Roon Nucleus

[beerandmusic]

Chris started a link for CEDIA showing the ROON NUCLEUS....this looks very interesting...

I was going to pass on the CEDIA show, but now i will go just to check it out...

 

Definitely worth it's own thread

 

I had to google....this looks very interesting, especially:

For those who care not for their local dealer, don’t need the fancy case or the linear power supply and wish to build their own NUC-based Roon server for quite a bit less cash, Roon will release their custom OS free of charge and detail the hardware purchases required do so.

 

Do you know if the OS and instructions are available now???

http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2017/05/roon-announce-nucleus-server/

 

Roon Nucleus. 

 

[Speed Racer]

If it doesn't have AES3 out, or at least S/PDIF coax out, I am not interested. USB is evil and I want to be as far away from it as possible in my Roon Core/Endpoint device.

[beerandmusic]

24 minutes ago, Speed Racer said:

If it doesn't have AES3 out, or at least S/PDIF coax out, I am not interested. USB is evil and I want to be as far away from it as possible in my Roon Core/Endpoint device.

 

the article and part that i pointed out is they are giving the os away for free...install it on your own hardware.

[Kal Rubinson]

34 minutes ago, Speed Racer said:

If it doesn't have AES3 out, or at least S/PDIF coax out, I am not interested. USB is evil and I want to be as far away from it as possible in my Roon Core/Endpoint device.

Ethernet gets you as far away as anything.

[Speed Racer]

46 minutes ago, Kal Rubinson said:

Ethernet gets you as far away as anything.

 

The box uses USB out to DACs. That is not far away from USB at all.........

[Kal Rubinson]

42 minutes ago, Speed Racer said:

 

The box uses USB out to DACs. That is not far away from USB at all.........

It also uses Ethernet, of course.

[bobh3501]

Chris has a complete write-up (Check the Home Page of this site):

The Definitive Guide To Roon Optimized Core Kit (ROCK) 

 

I am running an i5 version of the NUC with ROCK now.  It is fanless and the size of a couple of decks of playing cards.  It replaced a fanless, headless, win10 server with a SoTM tx-usb card and Audiophile Optimizer.  The NUC is much simpler to maintain (ie. no maintenance at all).  It sounds about the same, certainly not worse.  I like it slightly better. On the win10 server I preferred JRiver to Roon - even though I used Roon most of the time because I love the interface.  The i5 NUC runs on the same JS-2 linear power supply that was running the win 10 server and tx-usb card,

[beerandmusic]

27 minutes ago, bobh3501 said:

Chris has a complete write-up (Check the Home Page of this site):

The Definitive Guide To Roon Optimized Core Kit (ROCK) 

 

I am running an i5 version of the NUC with ROCK now.  It is fanless and the size of a couple of decks of playing cards.  It replaced a fanless, headless, win10 server with a SoTM tx-usb card and Audiophile Optimizer.  The NUC is much simpler to maintain (ie. no maintenance at all).  It sounds about the same, certainly not worse.  I like it slightly better. On the win10 server I preferred JRiver to Roon - even though I used Roon most of the time because I love the interface.  The i5 NUC runs on the same JS-2 linear power supply that was running the win 10 server and tx-usb card,

Ok, thanks...found it on page 2...here is link...

To clarify, ROCK and ROON Nucleus are one in the same?

Also curious, once installed, will you have access to a unix interface (gui?) or will it load right into ROON?

 

 

 

 

[bobh3501]

Chris's article will answer all of your questions

[beerandmusic]

1 minute ago, bobh3501 said:

Chris's article will answer all of your questions

nevermind...i just found this on youtube...so the nucleus is the hardware with rock installed...

 

 

[Speed Racer]

5 hours ago, Kal Rubinson said:

It also uses Ethernet, of course.

 

You aren't getting it. I don't want to use USB at all in my playback chain. 

 

Don't all Roon endpoints use Ethernet? That is the standard way to attach to an Ethernet network. I want Ethernet in and AES3 out. 

[Urs]

1 hour ago, Speed Racer said:

 

You aren't getting it. I don't want to use USB at all in my playback chain. 

 

Don't all Roon endpoints use Ethernet? That is the standard way to attach to an Ethernet network. I want Ethernet in and AES3 out. 

you build your NUC with ROCK, connect it to your LAN and also connect a network bridge (examples: dCS network bridge, Bricasti M5) to your LAN. Voilà: ethernet in and AES3 out. 

[Kal Rubinson]

5 hours ago, Speed Racer said:

You aren't getting it. I don't want to use USB at all in my playback chain. 

So don't use it.

5 hours ago, Speed Racer said:

Don't all Roon endpoints use Ethernet?

Not all but many.  You can use it for input and for output.

5 hours ago, Speed Racer said:

I want Ethernet in and AES3 out. 

Ah.  Your issue has nothing to do with USB.  You want AES3 (or S/PDIF) which this lacks.  Buy something else

[Speed Racer]

1 hour ago, Kal Rubinson said:

So don't use it.

Not all but many.  You can use it for input and for output.

Ah.  Your issue has nothing to do with USB.  You want AES3 (or S/PDIF) which this lacks.  Buy something else

 

I won't....that is exactly what I said. 

 

I was was talking about network-attached Roon endpoints.

 

No. If USB worked as well as AES3 or S/PDIF, I would have no issues with using it. So my issue has everything to do with USB and the fact this supports only that for output to DACs. 

[Kal Rubinson]

As Urs has suggested, a network bridge will resolve that for you, so USB and Ethernet seem to cover the bases.

[beerandmusic]

10 hours ago, Speed Racer said:

 

I won't....that is exactly what I said. 

 

I was was talking about network-attached Roon endpoints.

 

No. If USB worked as well as AES3 or S/PDIF, I would have no issues with using it. So my issue has everything to do with USB and the fact this supports only that for output to DACs. 

I would guess, but don't know for sure, that you can use the free ROCK os on your own hardware and customize it to use whatever output you want....the free os i don't think will dictate what interface you have to use.

[Kritpoon]

On 9/8/2017 at 9:50 AM, bobh3501 said:

Chris has a complete write-up (Check the Home Page of this site):

The Definitive Guide To Roon Optimized Core Kit (ROCK) 

 

I am running an i5 version of the NUC with ROCK now.  It is fanless and the size of a couple of decks of playing cards.  It replaced a fanless, headless, win10 server with a SoTM tx-usb card and Audiophile Optimizer.  The NUC is much simpler to maintain (ie. no maintenance at all).  It sounds about the same, certainly not worse.  I like it slightly better. On the win10 server I preferred JRiver to Roon - even though I used Roon most of the time because I love the interface.  The i5 NUC runs on the same JS-2 linear power supply that was running the win 10 server and tx-usb card,

 

How do you find the JS-2 powering the NUC (vs stock switching supply)? Is it worth while upgrade? I am very interested in your opinion, since I am deciding weather or not to embark on Intel NUC+ROCK+LPS route.

[bobh3501]

7 hours ago, Kritpoon said:

 

How do you find the JS-2 powering the NUC (vs stock switching supply)? Is it worth while upgrade? I am very interested in your opinion, since I am deciding weather or not to embark on Intel NUC+ROCK+LPS route.

 

I had the JS-2 before I switched to NUC/ROCK.  I originally bought it for the win10 server (12v)/SoTM USB card (9v) I used with JRiver.  It looked very nice in my rack - no transformer dongles or thin plastic cables overcomplicating the area behind my rack.  I also thought it had a positive impact on the sound.  It is now running the NUC and the wireless switch in my home office.  I don't think I would buy it new specifically for the NUC unless you have a solid use for the second output - I believe there are other cost effective choices for a single output (NUC).