A question that might appear silly.
In the Naim Nova the audio formats available in streaming are the same way whether it is wired or wireless connections? Is there a qualitative difference between the streaming obtained totally wirelessly from my Qubuz / Roon Core system in Mac iOS, and the one taken from a wired connection via ethernet cable from the router to the Nova?
In a nutshell, to have the ability to listen to all types of files in high resolution is it necessary to have a wired ethernet connection or is a wireless network okay? Thank you all for your attention and sorry for my poor english language
You can listen to all file types, there is no difference in principle, if you wifi is working well.
With hi-res files there could be dropouts if the wifi bandwidth is not sufficient, especially if the Mac is on wifi, too (because in this case the Nova and the Core share the available wifi bandwidth). Remember that Roon recommends that the Core is wired if possible.
The Nova is fine on wifi. (There may be debates about sound differences between cable and wifi because the wifi module is active, but they would be small if any)
Thanks a lot.
What device you could suggest to me for drive the Roon Core?
Bye
Many people run the Roon Core on a Mac and seem happy. Depends on your situation and your Mac.
- Is it OK for you that the Mac has to be running to have access to the Core from other remotes (phone, tablet)?
- Does the Mac have an SSD? (Roon recommends SSD for best responsiveness)
- How much do you want to spend.
I have the Core (using Roon ROCK) on a fan-less NUC (info: click here) and am very happy with this solution. A regular Intel NUC with fans is cheaper and ok too, in particular if you don’t use much DSP (in this case the fans rarely turn on) or if it is in another room. Roon ROCK is great, set it up and forget about it. Be aware that ROCK does not have wifi support, it must be wired, but you can set it up anywhere, does not have to be close to the hifi. You can find instructions here:
Or buy a Roon Nucleus, it’s essentially a NUC as well. Costs more for the same hardware performance but you just have to turn it on and plug it in. (Also requires a wired network)
I have been considering purchasing an Intel NUC for some time; being totally ignorant of computers, and being faced with a huge amount of models, I really don’t know what to choose.
Could you suggest the models or types of NUC contained in the INTEL catalog that are closest to the technical characteristics of the Nucleus + plus? You would make me very welcome.
Thank you very much.
You must choose one of the models listed on the ROCK page linked above. Others may work but only the listed ones are guaranteed by Roon to keep working in the future.
The base model Nucleus has an i3 CPU with 4GB of RAM. The Nucleus+ has an i7 CPU with 8GB of RAM.
Both now have a 128 GB SSD for Roon Rock and the database.
8GB RAM are sufficient and currently Roon does not use more if available. I chose 16 GB for mine because the additional cost was just 50 euros and I thought maybe I need it for the future, but most likely I wasted 50 euros.
As for CPU, for small libraries and not much DSP use, an i3 is fine. For large libraries, intense DSP, and multi-rooming, choose an i7. (See the track number limits on the above linked Rock web page). An i5 is also available and may be a sweet spot price-wise if you fall in the middle. But may be best to get an i7 to be future proof.
The CPUs come as 7th Generation, 8th Generation, or 10th Generation. 7th are probably rare now. The 8th has the better performance of a single CPU core, which is relevant for Roon. The 10th has a bit lower power consumption (and I think a bit better multi-core performance, but the current Roon Rock has no use for this). So to be equivalent to Nucleus+, it would be a NUC8i7BEx. (Check the list and the explanation of the model numbers on the above linked Rock web page)
For the SSD for Rock and database, 64 GB are enough but nearly impossible to get and not cheaper, so Roon switched the Nucleus to 128. Even 128 can be difficult too get now, in this case buy a 256 GB.
If you want local music files stored on the ROCK, you also need a second disk for storage. This can be an external USB disk or built in. A rotating hard disk works but an SSD is more reliable (but more expensive). Size depends on your needs. A CD quality rip stored in a FLAC file has about 300 MB, so a 1 TB disk can hold approx. 3500 CD rips. (Hi-res Files are larger)
Note that internal disks have certain size requirements to fit into a NUC (again, the type of provided one the Rock page)
Thanks for the invaluable information. I’ll start looking for a good nuc among those reported by you.
In the meantime, can I use the macBook pro? I confirm that it is a recent model, with SSD solid state unit (no hard disk) an i7 processor, which, following your advice, I could connect to the network via an ethernet cable, so as not to remove further amounts of data from the my home network.
You have been very kind, I hope to contact you soon.
Yes, your MacBook will be fine. I run the Roon Core on mine, and it hardly breaks a sweat. I have an Ethernet cable free to connect it when using Roon, but most of the time I don’t bother and it seems fine over WiFi.
Thanks a lot.
Bye
Yes, totally
I added an 8GB RAM and a 250GB SSD m2
I have an atrocious doubt. The configurator asks me which operating system to install.
The choice is between WIN 10 or Linux. I have no alternative.
What should I do?
The price is around 850 euros. it’s too much?
With this configuration I would go to very good levels, I think. My fear is that at the time of any heavy purchase I cannot configure it…wow…
THANK A LOT FOR SUGGESTIONS.
Price seems possibly slightly high but OKish for a 10th generation i7 and considering the current chip shortages
Choose the cheapest operating system option, “none” is fine. You want to install Roon ROCK yourself, which is its own minimal operating system that is optimized for being a Roon Core. For installation instructions see here:
(Remember that if you want to store you own music files on the NUC, it needs a second hard disk because the first one is for Roon ROCK and the Roon database. But alternatively you can plug in an external USB disk or use a NAS drive on the network. And if you just want to stream online from Tidal/Qobuz, you don’t need it)
At the moment I actually use roon only for the library, the 192khz oversampling, never pcm or dsd which honestly I did not find particularly interesting for the purpose of increasing the sound quality, and the parametric equalizer to correct bad recordings,
Nothing else.
I could probably go for simpler and cheaper configurations which could give me excellent performance.
I had thought, in anticipation of replacing my old PC, not the Macbook Pro I mentioned and which I currently use for work,
to the purchase of a mac mini with M1 processor (not the one with an intel processor which costs a bang, at about 800 euros and which would allow me a use, let’s say mixed.
I have read that it works very well.
What do you think about it?
Thanks
Yes, without DSP you don’t really need an i7 in the NUC as mentioned before. But on the other hand, you can spend the 150 or so more for the i7 and never have to worry again.
An M1 will work fine, too, but it depends on you needs and wants. Personally, I like that the NUC for my Roon is separate, I don’t need my computer running to listen to music, and if I have any problem on my main computer I can still listen to music. (And the NUC with Roon ROCK is zero maintenance after it is set up)
I did not understand if it is necessary to buy the NUC with an operating system of choice between win 10 and linux (with extra charge) or if you just need to install ROCK following the ROON directives.
The smallest NUC I have seen online is the following:
Intel NUC Tenth Gen., Fam FROST CANYON, i3 CPU, HIGH Version, No Jack Audio. Cod: NUC10I3FNHN € 385.36
Ram memory 8 GB 8 GB € 40.99
Storage SSD M2 SSD M2 250 GB SSD M2 250 GB 60 EUROS
It would cost half as much as the 10th generation i7, but anyway if you tell me it doesn’t support DSP, it would be a useless expense.
Thanks and sorry if I’m getting annoyed, but given my poor computer knowledge I’m getting confused.
You are kind and most of all patient.
ROCK is it’s own operating system, that’s why I said choosing “none” is fine 
Then you install ROCK on it
(I’ve seen some cases where none was more expensive than choosing an operating system; in this case, choose whatever is the cheapest option)
And I’m not saying it “doesn’t support DSP”. But DSP uses CPU power. So if you are using lots of complex DSP (with convolution filters and similar) in Roon, an i7 is recommended. Another factor is if you use multiroom to many other devices, or have a very large library.
Without these factors, an i3 is fine. That’s ok for light DSP, such as volume leveling, and libraries that are not gigantic.
Note that you need a keyboard and a computer monitor for installing ROCK
Wonderful. Thanks a lot.
What do you mean about configuration of i3 ?
1 Like
What do you mean?
Sorry, a mistake.
Thanks a lot.
Goodnight[quote=“Suedkiez, post:18, topic:18759, full:true”]
What do you mean?
[/quote]
1 Like
This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.