Hey Roonies!

[John Jordan]

Been following this forum with interest.

I recently gave Roon a whirl with the 60 day trial included with my Bryston BDP3.

At first everything Roon (core/server/remote) was on a 2010 MacPro laptop, 8 gigs RAM and 2 TB SSD streamed via WiFi to the BDP3. The ripped files were aiff on the Mac SSD. While no drop outs were experienced, the sound quality was not as good as the BDP3 by itself be it ripped files or Qobuz.

I then put the Roon core and server on my desktop (2008 MacPro) connected to the router via ethernet and WiFi to the Bryston. The SQ was noticeable improved but still not as good as using the Bryston on its own. At that point, I let Roon go.

Perhaps running an ethernet directly to the BDP3 and building a dedicated Roon core/server from a NUC may improve things further. Frankly, no desire to pursue this rabbit hole of another appliance and whatever other dingleberries get brought into the flow.

So, for now, I'll sit on the sidelines. Bryston seems to be committed to improving Qobuz support (hint... incorporate their API and scrapper) and a new GUI also appears to be in the process.

All comments welcome in pursuit of audiophile nirvana.

Good Holidays!

[W9TR]

I am in the process of configuring a NUC to run Roon. It’s worth a small investment to try out. I really like the user interface.

[clpetersen]

You have a big enough library to warrant a full NUC. Our library is under 1,000 albums and Roon core runs w/o issue on a late generation NAS (Synology DS720+) using an outboard SSD drive (and not even sure that is needed).
I plan to build up a Raspberry Pi4 over the holidays to test as an endpoint. Seems to getting great comments due to better USB implementation plus much higher CPU power - nearly a desktop computer of 5 years ago. About $75.-

[W9TR]

Let me know how the Raspberry Pi works for you. I have effectively “de-crapified” my SurfacePro tablet for use as an endpoint, but getting a computer out of that part of the chain has some merit. RoonBridge is very lightweight and doesn’t use a lot of resources.

I am ordering an i7 NUC after the holidays to run core. That should do it.

[clpetersen]

Originally Posted by W9TR

Let me know how the Raspberry Pi works for you. I have effectively “de-crapified” my SurfacePro tablet for use as an endpoint, but getting a computer out of that part of the chain has some merit. RoonBridge is very lightweight and doesn’t use a lot of resources.

I am ordering an i7 NUC after the holidays to run core. That should do it.

That will definitely do it for RoonCore (Core i7).

I recently read up some comments on the SoTM 200 Neo (about $450, so expensive compared to Pi4, but still relatively few $$). This gets good reviews and the tear down on Audio Science Review was highly favorable (I do appreciate what Amir does, and I trust his measurements on digital, even though it may not be the whole story).

Anyway, Amir gave SoTM high marks on their engineering and execution.

So SoTM vs Pi4 (strictly as an endpoint for Roon). ???

[W9TR]

Sounds interesting. I verified my current setup is bit perfect so it will be easy to evaluate other endpoint options. Then it’s just a question of de-crapifying the interface to the DAC.

[IM3CPO]

Originally Posted by clpetersen

That will definitely do it for RoonCore (Core i7).

I recently read up some comments on the SoTM 200 Neo (about $450, so expensive compared to Pi4, but still relatively few $$). This gets good reviews and the tear down on Audio Science Review was highly favorable (I do appreciate what Amir does, and I trust his measurements on digital, even though it may not be the whole story).

Anyway, Amir gave SoTM high marks on their engineering and execution.

So SoTM vs Pi4 (strictly as an endpoint for Roon). ???

I have a Pi4 but havent tried it as an end point yet, so take this with a grain of salt.... But speaking from past experience the Roon core and whatever DAC you happen to be using are where the measurable/tangible differences come into play. The endpoints in the roon setups really dont play a role unless they actively do something via implementation that messes something up.

[W9TR]

I finally bought and assembled a NUC to run ROCK.
Intel NUC10i7FNH, 16G Ram, 500GB NVMe M.2.
The process of getting it up and running was less than straightforward with several BIOS changes and re-boots required. I had to download a program on my PC to flash the USB drive. Also had to download and extract a codec and load it into the NUC with a web interface.

All in all the instructions and FAQ's were pretty good.

The NUC now lives with the NAS and UPS, all of which are on the opposite leg of my power feed to the audio gear.

All of the previous issues I had with Roon are gone. It's working quite well now.

Still using the Surface Pro as a battery powered endpoint - everything is sounding better than it ever has.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by W9TR

I finally bought and assembled a NUC to run ROCK.
Intel NUC10i7FNH, 16G Ram, 500GB NVMe M.2.
The process of getting it up and running was less than straightforward with several BIOS changes and re-boots required. I had to download a program on my PC to flash the USB drive. Also had to download and extract a codec and load it into the NUC with a web interface.

All in all the instructions and FAQ's were pretty good.

The NUC now lives with the NAS and UPS, all of which are on the opposite leg of my power feed to the audio gear.

All of the previous issues I had with Roon are gone. It's working quite well now.

Still using the Surface Pro as a battery powered endpoint - everything is sounding better than it ever has.

Nice Tom! Good to hear it made a sonic improvement. It is something I am getting ready to do as well.

[clpetersen]

Originally Posted by IM3CPO

I have a Pi4 but havent tried it as an end point yet, so take this with a grain of salt.... But speaking from past experience the Roon core and whatever DAC you happen to be using are where the measurable/tangible differences come into play. The endpoints in the roon setups really dont play a role unless they actively do something via implementation that messes something up.

Agreed. The Pi4 is very simple to set up, the SoTM based on reviews and tear-down is simply a higher quality execution of the same idea; perhaps more reliable/stable.

The reason I am doing this to try out different digital formats - Roon and Sonos have been working very well together -