Going a Roon One More Time

[Zaheer]

Hello Mike
I have installed roon on my CAPS Zuma build (LPS) to be used with the melco + Lumin u1 (From Roon interface , i selected the "share" folder .. output selected as Lumin)
Then I tried also the CAPS Zuma serving music (stored on SSD again LPSupplied 5v from HD plx) to the Lumin U1
The router is a Dlink gigabyte , powered by a LPS
All RJ 45 are in CAT 6 ,isolated
Well , Roon is a huge deception compared to the Lumin U1 + Melco functionning alone
Roon delivers a less clearer sound .. then it's all about taste or the Melco + Lumin being a better isolated combination
Cheers

 

[Mike]

Hello Mike
I have installed roon on my CAPS Zuma build (LPS) to be used with the melco + Lumin u1 (From Roon interface , i selected the "share" folder .. output selected as Lumin)
Then I tried also the CAPS Zuma serving music (stored on SSD again LPSupplied 5v from HD plx) to the Lumin U1
The router is a Dlink gigabyte , powered by a LPS
All RJ 45 are in CAT 6 ,isolated
Well , Roon is a huge deception compared to the Lumin U1 + Melco functionning alone
Roon delivers a less clearer sound .. then it's all about taste or the Melco + Lumin being a better isolated combination
Cheers

Yes, it's hard to beat the sonics of the Lumin with the Lumin app (or the Aurender with the Aurender app).

 

[tdimler]

The Lumin U1 does look like a great piece. The app looks good too. That is one thing that doesn't turn me on about Roon...the app looks too busy. I am currently using Audirvana and among other things I like about is the fact that the control app interface is simple and clean.

One thing I am not clear about regarding Roon is exactly how it interfaces with a product which has a "Roon Ready" network streaming card...like a few DAC's now include. Do you still have to have a computer running as a "core" or does the network card solution eliminate this? An example would be the new network card available on the Bricasti M1.

 

[wklie]

One thing I am not clear about regarding Roon is exactly how it interfaces with a product which has a "Roon Ready" network streaming card...like a few DAC's now include. Do you still have to have a computer running as a "core" or does the network card solution eliminate this?

Yes. No matter you use a Roon Ready device, or a USB DAC, you still have to have a high-power computer (or NAS) running the Roon Core.

 

[rrwmd]

Hello Mike
I have installed roon on my CAPS Zuma build (LPS) to be used with the melco + Lumin u1 (From Roon interface , i selected the "share" folder .. output selected as Lumin)
Then I tried also the CAPS Zuma serving music (stored on SSD again LPSupplied 5v from HD plx) to the Lumin U1
The router is a Dlink gigabyte , powered by a LPS
All RJ 45 are in CAT 6 ,isolated
Well , Roon is a huge deception compared to the Lumin U1 + Melco functionning alone
Roon delivers a less clearer sound .. then it's all about taste or the Melco + Lumin being a better isolated combination
Cheers

This has been my experience as well.

Roon just seems a bit more diffuse and hazy compared to Lumin direct.

 

[Dr Tone]

Yes. No matter you use a Roon Ready device, or a USB DAC, you still have to have a high-power computer (or NAS) running the Roon Core.

You don't need a "high powered" computer. Allot of people run roon core on lowly atom based NAS devices.

 

[asiufy]

You don't need a "high powered" computer. Allot of people run roon core on lowly atom based NAS devices.

You don't, unless you want to upsample or mess with the DSP settings.
For general use, memory (8Gb at least) and SSD drives for Roon's data files are more important than pure CPU power.

 

[baddog]

As an FYI the Roon team has never recommended more than 8GB of memory, they in fact note they don't need it nor use it.

I am using a Intel NUC6i5SYH with Roon. Not sure if you consider that a high power computer or not, regardless it has no issue using DSP settings nor upsampling. YMMV.

This link may be helpful of those wondering what configuration might be required.

 

[CGabriel]

A second for the Intel NUC running ROON ROCK.
Simple, easy. Serves all your computers, portables and end-points.
Small and quiet and can be located in a small closet.

 

[Mike]

A second for the Intel NUC running ROON ROCK.
Simple, easy. Serves all your computers, portables and end-points.
Small and quiet and can be located in a small closet.

ROCK is the Linux version of Roon Core specifically designed for NUC's?

 

[baddog]

ROCK is the Linux version of Roon Core specifically designed for NUC's?

Oui. With some nice extras, such as being able to manage certain aspects via a WEB GUI (including shutdown).

And a stripped down Operating System maintained by Roon.

 

[Devg]

Have been using ROCK since it came out on a customized audio PC. ROCK really Rocks

 

[nonesup]

ROCK is not Roon Core. It is a very lightweight, Unix-based Operating System for NUC, which is devoid of everything that is not necessary to run Roon Core.

 

[Kingsrule]

Its all about the sonics, isn't it Mike?

All those who keep saying it works with their computers are not considering sonics. It works, but how does it sound???

ROCK, the Nucleus (YTBD) thats on the way, or at minimum a stripped down DEDICATED Windows machine with an ssd hd is required to get the best from Roon. The SonicTransporter I7 also looks like it fits the bill

 

[Dr Tone]

Its all about the sonics, isn't it Mike?

All those who keep saying it works with their computers are not considering sonics. It works, but how does it sound???

ROCK, the Nucleus (YTBD) thats on the way, or at minimum a stripped down DEDICATED Windows machine with an ssd hd is required to get the best from Roon. The SonicTransporter I7 also looks like it fits the bill

Mike is using a network endpoint. The core computer doesn't have a sound in that scenario. If it's direct connect DAC that's a different story.

 

[Devg]

Mike is using a network endpoint. The core computer doesn't have a sound in that scenario.

Unfortunately it does. There are tons of unknown variables which influences the sound - be it at the server end or at the endpoint doesn't matter. For example, I find a big difference if music files are configured from NAS vs local HDD in Roon and then there is differences if the HDD is a spinning drive vs an SDD. Lot of these, in theory, are driven from EMI/RFI/timing/jitter etc etc and afaik, there is no physical measurements to prove it one way or other, only empirical data. Sometimes these changes are subtle, sometimes not - depending on how transparent your rest of the system is, the changes can be easily heard. At least in computer audio, everything matters, everything

 

[Mike]

Unfortunately it does. There are tons of unknown variables which influences the sound - be it at the server end or at the endpoint doesn't matter. For example, I find a big difference if music files are configured from NAS vs local HDD in Roon and then there is differences if the HDD is a spinning drive vs an SDD. Lot of these, in theory, are driven from EMI/RFI/timing/jitter etc etc and afaik, there is no physical measurements to prove it one way or other, only empirical data. Sometimes these changes are subtle, sometimes not - depending on how transparent your rest of the system is, the changes can be easily heard. At least in computer audio, everything matters, everything

Given this, what's absolute best for Roon? A NUC? Isn't Roon producing a NUC called the Nucleus?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Devg]

Given this, what's absolute best for Roon? A NUC? Isn't Roon producing a NUC called the Nucleus?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, Roon's version of turn-key NUC is Nucleus. I maybe wrong but think its priced probably at $2k.

 

[nonesup]

Unfortunately it does. There are tons of unknown variables which influences the sound - be it at the server end or at the endpoint doesn't matter. For example, I find a big difference if music files are configured from NAS vs local HDD in Roon and then there is differences if the HDD is a spinning drive vs an SDD. Lot of these, in theory, are driven from EMI/RFI/timing/jitter etc etc and afaik, there is no physical measurements to prove it one way or other, only empirical data. Sometimes these changes are subtle, sometimes not - depending on how transparent your rest of the system is, the changes can be easily heard. At least in computer audio, everything matters, everything

+1
So it is on my system with a Lumin network endpoint.
I almost did not use Roon, because I prefer the Melco direct connection to Lumin.

 

[Devg]

Given this, what's absolute best for Roon? A NUC? Isn't Roon producing a NUC called the Nucleus?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, Roon's version of turn-key NUC is Nucleus. I maybe wrong but think its priced probably at $2k.

If you are getting a NUC to run the ROCK, I would encourage you to get a decent power supply. Depending on what DAC you will use, you might not even need an endpoint by adding some kind of isolation device and re-clocker. I use PS Audio DS with Singxer SU1 over I2S and was able to get rid of the endpoint (microRendu) and go directly from ROCK. In a long time, my system hasn't sounded this good. If your DAC is USB only, I bet a ISO-Regen will provide the same benefit.