Best setup for Roon
 

After reading all the positive feedback, I want to try Roon and I'm trying to figure out what would be the best hardware to set it up.

Currently my system is composed of a heavily modified mac mini (LPSU, no HDD or SDD, no bluetooth, wifi, as much as hardware could be removed has been removed including the internal speaker) playing Audirvana from a NAS installed in another room. The mac mini is connected via usb to the PS Audio Directstream.

I'm wondering if I can get an increase in quality if I move to a solution with Roon ROCK on a NUC and with a dedicated streamer connected to the NUC. If so what streamer would be best?

AFAIK, a streamer is just a computer so I'm not convinced that you need to spend much in that area. I'm even considering a raspberry pi as the interface toward the PS Audio. Would that be a mistake?

I don't know what a streamer could improve in my current system.

No need for a streamer. The NUC is the streamer.

You can do what I'm doing and install Roon core on your mac mini first to see how you like it. Then, you can invest in a NUC and run Roon ROCK, which is their dedicated Roon OS, essentially.

Roon ROCK is designed for the NUC, so you KNOW it will work as opposed to other solutions like Raspberry pi.

I have read a few reviews and comments over the past 6 weeks and it seems as if Linux based solutions "seem" to win out over the intel NUC. That is the reason I went with the Small Green Computer Sonictransporter solution. There are other alternatives which can be found on the Roon site including their own long delayed Nucleus units due any day now.

I'd us the Mini for the core barring performance issues.

If compatible, the microRendu or SOTM sMS-200 for streaming to the DAC. Used they are quite affordable and have official support channels compared to the Raspberry pi.

I think trying Roon on your Mac sounds like a good idea. It might save you expense if you happen to not like Roon. If you are already sure Roon is your solution, then I second Still One’s post above. I, too, use a sonicTransporter and have been 100% happy with it.

I thought it was better to have the ROCK separated from the streamer rather than to have everything in the same box.

I'm trying Roon server on the mini but also trying to see what I can improve there if possible.

Unless I'm mistaken the sonicTransporter is a server and not a streamer. On their website they mention that you need to add a micro rendu.

That depends on your set-up. My DAC and my sonicTransporter both connect to my network via Ethernet. No micro Rendu required.

You could do with a NUC (Running Roon and storing the files), a NAA to stream the music from NUC to DAC. Having separate power supplies to the different boxes will improve sound. And you if you want a one box solution I'd go for a Antipodes DX, Zenith SE or similar.

Then why does Roon integrate with Tidal to do streaming? I am pretty sure it's one or the other...either you have a streamer or you have a computer with an app that is streaming.

Unless I'm missing something!