Waited too long to get Roon Core off my Laptop

[antipop]

Originally Posted by 2fastdriving

Very cool. I will be doing this soon. I've been using a mac mini with audirvana for a long time now, and I think Roon/Nuc would be a nice improvement...if nothing else, it will be better for the ipad controls and experience.

I'll be very interested in your feedback if you go this route. I'm still on the mac mini with Audirvana. Though my mini has been heavily modified....

[bart]

Can somebody tell this newbie a bit more about NuC please?

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by bart

Can somebody tell this newbie a bit more about NuC please?

Bart, start here. https://youtu.be/AtfXsVM9QDE

[bart]

Thank you Serge!

[ylee]

Originally Posted by Still-One

I know there are many alternate solutions for running Roon Core/Server/Rock but I will confirm you are missing something if you leave it on your laptop.

I can state I do not remember hearing better digital SQ anywhere than what I have heard the last few hours.

Great post. I've been thinking about making this switch from laptop to a dedicated hardwired server due to music cutting out over wi-fi with all the devices in my household consuming bandwidth (two preschoolers watching videos, wife streaming shows, baby sitter using smartphone, etc.). It's interesting to read that SQ will improve with a dedicated Roon Core Server connected via ethernet to the network. Guess what I'm doing during the holidays?

[4N6]

Some clarifications, please...

I am wondering where the majority of the SQ improvements are coming from. Laptop to a dedicated Roon server? Wireless to wired set-up?

I am running Roon Core via a laptop that is wired to my network. So it makes me wonder if I changed from a wired laptop to a wired dedicated Roon server would there be any real differences? I presume both would be sending the same streaming signal via the network.

Thoughts?

[2fastdriving]

Originally Posted by 4N6

Some clarifications, please...

I am wondering where the majority of the SQ improvements are coming from. Laptop to a dedicated Roon server? Wireless to wired set-up?

I am running Roon Core via a laptop that is wired to my network. So it makes me wonder if I changed from a wired laptop to a wired dedicated Roon server would there be any real differences? I presume both are would be sending the same streaming signal via the network.

Thoughts?

I'm also a bit skeptical. However, going with the dedicated server is quite different from running core off a Mac osx or windows. The roon rock IS the operating system. So essentially there is one less layer of software that can screw things up. And it's been optimized for the Intel nuc hardware.

But it is weird how digital sources can sound different.

I'm going to do this soon, probably after the new year, perhaps during the Christmas break.

[nicoff]

I am running Roon Core on an iMac desktop that I also use as a regular computer as well. Looking at the activity monitor app, I can tell that Roon core does not tax the computer at all. The Most computer-intensive operation is when you first install Roon and it needs to index all the music files from your library. I have one Roon endpoint connected by wire and another endpoint connected via Wi-Fi. Only once did I run into hiccups with the Wi-Fi endpoint. It was so rare that I attributed it to an external problem. I do recommend a wired set up as opposed to wireless (Wi-Fi) just to eliminate the possibility of weak Wi-Fi signal. I cannot tell the difference in sound from wired versus Wi-Fi. It either works or it doesn’t.

[PHC1]

I also tried running the Roon Core on Windows 10 PC and MacBook Pro. Also setup two zones with the USB to my DAC and WiFi to Oppo BDP as a Roon Point with digital out feeding my DAC.

In the beginning the Windows PC sounded much worse which I later discovered it was one of my USB ports that was acting up for some reason. Once I figured that out and switched USB ports on my PC and made sure there was less background apps running on my PC, it was the equal of MacBook Pro. I do use DSP with Roon so it was important to free up the resources on my aging PC.

I will still try running a Roon Core on dedicated device later just to experiment. Right now everything works great with the Roon core back on my PC feeding the DAC either through wifi or USB.

[Dr Tone]

Originally Posted by 2fastdriving

I'm also a bit skeptical. However, going with the dedicated server is quite different from running core off a Mac osx or windows. The roon rock IS the operating system. So essentially there is one less layer of software that can screw things up. And it's been optimized for the Intel nuc hardware.

But it is weird how digital sources can sound different.

I'm going to do this soon, probably after the new year, perhaps during the Christmas break.

I moved my core from a busy Hyper-V virtual machine to my more powerful idle iMac without any change in sound. But I also use a dedicated windows RAAT and/or HQPlayer endpoint with a battery powered SOTM USB card.