Roon Nucleus One

[hashkey]

I'm surprised that Roon's new $500 server appliance isn't being discussed here… (unless I've missed it which is entirely possible)
As a bit of a Roon fanboy, I'm very tempted by this and think it marks an interesting step for a great platform.

 

[markrubin]

Great idea: I am also a ROON fanboy…the ONE has a ‘quiet fan’ as opposed to the Nucleus
ROON also announced a new high end model too: I think it is $3500.00 in the US.
My only gripe about ROON is it can only stream from one source (Tidal or QObuz) at a time. So if you have two ROON ready players, and want to play different songs on one, it will likely stop the other player….I know there are workarounds…..and a Family membership does not help

 

[Chr1]

I am curious as to what this has over a budget mini PC costing a third of the price?

 

[hashkey]

I am curious as to what this has over a budget mini PC costing a third of the price?

That's a valid question considering it basically is exactly that. The principal advantage is that it's already set up with Roon OS installed. That in itself mightn't mean much to you or me, but it will to some.
I'm currently running a NUC in an Akasa enclosure and I'm seriously tempted by this because it's a nice case.
I don't come off well in that sentence but no human is an entirely rational being.

 

[Snoopy]

Great idea: I am also a ROON fanboy…the ONE has a ‘quiet fan’ as opposed to the Nucleus
ROON also announced a new high end model too: I think it is $3500.00 in the US.
My only gripe about ROON is it can only stream from one source (Tidal or QObuz) at a time. So if you have two ROON ready players, and want to play different songs on one, it will likely stop the other player….I know there are workarounds…..and a Family membership does not help

You can also stream from KKBox (easy to create a account with the help of a VPN).

Intel celeron quad core and 8gb ram is not very impressive

 

[BDWoody]

That's a valid question considering it basically is exactly that. The principal advantage is that it's already set up with Roon OS installed. That in itself mightn't mean much to you or me, but it will to some.
I'm currently running a NUC in an Akasa enclosure and I'm seriously tempted by this because it's a nice case.
I don't come off well in that sentence but no human is an entirely rational being.

If you want to splurge on something, maybe consider getting a good NAS and loading Roon on that? You could have a nice all SSD setup, not have to worry about leaving anything else on, and you've got all the other benefits you can get from a dedicated NAS.

That said, there's nothing wrong with getting whatever you want for whatever reasons you have!

 

[Vincent Kars]

I don't mind spending $500 on a nice looking box but I do object to spending $ 14 .99 / month for the privilege to use it.
Wonder if one can easily repurpose the box when you cancel your subscription.

 

[thegeton]

If you want to splurge on something, maybe consider getting a good NAS and loading Roon on that? You could have a nice all SSD setup, not have to worry about leaving anything else on, and you've got all the other benefits you can get from a dedicated NAS.

That said, there's nothing wrong with getting whatever you want for whatever reasons you have!

If it exists on ASR, could you please point me to a thread explaining running Roon on a NAS? TIA

 

[BDWoody]

If it exists on ASR, could you please point me to a thread explaining running Roon on a NAS? TIA

Here is one:

Roon Server on NAS or Standalone

Hey all, I want to spin up a Roon Server, and I'm looking to figure out how much CPU power I'm going to need as I heard Room is pretty CPU intensive. I currently have a beefy NAS that runs Plex, and a few docker containers and has 108TB of storage drives on it. It would be ideal to Spin up a...

audiosciencereview.com

Good place to start:

Roon on NAS

roononnas.org

 

[Krusty09]

Amirm is a big fan of Roon. Maybe he already has one. Never know.

 

[hashkey]

If you want to splurge on something, maybe consider getting a good NAS and loading Roon on that? You could have a nice all SSD setup, not have to worry about leaving anything else on, and you've got all the other benefits you can get from a dedicated NAS.

That said, there's nothing wrong with getting whatever you want for whatever reasons you have!

You're not wrong- although I've always got the sense that Roon running on a dedicated device is likely to give you any issues. I could be wrong, but there last two years I've run ROCK on a supported NUC and it's run like a dream.

 

[hashkey]

I don't mind spending $500 on a nice looking box but I do object to spending $ 14 .99 / month for the privilege to use it.
Wonder if one can easily repurpose the box when you cancel your subscription.

It's a lot. I'm pretty sure when I first saw the price I thought wtf… When I trialled it, I decided to go all-in and get lifetime. It wasn't cheap (it's even less so now) but I see it as a component in my system rather than a service, and one that makes the experience a whole lot better for me.

 

[Hear Here]

OK, Roon experts, let me ask a really basic question. Can Roon Nucleus or equivalent be set up in such a way that it just finds music (from Qobuz, NAS drive, etc) and tells the streamer to go for the files? In other words, can you set up Nucleus in such a way that Roon never handles the signal itself?

I ask because I'd prefer Roon to do nothing more than act as a control app and not to handle the signal at all. From the scant details I find on their website, it appears that the Nucleus can either be connected only to the router, or it can be also be connected via USB to a streamer / DAC. If the former is chosen, it would seem that the Nucleus is acting merely as a control app to identify where the streamer should find the selected music. Am I right?

 

[jhwalker]

My only gripe about ROON is it can only stream from one source (Tidal or QObuz) at a time. So if you have two ROON ready players, and want to play different songs on one, it will likely stop the other player….I know there are workarounds…..and a Family membership does not help

Interesting - I wasn't aware of this limitation.

That said, my house is only 2,000sf - I would NEVER want to play different streams to different players at the same time - it would be cacophony!

And since I live alone, I'd never even want to stream different music inside / outside; i.e., if I'm outside, why would music (esp. different music) be playing inside?

Good to know, though.

 

[jhwalker]

OK, Roon experts, let me ask a really basic question. Can Roon Nucleus or equivalent be set up in such a way that it just finds music (from Qobuz, NAS drive, etc) and tells the streamer to go for the files? In other words, can you set up Nucleus in such a way that Roon never handles the signal itself?

I ask because I'd prefer Roon to do nothing more than act as a control app and not to handle the signal at all. From the scant details I find on their website, it appears that the Nucleus can either be connected only to the router, or it can be also be connected via USB to a streamer / DAC. If the former is chosen, it would seem that the Nucleus is acting merely as a control app to identify where the streamer should find the selected music. Am I right?

No.

All streams go through the Roon server / core. It can then be distributed to endpoints with fairly sophisticated EQ, etc. (if desired), but the core MUST be up and running to use Roon at all.

 

[Mikig]

thanks, good news.
I hope it comes to Europe too, I'm a fan of Roon. I tried looking at the various NUCs to make a system for myself and I saw many tutorials on how to create and set it up.

But I have to be honest: too much work for me, plus I've never loved IT so I always stopped before clicking buy!!! this Nucleus One could be the final solution for me: absolutely right price, all the functionality of Roon already at hand without having to install, compose, download, configure etc etc etc

 

[Hear Here]

No.

All streams go through the Roon server / core. It can then be distributed to endpoints with fairly sophisticated EQ, etc. (if desired), but the core MUST be up and running to use Roon at all.

Thanks - that's disappointing. So what connections to the streamer are required? Mine has no USB input, apart from one for USB sticks - the wrong sort I believe. Can Nucleus be connected only to the router and the streamer also just connected to the router?

 

[jhwalker]

Thanks - that's disappointing. So what connections to the streamer are required? Mine has no USB input, apart from one for USB sticks - the wrong sort I believe. Can Nucleus be connected only to the router and the streamer also just connected to the router?

As long as they're both on the same network AND the streamer is supported (i.e., it supports RAAT input - i.e., is Roon-ready - or Chromecast OR AirPlay), sure.

FWIW, my entire Roon ecosystem is wireless except for the "last mile" connection from my living Roon endpoint (in my case, a mini PC) via HDMI to my AVR. All the other connections are via WiFi, and I have endpoints in every room of the house, all different types (e.g., SONOS devices, Apple TVs and HomePods, etc.) - it all works seamlessly.

 

[Hear Here]

As long as they're both on the same network AND the streamer is supported (i.e., it supports RAAT input - i.e., is Roon-ready - or Chromecast OR AirPlay), sure.

FWIW, my entire Roon ecosystem is wireless except for the "last mile" connection from my living Roon endpoint (in my case, a mini PC) via HDMI to my AVR. All the other connections are via WiFi, and I have endpoints in every room of the house, all different types (e.g., SONOS devices, Apple TVs and HomePods, etc.) - it all works seamlessly.

That's good to know. I'm hesitant about adopting Roon as there's the Nucleus to purchase (the One version looks attractive and sensibly priced) and a monthly subscription. I'm also doubtful that it betters the BluOS control app except that it offers its "radio" feature that I'd find useful. BluOS doesn't interfere (perhaps the wrong word) with the signal as you say Roon does, so apps can be turned off and NAD streamer (or other BluOS controlled device) will happily continue playing its Play Queue or internet radio, or Radio Paradise, etc.

Have you used BluOS or compared it with Roon? I'm really only thinking about Roon as I'll soon be upgrading from my NAD M33 to either the M66 or another brand of streamer / DAC / pre. If I go for a different brand, it will likely offer a grotty app compared with BluOS, or one that's only available on Android or iPad, so Roon would have to come to the rescue!

 

[jhwalker]

Have you used BluOS or compared it with Roon? I'm really only thinking about Roon as I'll soon be upgrading from my NAD M33 to either the M66 or another brand of streamer / DAC / pre. If I go for a different brand, it will likely offer a grotty app compared with BluOS, or one that's only available on Android or iPad, so Roon would have to come to the rescue!

I have not tried BluOS.

I know one of the reasons Roon has always insisted on coordinating everything via the server is they believe the reliability of UPnP / DLNA is not sufficient to manage multiple endpoints, to keep them in-synch, etc. I have a "zone" set up in Roon that plays directly to ALL my endpoints (stereo SONOS pair in kitchen, main system in living room, HomePod systems in both guest bedroom and office, and SONOS surround system in the master bedroom), and they ALL play in-synch, despite using a combination of RAAT (Roon's proprietary connection format) and AirPlay.