSD with a fanless chassis to run ROCK. If you don't want to do the fanless chassis installation I believe there are a few companies who can pre-build that for you (e.g. https://community.roonlabs.com/t/the-akasa-plato-x8-is-out/60477/18?u=wklie or https://community.roonlabs.com/t/the-akasa-plato-x8-is-out/60477/20?u=wklie ). With the money saved you can get a LPS for it from Mike.

 

[wklie]

I wondered if anyone tried running Roon OS on a QNAP NAS. No go huh?

We use a QNAP for Roon Core for Lumin shows, but that's not an option I'd recommend users to follow. It's possible to run Roon Core on QNAP OS QTS, but it's not Roon OS.