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Roon Server running on QNAP NAS


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I just tried Roon Server running on my QNAP 251+ with 8gb RAM and Samsung Evo 850 SSD's, just the 14 day trial.

 

My amp's DAC has 24/192 drivers built into Mac/Linux so Roon Server was able to see my amp's DAC and play in 24/192 via USB Audio out. I also have an iFi USB iPuriifer2 on my amps USB input.

 

I'd never seen Roon in use before but had read so much hype about the software I had to give it a shot. If the sound was better than my Bluesound Node 2 I'd probably sell my Bluesound and just have a complete HiFi system of integrated amp and NAS and iFi USB Purifier2 and that's it! Note: my system isn't a reference system by any stretch, so it might not be revealing enough to distinguish between products - I'm happy to admit that!

 

The sound wasn't better than my Bluesound Node 2, so I'm keeping that for now. The sound was very good though just not better to justify to my tight budget spending money on the Roon membership.

 

But the main reason for this post is to let people know that Roon Server works very very well on a QNAP NAS and you can indeed just have a NAS/DAC/integrated system and it will sound very good. Just check with your DAC manufacturer if their DAC has USB Class 2 drivers built into Linux and you should be ok. Usually if your DAC doesn't need drivers installed with Macs it's a good indication you'll be fine with your Qnapm with 24/192 music, but it's best to check with your DAC designer to be safe. I don't have anything else running in the background anymore on my QNAP. I have removed MinimServer and turned off DLNA Server etc. CPU usage on my Qnap was max 60% usage during indexing and mostly around 40% usage and RAM usage only 1gb max. Library is around 90,000 tracks, mostly CD and iTunes but lots of 24-bit stuff too. Setting up and controlling Roon from my Android phone was a breeze and the app never really stuttered at all. Neither did playback, when changing tracks and changing albums.

 

But the real main reason for this post is also to talk about Roon the software itself - WOW. Talk about a gold standard for user interface. I can't justify spending on a Roon membership just right now but I was a little sad using my Bluesound BluOS app - which is great but Roon is another level. I never imagined using an app to browse my own library would be so fun and enjoyable to use.

 

If you already have a NAS and a DAC with USB input and are considering what network streaming device to buy (mRendu, Auralic, Bluesound, or whatever), before you buy a new device try out Roon Server on your NAS... Just adding an iFi Purifier2 or a Wyred4Sound USB Recovery could be a cheaper alternative with great results!

 

Here's to hoping that Bluesound integrate Roon but that may be wishful thinking.

 

Hope this helps somebody out there!

 

Cheers!

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Not tried Roon on a NAS but agree 100% on your comments about the interface. It's a cut above all others I've tried and the multi room options tip the scales for me. If only I could both run Roon straight from my computer AND to other rooms at same time I'd be over the moon.

 

PS. Roon's integration with Tidal also sets it apart from others. Far apart.

David

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Been using Roon on my Qnapa a lot more since my first post... really REALLY liking the UI... so much so I've decided I'm going to part with the Bluesound. Until I probably change my mind again lol.

 

Hi,

Thanks very much for your post. Been considering Roon for my QNAP as well, - but am only interested if the redbook level, or 24/192 SQ is better than LMS. No way am I going to spend the crazy money that Roon costs for DB navigation, - especially when the LMS IF is fine.

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Hi,

Thanks very much for your post. Been considering Roon for my QNAP as well, - but am only interested if the redbook level, or 24/192 SQ is better than LMS. No way am I going to spend the crazy money that Roon costs for DB navigation, - especially when the LMS IF is fine.

 

Hi mate, my plan is just to get an annual membership for now, after my Bluesound is sold. Things are changing so much in the streaming world, it might be a safer approach if you're on a budget like I am! :-)

 

I also didn't think I'd be paying that much for an app on my phone but it really is something.

 

Sounds like it's time for you to do the 2-week Roon trial to compare sound :-)

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Link on how to setup Roon on QNAP please...

New simplified setup: STEREO- Primary listening Area: Cullen Circuits Mod ZP90> Benchmark DAC1>RotelRKB250 Power amp>KEF Q Series. Secondary listening areas: 1/ QNAP 119P II(running MinimServer)>UPnP>Linn Majik DSI>Linn Majik 140's. 2/ (Source awaiting)>Invicta DAC>RotelRKB2100 Power amp>Rega's. Tertiary multiroom areas: Same QNAP>SMB>Sonos>Various. MULTICHANNEL- MacMini>A+(Standalone mode)>Exasound e28 >5.1 analog out>Yamaha Avantage Receiver>Pre-outs>Linn Chakra power amps>Linn Katan front and sides. Linn Trikan Centre. Velodyne SPL1000 Ultra

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Link on how to setup Roon on QNAP please...

 

Best place to start is here: https://community.roonlabs.com/t/announcing-roon-server-packages-for-qnap-and-synology/11910

 

This entire thread also applies to Synology NAS owners too btw!

 

I have to say though that you need a USB conditioner in between the NAS and the DAC. Even though my Peachtree amp has an ESS Sabre DAC which they say is capable of 100% jitter rejection, I found the music sounds better (timing?) with my iFI USB Purifier2.

 

I would highly recommend either need the iFi or Wyred 4 Sound USB Recovery or one of those competing USB reclockers/conditioners. Both these ones have great reviews. iFI was cheaper though and does a great job for me.

 

If you can try borrow or trial one of these USB conditioners and trial Roon for free on your Qnap or Synology, you might be surprised like I was.

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Hi mate, my plan is just to get an annual membership for now, after my Bluesound is sold. Things are changing so much in the streaming world, it might be a safer approach if you're on a budget like I am! :-)

 

 

Sounds like it's time for you to do the 2-week Roon trial to compare sound :-)

 

Hi,

I'm with you. Well, my QNAP is pretty clean right now, I would just like to make sure that I have a good methodology of pulling Roon completely out if I do not decide to buy.

 

Cheers,

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I run Roon on my Synology DS415+ and it's also working great.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I am curious. I have been trying to run Roon on my synology 1513+ with 4gb of ram and I show similar CPU and memory usage to yours, but it will not play without frequent dropouts. Can you share a bit more about your setup? USB cable? Anything else? Or do we think the intel atom in the 415 is that much better than the one in the 1513?

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Hi,

I'm with you. Well, my QNAP is pretty clean right now, I would just like to make sure that I have a good methodology of pulling Roon completely out if I do not decide to buy.

 

Cheers,

Ah yes, I am the same in liking to keep my Qnap clean. It looks like if I don't want to keep going with Roon after my trial, I only need to remove 2 things. The shared folder which you need to create on installation called 'RoonServer' which is about 2GB in size at the moment for me. And the Roon App removed from media centre. That's it I think . But you can ask Roon support about this. They are very responsive (allowing for time zone differences of course).

 

I'm definitely going ahead with 1 year's membership though. And we'll ll see how the streaming world plays out.

 

 

Sent from my Blackberry DTEK50 using Tapatalk

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I am curious. I have been trying to run Roon on my synology 1513+ with 4gb of ram and I show similar CPU and memory usage to yours, but it will not play without frequent dropouts. Can you share a bit more about your setup? USB cable? Anything else? Or do we think the intel atom in the 415 is that much better than the one in the 1513?

Just to update my CPU usage (Qnap 251+ as per my OP). The figures I showed in my OP were doing indexing and background audio analysis. I turned off the audio analysis because I don't use volume levelling or crossfade and my CPU usage is now around 2% average and RAM 1gb. Very light on resources it seems with my Intel Celeron. No audio drop-outs.

 

I have SSD's. I'm not sure if this also helps to keep the user experience snappy though.

 

I also removed Music Station and minimServer and turned off media sharing and DLNA on my Qnap to disable nearly all background apps. So it's just Roon that's running for me.

 

 

 

Sent from my Blackberry DTEK50 using Tapatalk

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I am curious. I have been trying to run Roon on my synology 1513+ with 4gb of ram and I show similar CPU and memory usage to yours, but it will not play without frequent dropouts. Can you share a bit more about your setup? USB cable? Anything else? Or do we think the intel atom in the 415 is that much better than the one in the 1513?

 

I upgraded the RAM in my 415+ to 8GB and I'm using an SSD USB drive for the Roon server. Other than that I've been using an Auralic Aries and an AudioAlchemy DMP-1 as streamers into my DAC, all wired Ethernet.

 

HTH

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[br]QNAP+ -> Allo DigiOne Signature -> RequisiteAudio D3rs ->  McIntosh C52 -> McIntosh MC-275 MK VI -> Harbeth 30.1's via Roon

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What is are the specs of the 415+, if you know? I have a 412+ and I'm wondering if it can handle Roon.

 

JJ

 

You've have to check on the Synology site, I'm not sure. But also see my other reply about memory & SSD.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[br]QNAP+ -> Allo DigiOne Signature -> RequisiteAudio D3rs ->  McIntosh C52 -> McIntosh MC-275 MK VI -> Harbeth 30.1's via Roon

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What is are the specs of the 415+, if you know? I have a 412+ and I'm wondering if it can handle Roon.

 

JJ

 

Regarding whether Roon can handle it, try the 2 week trial for free! Many people (including myself) on the Roon community forum have it working really well with NAS specs that are below the minimum recommended NAS requirements.

 

I actually wasn't going to even bother with the trial because they recommend Intel i3 or i5 processors but my Celeron is working no issues - 2% CPU usage.

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Best place to start is here: https://community.roonlabs.com/t/announcing-roon-server-packages-for-qnap-and-synology/11910

 

This entire thread also applies to Synology NAS owners too btw!

 

I have to say though that you need a USB conditioner in between the NAS and the DAC. Even though my Peachtree amp has an ESS Sabre DAC which they say is capable of 100% jitter rejection, I found the music sounds better (timing?) with my iFI USB Purifier2.

 

I would highly recommend either need the iFi or Wyred 4 Sound USB Recovery or one of those competing USB reclockers/conditioners. Both these ones have great reviews. iFI was cheaper though and does a great job for me.

 

If you can try borrow or trial one of these USB conditioners and trial Roon for free on your Qnap or Synology, you might be surprised like I was.

 

Wait... so the QNAP is attached to the DAC via USB.. I just assumed running Roon server would be just that. A networked Server...??

New simplified setup: STEREO- Primary listening Area: Cullen Circuits Mod ZP90> Benchmark DAC1>RotelRKB250 Power amp>KEF Q Series. Secondary listening areas: 1/ QNAP 119P II(running MinimServer)>UPnP>Linn Majik DSI>Linn Majik 140's. 2/ (Source awaiting)>Invicta DAC>RotelRKB2100 Power amp>Rega's. Tertiary multiroom areas: Same QNAP>SMB>Sonos>Various. MULTICHANNEL- MacMini>A+(Standalone mode)>Exasound e28 >5.1 analog out>Yamaha Avantage Receiver>Pre-outs>Linn Chakra power amps>Linn Katan front and sides. Linn Trikan Centre. Velodyne SPL1000 Ultra

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Wait... so the QNAP is attached to the DAC via USB.. I just assumed running Roon server would be just that. A networked Server...??

For me yes, my NAS becomes my source, where previously I had an mRendu and Node 2.

 

If I had an integrated amp/DAC which had ethernet input I would do without USB

 

 

 

Sent from my Blackberry DTEK50 using Tapatalk

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Ok So I have on (older)..not that old QNAP 470 Pro. It's got 4GB RAM. Intel i3 Dual Core. This 64 bit? Heck I don;t know. No SSD...

 

Is it worth stuffing around to see if this will handle Roon Server? I won't be plugging a DAC into the USB of the NAS..eeeek.. I would plan using Roon Server on the network and streaming to other players on my network.. I'm currently very happy with MinimServer W

New simplified setup: STEREO- Primary listening Area: Cullen Circuits Mod ZP90> Benchmark DAC1>RotelRKB250 Power amp>KEF Q Series. Secondary listening areas: 1/ QNAP 119P II(running MinimServer)>UPnP>Linn Majik DSI>Linn Majik 140's. 2/ (Source awaiting)>Invicta DAC>RotelRKB2100 Power amp>Rega's. Tertiary multiroom areas: Same QNAP>SMB>Sonos>Various. MULTICHANNEL- MacMini>A+(Standalone mode)>Exasound e28 >5.1 analog out>Yamaha Avantage Receiver>Pre-outs>Linn Chakra power amps>Linn Katan front and sides. Linn Trikan Centre. Velodyne SPL1000 Ultra

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My QNAP 470 has esata and USB 3.0.. so surely that would handle it if I put Roon Server on an external SSD???

New simplified setup: STEREO- Primary listening Area: Cullen Circuits Mod ZP90> Benchmark DAC1>RotelRKB250 Power amp>KEF Q Series. Secondary listening areas: 1/ QNAP 119P II(running MinimServer)>UPnP>Linn Majik DSI>Linn Majik 140's. 2/ (Source awaiting)>Invicta DAC>RotelRKB2100 Power amp>Rega's. Tertiary multiroom areas: Same QNAP>SMB>Sonos>Various. MULTICHANNEL- MacMini>A+(Standalone mode)>Exasound e28 >5.1 analog out>Yamaha Avantage Receiver>Pre-outs>Linn Chakra power amps>Linn Katan front and sides. Linn Trikan Centre. Velodyne SPL1000 Ultra

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Link on how to setup Roon on QNAP please...

 

here is a direct link to the download and instruction page for Synology and Qnap Intel NAS

 

https://blog.rieke.tv/roon-server-on-nas/

 

i have roon running on a Synology 1813+ with 4GB Ram without problems. Search takes a little longer than with roon core on my pc before.

 

roon ROCK on a NUC Dawsoncanyon

ELAC DDP-2 as roon endpoint and Preamp (also for analog devices, TV, Omtec turntable amp for my Thorens TD2001)

XLR > ATC SCM45A pro

RME ADI 2 DAC Fs DAC/Pre with ADAM Artist5 at PC setup

Grado GH-1 Headphone

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You've have to check on the Synology site, I'm not sure. But also see my other reply about memory & SSD.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

The 415 uses an Intel Atom quad core 2.4 GHz.

It also supports more RAM (8GB accoding to the poster).

 

Your 412+ uses an Intel dual core 2.13 GHz and only 1GB standard RAM (presumably upgradeable to 2GB).

 

My 1513+ uses an Intel Atom dual core (instead of quad) 2.14GHZ (instead of 2.4) and maxes out at 4GB RAM (instead of 8).

 

Via USB to my OPPO or to my Auralic Altair (which is the only way to run Roonserver from a NAS to a controlpoint/endpoint), I get constant dropouts and there are no spikes in usage visible on my NAS' resource monitor (not in CPU, not in RAM), so I am stumped and frustrated.

I have not tried running the roon DB on an SSD but I'm not sure that is going to make the difference (if anyone has input to the contrary, please let me know).

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here is a direct link to the download and instruction page for Synology and Qnap Intel NAS

 

https://blog.rieke.tv/roon-server-on-nas/

 

i have roon running on a Synology 1813+ with 4GB Ram without problems. Search takes a little longer than with roon core on my pc before.

Eintom, your hardware spec is almost identical to mine. Are you connecting the NAS to your Aries via ethernet or via usb?

If USB: are you running the roon DB on a SSD or just on one of the spinning disks?

If Ethernet, how did you configure both boxes so they talk to each other? I was under the impression that roon on NAS can only output via USB.

Looking forward to learnign more details.

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